We have been dehydrating food for backpacking and other adventures for over 10 years! Here are some of the things we’ve learned along the way about dehydrators, followed by our favorite models.
Fan Location
Choose a dehydrator with the fan on the top or in the back. (A fan at the bottom will get dripped on and be hard to clean.
Temperature Control
Choose a dehydrator with temperature controls. Different foods require different temperatures.
Capacity
Choose the size and number of trays based on your needs. For our 3+ month thruhikes, we use a 9-tray dehydrator to really dehydrate in bulk. For our shorter adventures, a 4-tray dehydrator is enough.
Shape
Square trays can be easier to load/unload than circle trays with holes in them, but we have had success with both.
Accessories
We also use dehydrator sheets quite often. Solid sheets (sometimes called fruit leather sheets) work great for dehydrating sauces. Mesh sheets work great for dehydrating smaller veggies that fall through the cracks of the standard dehydrator trays.
Brands
We have tried many different brands and dehydrators. We have had great success with both Nesco and Excalibur dehydrators.
Dehydrators we recommend:
Large: 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator
When we’re prepping 100+ meals at a time for our long trips, we usually use our trusty 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator. It has a large capacity (15 square feet), the square slide-in trays are easy to fill, and the fan is in the back of the unit. The only drawback is the dehydrator’s large size — we use a smaller model when we aren’t dehydrating in bulk.
Medium: 7-tray Nesco dehydrator
Our most beautiful dehydrator is our 7-tray Nesco dehydrator. It has a stainless steel finish, square trays, and its fan is in the back. This dehydrator has a built-in timer, which can be convenient so the machine can shut itself off if you are away. The capacity is intermediate — 6.6 square feet.
Small: 4-tray Excalibur
For smaller dehydrator loads, we love our 4-tray Excalibur. It is basically a miniature version of the 9-tray model with a much smaller capacity of just 4 square feet.
Affordable: Nesco Snackmaster
Our first dehydrator was a Nesco Snackmaster. It is affordable and reliable, with its fan on top. The circular trays provide 4 square feet of drying capacity as delivered, but additional trays can be added for expansion up to 9.6 square feet. Circular trays are more challenging to fill, but the trade-off is worth it for the cost savings if you are just getting into dehydrating.
Summary of Dehydrators to Consider:
Nesco (Nesco shop, Amazon) makes several other great dehydrators. They are a budget-friendly option that is perfect for small to medium loads. Nesco makes high-quality and reliable products that we have never had fail on us.
Excalibur (Excalibur shop, Amazon) also makes a wide variety of dehydrators with different features, such as built-in timers and large capacities. They are a little bit more expensive than Nesco, but they are the best dehydrators we have ever used.
Budget dehydrators available from Amazon and elsewhere can be risky. The savings aren’t that great compared to reputable brands, but the reliability can be questionable. We have had noisy dehydrators, dehydrators that break after only a few uses, and some without important features such as an adjustable timer or a rear/top-mounted fan.
If there are any outstanding dehydrators we are missing and should give a try, please let us know!
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This post originally appeared on the Thruhikers blog.
Love this so much! I appreciate the thoroughness and how its written so clearly and to the point! Question for you: is there a hit on the electricity bill? what can one expect?
I ask because Im looking to take longer road trips with my senior dog to maximize my time with her, semi van life. I am over sitting in an office within 4 walls under fluorescent lights while she's at home and I have to pay someone to walk her while I'm at work. I'm exploring the possibility of dehydrating food in advance for me. Eating healthy is a concern I have while we are on the road. And it has to be easy prep because I barely cook at home! This weekend we take a 14 hour roadtrip to VT. Im taking her to the Dog Mtn and the Dog Chapel in Johnsbury VT. Thank you both! Anna in Raleigh, NC
Tips for keeping them clean without using parchment paper? Mine has metal mesh shelves that look like they’d be difficult to clean and after learning the hard way how challenging it is to clean an air fryer I’m a little scared to try using the dehydrator without parchment paper.