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 (largest to smallest):
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.
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.
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.
Our first dehydrator was a Nesco Snackmaster. It is affordable and reliable, with its fan on the 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 feeet. 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 are a risk. 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!
Disclosure: We use affiliate links in this post, which may include Amazon affiliate links. We receive a small commission on products you buy, which helps us pay for this website. Also, as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. There is no extra cost to you.
