Excalibur 2500ECB 5-Tray Economy Dehydrator, Black

by Excalibur

• 5-tray dehydrator, 8 square feet of drying space
• 5" fan, Adjustable Thermostat
• 5-inch fan, 440 watts
• 81/2"H x 17"W x 19"D
• Limited 5-year warranty

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 19 x 17 x 8.5 inches ; 15 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 16 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B004UF9U0W
• Item model number: 2500ECB
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,926 in Kitchen & Dining (See Top 100 in Kitchen & Dining)
  • #29 in Kitchen & Dining > Small Appliances > Specialty Appliances > Dehydrators

Product Description

Dehydration is the healthiest, easiest, and most economical way to preserve foods. Load the trays and set the temperature, the Excalibur dries the contents of all trays evenly so everything's done at once. Dehydration concentrates the natural flavor, sweetness, and aromas of your food. Leaving you with a flavor that's far healthier than high-fat snacks and high-sugar candies that are filled with chemical preservatives. The Excalibur 5-Tray Economy dehydrator provides 8 square feet of drying space, and is perfect for families with small gardens.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars faster/safer drying time October 17, 2010

By idahofarmgirl

Amazon Verified Purchase

I appreciate that this model blows air from the back of the racks. This ensures that food dries quickly, thoroughly, and safely. Other styles blow air from the bottom, therefore up through the layers, creating moist air conditions at the top racks. I don't trust that for safe food preservation. This unit is fast, fast, fast! And it is easy to clean. The fruit/veggies maintain beautiful colors and flavors. Highly recommend this unit.

61 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and Addicting! December 28, 2008

By Pescetarian

I researched dehydrators for almost 3 months before making a purchase, and asked a LOT of people what features they liked or disliked about their dehydrator. I discovered that the round ones, although seemingly popular (and cheaper) will not dry evenly because the fan is at the bottom, so if you have too many things on the bottom it will not let the proper amount of air above to dry the things on the upper levels - which is a MAJOR drawback! Also lots of the smaller kinds of dehydrators do not have self-timers, which I really wanted because when you're drying something for anywhere from 8 to 24 hours, you don't want to have to remember to check on it to turn it off! Another thing some people mentioned were that some smaller types can be quite noisy, which I wanted to try to avoid as much as possible. There were a few other drawbacks to the smaller and/or cheaper models, but I can't remember them now as it's been several months. One of the things that really caught my attention on the Excalibur was the fact that many people had them from the 70's and they are STILL running - reminds me of a Kitchenaid mixer...

SO - I finally decided that an Excalibur would work best, as they have built-in timers, a very varied temperature range, and the fan is located in the back of the dehydrator instead of at the bottom (which someone has already mentioned). I was also very happy to discover that the trays are dishwasher safe, and very easy to wipe down, otherwise, as well! Well, I finally broke down and clicked the 'purchase' button, and ever since then it's been no regrets!

I have used and used and used my dehydrator for 6 months now and I still have not run into one thing that I dislike about it!... It's not very noisy at all - my family often mistakes it for a small fan or the air conditioner blowing. I LOVE the self timer and I don't think I could ever live without it! I can put something in when I go to bed and not have to wake up at 6AM to keep it from over-drying. I just set the timer and 'click': off it goes! I have used it for a whole week, 24 hours a day, 7 days in a row, once before and it ran fine and kept a consistent temperature. My model came with 2 Paraflexx sheets included, and I love those as well, although in some cases I believe wax paper or parchment paper would do just as well.

I have used this to dry rawfoods recipes (although I'm not a rawfoodist, I do enjoy the recipes!), for fruit leathers, made some veggie 'chips', made some strawberry-banana granola, to re-crisp stale chips, to preserve produce that is going bad from the fridge, to make yogurt, to dry sprouted beans and grains... I'm sure there's more... :-) Once you dehydrate something you will be hooked!

Trust me - if you purchase any Excalibur dehydrator you will not be disappointed in any way! Read more ›

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Does exactly what I need it to do. July 3, 2010

By Amity McGinnis

Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this dehydrator to make SCD yoghurt and crispy nuts (soaked and dehydrated). Both come out perfect. It is easy to remove trays to place pint jars inside. It does run a little loud from the corner of the kitchen in our 1200 sq ft apartment, but if we could plug it in somewhere a bit more out of the way, we wouldn't notice it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars works wonderfully February 20, 2011

By Ian Smith

Amazon Verified Purchase

got this for the GF at Christmas and it works great. it does make a little noise but we have an out of the way room for it. we are both very glad we got it.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Ridiculously LOUD November 17, 2011

By R. Moore

Amazon Verified Purchase

I've never owned a dehydrator before so this is my first experience with one. Does the job well enough, but it is, in my opinion, too loud. And it's not just the hum of the fan/motor, the plastic case vibrates significantly enough that it makes a buzzing sound. I live in an apartment with the living/dining/kitchen rooms open to each other. If I run this thing in the kitchen I have to turn my TV up quite a bit from what I usually have it set at. So, I put it in the bathroom, but even there it's very noticeable.

And I'm one who actually likes to have some background "noise" going on. I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and keep a fan running in my bedroom at night to mask the noise in my head. But this dehydrator is just annoying to use. Which is a shame, because I really like the results it gives.

I've done some searching and reading and discovered that others have had this problem. It seems to be a random thing. Some units are quieter than others - which means there are issues with quality control.

I dried some tomatoes and green peppers today. They came out great, but good grief... it's such a relief to finally turn the thing off after 12 hours that I'm not exactly in a hurry to use it again.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!! September 20, 2008

By James E. Axsom

The Excalibur far exceeds my expectations! I have been using the "round" dehydrators for years, and while they a great for the price, you get what you pay for. I generally like to make a lot dried foods at once, with round dehydrators I was constantly swapping trays in an attempt to get everything to dry at the same rate. With the Excalibur the process is simple, about half way though the drying process I rotate trays 180 degrees and it has always come out perfect. I could not be more satisfied.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great until the Stopped Producing Heat August 1, 2012

By E. Glisch

Mine worked great for a while, but stopped producing heat after only two years, and under very limited use. I tried emailing customer service about the problem several times, as well as calling them, but have yet to receive assistance with the problem, so I'm being snarky and giving the product a bad review. When it works, however, it's great.

*Update: Excalibur sent me a replacement part free of charge and my dehydrator is again up and running!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome dehydrator July 17, 2011

By Charity Vogel

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is simply the best dehydrator I've ever tried. I love it. Food dries fast and fairly evenly. I might even buy the nonstick sheets for making fruit rolls eventually. The booklet that came with the dehydrator was great too. Full of wonderful ideas.