FD-80A

This makes great jerky! I use it at least once a week. The jerky always gets eaten way too fast. I just use a meat seasoning (a "Monterey" -type garlicky, pepper, salt and other spices) shake-on style mix that I put into a plastic bag. I throw the meat strips in, season them for as long as I can (in refrigerator) then spread them out on here and six hours later, voilà! Hubby loves the stuff. It's so much healthier than chips. More filling. I also dry fruits (too calorific for most people . . . they end up great, but almost as bad as candy since they're so sweet and you tend to eat more of them.) Also, I've dried veggies for chips (most get too thin and too brittle), and spices (these work pretty well). There's no mystery to drying stuff with this. And there's no reason to buy the more expensive models. It is relatively low cost; it works well, and the meat dries quickly and is not in contact with the plastic for very long. Plus, temps only go up to 160 degrees. I am not worried by the plastic. (All meat is wrapped in styro and plastic, anyway. There is even a plastic coating inside most butcher paper! How are you ever going to avoid it anyway?)

I live in a Tiny (540 sq ft) House in farming community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Winters can seriously hamper and/or disrupt transportation. Electricity can be off for a day or two. My son and his wife said dehydrated food takes up less space than canned or frozen food. It was their suggestion I look at dehydrators, most specifically the NESCO FD-75A Snackmaster Pro since it is not only a workhorse but comes with fruit sheets and extra screens. In fact, some of their trays are from my husband's and my NESCO dehydrator from the 1990's! Thought the screens are yellow (due to age) they're still going strong. After reading reviews I decided to purchase the NESCO FD-80A Square Shaped Food Dehydrator due to its square shape. Utilizing every bit of space is essential in a Tiny House. Though my house is on the large side for a Tiny House, space is still at a premium. When not in use my NESCO FD-80A Square Shaped Food Dehydrator sit atop my refrigerator. with other small appliances. When in use it is on the counter or kitchen table. This little dynamo worked great right out of the box! I've dehydrated apple slices from a local orchard. Tomatoes are next, as well as fruit leather made from local plums. I seriously recommend the NESCO FD-80A Square Shaped Food Dehydrator to anyone who wants an economical money and space saving impressive and effective food dehydrator.

This is my second of these dehydrators. I like it so well that I bought the second one even though the thermostat quit working on the first one after only a few months. None-the-less, they give excellent results. The variable temperature is a must. They are well designed for maximum capacity, easy to clean and store, and quiet. The price is a real value compared to other models without the features that this one offers. I do wish that simple replacement parts for the electrical part were available but I searched online for days and could not find any parts, even from the manufacturer. I could have fixed the first machine with a simple little part on the motor. If I need to get another dehydrator I will still try to find this model.

This is a great priced item. Ive been using it continuously since I got it. I did not want to start out with a more expensive dehydrator if I didnt know I was going to use it enough. Who knows maybe it wont even be my starter dehydrator....I may not upgrade if this works for all my needs!!! I definetly had to buy more trays because I couldnt dry enough in one sitting, I have not received the extra trays to see how well it will hold 6 trays versus the 4 that it comes with. Ive currently made fruit rolls, dehydrated apples, strawberries and chicken jerky made by the strips. All came out wonderful. I will be making chicken jerky (with jerky gun) for my shepherd who is very picky when it comes to snacks. Im happy to be able to give her a snack that I know wont be recalled next time I go to the local big box pet store.......which has happened several times!!! Im currently making a batch of chicken jerky using my jerky gun and ground jerky......really looking forward to tasting this!!! We hike, camp and I cycle for miles at a time so having these items on the shelf will be very benificial to both my pocket book and not having to eat all the extra preservatives. UPDATE 4-24-13 I purchased the extra trays (2) and found that it does increase the drying time by what I found to be 1-2 hours. This is not a deal breaker for me but I was a bit disappointed and needed to schedule my going into the dehydrator time accordingly. My trays are a bit discolored from drying a batch of carrots which again is not a deal breaker but for some I know that it would really bother them. I have dehydrated about 8lbs of meat and quit a few apples and strawberries so far and they all have turned out great. I do switch the trays around and have labeled them 1-6 so I know what trays have been switched and to where. I really feel this aids with the drying as the top two trays get the most heat. All in all I'm still happy with my purchase .

Good value for the price point. It’s a staple in my kitchen and is used all the time for everything from veggies for soup to egg whites for protein powder. I make chips, jerky and dehydrated meals for camping. By far my favorite tool and this dehydrates evenly and without burning. Quiet enough to sit on my counter, easy to use and no complicated mother board to go awry. Basic and reliable.

Pros: I've only used it for a short while but so far it works as expected and is satisfactory for my needs. I love the knob feature for selecting the temperature, much quicker and easier than digital. Cons: The plastic screens in the trays are thin and look delicate, so I clean them very gently, for fear they'll break. It would have been great if the unit had an on/off button so we didn't have to unplug the unit every time we want to check the trays, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I'd recommend this unit for small quantity dehydrating.

Horrible product. The first one dis not work and after replacement the second one worked for 30 secs before the fuse went off and there was smoke coming out.

We got end of march an ordered dehydrator brand Nesco Model FD-80. Unfortunally the transformer which has been sent was to week. It had only 250 W instead the needed 700W. This transformer would have been burned immediately. We have send it back to the adress Amazon gave us. Color Paper in Maharashtra . Three times now...after explaining in detail what we need, they seem not to understand and have sent us twice a stabilizer. Once it was already broken when it arrived. The screws were not fixed and all was a mess. Several telephoneconversations and whattsupps have been exchanged. We explained in detail what is needed to run an american product here in India where we are having 220V, the american machine runs on 110. So a transformer is needed, not a converter. It was my birthdaypresent and I am in the meanwhile totally embarassed. I really looked foreward to use my dehydrator and now it is more than 2 month standing unused in my kitchen. Please, help us and get back to us. Thank you Agnes and Bernd Theilmann

The plastic racks are a bit fragile. It wouldn't take much force to break the grate away from the frame but with a little care should be fine. We bought the silicone screens to go with it so nothing falls through and very easy to clean. I like that it is expandable to eight layers. A great unit for those new to dehydrating that won't break the bank and can grow with you as you learn and do more.

The appliance burned after 1 minute of working. Black smoke coming out of the upper panel