dehydrators Nesco Dehydrator

Koreansoul said:
I also have a nesco with a thermostat (I make beef jerkey for my dogs - spoiled little babies). Do you set it to the lowest and let it run or do you play with the temps a bit? Also, do you 'have' to put it outside to dehydrate? 
My first batch was inside the house. When I dry the super-hots I will definitely put it outside in my backyard.
 
Can someone give me some links to the specific model they have that they like?  I was talking with Pex last night and he recommended the American Harvest over the Snackmaster.  I see a few different versions/variations of these offered on places like Amazon and haven't come across the square model I have heard people mention.  I didn't realize how massive the Excalibur 12-tray is, which has turned me off as that will be a PITA to store when not in use.
 
EDIT:  Realized I could just do a google search of Nesco's site for the square one and found at least one.  I'd still like to see the exact models those on here use.
 
EDIT 2:  http://www.nesco.com/products/Dehydrators/Dehydrators/FD-80-Snackmaster-Square-Dehydrator-and-Jerky-Maker/
              Sooo... their own website calls that one the Snackmaster, yet the model on Amazon shows up as American Harvest and the picture of it on that page on Nesco's website actually says American Harvest on the appliance.  So what is it?  Not the best marketing/labeling...
 
pretty sure thats the deal i got. Its a good machine. I set very low for pods, lowest i think, its been almost a year. Takes a while that way but much more gentle regarding color and flavor. Did tons of chicken jerky for my ex's dog as well so i bought extra trays and the fruit roll mats which you kinda need for lean chicken.
 
going on 2 years i think with it
 
Nesco is good in general. I feel the square has less wasted space as do many others. Ive still not heard a bad review of ANY nesco dehydrator. My model has no power switch which is a lil ghetto,oh and no timer... just saying to the folks at nesco, but good stuff
 
Thanks for the responses guys, ended up going for the FD-80 square one. I'll let y'all know what I think after testing it out a bit.

I've got a HTG Supply timer I'm not utilizing for indoor gardening anymore that I'm going to utilize with the dehydrator to take care of the lack of timer/power switch.
 
I just finished a dozen choc moruga peppers .
 

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i have the FD-80, square unit.... what kook came up with the round unit! square is the way to go!
 
joking aside, i have used my unit for everything and it works really well. i even make dog treats in it.....DOCTORS NOTE, don't use onion powder/salt in dog treats, apparently it has an enzyme that dogs can't break down and can cause bowel troubles, never knew that before.
 
Apparently Amazon delivers on Sundays because I was outside setting up the sprinkler around 9:30am yesterday to finish watering the fertilizer into my lawn when a USPS truck pulled up and the very nice lady handed me the box with my Nesco inside.  I didn't know the postal service did anything on Sundays but was happy to get it!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test it out yesterday so it'll be a few more days before I get the chance to.
 
Completely torn on what to try first!
 
EliteMcScruffin said:
Apparently Amazon delivers on Sundays because I was outside setting up the sprinkler around 9:30am yesterday to finish watering the fertilizer into my lawn when a USPS truck pulled up and the very nice lady handed me the box with my Nesco inside.  I didn't know the postal service did anything on Sundays but was happy to get it!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test it out yesterday so it'll be a few more days before I get the chance to.
 
Completely torn on what to try first!
Make sure you post some pics, I should retake a picture of my dried pods out of the bag.
 
SavinaRed said:
Make sure you post some pics, I should retake a picture of my dried pods out of the bag.
 
Had a couple of test runs with fruits that just finished up yesterday.  1/4" slices of banana are amazingly badass when dried (took like 30 hours though).  Got a banana corer peeler and slicer after I realized such a thing existed which is showing up today so I can do some more uniform apple slices (sprinkle cinnamon on top before starting up the dehydrator and don't feel remorse for those who don't get any before they're gone when ready).
 
I'll be working on some peppers here in the next week and will do some before and afters.
 
What do you guys use to pretreat the fruits that require?  I got some citric acid from Sprouts and mix a teaspoon of that per quart of water and it seems to do pretty well.
 
Hey Elite,
 
Been a while since you posted, but do you ever do pineapple in your nesco? Definitely would need to get treated with the citric acid to retain the color I believe. Do you dip the things you're going to dehydrate in the acid/water mixture or spray them?
 
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