Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC Snackmaster Express Food Dehydrator All-In-One Kit with Jerky Gun
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC Snackmaster Express Food Dehydrator All-In-One Kit with Jerky Gun
Customer Review: Good Product For the Price
Summary: 4 Stars
I had this Snackmaster as well as, the one that didn't have the tempreture control on top. I would use both of them at the same time for veggies, jerky, meat strips, or fruits. I did rotate the top tray with the bottom tray; not that it was neccessary, just habit I guess. I had a lot more control over the outcome of the plant and basil herb that came out of the tempreture controled unit. The only thing that I had trouble with was, placing the meat sticks in the tight curve of the round trays. That is not such a biggie considering the great product I was able to produce. With the added screens for small items, I would go buy frozen corn, peas, carrots, and dry them. I had been a Boy Scout leader for several years; this made making my own dried meal fixins a real plus. I would share the meat sticks with the scouts around a campfire on a cold night, produced lots of smiles. If I hadn't upgraded to a larger dehydrator, because of the quainty of meats and fruits I dry; this is the one or two kits, that I would recommend for the begginner or least money invested.Customer Review: Good, but not actually made in USA.
Summary: 3 Stars
It performed very well in making jerky, though needs added trays to do more than about 3 lbs of meat at one time.
Really my only dissapointment was the feeling of being conned by the large "Made in USA" advertisement on the outside of the box. You can feel the pbysical quality is better than most completely China-made versions, but to my surprise, on the bottom of the dehydrator lid component (where the heater and fan blower are encased) it says "MADE IN CHINA". Very disapointing.
When it says "Made in USA of USA and foreign components", and the most important component is Made in China, I can't help but feel deceieved. Were the screws made in USA? Were the plastic trays? The feet? We certainly didn't send them the motor/housing pieces to assemble for us because those say "made in china", not "assembled in china."
It still works well and is one of the better entry size dehydrators/kits, but to all the posts about it being made in USA, take a look at the bottom of the lid.. there you will find, "MADE IN CHINA".
Customer Review: Great Product!
Summary: 4 Stars
I would have given this 5 stars however, the ONE thing I wanted to make with this dehydrator the most takes about twice as long as they claim it should. My main intention was to make my own raisins. However, it takes about 24 hours to dry them out...when in the manual is says 6-12.
Everything comes out great though, that I have made so far. Bananas, apples, strawberries, kiwi and eventually the grapes!!! But it is very quiet, easy to clean. I have already used it 3 times in the past month. I just really hope it doesn't spike my electric bill too much. From what I've read about dehydrators it shouldn't...but I just really hope from the continuous 24 hour grape drying it won't. Figures, apple slices dry in 4 hours!!
But overall it is a great little machine. Haven't tried the jerky making yet, looking forward to that. It is nice having dried fruit snacks on hand to take with you wherever, I think I end up eating more fruit this way...don't have to wash and prepare it, just grab it and go!
Customer Review: Great product at a good price
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first dehydrator we've used, although we did some sun-drying in years past. Cookie sheets on the porch are not capable of handling this year's bumper crop of peaches, apples, and apricots -- but this machine is! The dehydrator works great; it is well-designed and made of good quality materials. It is also quiet and easy to clean. The top-mounted fan distributes air evenly, although we found it useful to rotate the top tray to the bottom after the first 2-3 hours of drying. After that, the trays can be left in place. The dehydrator includes five trays, each capable of drying 20 medium-sized apricots (split in half). That's a 100 apricots per load!
The machine lacks an on/off switch and must be unplugged when checking on the drying, so we use it with a lighted plug-in switch from a hardware store (about $3). The instruction book is very well-written and helpful. Overall, it's a great product and made in USA too.
Customer Review: Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC
Summary: 5 Stars
This dehydrator is well worth the money. I have used it for jerky, fruits, granola, and fruit leathers. The dry time is average. It takes about 4 hours for 3-4 trays of venison jerky. 4 hours for 2 trays of fruit leather. There is no specific time for fruits, as they are all extremely different in how they dry, so I use the book as a guide and even it hasn't steered me wrong yet. The jerky gun is a great tool for those using ground meats. I bought an outlet with a programmable timer on it to make up for the lack of a timer on the machine.
The recipes in the book are great; they have all been delicious. I have had this machine for about 1 month and have used it almost every day with no problems. It continues to impress me. I would buy this again, and have recommended it to family and friends looking into dehydrators. Great machine!