The 9 Best Food Dehydrators for Every Home Cook, According to Thousands of Reviews

Amazon

There's a new food appliance you may have seen making its way around the internet in interviews with famous chefs, DIY home cooking gurus, and blogs: the food dehydrator. The countertop machine sucks the moisture out of foods like meat, fruits, and herbs, not only preserving them, but also intensifying their flavor.

With food dehydrators, you can easily make snacks like beef jerky, fruit leather, or oil-less potato chips, or dry herbs like rosemary or thyme with lightyears more flavor than the stuff you'd buy in jars. It's also an excellent tool for experimenting with seasoning salts, innovative new popcorn toppings, and something called pickle powder. Oh yeah, they're also simple to operate, a great way to preserve bulk purchases, and can cost as little as $60.

The Best Food Dehydrators at a Glance:

• Best Overall: Nesco Gardenmaster

• Best Rated: Cosori Premium Food Dehydrator

• Best Budget-Friendly Pick: Presto 06300

• Best Entry-Level Pick: Nesco Snackmaster Pro

• Best for Fruit and Vegetables: Magic Mill Commercial Food Dehydrator

• Best for Meat: Excalibur 9-Tray Food Dehydrator

• Best for Small Spaces: Brod and Taylor Sahara Folding Dehydrator

• Best for Big Batches: Tribest Sedona Express

• Best for Pets: Cosori Original Food Dehydrator

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Do you need a food dehydrator to experiment with drying your own food? Absolutely not! If you're interested in occasionally making your own vegetable chips or dried apricots, you can try and mimic their effects by drying them slowly on kitchen cooling racks in an oven set to low. But if you're looking for a compact, user-friendly way to preserve more fresh foods (or start your DIY jerky empire), a food dehydrator is a worthy investment.

To help you sort through the options and find the best food dehydrator for your needs, we've turned to reviews from actual customers on Amazon who have purchased and used the appliances for themselves. No matter if you're looking for a small appliance for tight spaces or a professional-level tool to really dive into DIY dehydrating, these best-selling machines have near-perfect ratings and rave reviews describing why they're so great.

Keep reading to learn everything about the internet's top food dehydrators and determine which one is right for you.

Best Overall: Nesco Gardenmaster

If you're looking for a food dehydrator that's speedy, consistent, and easy to use, the Nesco FD-1018A Gardenmaster is an excellent pick. This sleek appliance comes with eight trays and can expand to fit up to 30 trays total if you have a truly massive harvest. It boasts 1,000 watts of drying power and a specially designed 4.5-inch fan along with a 2,400-RPM motor to dry food quickly and quietly without rotating trays.

The device's light-blocking exterior preserves more nutrients during the drying process, while its adjustable thermostat ranges between 95 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which means you can dry foods to a variety of different temperatures (say, low for apple slices and high for beef jerky). It also comes with useful accessories like fine mesh mats and fruit roll sheets. Bonus—the covers and trays are all dishwasher-safe, which means easy-peasy cleanup.

The Nesco Gardenmaster is so popular that it's earned an impressive 4.5-star rating on Amazon. Shoppers rave about the appliance for its capacity and user-friendliness.

"I dehydrate my own meals for backpacking, make my dogs chicken jerky, beef jerky for humans, and even eggs," one avid user wrote. "That being said, I have burned through two other dehydrators by Nesco. This one packs 1000 watts of power to dehydrate, it dries meat in a shorter time (eight to nine hours) than their other smaller dehydrators (10 to 14 hours), has larger tray size and comes with the mesh and trays for each rack. This model is well with the money!"

To buy: $119 (originally $180) at amazon.com

Best Rated: Cosori Premium Food Dehydrator

The internet can be a tough crowd, so we pay attention when a unanimous favorite rises to the top. Case in point: the Cosori Premium model, which has an incredible 5,500 perfect ratings. Customers love the dehydrator for how easy it is to use and clean, as well as its high-quality design.

The appliance has six dishwasher-safe stainless steel trays and a glass door so you can easily see how your jerky and fruit leather is coming along. Its digital panel features four simple buttons to give you complete control over dehydrating, including a memory function and a customizable timer that goes up to 48 hours. It's also incredibly quiet, making less than 48 decibels of noise during use, according to the brand.

"It's quiet enough that it doesn't interfere with a normal level conversation even right beside it," one reviewer said, while another added: "This thing can take on a LOT of fruit! I have dehydrated apples, pineapple (my absolute favorite), pear, nectarines, mango, strawberry (second favorite), dragon fruit, cantaloupe, and a few others I cannot think of. Love the temperature control and timer adjustment options."

