I want to try my luck at dehydrating food never done it before. At Walmart they have them for 39 dollars. Will the cheap ones be good enough or do I need to get a better one.

That will work fine. Ive been using a very similar model if not same for quite a few years and for several trips a year, fantastic.

As a starter unit should be fine. Depending on your needs it may be all you ever need.

If it's the 5 tray Nesco, those are good little dehydrators.

If you get a cheap one and it doesn't have a timer to auto-turn off, just set it up on a lamp style timer when you plug it in. That's what I do, works perfectly. If I feel the meal needs another hour, I just set it & walk away.

Wow, I bought my FD75 a few years ago for over double the cost. For $35 this is a very good deal on a versatile dehydrator. Suggestion - get some additional fruit leather sheets for it. Next time or two you get pizza from out, if your pizza place uses the nylon mesh under the pizza to prevent it from sticking to the box save that. Cut a hole in the center & it works great for a fine mesh nonstick layer for making banana chips & the like.

Interesting. I cut rounds of parchment paper. I think sauces and things you'd put on the solid plastic trays dry quicker and through.

My first and only unit is a 9-tray Excalibur. This time of the year it gets used weekly for dehydrating fruit. I do 6 lbs. of Fuji apples every Sunday. My wife takes them to work and her co-workers are positive that I sprinkle sugar on them because they are so sweet. I use a mandolin to slice them and I have it down to a science. 1/8" thick, 135°, 8:45. I did a flat of peaches to take on an upcoming BWCA trip and they are delicious. My cherry pitter arrived today so it will be cherries and apples this weekend. I'll probably do some strawberries and bananas also to put on granola.

How noisy is the Excalibur? We live in a pretty moist area (biggest body of water on earth is 1/3 mile away and we are known for fog) and so had trouble with the cheaper dehydrators. So, I've been pondering an Excalibur.

andym: "How noisy is the Excalibur? We live in a pretty moist area (biggest body of water on earth is 1/3 mile away and we are known for fog) and so had trouble with the cheaper dehydrators. So, I've been pondering an Excalibur."

andym, it's a little quieter than a range hood or bathroom fan. I couldn't possibly see using anything smaller than the 9 tray. I get 12 - 14 slices out an apple so I get about 1.5 apples on each rack. The Excalibur moves a good volume of air and it moves it very evenly due to the large fan in the back. The food stays about 25° cooler than the temperature setting because of evaporation cooling during the process so the enzymes in fruit and vegetables aren't killed. The trays and racks are too large to effectively wash in a typical kitchen sink without making a big mess so I put all of the screens on the top rack in the dishwasher and all of the racks on the bottom rack laying flat and run for one cycle. Excalibur has sales often and so does Amazon. Excalibur also has refurbished units. The guide that comes with it is extremely handy and full of good information. Because it can go up to 165° it is great for jerky. I often do spaghetti sauce or spaghetti with sauce for trips. I made fruit leather once and it worked very well for that. It's a large unit, but it is extremely light because it 99.9% plastic. You won't regret buying one, but if you do they have a good return policy. Their customer service is also very good. One last note, I find the square racks are much easier to distribute and arrange food on than a round one.

andym: "How noisy is the Excalibur? We live in a pretty moist area (biggest body of water on earth is 1/3 mile away and we are known for fog) and so had trouble with the cheaper dehydrators. So, I've been pondering an Excalibur."

Check the wattage on the units you are looking at, the higher wattage, the better they work/take less time to dry. The price points bump up as the wattage goes up.

andym: "How noisy is the Excalibur? We live in a pretty moist area (biggest body of water on earth is 1/3 mile away and we are known for fog) and so had trouble with the cheaper dehydrators. So, I've been pondering an Excalibur."

They make some noise. They have a fan. I wouldn’t be thrilled about having one in my kitchen for days on end. I run mine in the basement. Then I don’t know it’s on.

Thanks, Northwoodsman, Swampturtle, and Marsonite. I might be able to put it in the garage and not be annoyed by it. Sounds like it may work better than my old one. It would be nice to be able to dehydrate our own ingredients than relying on buying. Plus, we could try dehydrating meals.

I now have one of those fancy dehydrators, thanks Pikehunter. It is a Excalibur 9 drawer model. We used it for two days last week, dried a bunch of veggies. This one is the Cadillac of them all, highly recommendable to anyone thinking of getting one.