How to Choose The Best Food Dehydrator

Before you invest your money in a random food dehydrator, there are few things that you might need to consider.

If you ignore any of these tips, there are high chances that you will end up with something entirely unsuitable for your lifestyle or your personal needs.

Here are some few things that you need to consider when choosing the best food dehydrator.

Food Dehydrator Buying Guide

Size and Capacity

The first and the most important thing consider when looking for the best dehydrator is size. Like any other kitchen appliances, dehydrators come in different size. Your specific need is what will determine the best dehydrator.

A nine tray or ten can be right if you have a lot to preserve, but a four or five tray model can be efficient if you have small amounts to preserve and also can be ideal if you are short on space.

In fact, some models that can be expanded, so these should be your best pick. Non-expandable are bulkier, and a little expensive and takes much of your space, so they may not be your ideal choice if you are short of space or if you are trying to stick to a limited budget.

Power/Airflow

A dehydrator can be electrical or solar made. Electric models are much more efficient when it comes to dehydrating raw food due to temperature controls.

Electric Dehydrators are usually available with vertical and horizontal fans, each with its own heat distribution technique.

Vertical fans have been shown to dehydrate any food on the lower trays rapidly. This might be a good thing when you are in a hurry; however, this can create varying results since all the trays will not be receiving the same temperature.

Horizontal, on the other hand, provides uniform effects on each and every tray, but you have to expect your food to take longer to dry out.

Access

The best food dehydrator should be easy to access. When considering the stackable tray type and the shelf tray, you must understand that each has its own advantage over the other in terms of accessibility.

For instance, if you need to access a tray in the middle of the stackable tray type, you need to lift off almost all the tray above it, which can cause frustrating accidents and spills considering that some stackable dehydrators have over 6 to 20 trays.

Shelf dehydrators, on the other hand, allow you to remove trays comfortably without having to fuss with those above or below.

Remember, however that stackable has an expandability advantage over the shelf, so it’s good that you weight your option to get the best food dehydrator.

Price

Dehydrators come with different price tags, and of course, you would want to go with the cheapest; however, the best dehydrator may not be cheap.

Of course, there are those that are very reliable and won’t allow you to go beyond your budget, but always keep in mind that a cheaper model may not have additional features such as the timer, or the adjustable thermostats.

Budget-friendly dehydrators will probably come with a vertical fan, but the expensive one will come with a horizontal one, which is far much better in terms of heat distribution.

Final Verdict

Before you indulge yourself in a purchase, it’s imperative that you check customer reviews as well as product satisfaction. You may find a lot of useful information about the best food dehydrators out there.

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