How long the timer runs for: for most fruit and vegetable dehydrating tasks, a dehydrator with a timer that runs for up to 12 hours should suffice. But if you’re looking to dehydrate herbs, you’ll need a model with a timer that runs for up to 24 hours or more. Effortlessly dehydrate small quantities of fish, meat, fruit of vegetables, with this mini dehydrator from Buffalo. The dehydrator utilises a powerful, horizontal air flow that helps to prevent flavours from spreading and ensures that all produce remains as fresh and tasty as possible. Six, individual stainless-steel trays aid in reducing the risk of cross contamination and allow you to dehydrate different produce at the same time – such as apples, bananas and pineapple. The ultra-quiet fan helps to keep the noise down in your kitchen, allowing you to focus throughout the busiest periods of service. The next important criteria while choosing a food dryer should be the performance and intended use. The performance is affected by several key characteristics like the dehydrator's power, the availability of a thermostat, the size and number of trays, which affects the capacity, and the types of food you will be able to dry. The power of your food dehydrator directly affects the type and amount of food you are going to dry. If you wish to load a lot of fruit, meat, fish, etc. then 1000 Watts or more will be a suitable power for your dehydrator. For small supplies, the 250-Watt device will be more than enough. For the moderate price, you will mostly find fruit dehydrator s of 700–800 Watts. They are quite okay for drying fruit and vegetables. For those who like to dry meat or fish, we would recommend purchasing more powerful devices, although they cost slightly more. When deciding on a food dryer, firstly, look at its type and shape . These are very important features. The type of dehydrator can be either convection or infrared. Convection-type food dehydrators use a heating element with a fan that moves the air inside the housing. They are more popular than infrared ones which use infrared rays to heat up the fruit surface, thus evaporating the moisture. As for the shape, the food dryers can be round (oval shape is possible, but rare) with the trays one on top of the other over the heating element, and square that look like drawers with the trays on the rails.

Number of trays: consider how much dehydrating you're planning to do. If you’re looking to dehydrate in large batches opt for a model with six or more trays. If you’re looking to dehydrate occasionally (or are short on space) choose a dehydrator with four to five trays. A food dehydrator is a cool kitchen device used to extend the shelf life of food. It works using a heat source and an airflow which allow it to reduce the moisture content in various foods (50% for meats and 80-90% for fruits and vegetables) so that you can preserve it longer without a fear that it might go bad. This food dehydrator from Buffalo gives away pretty much everything that the appliance has to offer with just its name, but we'll review the product nonetheless. As you can guess, the biggest standout feature here is the 10 horizontal slide-out trays that this model comes with. Considering that the unit measures just 38 x 29.5 centimetres, which is even less than most dehydrators, this is an impressive tray count.

Specifications

Features a digital timer control that can be adjusted in 30 minutes increments up to 24 hours, and an adjustable thermostat that provides custom control from 35 to 75°C, depending on the required temperature. The SousVideTools 229033 makes preparing healthy, nutrient-dense food simple and pretty effortless. With its sophisticated yet, again, simple design, the model lets you adjust the temperature between 35 and 75 degrees Celcius with 5-degree increments. Likewise, you can set the drying time anywhere between 30 minutes and 24 minutes with 30-minute increments. Aside from these two switches, the unit leaves only the on/off button, so figuring out its controls should not present considerable challenges.

Finally, look at the food dryer's convenience . For example, the timer might be a very useful feature. Sometimes the drying process can last for a whole day, or even more. If your meat dehydrator has a timer, you just need to set the turn-off time, and freely go to work or fall asleep. You wouldn't need to fear that your food will overdry and become too hard or coarse. Also, find out if it is easy to clean the device after each use, what material it is made of, what options it's got to simplify the operation (for example, an opportunity to monitor the process), and whether the device is noisy or not. The user-friendly interface is also very important.

Cost Price Promise

The model weighs almost 10 kilogrammes, so transportation can be an issue. But, thanks to the integrated side handles, the unit is perfectly luggable. Made from stainless steel, this appliance is not the fingerprint magnet that cheap food dehydrators are. It is also scratch-resistant and easy to clean. Operation-wise, the model employs silent fans, ensuring even heat distribution and even drying results. While noise is not an issue, the heat can be. To be more specific, when the unit reaches 75 degrees Celcius, the housing gets quite hot, so make sure that you're proceeding with caution on this front.

