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Highly recommend!
I bought Nesco Food Dehydrator about 3 months ago and very happy with it. It serves the purpose for the price I paid. If it would come with Timer and OFF button it would be a big plus but I guess it would cost more. So when it's running you have to be alert. Other than that this is a great product.
[Wednesday, December 03, 2008]
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Nesco FD-75PR 700 Watt Food Dehydrator
I purchased this dryer a couple of months ago and am very pleased with the performance of this product. You may want to purchase more of the screens Nesco American Harvest Clean-A-Screen Tray as it only comes with 2 and there are 5 trays. These help prevent dried foods that have shrunken from falling through the grates of the trays. They are also needed for fruit leathers.
The book that comes with the dryer is good for a starter but not detailed enough. For instance, if you are wanting to dry fruit for storage the best pretreatment is a sulfite dip rather than ascorbic acid or honey. Sulfites are not recommended for people with asthma. Pretreating with an acidic solution or sodium metabisulfite, sodium sulfite or sodium bisulfite (USP or Reagant grade) helps keep light colored fruits from darkening during drying and storage, helps speed the drying process of certain fruits and enhances the destruction of harmful bacteria during drying.
The book does not provide very much detail on blanching vegetables, which is necessary to destroy enzymes in the tissues and also enhances the destruction of harmful bacteria. Different vegetables have different blanching times and over or under blanching may have an undesirable result as far as loss of color and flavor during drying or storage.
The book has many recipes and includes recipes for pet treats, drying crafts, dough ornaments and potpourri.
More information on drying fruits, fruit leathers, vegetables, jerkies as well as info on food storage can be found online at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
A good dryer is a handy tool to have if you grow veggies and fuits and like to have storage of your own creations to enjoy later.
Or make healthy snacks and foods without corn syrup.
The things you will like about the dryer are the size, variable temperature settings, the dryer is on top, very easy to handle and clean and not too noisy. Like others have said, it would be nice to have an on/off switch and a timer.
[Monday, November 24, 2008]
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Great value for money, perfect for home use
After some research, I settled on this model as the best combination of size, flexibility and price. I'm glad I did -- this little powerhouse has been doing a great job since day one. I've made raw cookies, sprouted granola, fresh fig leather and all kinds of fruit and veggie chips with it. I haven't made jerky yet, but I'm glad that the variable temp gives me the option to do so in the future.
Pros:
- Has large capacity without taking up excessive counter space.
- Variable temp lets you dry delicate foods without harming nutrients.
- Stackable trays customize the size of your dehydrator - you don't waste power drying empty space.
- Dries contents fairly evenly from top to bottom of tray stack. I only rotate trays once during drying, if at all.
Cons:
- Trays can be tricky to clean unless your sink is large.
- Doesn't have an on/off switch or timer. These aren't deal-breakers to me because drying fruit is not a precision art.
- The top (where the heater/fan is located) is awkward to set aside when you want to rearrange the drying contents. It doesn't rest flat.
Overall, I'd recommend this model highly to anyone who wants a good, all-purpose dehydrator at a reasonable price.
[Sunday, November 23, 2008]
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