Nesco Food Dehydrator

Hi everyone,
Do any of use Nesco food dehydrators? I am thinking of getting a Nesco FD-37A American Harvest Food Dehydrator, 400-watt. I hope to use it to make jerky on a regular basis. Will it do the job reliably and easily?
Thanks!

Hey Marcus Epictetus,

I bought this a few months ago after reading about it at http://bestfooddehydratorhq.net and I've already made jerky, fruit leathers, and lots of dehydrated fruits. My only issue with it is that it gets very hot. So hot that I think it might actually cook the food a little. Depending on what you're dehydrating that could be a very bad thing. It definitely gets the job done though.

Nicholas Jones wrote:Hey Marcus Epictetus,

I bought this a few months ago after reading about it at http://bestfooddehydratorhq.net and I've already made jerky, fruit leathers, and lots of dehydrated fruits. My only issue with it is that it gets very hot. So hot that I think it might actually cook the food a little. Depending on what you're dehydrating that could be a very bad thing. It definitely gets the job done though.

Hi Nicholas,
Just to clarify you bought a Nesco dehydrator? (Your link went to a website but not an item)

Hola! My Nesco vacuum sealer arrived recently - a necessary purchase after buying an Excalibur dehydrator (10 tray).
While not exactly answering your question....

Both were purchased within the last month, and Ive been very happy with both thus far.
I paid ~250 for the dehydrator and ~90 for the sealer, shamefully, on Amazon.
After hours of reading reviews on all the top dehydrators/sealers, these two were the best for what I wanted to pay.

Both companies seem legitimate, hope this helps!

I have a Nesco dehydrator (a different model though). I think the company makes good mid-quality dehydrators. I've dried lots and lots of mushrooms, herbs, and fruit in mine over the last several years and it's still doing great. I have the square model which allows you to adjust the heat...which is really nice when doing things you really don't want to cook. I don't really make jerky so I can't answer to how it does for that.

I have a nesco that I have used to dehydrate fruit and jerky for years with no issue. I wish there was a timer so I could turn it off at a certain time, sometimes the jerky gets too dry. Other than that I love it.

We have two Nesco dehydrators and have been using them for the last 6 years without any problems.
Do purchase a few extra leather sheets because you are going to want them for drying herbs and other items that benefit from having the plastic liner in place like lemon, mango, etc.
If you need extra space, just buy a few more of the stacking trays, ours both have 7 trays now.

Wolf wants to add an Excalibur but hasn't decided on how many trays she wants for that one.

Redhawk

We have a nesco dehydrator and it works well.  However,  I recommend getting one with a thermostat.  If you dehydrate a variety of foods: jerky, herbs etc,  its nice to select differant temperatures.

I got this one (Nesco Snackmaster) for Christmas last year. I've used it for jerky, apple chips, kale chips, fruit leather, and dried peaches. It works well, though it takes a bit longer to dry things than it's supposed to...but that could be because my house is usually pretty humid.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Cisxe2TjL._SL1500_.jpg

I also like that I can easily adjust the temperature, and that the air circulates each tray pretty evenly (we had a cheaper Nesco that had the heating unit on the bottom, so things were unevenly heated). I also like that the heating unit is at the top, not the bottom, as I would often have jerky marinade drip onto my old, cheap Nesco's heating unit and that's probably what broke it. The Snackmaster I got for Christmas is no Excalibur, and it is made of plastic (which I don't like), but the price is a whole lot more reasonable.

I dont have one but from time to time I do make jerky at 140F for safety, I am always worried about dehydrating it at lower temps.
I have dehydrated at 110F before but even then I give it a 5minute blast at high temperature to at least kill the microbes on the surface.
Then I dip it in some water/juice kefir and dehydrate again.

and dehydrate fruits/plants at 105F to keep as many enzymes "alive" as possible