Which Dehydrator Unit?

[JUDGE]

I just use my oven set it at 200 degree F and have the door open 1 inch at the top. Works great.

[huntaway]

I have an American Harvest dehydrator. It commes with 4 racks and I bought another two racks. I found that when I do jerky I always have more than 4 racks can handle. It works fine for what I use it for.

http://www.nesco.com/products/Dehydr..._070026d21754/

I don't see my particular model there. Maybe discontinued??? This one is similar to mine.

HA

[Zr2Paul]

Thanks for the feedback! I think I know what I'll be getting next

How easy it it to clean these things? Dishwasher safe?

Paul

[GBuck]

I make a ton of goose jerky every year. OK maybe not a ton but at least 200 birds worth.

I've gone through 2 of the $50-100 versions in the past 6 years. They do not work all that well and the plastic trays turn brittle. I am going to get a commercial one.

[huntaway]

Thanks for the feedback! I think I know what I'll be getting next

How easy it it to clean these things? Dishwasher safe?

Paul

My dishwasher has two hands. They're not bad to clean. Hot soapy water and a good rinse. It won't take a lot of abuse as the plastic is pretty thin. I've had mine for years and haven't broke one yet. Light use though. Maybe 4 loads a year of jerky a year.

HA

[gunter]

I got this one from bass pro.......Red Head dehydrator with 6 stackable trays. Works good but you have to rotate the trays when doing jurky.

[huntaway]

I make a ton of goose jerky every year. OK maybe not a ton but at least 200 birds worth.

I've gone through 2 of the $50-100 versions in the past 6 years. They do not work all that well and the plastic trays turn brittle. I am going to get a commercial one.

If I were doing that much jerky I would use my smoker.

HA

[GBuck]

If I were doing that much jerky I would use my smoker.

HA

I have found that an oven is the best type of heat. The smoke seems to overpower the jerky - at least the type that I do. The problem with an oven is that you can only do so much at a time and it can cause problems with the wife who will object if you take over the oven for 5 nights straight. I think it would be better to have a commercial dehydrator and be able to knock out a 10 lb batch of jerky all at once.

[Zr2Paul]

My Bradley Smoker makes some gooooooood jerky! I haven't done any in a while though.

Paul

[huntaway]

My smoker is propane fired so it can be optional to add wood.

I've used the oven and wooden spoon thing to keep the door propped open too. Makes a mess that I don't care to deal with. lol Works but messy.

The dehydrator works for me but like I said I'm not doing a ton of it. Even the BBQ could be used if you only lit one burner and had the meat on the other side. Probably not practical though.

HA