Excalibur 5-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator with Adjustable Temperature Control & 26-Hour Timer - Fast, Efficient Drying for Fruits, Vegetables, Jerky - Includes Dehydration Guide (Black) - Perfect for Healthy Snacks, Camping & Meal Prep

I have been using this almost everyday since it arrived a couple of weeks ago. I am very pleased with the fabulous kale chips I have made and I have found a way to make good, safe beef jerky for my dog. It does take some experimentation though. The dehydrator itself seems to be of more than adequate quality made of a very sturdy type of plastic. It has a heater, fan and timer so as long as those components last I will be happy. The fan is quieter than I thought it would be. It is about as noisy as my very quiet dishwasher. Regarding the size, I have filled all five trays with only 2 bunches of kale so if you are thinking of using a dehydrator to make kale chips or other treats, I think it is worthwhile to make enough to serve more than 1 or 2 people at a time. The kale chips go very fast in my house. I also bought an inexpensive slicer as I think it is important to make thin slices of equal size to dehydrate adequately, especially of certain foods, such as beef jerky or sweet potatoes. I think a dehydrator is a good way to prepare foods in a different, yet healthy way....dehydration preserves the enzymes in contrast to cooking which destroys enzymes....but I have discovered that meat does need to be cooked to 160 degrees F. before dehydration to destroy harmful organisms. Measure the temperature with a meat thermometer. Using this method I have dehydrated beef jerky for my dog which turned out to be delicious. I know it is delicious because I can eat it myself. Three lbs. of round roast turns into 3/4 lb. of tender, melt in your mouth morsels, if you slice it thin enough and marinate it after cooking in a very weak beef boulion (no salt for dogs). My very fussy dog loves it. Thicker slices will make a chewier product......UPDATE....It's been a few weeks since my initial review and I am still very pleased. Just want to add a note about the DRYER SHEETS. I bought a pack of 9 dryer sheets that go with the dehydrator. I used 3 of them and ruined them, I think, right off the bat. They absorbed some oil from the kale chips I was making and, after much effort, soap and hot water, I could not wash the oil out in my sink, in which the sheets did not fit...a very awkward process. One might do a better job by using the bathtub but I am not prepared to do that. I have not used these dryer sheets since. I have been using parchment paper (love it) or the mesh liners that came with they dehydrator. The mesh liners are much easier to clean. The choice of which liner to use is dependent upon what you are dehydrating. Sweet potato chips are fine on the mesh liners. Somewhat drippy marinated beef works well with parchment paper. These are my preferences so far.Another note about SAFETY AND BEEF JERKY...I am now NOT precooking the beef but turning the dehydrator temp. to max (165 F.) for 1 hour, then I rotate the trays and dry them at max. for 1 more hour, finishing the process at a lower temp. I rotate the trays because the temperature is uneven since the heater is at the back of the unit. I am trusting this is sufficient to kill harmful organisms that may exist in meat products (see FDA recommendations for more information). All the beef jerky recipes I have seen so far don't address this issue and often tell you to use the temperature guide that came with your dehydrator. The temperature guide on my dehydrator says 145 degrees F. for meat. I only discovered this safety issue by surfing the web for recipes and recommendations about beef jerky. I think I will put a meat thermometer in the trays to see exactly what temperature is being achieved while drying my next batch of beef jerky. The beef jerky is still amazing, using this higher temperature method. Incidentally, I find my new electric slicer is a critical piece of equipment to cut the meat (frozen) and vegies thinly and evenly enough to dehydrator properly.Also, I registered my dehydrator with Excalibur and GOT A 10 YEAR WARRANTY even though I bought the dehydrator from Amazon.com. I spoke with a representative of Excalibur about this before doing my online registration who outlined the warranty coverage for me.Happy dehydrating people!I'm very pleased with this machine. Frankly I'm no dehydrating guru, but I'm pretty particular about devices after having spent 27 years as a design