NESCO FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, For Snacks, Fruit, Beef Jerky, Gray

I'm a food dehydrating beginner. My mother did it a lot when I was growing up, but this is the first one I have purchased for myself.I have a digestive problem that requires me to eat small meals/snacks very frequently or get uncomfortable abdominal pains. Commercial snacks are expensive and unhealthy, and commercially dried fruits are also really expensive and frequently have sugar added. So I decided to start drying my own snacks. I didn't want to spend very much so I did a lot of research for suggestions on inexpensive dryers and most reviews had this one in the top three so I decided to give it a try.After my first couple of rounds of food drying, I decided to add two more trays (total of 7) to get a little more food out of each drying session. With 7 trays in, and when drying particularly wet fruits like pineapple or pears, I rotate the trays once about halfway through the drying time, exactly reversing the order of the trays so the middle levels stay in the middle and the top and bottom trays swap positions. So far this single tray rotation has resulted in pretty much perfectly even drying throughout the entire batch, which I really like. It's a definite improvement over the food dryers that my Mom had, where the trays all had to be rotated every hour or the food would not dry properly!So far I have dried lots of bananas (we like to pull them out when they are still slightly chewy which makes them vastly better than store-bought banana chips that are hard and crunchy and almost flavorless), peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, pears, apples, and pineapple (family favorite). We've also made fruit leather with most of these fruits, and found that bottles of store bought applesauce (store brand when on sale cheap) work amazingly well and for a significantly lower price (and a lot less work) than buying and smashing raw apples.The first batch of fruit leather turned out pretty bad since the fruit would not separate from the trays until it was badly overcooked. Then we realized that if we spray the smooth trays with a little bit of cooking spray first, the leather just slides off when it is dry enough, and results in very soft, chewy, and great tasting fruit leather just like you can buy at high end deli shops (for a lot more money).The dryer isn't as quiet as I had hoped based on the reviews, but it is still a lot quieter than the ones that my mother has used, and the steady hum isn't annoying at all. Overall I highly recommend this dryer if you are just getting into the 'hobby', or even if you are a food drying veteran, and you don't want to spend a lot of money.The one star I took off for ease of cleaning is because the trays cannot be washed in a dishwasher, even on low temperature mode. They melt and warp. And the trays are slightly too big to fit in my larger than average kitchen sink so it's a bit of a challenge to clean them properly. But food particles come off easily when the trays are washed so it's not a difficult process or a significant negative.

My first ever dehydrator. I usually use my electric oven for making beef jerky but I wanted to try a dehydrator after watching instructional you tube videos. I'm confident that the more elaborate stainless steel models work great for active enthusiasts but I didn't want to spend much money as a beginner. I purchased this Nesco unit based on positive Amazon reviews for ease of use and operational satisfaction. I disregarded negative reviews regarding packaging issues or disappointments unrelated to product performance. I knew beforehand that a basic model like this would need to be handled with some consideration for fewer bells and whistles and plastic trays instead of stainless steel.Overall, I am very happy with the performance and finished jerky, especially for the price. It takes a little more time than the oven method but I didn't have to flip the beef pieces during the drying process. I have no issue with the lack of an onboard timer or on/off switch. I can read a clock or set my smartphone timer and I can reach the plug to turn the unit off. It's not rocket science.I would recommend this unit for anyone interested in trying dehydrating without a large monetary investment.

I was very impressed the moment I opened the box! This food dehydrator looks much nicer than the last one I had (admittedly several years ago.) I love that it's not see-through, so no more having light come through and interfering with the dehydration process. Plus, the "granite" look is really lovely!I love that there are multiple temperatures, and the top of the dehydrator tells you what temperature to use for the most commonly dehydrated items (jerky, meats, fruits & veggies, etc.) There is no on/off switch, so you have to unplug the machine when you want to check on your items, but don't find that to be a problem at all.This machine is very QUIET! My old one could be heard throughout the entire house, but this one can barely be heard in the next room, and that's only if the room is completely quiet (meaning to TV, Wii, computer, kids, etc.) When I'm in the kitchen, I don't have to yell over the sound of the machine in order to be heard in the next room, either.So far, I've only done fruit leathers (or fruit roll-ups, as my kids call them.) Easy recipe, just applesauce and fresh strawberries pureed together! I did have an issue of getting the layer on the special sheet even, but that's my issue, not one caused by the machine. Just need practice!It comes with 4 accessories (not including the 5 drying trays): 2 fine mesh screens for drying things that would/could fall through the openings in the strays (like herbs, fruits, and veggies that get smaller as they are dehydrated.) Also it has 2 tray inserts for making fruit leathers or other things that need a "tray" with no holes. I found when doing the fruit it was helpful to put on of these inserts in the very bottom tray and use the other at the top with my fruit mix on it. The one on the bottom captured the few drips that fell through (my fault) and made cleanup so much easier.Having the motor on the top instead of the bottom is a great idea! That way if anything does fall/drip through, no worrying about it getting into the motor or having difficult places to clean. All of the trays and accessories are dishwasher safe, though if you have a dishwasher that has a washing arm for the top rack (as opposed to just the one underneath all the dishes) I wouldn't recommend it. Because more hot water gets to the top rack in these types, the trays and accessories can warp. But just soaking them in regular dish detergent and water then washing them with a soft bristle brush or soft cleaning pad works just fine. (Note the word "SOFT"! Anything harsh or rough will scratch!)All-in-all, this is a wonderful machine, and I'm looking forward to my next projects with it: dried bananas w/ honey, dried kale and herbs for my bunny's salad, and of course, JERKY!