Nesco FD-1040 Gardenmaster Digital Pro Food Dehydrator, for Beef Jerky, Fruit, Herbs, and Snacks, 4 Trays, White

I had a dehydrator years ago and didn't know what to do with it so I gave it away and I'm glad I did because this is a much better unit. This is not for the lazy. It takes more work than stopping at the grocery store or fast food to prepare, dry and store the final product. So if you don't have the time or energy, I recommend passing on this. A co-worker at work makes jerky and because of the high cost in the stores, I knew I had to give it a whirl. I started looking for the best value and accessories and this unit caught my eye. So far, I have dried, apples, carrots, cilantro, oregano. As my garden starts producing, I expect this will get a lot more use! Can't wait for fall when apples are ready to make fruit roll ups. Pros: Timer, timer , timer and shut-off. this is a must have in my opinion Top mounted heater unit. No worries about the bottom getting spills or dirty Easy to clean trays. Just wipe off with soap, water and cloth Each tray seems to dry at about the same rate. Top may be slightly quicker being closer to the heating element Easy to read to set temp and time for what is being dried Mostly made in USA. This is always a plus for me Cons: Really none so far. If I was to list anything, I think it's a little large, warm and noisy (not terribly so) so I set it up in the garage. Bought 2 extra trays because four really aren't enough Not really a con, but as I mentioned, it is a little time consuming. But what isn't if you want something great. Can't speak to the jerky spice as I made my own recipe after reading many on line. And my jerky was the bomb!

I bought this a couple months before COVID, thank goodness! The price has gone up 40% since then. Maybe a coincidence. I can't be sure. My dehydrator has been working great though and shortly after I bought it I realized I needed a few more trays and screens. I don't use the type for making fruit rolls except when I'm dehydrating something that will get very messy or small. If you want a less expensive dehydrator, it's worth the money. I love the timer and the temperature setting. Washing it is a pain but I have an extra large sink on the one side and can submerge the entire tray into it. Wash them under the water or you'll end up spraying water everywhere. The picture shows a 1 quart mason jar (1 liter) with 8 large onions. I used 6 full trays. It was humid, not hot, and took a total of 2 1/2 days. I don’t trust ANY appliance to run overnight or when we’re not home so it was 2 1/2 days, no nights. Set at 135 degrees. I did lose quite a few pieces because I didn’t pour onto a cookie sheet first. 4 year update: There is a definite learning curve for the appliance. - Get more of the screens, everything should go on the screen because it will shrink and fall through the slots. - Smelly things like onions will stink up your house, if you’re able to, do the first few hours either outside or a screened porch. - The humidity in the air greatly affects the drying time so drying outside, on a humid day will take forever. - Use a mandolin or other chopper to keep pieces the same size for consistent drying times. - When you’re done, empty the food onto a cookie sheet and then pour from the cookie sheet in the jars or storage container. The hole in the middle of the screen and the open edges of the tray, makes it impossible to transfer straight to a jar, even when using a wide funnel. Dropping 20 pieces of dehydrated carrots means 3-4 carrots on the ground. -It’s loud. Not uncomfortable loud but I can hear it from a distance and it’s noticeable when it turns off and is suddenly quiet in the house. The noise is consistent and would probably help a baby sleep instead of waking her. ***If you are exceptionally sensitive to hot pepper, not dehydrate them inside.***

Love this thing! I have been in the market for a dehydrator and this one caught my eye for two reasons. 1. 1000 WATTS 2. Digital Timer Most dehydrators in this price range are plug in to power on and unplug to power off. If you make a batch of jerky at 7pm you have to get up at 3am to turn it off. That sucks! This machine has a digital timer built in so you can literally set it and forget it. It will power off when the timer expires. What I don't like: It only comes with 4 trays........SO BUY MORE TRAYS!!!!!! Four trays is not enough for most applications and I recommend at least 6-8 to start. You will find out if you try to make anything with 4 trays, you end up with much less finished product due to the dehydration process. I processed some potatoes for chips and filled up 4 trays with 5 potatoes. My finished batch was about half a bag of chips. Do yourself a favor and get some extra trays because once you start dehydrating you will be addicted! This machine is well built and also comes with one fruit roll insert tray and one of the fine mesh no stick insert trays. It also comes with a receipt book, jerky seasoning, and jerky cure. READ the manual or get another book about dehydrating so that you set yourself up for success!

This is one of my favorite tools in the kitchen. A friend gifted us one 8 years ago and I've tried to "upgrade" a few times with some very popular brands but have always come back to this 15" Nesco. I really like it because it is much bigger than regular dehydrators. The only downfall is finding extra trays or tray liners because it isn't the regular size. I almost made the mistake and bought the manual one with a dial instead of the digital display. This one is so easy to set to the perfect temp and time. I love that the recommended temps are printed right on top so you don't have to look it up every time. The quality is great. Like I said before, we have another one that we have had for 8 years and our friend had it for years before gifting it to us. Cleaning it is a little tedious but using a dish brush and a scrub daddy really helps.

