What is the best food dehydrator? Questions like “what is the best” anything are always interesting. A question like that assumes that money is no object and that all of the features that are important to one person are important to everyone. The fact of the matter is that there is no single best answer to the question what is the best food dehydrator? There are too many variables to consider to issue a one-size-fits-all reply to a question like that.
First you have to consider your budget, how much are you willing to spend? If you are only willing to spend $50 the best food dehydrator for you will be different than the one for the person who is willing to spend $300 or more. Once you start shopping around you will also have to determine which features you simply must have. Certain features may be inconsequential to one person but if a product lacks those features it might be a deal breaker for someone else.
Once you have a budget in mind and you start looking at some of the different features available it’s also a good idea to carefully look over user reviews online to see what other people have to say. Getting input from customers that have purchased the dehydrator you are considering is a great way to know before you make a purchase whether a machine will be good or bad.
Now that we have all of that out of the way we can share what we think some of the best food dehydrators are. All of the dehydrators we are going to mention have good user reviews online. Some have features that others are lacking and they all come in at different price ranges. I would love to be able to point to one food dehydrator and say that one is definitely the best but at least we can narrow down your choices and give you a few really good machines to consider.
If you are on a tight budget but you need a really good quality food dehydrator anything from Nesco America should fit the bill. They have several models that can be purchased for under $60 that all have 4.5 star and higher user ratings. Hundreds of happy customers is usually a good indication of a quality item.
If you have a lot of money to spend and you just want something that is super high quality and you are not worried about price, the Excalibur 3900 might be the one you are looking for. It costs about $230 but it received fantastic user reviews online.
Another great option is the LEM Products 10 Tray Food Dehydrator. The price of this one is in the middle of the options listed above at about $160. It also received great reviews online and this one has a couple of bells and whistles that other machines don’t have. One such feature is an on/off switch. Yes, surprisingly enough many machines do not have an on/off switch and you must plug them in or unplug them to turn them on and off. Another feature that you would expect more dehydrators to have is a timer. Many machines do not have a timer but that is another nice feature that this particular model comes with.
So there you have it, the three options mentioned above would be our top picks. Like we alluded to before the “best” for one person is not necessarily going to be the best for the next person but hopefully these options are enough to get you pointed in the right direction.