Ronco Food Dehydrator, Yogurt Maker and Beef Jerky Machine

Executive summary: spend ten dollars more and get the Snackmaster model instead. I've got a Snackmaster FD-50 that I bought a year or so ago, and more recently my sister picked up a Ronco FD5, so I've had a chance to compare the two, side-by-side. Buy the FD-50, not the FD5. Details follow.

First, the Ronco FD5 is slower. It takes up to twice as long to dry food as the Snackmaster. This may not seem like a big deal, but it's the difference between being able to dry three batches of apple slices in a single day off, versus only one batch.

Second, and more important, the Ronco FD5 does not dry evenly. This is probably because it doesn't have a fan, but it's very annoying. For one thing, it means you need to rotate trays. Regularly. It's no good to set the thing going and then go do other things for four hours; you have to stay close enough that you can monitor it and rotate the trays every hour or so; otherwise the bottom trays get dry, and the top ones don't. Additionally and worse, there is no consistency in dryness from piece to piece within the same tray. One piece of fruit will be dry while the piece right next to it is still wet on the surface, let alone in the middle. Not only does this necessitate removing some pieces early and letting others dry longer, but, worse, it also means checking each piece for dryness (by tearing to see if there are moisture droplets inside) before removing it from the dryer. With my Snackmaster 50, I can just tear one or two of the thickest pieces on any tray, and if they are dry, I know all the fruit is dry on all the trays, and there is no need to rotate trays.

Finally (and this is a smaller issue), the bottom of the Ronco model is open to the coil, so that when (not if) you're rotating the trays or removing dry pieces and some pieces drop through the trays by mistake, getting them out means reaching past the heating coil, which is a minor annoyance but one that you will encounter frequently. The Snackmaster's base is covered, except for the central fan area, making this largely a non-issue.

All told, you will spend a lot more time babysitting the Ronco; the Snackmaster is a much more hands-off proposition. The ten dollar price difference does not in my opinion justify the extra aggravation and time investment required to use the FD5.

If you garden and raise fruit of any kind, this is a useful device. It's also good if you have kids. Here's why:

You can take apples, peaches, strawberries or other fruits and make candy-like healthy snacks. It's a nice alternative to canning, which uses a lot of sugar. So you can preserve your crop rather easily. All you need to do is slice the peeled or unpeeled fruit. To prevent browning due to an enzymatic reaction, you can dip each slice into a solution of ascorbic acid (available at the pharmacy) or in lemon juice. You can also make yogurt in this, using the gentle heat as the incubator to keep the milk with yogurt starter warm in jars overnight.

The trays feel a bit flimsy; this is a lightweight device and it is a bit large. So you'll probably have to find a place to pack it away unless you have a lot of counter space and use it all the time.

A nice inexpensive dehydrator great for those of you on a budget, in school, or just a newbie to dehydrating. I have owned one for at least 3 yrs and love it. However, after these wonderful yrs of daily or weekly consistent use, the trays have now begun to break up. My only drawback is that cost of the replacement trays are looking to cost as much as the actual dehydrator. So now, I am wondering do I buy a different one.

I like the Ronco dehydrator because it makes jerky fast. You don't need to use preservatives when making pet treat jerky as long as you properly dehydrator the food. It is a silent easy to learn dehydrator.

The only real pain was rotating and switching the trays other than that it pretty much runs itself. You can safely run it 24/7 and you not overly worry about something going wrong in the household.

I recommend this product to everyone. Once you get experienced with dehydrating and wear it out. Easily replace it like I am going to do with the same brand or get a more sophisticated one. But I will be buying another Ronco dehydrator in the months to come!