Customer Reviews

Nesco American Harvest Fruit Roll Sheets for FD-27 & FD-50

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My mother has these and I used to make lots of fruit rolls with them - lots of fun, and a good treat! I recommend mixing applesauce with (thawed) frozen fruit juice concentrate of your choice to make whatever flavor you like. My favorite was mixing grape fruit juice concentrate with the applesauce. It makes a very deep purple and fruity treat. (Ratio was one can frozen concentrate to a big jar of applesauce. I'll edit my post and add specific sizes soon.)

If you have to feed people snacks and are worried about sugar (not to mention the cost of snacks, which is relatively high) you should consider making fruit leather. You start with a puree of fruit (like applesauce, peach, pear, apricot, or mixed fruits.) These sheets fit in the Nesco American Harvest dehydrator. Fruit leather can be carried for a quick energy snack for hikers, brown baggers, hungry people who need extra sustenance, and of course, the kids.

During peach season, you can buy fresh ripe peaches, even a bit bruised, and make the most tasty snacks. Great for raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, if you have a lot of them. You can mix berries with apple or peach to stretch them a bit and make some nice varieties of fruit leather. You can even get crazy and dribble the blueberry or raspberry puree onto an apple base for swirly fruit leather.

For some reason, fruit leather is fun, like red licorice, whereas plain old dried fruit is definitely NOT FUN (for example PRUNES, or dried peaches or apricots once your older brother suggests to you that they really are ears that fell off a mummy. Blech.)

I bought a set of these to make fruit rolls for hiking. The Scouts in my troop are always impressed with them (if I bring enough to share). They work great, and are very easy to use. Simply spray them with Pam and pour your fruit mixture on them. Put them in the dehydrator and turn it on. For the fruit mixture, I usually use unsweetened applesauce (from big Costco jars) mixed with jam or jelly. In season, I've also used fresh fruit with applesauce, but it sometimes comes out a little sour.

I've also had no trouble with them warping, as another has mentioned. I once tried to make fruit rolls on waxed paper, instead of buying these. Don't do that, because the waxed paper will become permanently bonded to the fuit.

Great purchase to go with my Nesco FD-60 bought from Walmart.com site-to-store (not the FD-27 or FD-50 listed above as compatible products). For those like me looking for fruit leather sheets and unsure whether they'll fit your machine, the overall diameter of these sheets is 13", with the inner donut hole 3". Each sheet holds about 2 cups of pureed fruit. (For example, 2 large peaches, a bit less than a pound.)

What I've tried so far, all with a bit of lemon juice to preserve color and freshen the fruit flavor:

- 2 cups of applesauce with 1/3 cup de-frozen grape/raspberry juice - too sweet, will use maybe a scant 1/4 cup next time. Rather sticky pliable leather. I just stirred this together in a bowl and then spread on tray.

- 2 large diced peaches (pitted, not peeled), thrown in the blender with a little lemon juice, one peach at a time. Added not much of anything else - came out too crisp to roll. Peaches are nice this way, but needs a bit of syrup (not sugar) to keep the peach pliable.

- 2 peaches as above with grape/raspberry concentrate and a little corn syrup for pliability - excellent!

- Package of Dole natural frozen tropical fruit (no sweeteners) - pineapple, mango, strawberries, kiwi, maybe something else. Defrosted, tossed in blender, added a little of the grape/raspberry concentrate and corn syrup. Excellent!

When I got my dehydrator, it came with one fruit roll sheet. I ordered another package of sheets but was deeply disappointed with what I got.

Yes, they are the same shape and size as the original, but they are made of a heavier plastic that warps! I have never had a problem with my original sheet warping, but all of the extra sheets I ordered warped on their first run in the dehydrator.

These sheets are difficult to use because the liquids I put on them for dehydration run down into the low spots and I cannot get a nice uniform dried fruit rolls the way I can with the original sheet that came with the dehydrator.

I have a ronco dehydrator and at first didn't think these fit. However, after pushing on them a bit, they fit great and work like a charm! I've made excellent apple leather out of applesauce and have dried spaghetti sauce to use for dinner on an overnight backpacking trip.

Upon side-by-side comparison, these are the exact same fruit roll sheets that came with my Nesco FD-75PR. Since my dehydrator came with only two, I wanted a couple more so I could make more fruit rolls in one batch. These sheets work great. They fit perfectly, clean up easily, and the fruit rolls peel nicely from the sheet. Its nice to be able to make four at a time instead of just two. I definitely recommend this product.

I ordered an FD-50 dehydrator and an extra set of these fruit roll sheets. As far as I can tell, the extra sheets are identical to the one that came with the dehydrator.

There has been no problem with warping. Perhaps the previous reviewer got a bad set or exposed them to too much heat (e.g., left lying in the sun or washed in the bottom of the dishwasher).

I've not used these for fruit roll ups, but can attest to wonderful kale chips in just a few hours of dehydrating. Wash and dry a large bunch of Kale. Break into pieces like a salad then drizzle (about 1Tb) with olive oil. Really massage it into the greens (it takes about 5 full minutes). Then add any seasonings you want. A dash or two of vinegar (apple cider, balsamic, any kind), S or P, onion powder, garlic powder. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, nutritional yeast, or red pepper flakes-whatever suits your buds. Spread on the sheets, dehydrate on low (about 115 F) to retain the most nutrients and check in about 4 hours. You want them crisp like potato chips. If they are still a bit chewy, keep them in there longer. A delicious, satisfying, and totally nutritious snack. My 7 year old loves them!
Happy snacking!

For pasta you need:
1) dry ground meat (very lean hamburger or ground turkey is healthier but probably less tasty).

2)tomatoe sauce (Ragu, or healthier homemade).
Any except greasy sauces like alfredo or with meatballs will not dry well.

3) dry pasta: It's already done for you, the pastas found in the supermarket.

I just follow youtube videos using these fruit roll sheets.
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hamburger:

"Dehydrating with Tinny and Sue"
[...]

"Dehydrating part two!! with Sue and Tinny"
[...]
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Ragu sauce:
"deydrating Spaghetti sauce"
[...]
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What could be easier?