engineer. I really can't see anything to change on this unit given its price point. I use it for making chicken jerky treats for my wife's dogs and it's performed very well. Thankfully I only got the 5 tray model because I wouldn't want to stand at the counter long enough to slice 9 trays worth of chicken!! The 5 tray model holds a large 6 - 7 pound tray of breasts purchased at Sam's sliced to approx 1/4" thick.Many say you don't have to rotate trays during drying, but I believe that info isn't necessarily correct. The fan and heating elements are located in the back and therefore in theory (and in practice) that area tends to dry faster. This is in NO WAY a design flaw, but simple Physics at play. Air cools as energy (heat) is lost to evaporate water, and then of course the air is wetter which doesn't allow it to pick up moisture as well. I typically rotate trays every 90 minutes or so and turn the strips over after about 3 hours because they'll tend to stick to the liner and there will be un-dried "grill marks" from the underneath plastic support trays where there is virtually no direct contact with the warm air. No biggie at all.The only thing I'd do different next time is to not get the timer model, at least not if I continue to only use it for chicken jerky dog treats. We usually dry them for 10 - 11 hours and really the timer isn't useful based on the amount of attention we pay them along the way and the fact that we stop the machine only when they appear done. Again no complaints about the operation of the unit, only that feature hasn't been useful given my usage.All in all, I'm absolutely pleased with this purchase. Oh and I don't in any way consider the unit loud as some reviews have indicated. This is a fairly powerful unit with really good air flow. Yes there is fan noise, but it's not excessive or annoying at all and is essential for good even drying in my opinion. Actually we've used it in our garage this summer to put the heat and moisture outside, but I'll move it indoors in the winter to capture both into our house.Update 12/13/2014 ..... Ok now I'm glad I bought the timer version. I've made lots of different things, banana chips, cranberries, apples, etc and the timer is very handy after you get a feel for what you're doing. I now have no issue setting an off time based on what I see in the event I started the jerky treats too late and they have to finish during the night. My hat's off to Excalibur for an excellent bang for the buck product.I LOVE LOVE LOVE this dehydrator, way better than the first (made by another company) DH I bought. Well worth the investment. It used to take 2 1/2 lots to do a box of liver from the wholesalers for liver treats for the dogs in the old 6 tray one (again, made by another company) but I can get the entire box in this. I just need to buy the pyraflex to go with it nowUsed the 9-tray version for years at work. Love this little 5-tray model. They ain't pretty, but what they lack in aesthetic appeal they more than make up for in durability, reliability, and simple solid design aspects. I've seen all sorts of fancy see-through door, gimmicky, over-engineered dehydrators end up in the landfill after a few years, and these are so damn simple even an amateur electrician can fix pretty much anything in them... if you even manage to push it that hard. Seriously. Don't bother with anything other than Excalibur.Tarde en escribir una reseña porque esperé a ver su funcionamiento. Deshidrata como se espera, pero creo que es muy sencillo para lo que cuesta. Aunque la marca es una garantía de durabiblidad creo que sí sale caro en comparación a otros productos. Es grande y pesado. Lo elegí por que tiene sensor de tiempo, así que lo dejo trabajar incluso por las noches, no hace mucho ruido, no molesta. Es fácil de limpiar. Estoy contenta.Facile d'utilisation, un peu bruyant à mon avis mais je pense le moins bruyant de sa catégorie. Design épuré.Réglage de la température est un plus.Dommage que les feuilles de teflex ne viennent pas avec ni un livre de recettes.Sinon très contente de mon achat . testé notamment sur des chips de Kale qui étaient Extras!I have had my eye on the Excalibur for a long time as it comes with great reviews, but I am yet to prove if all fuss about it is true. The design is awful; an ugly huge box, with a very simple concept and an even bigger huge not-worthy of price tag. It is extremely noisy. So far, it has not performed as expected. Not as efficient as promised. Remorsefully sorry about having bought the Excalibur.