Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator, Standard

I purchased a Presto popcorn maker a few months back, and was very happy with it, so I chanced buying a much less expensive no-frills Presto dehydrator instead of one from the bigger brands. I've been very happy with it, but, I've never used any other so I can't compare. In reviews of the bigger brand dehydrators, people boast about quicker dryer times, but what I've read in recipes from users of these same dehydrators, mine dries just as fast. I've only done fruit leathers, and bought it primarily to do these. It takes 6-7 hours depending on how thick my mix is. I'm still tinkering with my recipes. The applesauce/gelatin mixes take longer than fruit purees, I've found. I'm not a jerky person, but would like to try it just to see how my machine does. I'm a little wary about keeping meat at such low temps for such long periods of time (I know that meat has to be cooked before or after dehydrating.). Someone said this machine goes to about 140. The more $$$ ones don't go much higher than that. So guess it's not a concern and that a more pricey, higher wattage model wouldn't make much difference. I'm so not a cook which is another reason why I hesitate on the jerky. Our meat doesn't look very good in store to begin with plus having to marinade a full day... Anyway, I like it for fruit leathers. I'll eat 4 trays' worth in a day's time, easily. I'm glad I'm the only one in the house who likes these! Even so, I want to buy more trays, and buy the fruit leather sheets. I've been lining my trays with parchment paper (Found this tip in a blog.). A roll is about $4.00, and will do about 3 sessions' worth (for 4 trays). It works well, but a pain to mess with, and not very cost effective IMO. My grocery is putting it on closeout now (and still costs $3.50!!) so it's time to shell out the Wheaties for the sheets. It looks like they'll work well too because they have high edges which should keep the trays from rubbing and getting fruit goo from one sheet onto the bottom of the adjoining tray (a prob I'm having now). My mom wants dried apples, so going to have to try that. I drink spearmint tea, so should save some $ there by drying leaves from my mom's spearmint plant instead of buying tea. I think this will turn out to be a good investment, though the fruit leathers alone make it worth it to me! I mix 1/2 a crate of strawberries, a 1/2 crate of blackberries (about 8 of each), a 1/2 cup of applesauce, and a 1/4 cup of any fruit juice (Minute Maid Berry Punch is good.). Blend it, then pour on oiled parchment paper (I use shortening to oil mine.). Mine turned out a little thick and only covered 3 trays so will use more juice next time. SO GOOD!

This was an excellent buy for me. It works exactly as expected and just the right size for our family (two people). The instructions are simple, it's literally just a plug-in and it turns on machine. I've tried several different fruits, some veggies and a couple batches of jerky so far. Everything has turned out fantastic and in much quicker times than I anticipated. The trays are really big and pretty much impossible to fit in my dishwasher, but they are easy to clean so that's a plus. It runs pretty quietly too so it's not bad having it on for several hours. There isn't a temperature control at all though for anyone interested, you literally just plug it in and it turns on, but the manual says that it runs at 165 Degrees Fahrenheit so just use that as your guide for planning times out. I would absolutely recommend this to anybody who is looking for an easy to use dehydrator at an affordable price, especially if it is their first time using / purchasing one.

Works very fast. My last dehydrator didn't have a fan, just a heat element, so there's a learning curve here. This machine does well with thick cut wet items. I did very thick cut apple rings in 6 to 7 hours. Very thin sliced jerky was overdone in 4 hours, was perfect at about 2.5 hours. I used mesh sheets with large diced onion, 14 hours. Bananas, 1/8" thick took 15 hours for crispy chips (they were still a little chewy once you ate them). Any mesh sheets or teflon will only increase this time. The bananas did stick but I peeled them off the tray and flipped them half way thru dry time and they didn't stick again. Space saver when stored. The Presto trays have a system of alternate inverted trays which makes it about half it's height once everything is compacted down. These trays are better quality than my old dehydrator. They feel like a solid plastic laundry basket. I've bought 2 packs of trays so I can do up to 8 at a time. My complaint is about the noise. This machine is louder than my dishwasher and can be heard throughout the house. This is not something I can leave on all night in the kitchen. Because I was doing onions, I put a folding table in my garage and used the machine there so as not to stink up the house and burn our eyes. This is probably how I'll use it for overnight drying, and items with long dying times like bananas. I could also complain that the trays are too big to fit in my kitchen sink and I keep getting water all over the counter trying to clean up. My old ones fit right in. But these Presto trays clean way easier. The food didn't stick as much as my old unit. It would be even quicker if I could soak them in my sink!

works great out of the box, mine has been in non stop use since I bought it with zero issues

I like easy to use products that are practical and work right out of the box - I just plugged it in, put my thinly cliced fruit in the dehydrator and checked on it periodically - yummy!

Deshidrate carne y quedó espectacular. Calculaba 6 horas, se hizo en 3. Superó mi expectativa porque es muy sencillo de utilizar.

Unfortunately at 120 volts this item is not compatible for the UK market

Would recommend. Really saves time and mess. Good to dry fruits vegetables and meat for dog treats

PRODUCTO EXCELENTE