Moving on, the dehydrator uses the Hyperwave Fluctuation Technology which ensures that the food won't lose its healthy enzymes while being dehydrated. On the housing, there is a temperature scale that you can use to select a necessary temperature mode for the type of food you want to dry accordingly. Also, you can automate the process and set a timer, which can turn on/off the device during a period of up to 26 hours. Create delicious flavours and textures with the Buffalo digital food dehydrator - a fully professional solution with an impressive 10 tray capacity. Incredibly easy to use, the Buffalo dehydrator provides the performance and flexibility to dry a huge variety of different ingredients. Whether you're making a smoky beef jerky, banana crisps or even just drying out pot pourri, the Buffalo dehydrator gives you the functionality to get great results, every time. Accessories: some models come with additional inserts like silicone mats or trays for fruit leather or mats with finer weaves for more liquid ingredients. These are generally useful to have as they allow you to get more out of your dehydrator.A food dehydrator is a healthy way of preserving food fresh longer and a nice addition to the kitchen of any healthy life-goer. Of course, the problem here is that you'll have issues fitting vertically-endowed ingredients. Also, these trays integrate sizable holes, meaning that they're not great with especially small ingredients either. That being said, most fruit and vegetable strips, greens, herbs, meat slabs, and bread slices will be just fine. Looking for a discount on one of the dehydrators on this list? Cyber Monday has arrived so there's still time to buy one of the following tried-and-tested dehydrators. The SousVideTools 229002 is less sophisticated than its more expensive relative that we've reviewed above but about as efficient. Applying internal fans that force warm air horizontally across the trays, this unit makes sure that the food is dried evenly and thoroughly. In other words, you don't have to rotate the trays to avoid uneven-dried food. Size: the dehydrators we’ve tested range in size from small models only slightly larger than a toaster to behemoths that need their own dedicated space on the kitchen counter. Think about how much space you can spare before you buy a dehydrator.

Another cool thing about the Excalibur 3926TB we'd like to mention is that it has a thermostat, so it will perfectly maintain the set temperature and save you from having to keep an eye on it. Want the benefits of a horizontally loaded dehydrator in a more compact format? If so, the TT-FD14 dehydrator from TurboTronic has all the chances to meet your needs. The model is noticeably smaller and more compact than other similar units. It looks pretty much like a microwave and, measuring 38 x 28 x 22.5 cm, it won’t eat up too much space and can continuously stand on your countertop even if your kitchen is on the smaller side. And if you need to stow it away, it will easily fit a shelf in a common kitchen cabinet. Food dehydrators are easy to use. All you will need to do is cut the food into small pieces and place them on special trays. And the device will get the job done for you. Equipped with adjustable thermostat, food dehydrators maintain a constant temperature and support an adequate airflow, which is important for removing the maximum water content. While the unit itself is not made of stainless steel, its high-strength polycarbonate construction is no pushover either, easily withstanding busy days in commercial kitchens. Both types have their pros and cons. The round ones take less space, almost as little as your average cooking pot, but you may need to rearrange the trays from time to time for more even drying. The square ones don't require that, but instead, to dry equally on different ends of the tray, you may need to rotate the trays. Also, these models can be somewhat bulky.The Excalibur 3926TB is a convection-type food dehydrator with horizontal tray loading. It is rather big, so it will be easily up to the task of being a solid option for drying large amounts of food. We also attribute here important control functions like a temperature range and the built-in adjustable thermostat. As a rule, the simplest fruit dehydrator s only have the ON/OFF switch, which might be inconvenient as different vegetables and fruit require different temperature modes. The best would be to have 2–3 modes of dehydrator temperature (at least 40°С and 70–75°С). The lower temperature is good for drying herbs and berries, curing fruits whereas the higher temperatures are perfect for drying most fruit and vegetables. Most state-of-the-art models with electronic control allow maintaining the heating at a precise temperature. And finally, look at the size and the number of trays. This number will tell you exactly how much food you'd be able to dry in one go. In some models, you can add trays and dry more fruit or meat simultaneously. Convenience