Digital Food Dehydrator for Fruit, Jerky, Vegetables & More | 5 Stackable Trays For 4.2 sq. ft. Of Drying Space | Adjustable 100-160ºF Temperature | 48 Hour Timer + Auto Shutoff | Grey

For the price compared to other, no complaints. It does what it's meant to. Not too noisy, and easy to use. Great if your not sure if dehydrating is something you'll do enough to invest in the fancy ones.

As soon as I opened I sliced an apple, I had apple chips 6 hrs later. So far I used for apples, peaches, strawberries and chicken. The fan it is loud and the drying takes long time, it is better to leave it working overnight.

“This is the best beef jerky ever!” is the most common thing I hear when family and friends try samples from our HB Dehydrator. I’m sure I could get similar results with competing products, but the price was right on this one. I wanted a dehydrator to make dried fruit and meat for storage. When I was a kid, my grandma had me pick peaches from her grove. Some we canned in Mason jars; others we dried on racks in the sun and packed away. I don’t have a peach orchard now, but I thought I’d relearn the food preservation process and teach my grandkids how to dry fruit and meat. This dehydrator was an excellent starting point. After a few months and dozens of batches of jerky and fruit, I can confidently recommend this to anyone curious about food dehydration. The only issue so far is storage—it’s proving tricky. First, because everyone eats it like candy. No batch lasts for more than a couple of days, so there's nothing left to store. Second, I haven’t discovered the right process for making jerky that lasts in storage. Even in vacuum-sealed Mason jars with desiccant packets, the driest meats still seep moisture. The easiest fix has been to leave them on the counter, covered with paper towels, letting the desert air do its job while people gobble the bits. I’m a complete novice at this, so any problems are likely my own fault. To the experts wondering, “Are you…?”—yes, I’m trimming the fat, trying both marinades and dry rubs, patting it dry at every stage, and even cooking it in the oven after dehydrating. Still, I’m experimenting. For now, 8–10 hours seems to be the sweet spot for earning that “best jerky ever!” award from the family. When my three-year-old grandson rejects it, saying, “I want fluffy jerky,” I know I’ve gone too far. So, I’ll stick to the fluffier side for now and worry about storage later. This dehydrator has me hooked enough to eventually upgrade to a commercial-grade model. In the meantime, it’s a great entry point—inexpensive, easy to use, and capable of making “the best jerky ever.” Especially the fluffy kind. Regards, badphd

This Dehydrator is so easy to use, easy to clean and drying time. Everything tastes great and is so much more healthy. The size is just right. Would definitely recommend this product.

I have been having a blast with this thing. It works so well! The night it arrived we went out and bought a bunch of fruit and just filled the whole thing up. Set it up overnight, and had dehydrated fruit for breakfast (and yes, our stomachs hated us for it, but it was SO GOOD). The next trial was spices. I do a lot of gardening, and had a massive Oregano bush out back on the patio, so I harvested the whole thing and filled it all up. This was the one "Ehhh" area of the machine. It did a wonderful job dehydrating my oregano, don't get me wrong! But it only comes with ONE fine mesh tray, which I mean, is okay, I can put it at the bottom. But that "fine mesh" isn't very fine. A lot of the dehydrated oregano leaves fell down into the machine. It wasn't a huge deal, not even enough to take off a star, but I DO recommend getting some actual fine mesh if you ever plan to do your own spices. The machine is great though. It's super lightweight yet feels durable, it's compact, and it's reasonably quiet. It's a little quieter than like, a box fan on low setting. It's also really easy to use, and comes with an excellent manual explaining how to dehydrate different foods, what temperatures to use, and how long, even with a list of different fruits and veg! Really all you do is set the temp, set a time, and leave it. Anyone can use this thing. It's great!

I've been researching dehydrators for a while now, and finally went with this one, due (mainly) to (1) The adjustable temperature (not all dehydrators have this, and I wanted the option of changing it), (2) the fact that it is square (space optimization) (3) and the price point was great. So far I am incredibly pleased! I have made apple chips, banana chips, and even my own 'green powder' from dehydrated salad greens..and I've only had it a few weeks. As far as noise goes, I have to say when I first turned it on I was INCREDIBLY disappointed...it was SO LOUD I had to turn it off. It whined and made a grating high-pitched noise that was impossible to ignore. I was even in the middle of looking up how to return it when I decided to give it one more try. I'm not sure what exactly changed or what I did differently but I haven't had any more trouble with that noise since then. It is not whisper silent but it isn't loud either. It is somewhat equivalent to a box fan, in my opinion. My only complaint with the entire thing (other than the random, unexplained initial noise) is that mine came with no directions...which is really a minor thing as you can print them off from the Hamilton Beach website ([...]). So for an overview... -Has adjustable temperature -Has timer that automatically turns off when finished (so I can start things before I go to bed and not have to worry about them over-drying ) -Comes with the fruit leather tray (I have yet to try it out) -Comes with herb drying tray (works great for the salad greens!) -Square shape makes it easier to store -Not unpleasantly loud (think a little bit louder than a box fan) -Lid is clear so you can check the progress of your food I also have not had to rotate the trays with anything I have made yet, so that is a bonus. SO, so far so good! I'm very pleased with this purchase. I would definitely recommend as a starter dehydrator.

Perfect dehydrator. Evenly dries fruit, from the top tray to the bottom with no need to rotate. Very easy to clean, the trays are very durable and food does not stick to them. I love the temp and timer feature. It comes with a recipe guide telling what temp and time to set for certain standard items, which was helpful--no guesswork. It doesn't take up much counter space but fits quite a bit of sliced food per tray. I can dry about 5-6 apples at a time. With all trays full, it takes 10 hours at 135 degrees to dry apples and they end up with incredible flavor! I have never had a silent/quiet dehydrator so the sound of this one was expected - it is equivalent to a fan set on low. I actually prefer the soft fan sound so that I can hear when it stops running/completes a cycle so I can start the next batch. It's also very handy that it auto shuts off after the time is complete, b/c I can start new batches at any time of day and let it run overnight.

Obsessed with my new kitchen gadget. As a homesteader with a big garden AND having livestock that we process (as well as avidly hunting when seasons are in) this machine will be putting in some work!! Creating my own spices has been a dream of mine and this little machine will help make that happen!! Come deer season I am sure we’ll be seeing a lot of jerky make its way into those trays. It’s so easy to use! It also arrived in perfect condition. Right out of the box it was a breeze to set up. Trays stacked good, they’re spacious, and it’s been a learning experience while using it. YouTube has been my go-to for everything related to this machine so for anyone else needing ideas, that’s where I go.