I am thinking about getting myself a late Christmas present but would love some opinions - do you own a dehydrator? what model/make? what do you use it for? are you happy you got it?

I don't want to spend much more than $100 but the idea of homemade beef jerky and kale chips is damned appealing.

thoughts? opinions?

thanks!

This is the one I was looking at when I was seriously thinking of getting one: http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75PR...25724348&sr=1-1

I never bit the bullet - I just figured it would never get used. I do my kale chips in the oven and I've done jerky in the oven too.

Thanks! It never occurs to me to look on Amazon (even though they sell everrrrything) - I pay my own utilities so I'm trying to avoid running my stove for such a long time and using it to dehydrate foods.

Mine is one of the round ones with the plastic stackable tiers. I was lucky and found it at a thrift shop for two bucks but I think you can get something similar at walmart pretty cheap. I adore mine! I use it mainly to dry out veggies during growing season. I might try some jerky though!

I always made kale chips in the over.

I knew I would use it for making jerky and bought one. It's still in the sealed box after three years.

This 10 tray stainless Weston is the one I bought before the holidays. Christmas present to myself. But I only paid $180 (member price) for it and it was also marked down on special when I ordered mine. I wanted one with no plastic parts. Not much of a "manual" comes with it. Just basic usage information.

Have only used it twice so far for jerky (5-6 lb. sirloin didn't even fill 10 trays up!). Dried completely in 4 hours!! But smaller pieces fell through the grate as they shrank with drying. Sadly, this happens with most dehydrators, even the smaller one I used to own. I fixed some untreated aluminum window screen I hooked over the 10 trays for the second batch of jerky and that stopped that slippage issue. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/...r.aspx?a=546362

Next time I tried cranberries in it but I didn't pre-cook the berries to pop the skins (just to see if you could do that) and after 20 hours they still weren't popped/dried! Interesting thing, they didn't explode either, however, like they might in a microwave without poking them with a fork. Next time I'll pre-pop the skins in boiling water (like you do for cranberry sauce) so the moisture can escape properly during dehydration. But that was not due to any failing on the part of the machine.

I used to have an Elite 5-plastic tray model I used the heck out of for about 3-4 years. Only problem is plastic and heat really don't work well together after long heat exposure. Just like plastic flower pots that are left out in the sun for years, the plastic trays will begin to have bits crack off in a couple years. Eventually, I knew I'd have to order all new trays or a whole new machine.