Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator
Customer Review: Did not perform according to manual instructions
Summary: 2 Stars
Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator
I bought this dehydrator because I had an abundant crop of apples this year. I also bought the plastic screens that fit in the trays. The instruction manual stated that apples take 4-6 hours to completion. It actually took 16 hours, over two firings. To be fair, the manual said that unpeeled apples would take a bit longer, but it should take that much longer! I cut the apples into small chunks and placed them in the trays with the peel side down, per instructions.
In addition, I pureed some of the apples and poured the thick liquid onto the screen in the bottom tray,to make fruit rolls per instructions.
Result: I occasionally checked the apples and they had not dried sufficiently. Finally, after 12 hours, at 2 AM, I turned off the machine, bagged the semi-dried apples, put them into the refrigerator and went to bed. The fruit roll liquid had separated into tiny fragments and they still contained moisture and were sticky.
A few days passed and I refired the original batch of partially dried apples for another four hours. Finally, they were finished. The fruit roll material went into the compost. Maybe they will help fertilize next year's apple crop.
One final observation: The product link at the top of the page says that my dehydrator's cost is $49.00. I just bought this product from Amazon one month ago for $56.54 plus Shipping & Handling $10.30 = $66.84, and added the plastic screens. I continue to be an enthusiastic customer of Amazon, and my negative review pertains to this product which I consider an anomaly. I gave it two stars instead on one because it does EVENTUALLY dry food.
Customer Review: Love it so far
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, I'm just into it for one day. So far it is great.
Pros: QUIET! I have had small table fans that are louder than this.
Expandable. Up to 12 trays. I don't know yet if it will increase the drying time yet.
Cons: No on-off switch
No timer. I put an appliance timer (Brinks-1250W) that I use for room lights when I am out of town. Just a PITA.
Should include more screens for the trays
Should include more (at least two) roll-up trays
When I ordered this I also ordered two additional trays. I should have bought more screens at the same time.
Don't believe the idea that foods don't affect each other. It is, I am finding out, simply not true. I used three of the five trays. From the bottom up they were: empty, Serrano peppers, Habanero peppers, green peppers (sliced and diced), empty. The diced green peppers dried in aout 4 hours at 130-deg. They were hot!
The thermostat is pretty accurate, within 5-deg F. I found you can place one of the small digital thermometers (with the one flat side) on the table with the probe in the bottom air outlet. With the output temp within reason as to the thermostat setting, I have no complaints.
If adding several trays doesn't increase the drying time substantially, it will be a further cost saver.
Although I am doing home grown items right now, I am looking at creating dehydrated meals in the future for hiking.
Combine this with a Foodsaver and it'll be a heck of a system.
Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator
We'll see how it lasts.
Customer Review: Surprised!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was so surprised at how well this dehydrator works
expected it to work okay but not this good!
I put 5 pounds of beef to dry, expecting it to take at least a day.
5 hours later and it was done!
This was thicker sliced than the paper thin I usually do
on top of that!
I love that the heater and fan are on the top
that makes clean up after jerky
a breeze.
My sister just bought one too and is very happy she did.
We both contemplated on buying the Excalibur one but
this by far is a better deal for your money.
I have had it a week now and have used it almost every day.
With the excellent quality of this dehydrator I expect to get
many , many years of use out of it
Update...
over a year later and we found that we needed more than one dehydrator, so we purchased another one of these with extra trays, screens.
we were hooked on dehydrating...so easy and no food spoilage!
We found ourselves needing even another dehydrator to keep up with all the
fresh produce and meats that we would purchase in bulk to save money.
This time we bought an Excalibur 9 tray with timer.
I have to say, we should of just bought another Nesco American Harvest
FD-75PR. The Nesco dehydrated the corn faster than the high priced Excalibur and I found I did need to rotate the trays in the Excalibur,
because the foods on the back of the trays dried faster than the foods on the front of the trays.
So ...if we need another dehydrator down the road we're sticking with
Nesco American Harvest FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator and putting the extra cash we save in the bank!
Customer Review: great dehydrator
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been drying things for a year or so. I have a cheap "as seen on TV" Ronco dehydrator which I do not love, and felt it was time to step up. Here's why the Nesco dehydrator is so cool.
1) easy to clean. My Ronco is a pain to clean because the heater coil is on the bottom, and everything drips down there, where you shouldn't submerge. The Nesco has the heater and fan on the top, with a simple base that cleans very easily. So simple, so effective, but other dehydrators don't do it this way, and even my friend's expensive dehydrator, which shields the heater and fan, better than the stupid Ronco, still has them below, which prevents submerging the part that gets the dirtiest. This design feature alone is worth getting the Nesco.
2) The air circulation is amazing in the Nesco. I'm not sure how it works, but it is very even, without hot spots. The Ronco really needs careful tray rotation. You could get away without tray rotation in the Nesco, although I still do it. The Nesco is easily twice as fast at drying, maybe three times as fast, than the Ronco, although it still, of course, takes longer than you'd think.
3) The Nesco has a thermostat, which means I can set the temp for the sort of thing I'm drying. It also means that if I check my progress before work, and think things will be done before I get home, I can turn the dial down a little, and avoid overdoing it.
I got the extra couple trays, and feel that is a good investment. I like the clean-a-screen tray inserts too. Helps when making small things like currants, that might fall through the cracks otherwise.
I would buy this exact dehydrator again without hesitation. I run it constantly, and I love it.
Customer Review: This dehydrator is fantastic!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first dehydrator. I researched them for a few weeks and read just about every review on the internet. I decided on this one. It seemed to have all the best features and at an unbeatable price. I made a batch of jerky out of lean hamburger and it turned out great! Now everyone at work is asking to give me money to make them some. The seasoning and cure that comes in the box is really good stuff! The only thing I added was a tiny bit of liquid smoke and pepper. The batch was done in 6 hours. I just put a ball of meat in my hand and flattened it into thin circles. Filled all 5 trays this way. I just ordered some of Nesco's hot and spicy seasoning to try out.
Important points:
1. This unit works fantastic for everything I have tried so far. ESPECIALLY JERKY. It can't be any easier!
2. It is quiet! Don't pay too much attention to other reviews that say this unit is loud. I can't imagine thinking that. I watched TV in the same room as the dehydrator and didn't even have to elevate the volume.
3. Don't waste money on more expensive machines. This unit is very powerful and you can add more trays to it.
4. The book that it came with explaining the ins and outs of dehydrating was very helpful. The info is somewhat generic, yet specific enough that it really helps.
5. Don't worry about it not having a timer, unless you plan to leave the house for an extended period of time. There is not much difference in the food from one half hour to the next, so don't worry if running to the store took a little longer than you planned.
6. The trays are easy to clean, and there is little to no mess.
I couldn't be happier with it.