NESCO Gardenmaster FD-1040 Digital Pro Food Dehydrator

I like the fact that I can set the timer and go about my day. I bought this last summer, and after deciding I wanted to make my own seasoning blends. I have to say I am really enjoying knowing what is in my seasoning! It is trial-and-error learning the best temps for my needs. It is a little loud, but nothing I can't handle. I will be buying the extra trays soon.

The dehydrator looks good, have a large capacity and works well. I dried sweet potatoes, Kiwi fruits, Mangos, Bananas, pineapples and Lemons. Most of them takes about 6 to 8 hours. The machine is pretty quiet but the heat maybe too much in the kitchen, I leave it in the laundry room overnight.

I love this unit. My old one finally died after about 10 or 12 years. The ability to stack multiple trays is wonderful. You can use one or two trays for short run or you can stack ten of them. A+.

The trays are large so you can fit plenty on them, and it dries evenly without moving them around. The fan is powerful but quite. The controllers are easy to use and located where they are easy to see.

This was a gift for my husband to make jerky. He hasn't only used one time so the review could change. I purchase do this after doing extensive research on great jerky dehydrators. This one is 1000watts, which makes heat up super fast. I read review so on other, lower watt, items that it took an hour to heat up so I wanted to avoid that. The jerky cooked evenly without have to move trays. Also, since the fan is at the top you don't have to worry about liquid dripping down into it. I did buy the Walmart warranty plan with it because I've read on most all dehydrators they can go out after a couple uses or over a couple years. I was able to get a 3 year warranty on it that covers everything and I know we aren't protected. I LOVE Walmart WARRANTY. I've had to use it many times on other items and they have always been fast and great getting me my refund. So far so good!

I tell ya... we love this.. and will get lots of use... 15 pounds of jerky in less than 12 hours... and it tasted just like we had put it in a smoke house ...

This dehydrator works great. The only thing that keeps it from a five star rating is that the noise level is a little on the high side. Another brand that I have is very quiet but doesnt dry as well. I would recommend getting the screen trays. They make clean up super easy and offers more control for putting the dry product into jars or bags.

Good for the price point. Do know that you have to set the temp with a manual dial - this is not the digital one. Also, the temp varies by 5-10 degrees from the dial setting. I used a thermometer and mine consistently was 5-10 degrees higher than the dial setting. It also does not have a timer. You have to manually unplug it to turn it off. I dried pears, apples, and peppers in it and they turned out fine.

We have not had this very long, but at this point, it appears to be a very good purchase. Good price, easy to use, easy clean up. We chose this model based on other reviews and do not regret our decision.

I've only used this once thus far, and I'm not convinced this was money well-spent yet. I believe my problems were user error, as I have zero experience with dehydrating food, and the book this unit comes with is not very helpful. I had 3 trays: apples, herbs, and paprika peppers that I needed to dry crisp enough to grind them into powder. Apples were a success, but the other items I finally pulled out of the dehydrator after 22.5 hours and finished them in my toaster oven. The next day, I checked the temperature of the unit at several settings, and it was heating properly, hence my thought that I mixed foods that varied too much in temperature requirements. Also, it is noisy - too noisy to run in my kitchen. It got moved to our sunroom so I could close the door. I'll have to keep trying: next up will be beef jerky after I've researched how to do it. At this point, I wouldn't recommend it if you are a newbie like me.