Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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118 of 119 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't frustrate yourself - just buy a good dehydrator, August 3, 2004
Somewhere in my life - I think in Boy Scouts - I developed a taste for beef jerky. Years later, in grad school, I realized I could make it at home, as well as dry fruits and vegetables for snacks, with a magical machine called a dehydrator. At the time I picked up a cheap machine - $24, I think - from Wal-Mart. I was able to make some ground beef jerky, dry some fruits and make my own ground red pepper from peppers I grew in pots in the porch. Soon, the dehydrator lid was cracked, the trays warped, other things got my attention, and forming jerky strips from ground beef was tedious without a jerky gun, so the machine got put up for a number of years.
Six or seven years later, I'm in my career and new house. The interest in making jerky and drying foods is renewed, bolstered by an interest in drying foods for camping. I tried to use the old machine. It's only temperature control was a variable vent on the lid - but you still didn't know what temperature you were drying at. (which can be the difference between safe jerky, and jerky that will make you quite sick) I'm probably lucky I never got sick. The airflow was also quite inconsistent. One end of an item would be overdried, while the other end wasn't dried at all. These things would just ruin entire batches of food. Additionally, there were no drying sheets available for it to make leathers ("fruit roll-ups," but you can also dry things like spaghetti sauce.) I decided to get a better dehydrator.
I researched dehydrators, and found several books and online reviews pointing to the American Harvest (NESCO) Gardenmaster. The FD-1018 and FD-1010 are the same machine, but the FD-1018 includes more trays, more leather sheets, more mesh sheets (a finer mesh than the tray which allows drying of smaller objects, like chopped veggies, without falling through the trays), and a book on drying.
The most important features of this dehydrator are the temperature control (dry veggies at 135-145F, meats at 145-155F), and the fact that it is carefully designed for uniform airflow on every sheet. This last advantage cannot be emphasized enough. With the Gardenmaster, I don't have to worry about moving items around and shuffling trays for consistent results. It's actually pretty amazing how well it works!
The Gardenmaster has been getting a workout making jerkies, fruit leathers, and dehydrating vegetables for taking to camp.
As for choosing the FD-1010 or FD-1018, if you're investing this kind of money, I'd highly recommend going to the FD-1018. The price difference more than made up for the cost of purchasing the additional trays, additional accessories and book separately (at least when I purchased it). You will find that you can EASILY fill a half dozen trays. (I used 5 trays the other night to dry just 2 lbs of ground beef jerky.) You don't want to overcrowd foods. You also get enough leather sheets for all of the trays and enough screens for all of the trays. It's frustrating to find that you have enough trays for your drying task, but only have 2 or 3 screens or sheets. The book HOW TO FRY FOODS by Delong is also included. I intend to cover that in an individual review, but it is a worthwhile book and much more substantial than the directions you'd otherwise receive with a dehydrator.
If you don't want to spend this kind of money until you see how much you'll use it, you may want to try the smaller NESCO FD-50 Snackmaster, which also has temperature control, although it only goes to 145F, which is the minimum for meat. As I said, NESCO seems to know the secret of uniform airflow, and I expect this knowledge to be extended to the FD-50.
Don't try to skimp too much on a dehydrator, or you will pay for ruined food, wasted time and frustration. If it is in your price range, you will no be disappoined with the FD-1018 Gardenmaster.
UPDATE: If you're upgrading to this from a less powerful model, beware that it may dry MUCH faster! I've ruined a couple of batches of jerky - turned REALLY leathery - before I realized I was OVERdrying! Can't leave it drying jerky overnight.
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just like its little brother but better, March 6, 2006
I already own the FD-50 (the smaller version). I found myself wanting more capacity. I did a lot of research but had been so happy with the smaller Nesco I just decided to get its big brother with all the accessories (screens, trays)
I wasn't disappointed.
Preformance - Same as the smaller version, Jerky in 4 hours, apple chips in 6. Higher capacity for sure but not night and day difference from the smaller one. This ones strenght comes in that you can stack a whole lot of trays.
Features - A dehydrator with an off switch. What a concept. Put a timer on it and maybe you'll be in the 20th century! Why they can't put these things on is beyond me. I still use a light timer but at least now I don't have to unplug it.
Build - One another area of improvement over it smaller brother. Seems to be built a lot better. Has more weight to it and just seems like a higher quality item.
If you want a deydrator to handle volume don't hesitate to get this one. Its got plenty of features, power and capacity.
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Option, April 13, 2005
If you are tired of paying too much for dried fruit at the store I strongly recommend a dehydrator. I chose this one based on the good reivews and I haven't been disappointed. Special Note: the more trays the better! To limit drying time I slice fruit very thin so that takes up more trys. Also, there is work involved in the prep and clean up so why not get most fruit out of a single drying session? This is not a quiet item so plan on using it in a different room.
Pros: Great product, easy to use, easy to clean
Cons: Noisy, Out of date booklet.
Special Note: Dried honeydew mellon is wonderful!
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