Dehydrator Recommendation

[treillw]

Any recommendations on a good dehydrator that will last?

Would like to use it for jerky, morels, and anything else I can think of drying.

Thanks!

 

[Poser]

I have a Weston that works well and comes at a reasonable price.

 

[semperfidelis97]

I cannot say enough good things about the Cabelas commercial grade dehydrators.

 

[Schism]

I’ve been using an Excalibur 3900 for a few years and it has worked well for me.

 

[mproberts]

I will 100% second the Cabela's commercial grade dehydrators. I own the smaller of the two, I believe it's listed as the 80L. I run 20lbs of jerky at a time in that thing, which is about all I can personally handle in a day. I have run it pretty hard over the last 5 years with no issues at all.

I do all ground jerky blasted from a gun for uniform drying and flavoring (so much easier than whole muscle), I thaw out 20lbs of meat the day before. Mix up 4 - 5lb batches - each a different flavor/seasoning then let them dehydrate. Normally takes like 5-7 hours of drying. Between prep, drying, cooling and vacpacking it takes about all day but I end up with 20lbs of jerky out of it.

 

[Jskaanland]

Excalibur has been amazing for my family. We have a cylindrical sunbeam too, it works but very inconsistent. I always have to move trays and item to keep the sunbeam from leaving some stuff wet and others rock hard.

 

[GordonFreeman]

I cannot say enough good things about the Cabelas commercial grade dehydrators.

This. Had ours over 5 years it is incredible

 

[Roy68]

Ditto on the cabelas. Mine is going on 10 years old now. I had to block off the 80% of the upper vents on the back with sheet magnet otherwise it would not hold a temp above 100F. The new ones are designed different to correct this issue. Last weekend I cured 26# of sliced beef jerky (top round) on my smoker and then dehydrated. Works as good today as it did 10 years ago; albeit modified slightly

 

[Owenst7]

I have nothing but good things to say about my Excalibur. It is basically just a toaster with a fan, so I'm sure there's a lot of good products out there.

Excaliburs are made in Sacramento. It's awesome that it's made in America, but I'm concerned that it's going to rob me.

 

[mtnkid85]

Another Excalibur here too. We went to it from some little bitty 3 shelf deal. The excalibur is a set it and forget it dehydrator, very uniform. Seems like a quality product.

 

[couesbitten]

Excalibur 9 tray model here as well, been a wonderful unit for dehydrating meals for the backpacking trips.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

After running my cylinder cheapo for the last week nonstop rotating in a lot of meals and fruit an excaliber 9 tray is on my wish list.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Coming from the other end of the spectrum, I went with a Cabela’s consumer grade one for my first. My model has been replaced but it was about $70. It suits me as I am only doing 10-15 pounds of jerky a year and some other random stuff. I haven’t felt the need to upgrade yet but it has its limitations.

I generally believe in the buy once and cry once philosophy but this has been a good starting point for me as I build up my meat processing equipment.

 

[Backyard]

Excalibur 4 tray that I have is going on 16 years and still operates like new. Works great! I done everything from burger, to fruit leather, to stews and chili in it. Simple to operate and clean.

 

[bwhntMT]

Another happy Excalibur user here.

 

[ghost338]

Excalibur 9 tray digital here. Program and walk away. Been very happy with the performance.

 

[Rick]

I have used the Sportsmans Warehouse Open Country model with eight trays for the last five years. I put 40-50 pounds of fruit through it each year. I'll probably get the same style again when this one dies.

 

[dv808]

I got the cheap 6-tray Cabelas for jerky. It handles about 5# of meat without any problems. I'll probably spring for the commercial version when it needs to be replaced.

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