Excalibur 3926TB Electric Food Dehydrator Machine with 26-Hour Timer, Automatic Shut Off and Temperature Control, 600-Watt, 9 Trays, Black

We have tried other dehydrators...most had fan issues and we finally decided to just go for what everyone said was the best of the best. So far, we are not disappointed! We had beef jerky marinating when the machine was delivered...yeah we had that planned! It turned out beautiful. Next batch - chicken jerky for the dogs. Again results were amazing. Just ask the dogs - they'll tell you how good it was! Then bananas and three pounds of apricots. We had done bananas before but never apricots - we were very pleased with the outcome. They take a long time but they are sure worth it! Next chicken/sweet potato dog treats.I ordered the nonstick sheets to go with this and they work well too. The racks are easy to clean - they fit flat in my sink (I have an over-sized sink). It runs quiet! I love the option to leave out racks if you have thicker foods to dry. This has run almost daily since delivery. Figured put it to the test and see how it holds up and so far it has passed the test with flying colors.When you order they give you a several day delivery window. My Excalibur was delivered on the first day of that window which was awesome. It was well packed and everything was there. The book is rather nice to that comes with it. We have done a lot of dehydrating but was nice to have references for all the fruits that we have not done before.This is the first dehydrator we have owned with a timer. I could probably live without it, but it is a very nice feature to have available. Never have to worry about it when you get busy and lose track of the time. And if you can, go for the 9 tray! I had looked at the 5 tray but I think I would have regretted that purchase. Saw where everyone said get the 9 tray so I followed everyone else and got the 9 tray and I am SO glad I did! The warranty is nice for peace of mind. There are tons or recipes on the Excalibur site. I know exactly where all the extra tomatoes from the garden are going to go this year!What an advancement from the old round Ronco that I started with many many years ago, bought at a flea market for $5. Got to admit tho, that thing ran for years! So old there was no fan...just the heating element in the bottom. I think I prefer my Excalibur over that one ha!I don't think you will be disappointed with this machine. Yeah it is big. Be sure you measure where you are going to put it so there is no surprise when you unbox it. It is lightweight tho.I guess overall I can say I am VERY happy with this purchase! I hope it serves me well for many years to come and from comments of others, I have a feeling that it might just do that!UPDATE 5/27/14: Having used this now for a few weeks almost nonstop, my statement of "I could have lived without the timer" is definitely FALSE. That timer sure does make life easier! So glad I got the one with the timer. We have put out multiple batches of chicken jerky (pet treats), dog cookies made with chicken and sweet potatoes, beef jerky (for us not the dogs ha), 15 pounds of apricots, 6 pounds of onions, bananas. Nothing is safe from the Excalibur! I should have bought this one first.

The media could not be loaded. Excalibur is great brand for dehydrating so many foods and herbs. I used it this past season for herbs and vegetables. (I bought the silicon tray liners seen in some of the photos additionally.) The dried tomatoes are our household favorite - especially on homemade pizza! I love that there is time and temperature control and I was able to dry things efficiently and accurately. The digital visualization of the timer hour countdown is wonderful too! The Excalibur Food Dehydrator runs quiet as you can hear in the video. I live in a humid area so most things took longer to dry than the instructions recommended, but I am still very happy with how this dehydrator preserved and held the color and flavors of my food. I filled all the trays on my model with chopped green peppers and it yielded a quart of dried food!! This food dehydrator is a great tool addition to my gardening season! I look forward to drying apples and blueberries next season.

I've had this unit for 4 years and it has performed exactly as expected. I've had it on for greater than 24 consecutive hours many times and it has worked great. I have purchased silicone trays with lips to use in this (not the same brand, but ones that work great just the same). This helps when I want to dehydrate squash puree to grind in a nut grinder and make squash flour. They'd work great for fruit leathers as well. I had thought I could just use cut parchment paper, but found the airflow often lifted the edges and caused issues so I was wasting too much time paperclipping the parchment down. I discovered that the plastic trays are actually easier to clean than I had anticipated. I hand wash the white plastic mesh part and run the black tray frames through my dishwasher all piled up on the top rack (my water doesn't get hot enough to melt them).I'll share 2 of our favorite snacks:1. Peel a banana (not overripe). Push your thumb into the center of the non-stem end. The banana will naturally split into thirds. Dehydrate these thirds and we call the result "banana licorice." It does keep some moisture in for a chewy texture, so we eat them up quickly rather than long storage.2. Instead of dipping apple slices in lemon or citric acid water to prevent browning, dip them in 100% pineapple juice. Trust me!I have also learned that my dehydrator will quickly dry tricky items (the blades of a blender/grinder) for me if I wash them between batches and need them bone dry. Some people use them for yogurt making (I haven't tried this). I'm using mine on its lowest setting to infuse acidified garlic into coconut oil because where I live this time of year coconut oil is solid at room temperature.If you have the room, splurge on the larger size. Someone dropped of a case of bananas to my house once as a gift. Boy, was I glad I had the larger size. I've used it to dehydrate potatoes I purchased in bulk, countless produce from our garden and bulk purchases, and smaller batches like a few hot peppers from the package I wouldn't get to using in time. It works just as well on a smaller batch as it does a large one.