NutriChef Food Dehydrator Machine | Dehydrate Beef Jerky, Meats, Mushrooms, Fruits & Vegetables | Great For At Home Use | Uses High-Heat Circulation for Even Dehydration | 5 Easy to Clean Trays.

I purchased this to take the next step in preserving food. The unit is very easy to use and works as indicated. We did rotate the trays as recommended with the instructions and haven't had any issues with uneven drying as long as we strive to keep the thicknesses even. The trays are easy to clean and I've only needed to wipe the base with a damp paper towel when some herbs fell through. As with any kitchen appliance, storage is always the bother. It's nice that the height is low when the trays are collapsed, but the girth of the unit is wide so it takes up quite a bit of room on the shelf.Our food drying experiences:My first uses were to dry extra pears and apples we had left over from canning. They turned out great - so great, that they didn't last long...so much for preserving. We did another batch of pears and apples as well as okra to take on a mountain hiking vacation. This was perfect because they were very light-weight to carry and filled with energy and nutrition to fuel the hiking. We've tried other things since. The pear and apple rings have come out perfect every time. We attempted banana chips following the instructions to get them hard (not pliable) but found them too hard, so I think we'll try them again to see if we can improve the texture. While the okra tasted great, it too was probably dried too long (following the instructions). I also dried the herbs that were remaining in our herb garden before the first frost hit (parsley, basil, and mint). All of the herbs came out perfect and smell so good - my goal is to never buy dried herbs from the grocery again if I can grow it myself. With the exception the dried herbs, everything we've dried has been eaten within two weeks. While this confirms how great they taste, it hasn't given us an opportunity to verify that the dried food can sit on the shelf for up to 6 months without going bad. Perhaps now that we have a lot of winter tubers and squash, we'll try to make some veggie chips so it doesn't sit on the shelf until next summer.

I had a dehydrator which I used for desiccant and filament to support 3D printing. Then, wanting to dry out some freshly harvested herbs, I recalled the desiccants are carcinogenic, so I got a clean unit (this one) for food-safe work.The temperature is nice, and can go very low. This is important for some items. There's a ton of space, and I often use it to reconstitute stale potato chips and the like. There's no safety timer, so you can just run it how you want without having to work around when the device feels it is ok for you to use it.Quiet, and the base is easy to clean, and you can put the drying racks on one of two ways for a close or tall spacing, as desired, for each level.Recommended.

This is light weight with a small foot print on the counter. I have dried parsley, basil, chives and chicken slices for dog treats. I think I ran it a week straight after the garden came down. It takes many hours to dry anything, so it is not fast. The meat took two days sliced super thin. I bought rubber pads for it to control drips when drying meat (be sure to cut to size and add a center hole). It holds a lot, and it's easy to rotate the layers for even drying even while it's on. I feel it's pretty quiet, but I really don't care for the temperature gauge, as it isn't precise at all. I just dry everything on high, I can't figure that part out, so it lost a few stars there. I have to admit, it's a fun gadget!

This dehydrator has been so great for me. I mainly use it for fruit and fruit purées. It’s really simple to use and compact. I did make some beef and pork jerky that both turned out well. But I would recommend using it only for meat or only produce. The meat drippings were difficult to remove from the trays since they have so many air holes. This is a great little machine! If you were interested in dehydrating food… This would be awesome for you!

This is a very simple to use machine, and it's very effective and requires little to no maintenance. It dries quickly and thoroughly, and is really affordable.The noise level is low. It emits a soft hum that's not at all distracting or too loud. Ours, however, makes a constant clicking sound every 10-15 seconds. Originally, we were concerned and thought we had a defective piece, and maybe we do, but it doesn't have any effect on its functionality. We noticed it was coming from the on/off area, and didn't stop or change when temperature was raised or lowered, or time extended. We spoke with the manufacturer and they stated that this should eventually go away, but it never has. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem to cause any issues, but we wanted to point it out that it does do this, when most others don't.We don't have any complaints, though. It does a good job at doing what it was built to do!

The good news: it dehydrates food.The offgassing process worked as promised.The bad news: no thermometer or timer. There is a dial with +/- but the actual temperature is anyone's guess. Funny because the manual tells what temperature to dry different foods at, but you can't set it, just turn the knob and hope it helps.In the end, it took a lot longer to dry fruit than the manual said. I would get extra screens if you want to dry a reasonable amount of food at one time.Seems easy to clean, takes up a surprisingly small amount of space. Not terribly noisy. Looks nice.With no timer I couldn't run it unless I was babysitting it. Would be nice to have an automatic shutoff.Screens need to be rotated.Didn't bother with the dishwasher, just hand washed them. Have only used it a few times so far, so I can't comment on durability.I don't think the screens are BPA free.The model they sent me isn't the one in the picture.The manual is easy to work with.All in all, an okay beginner/basic dehydrator, with a couple of important flaws.