Have had the no digital one for many years, where all the electrics are in the base. Workhorse, but had to open up and clean out bits occasionally that well down into the fan. Was getting noisier over time, and when I saw this newer version with all the electrics on top, figured it was time the old one. Really nice that all the 15.5" trays from my old one fit with the new one, as I had 8 trays and screens. They can be a bit pricey accessories, so nice they all are still usable. Each of the new trays had flashing around several of the locking lugs on the tray bottoms. If even one of the lugs has that casting error, the tray won't be able to rotate and lock onto the tray below it. Picture I've attached was of a typical one. A few were worse, but about half of all of them on each tray needed attn. Had the same locking lugs on the old model, but those old trays were cast more precisely, with no flashing overflow. So,,,, took some time to clean off the lug flashing with a deburring tool I had around. Viola... Now all of the trays lock together as they should, with full interchangeability between the old and new versions. Going to dry tomatoes today. Already tried a 30 minute test of this new machine, although haven't verified the temp accuracy as yet. Certainly quieter than my old one, so after that flashing cleanup, I have my fingers crossed

I had such high hopes for this product. Did a lot of research before finalizing which product to go with and read many reviews. I am one of those who rarely leaves reviews. And honestly, I've purchased several products before that had quite terrible reviews and ended up being completely fine for me. Unfortunately, it seems this company could use some work with quality control. Upon receiving my order, I immediately started a simple test dehydrating some mushrooms. I'm the kind of person that reads all directions and warnings before starting, so I followed protocol in the manual to a T. The unit turned on and stayed on, but then cycled on and off. I wondered if perhaps this was normal for this unit once it reached the target temperature. 20 minutes later, I realized the unit never toggled back on and was cold. I tested all potential problems (trying different outlets, using other appliances with the same outlets to confirm they work, leaving the unit unplugged for a time and trying again, etc). The timer still counted down and the display indicated that it was heating, but the fan and heating element never turned back on. One faulty unit is no problem - I understand things happen. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease with which I could exchange for a new unit, and had a second one at my door a couple days later. Unfortunately, this one had a problem with the LED screen. The first digit did not light up (pictured). Given this issue, I did not even test it to see if the unit would heat up as I knew I did not want to keep a product with a defective display. After much consideration, I decided not to try for a third and simply asked for a refund. I had already wasted time repackaging these items and returning them to a UPS store, and I did not wish to continue this revolving door. The product seems great. If you get one that works, I'm sure it is a fine product. However, receiving two bad apples in a row makes me wary. It seems the corporate playbook is to respond to these negative reviews with something along the lines of: "Please contact us to resolve this issue." While I can and will do that, I have already wasted time with two defective products and have no desire to waste more time on the phone. A five star product requires proper quality control. Unfortunately, I doubt I will trust Nesco products moving forward.

Awesome!!!! So far the only thing I have used this for is my pets. yes, I am that crazy lady who does all that stuff for my pets. I got tired of paying big $$$$$ for high end treats for my dog and cats that didn't have chemicals in it. I decided to make my own chicken jerky. This is great. I wait for my local "Sprouts" to have their boneless chicken breasts on sale go and buy a few packages and slice them up thin. I wear a pair of latex gloves and use a serrated bread life. I found this works best for me. I start at the top of the breasts and begin to slice thin sheets of chicken. I spray the trays with a bit of TJ's coconut spray and that is all. I also make salmon tarts at the same ay. Costco sells Wild caught boneless skinless fresh salmon. It is so much cost friendly. One bag at my pet store of a high end treat like this costs about 25-31.00. For that I can make about 4-5 bags of my own. It takes about an hour of prep time and the dehydrator does the rest. I Store them in ziploc baggies within a bit of uncooked rice at the bottom to keep out moisture. I like to give out as gifts to my friends and family with pets. Much healthier for my pets. IF you have a FOOD SAVER Sealer good way to store long term. Maybe I will get around to do dehydrating something for me soon. :O)

I absolutely love this dehydrator. It is extremely powerful and fairly quiet. I have owned this make and model for almost two years. I love that the trays do not require rotating like the other brand I own and now sits in storage most of the time. I use this hydrator mainly to make chicken and beef jerky treats for my pups. I recently tried dehydrating vegetables. I successfully dehydrated six onions and was pleased with the outcome. It took about 8 hours total time. I love the interrupt feature so I can check on the item dehydrating. Just push stop lift up the trays and check, put the trays back down and push start to resume. There is no hard and fast rule on length of time it will take to dehydrate due to a lot of circumstances that must be taken into consideration. Humidity, time of year, where you are located. I.e. I live in Hawaii so a tropical environment on days with high humidity will require longer drying time. I am not an experienced dehydrator user other than making my pups their treats for years. I highly recommend purchasing this you will be happy that you did and happy dehydrating.