Excalibur 3948CDB Electric Food Dehydrator Machine with 48-Hour Timer, Automatic Shut Off and Temperature Control, 600 W, 9 Trays, Black

I really like this dehydrator. I had previously used on of those round, stacking dehydrators, which was a little bit of a pain because it had limited capacity and required me to monitor it to ensure it didn't overdry the jerky. This dehydrator has nine square trays which are very roomy. But even better, this has a digital temperature setting AND a timer. The timer is a game changer because it frees me from having to monitor the jerky has it cooks. Makes it very easy to dry stuff overnight, since the device simply turns off when complete and you can simply collect the jerky in the morning.The heating and fan project from the back of the device and blows forward, which is different from the round devices where the air and heat comes from above. This is important because even when I pack lots of jerky on the trays, each tray still gets equal attention from the fan and heater. On the round devices, the lower trays can suffer if too much stuff is packed on the upper trays.As far as build quality, the Excalibur 3948CDB seems pretty solid and have had no issues. It is pretty bulky, so be prepared, and otherwise seems much more substantial that my prior (round) dehydrator. Curiously, the front window/door is not permanently attached to the rest of the device, but simply hangs off of a lip built into the top of the device. I'm guessing there's a reason they did it this way, but I'm no engineer so I don't know what it is. For me, its a little bit of a pain when lifting or storing the device because the front window/door (which is plastic and not glass incidentally) is prone to coming off the lip and falling off the device. It's no issue when the device is dehydrating.Overall, I'm very satisfied with this device. It was much more expensive that the smaller round dehydrators, but does a noticeably better job, and provides much more room. For me, if I had to identify the most important upgrade, it would be the timer. Maybe you could replicate that on other timeless dehydrators by plugging those into some sort of third party timer, not sure, but it does make the process so much easier.

I've had this for almost a week now. So far, I dehydrated ginger and ground it up to powder and man, it smells so good. Nothing like having fresh ingredients! I will continue to do more. I've also made some home made dog treats out of thinly sliced chicken breast (chicken jerky), sliced sweet potatoes, my dog loves it. Not too mention lots of money saved! You also know exactly they are getting high quality ingredients for a fraction of the cost. Later, I will make my own beef jerky, fruit leathers, and dehydrating nuts to crisp it up and dried fruits. This is also a great model with a clear door that you could see into. Digital controls and it does comes with a small recipe book and preserve it naturally which has alot of information about the ;types of fruits and vegetables year round and the seasons; The humidity levels in certain areas of the world in general in seasons; recommended dehydrating temperatures for certain veggies and fruits. Which foods could be preserved; making jerky out of beef, venison, fish, game, etc etc.Temperature and time are easy to control. Very basic display which is ok. What would be nice is if they were to have presets, custom settings ( to be stored and used in the future). Although not necessary, just saying. Also, clean is quite easy when you purchase dehydrating sheets and although with meats, it leaves like what looks like a dark stain. I hear, it doesn't do anything as long as you clean it well. I think this model is so worth it for all the different things it could do. Yes, it's quite expensive, it performs really well. I may update my review once I try other things with it.

I upgraded from the 4 tray 250 watt Excalibur to this 9 tray 600 watt Excalibur. This unit is like new and performs quite well. My first use was in making meringue cookies. They were perfect and they dried much faster than with my small unit. So glad these used units are sold at discount. Mine was perfect and the price greatly appreciated.