Customer Reviews

FD%2D60 Snackmaster Express %2D 4 Tray with Fruit Roll Sheet%2C 2 Orig%2E Spices

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I grow, literally, 50 or so different varieties of herbs of all sorts, from the common place to the exotic. Drying them was always a process, and I always seemed to lose them to mold, mildew, or those that I kept were brown and unattractive looking. Then, as a gift, my husband bought me this dehydrator because he was told it'd dry herbs.

This little gadget has turned into just about the most important gadget I have in my kitchen. It's practically in-use everyday from May to November, dehydrating everything from my precious herbs, to apples, tomatoes, jerky, and all manner of fruit and flower. This dehydrator has literally saved me hundreds of dollars, not only because I can make my own jerky, fruit roll-ups, and dried fruits for everything from trail mix to healthy snacks, but because vegetables from the garden that were left to rot because we couldn't otherwise keep them (and there wasn't enough to can) are now being saved, and every last one of my herbs, even some which didn't take to being dried the "traditional way," are easily preserved. I can even buy in-season fruits and veggies in bulk and dehydrate them, saving me even more money!

This gadget dries everything very quickly and efficiently, so everything really retains its color. I've found myself drying everything from rose petals to bee balm flowers (and all sorts of other flowers that couldn't previously be dried) for use in sachets, potpourri, and carpet deodorizers. My red and purple rose petals stay red and purple, and my herbs keep their emerald-green color, something I'd never keep with conventional drying. I'm really impressed that a dehydrator that is gentle enough to dry herbs is also rugged enough to make jerky and apple chips. Unlike other dehydrators I've seen, this particular one allows you to custom set the temperatures, ensuring that whatever you dry is dried at the temperature most conducive to effective and attractive drying. There's been more than once where I dry a batch of herbs, then after a quick scrubbing, my husband sets it up to dry jerky, which is just awesome. The little booklet full of recipes and drying times that accompanies this dehydrator ensures that even if you've never seen a dehydrator before, you can still use this one almost right out of the box.

Our dehydrator comes with a fruit-rollup attachment, which I'll admit we only have used once, but it appeared to work very well. I will also admit we saved a few dollars by buying some door screen from a hardware store, and cutting it to the size of our dehydrator racks, saving quite a bit of money on the "Clean-A-Screen" which is offered as an optional attachment. It's also nice that this dehydrator is quieter than your average stove fan or air conditioner, so it's not loud at all. If the TV is on, I can't even hear it. My only real complaint with this dehydrator is that it doesn't have an "on/off" switch, so to turn it on and off, you have to plug and unplug it. For people who don't have a lot of power outlets our outlets that are hard to reach, I'd imagine this is a hassle.

I have to say, this tool is a must-have for any cook or gardener. I know my culinary ambitions have always stretched beyond my wallet, but with this I can make my own "sun dried tomatoes" and keep my own exotic herbs, saving not only a chunk of change and using everything in my garden, but also really dressing up my meals for super cheap. My friends have wondered just how I do it. :D I dare say, this is almost more useful than my canner, since I can save a garden harvest of any size, and still make use of them in jams, jellies, sauces, and meals... This product is a must have!

I love my new Nesco FD-60 dehydrator. My first month I probably spent $300 in fruit and meat trying all sorts of recipes and fruit-roll mixture. However I recommend buying from Walmart. Their price is about $45. Also, I wouldn't recommend buying expansion trays because 4 trays cost about $30 but a new dehydrator for $45 includes 4 trays and a fruit roll sheet (>$4 value)plus the usefullness of a backup or second dehydtation unit. That aside, beef jerky, dried fruits and homemade fruit rolls are wonderful and easy with this unit. Much better IMHO than using the oven (safer, faster, more cost effiecient).

This is the second food dehydrator I have owned, and I must say that this one is a great investment and value. My other machine was a lower priced model from another company, and takes longer to work. This machine is quiet and fast. The beef jerky recipe is great, or you can buy the optional jerky gun from Nesco and use their mix packets. About 3 LBS of ground beef and the jerky gun will fill this machine and be done in about 4 hours. I have made about 12 batches over the past year with this machine, and it is reliable and consistent. Unless you do tons of fruit or jerky, buying a larger model is just not worth it. For the causual user like me, this is the best model. Dishwasher safe clean up of trays as well (takes some maneuvering though to fit them in).

My husband and I were spending about $30 a month on beef jerky snacks for him to take to work. I have only owned this product for one day but I have made 1/2 lb of jerky which is amazing, dried apples, strawberries, bananas, and I am currently making fruit roll ups for the kids. I did buy the gun to make life easier and soon plan to make my own slim jims as soon as the roll up are done. The dried food is amazing and tastes better than any store bought dehydrated food. The package said that the jerky would take 4-15 hours but I pulled half out at 5 and the other half at 6 AND 5 hour batch tasted a lot better than the 6hour batch. The fruit said 6-12 hours and it took closer to 10 1/2. I did pull out some of the fruit at 8 hours to feed to my one year old as I do not want it too leathery for her. This machine is a huge hit at our house and we look forward to making more stuff. Oh yeah we bought it at walmart for $48.88 sorry Amazon. Thanks for the reviews though!

This is the best dehydrator I have ever used. I felt the last
unit I owned was underpowered. However, the Snackmaster comes
with a much more powerful fan and ajustable heat. We can now
make jerky in less than 5 hours. The other think I like about
this design is that the fan/heater is on top of the unit.
The last unit I had the fan was on the bottom, allowing the
meat to drip right into it.

I bought this dehydrator primarily to dry herbs. It works pretty well; my only real complaint is that it tends to take 2-3 times as long to dry the herbs as it says it should in the booklet that came with it. Not a huge deal since I can just leave them there, but if you're in a hurry it's something you should be aware of.

This is a great jerky maker! I will eventually use it to make dried fruits, etc. but for now it's just jerky! It's also easy to clean and will dry beef really quickly. Some people complain that it's loud, but honestly, it's not. Just like a fan (white noise) and NOT a problem considering how well it works!

We didn't know how lucky we were when we bought this used at a yard sale for $5.00! We have this running all the time! We have dried strawberries & herbs. Zucchini & Summer Squash dried until crisp to use in place of potato chips! Yum! Ripe bananas with cinnamon sprinkled on them...Next will be apples.
It features a convient dial giving you the temp. & the recomendation to use that setting for particular foods. For example the lowest temp. is recommended for herbs. The top heats & blows warm air through the racks. So far this has been very easy to clean. You can use more or less racks depending on your needs. Plus you can purchase additional racks, fruit leather trays, & more directly from Amazon if you want! You can even make your own jerky...something we plan to try.
This makes a great addition to your nutritional needs if you are on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. You know exactly what is in what you make. Fantastic if you want to cut your food budget & eat healthy! Plus there are lots of deyhdrator cook books available to keep you going!

I purchased this primarily to make Beef Jerky. It works like a charm for this and this is worth the cost alone. I have used this to make fruit leathers (roll-ups) and dried fruits. It works great although you had better buy the screens if you want to do fruits, otherwise, they stick to the trays and can be difficult to get off. The multiple temperature settings are great. The only problem I have had is that some items (ie: apples) have taken a lot longer to dehydrate than specified. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to make their own jerky and dried fruits.

It works awesome. Love it. Easy to clean and dehydrates evenly on all four trays w/out rotating.