To buy: $160 at amazon.com

Best Budget-Friendly Pick: Presto 06300

This streamlined model from Presto may not have all the bells and whistles of higher-end dehydrators, but it's an excellent bang for your buck. It's a surprisingly powerful workhorse, reaching temperatures of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to dry everything from fresh produce to herbs. The plug-in device can expand to fit up to eight trays, and it has a transparent cover so you can monitor the drying process of the food on the top tray. Additionally, the drying trays and cover are dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning.

Amazon customers love the compact dehydrator for its durability and affordable price. "I have been curious about dehydrators for a while, and after using my oven to dry a few vegetables, I decided to invest in a dehydrator...but I didn't want to put a lot of money into it in case I didn't use it often," one wrote. "The first thing I tried in it was kale chips. I was amazed at how quickly the dehydrator works. It's also easy to clean. It's easy to use in general, in fact. For the price tag, this product far exceeded my expectations. I can't think of anything about it I don't like!"

To buy: $40 (originally $60) at amazon.com

Best Entry-Level Pick: Nesco Snackmaster Pro

Anyone new to food dehydrators will want to learn on a quality, user-friendly device that won't break the bank. For those looking to spend less than $100, the best food dehydrator for your money is another Nesco option: the Snackmaster Pro. Just like the Gardenmaster, it has an adjustable thermostat to dry fruit, vegetables, and meat quickly, and features a light-blocking exterior to conserve nutrients. However, the Snackmaster Pro has slightly less drying power (600 watts) and only accommodates up to 12 trays (it comes with five).

It may be slightly less powerful than its counterpart, but the Snackmaster Pro still attracts legions of fans. "I am amazed at how well it works," a customer wrote. "It is quiet and works without flaw. It dehydrates evenly and it cleans up easily. The temperature control is nice and easy. I would HIGHLY recommend this one to anyone, but beginners, especially."

Another added, "I've had it for about two years now and it was one of the best purchases I have made. The price is great for what you are getting and so far I've had great results with mine."

To buy: $66 (originally $89) at amazon.com

Best for Fruit and Vegetables: Magic Mill Commercial Food Dehydrator

Whether you're looking to make chewy fruit leather or preserve your bumper crop of zucchini, this commercial-quality machine is ready to deliver. Designed with a rear-mounted fan, the Magic Mill Commercial Food Dehydrator evenly dries foods without the extra step of rotating shelves. It also has an adjustable thermostat that ranges from 95 to 167 degrees Fahrenheit and automatically shuts off when the batch is complete.

The machine has seven adjustable stainless steel trays that provide more than enough room for large dehydrating projects. It comes with fruit roll sheets for leathers and mesh trays for delicate herbs and flowers, too. Best of all, because they're steel, the trays are dishwasher-safe.

More than 1,200 Amazon shoppers have given the Magic Mill a perfect rating, with many saying it's easy to use and clean. "The stainless racks are wonderful," one wrote. "I usually just pop them in the dishwasher and bingo, all ready to go again."

A second added, "Never knew what I was missing. We have been dehydrating our surplus of food from our garden and this dehydrator has helped tremendously. From tomatoes to onions to peaches to apples this does it all."

To buy: $150 at amazon.com

Best for Meat: Excalibur 9-Tray Food Dehydrator

The Excalibur 9-Tray Food Dehydrator is a must-have for jerky lovers. With nine separate trays that provide 15 feet of drying space, it also features a user-friendly thermostat that reaches the optimal meat-drying temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Its heating element and fan distribute cool air evenly over the trays from the back of the appliance, so you don't need to manually rotate your trays. There's even a 26-hour timer for home cooks who don't want to babysit their jerky-making devices.

The 600-watt machine is mighty—it weighs 22 pounds—but users say the heavy-duty design is what makes the Excalibur so powerful and durable. "This Excalibur 3926TB is the Cadillac of dehydrators," a customer said. "This one does it all. It has NINE large trays, and the rest is automatic. I just place all my sliced-up X, Y, or Z on the trays, set the timer to whatever it is, and go back to sleep in the hammock. It shuts itself off when done, so I don't even have to worry about being there when it's finished."

Another added, "I've been smoking and drying meats for a long time. I decided I wanted to upgrade from the dehydrator I owned to something that would kick some serious heinie. This Excalibur was the perfect choice."

To buy: $270 at amazon.com

Best for Small Spaces: Brod and Taylor Sahara Folding Food Dehydrator

Home cooks tight on counter space (apartment dwellers, we see you) should consider Brod and Taylor's Sahara. The square device provides more than 11 square feet of drying area and other niceties like stainless steel shelving, dual 700-watt heaters, and automated temperature controls. It also has a washable, reusable air filter, which prevents smells and tastes from contaminating your dried foods.

But the coolest part about the Brod and Taylor Sahara is that it folds to one-third of its size. Yep! A foldable food dehydrator. That means you can tuck it away when you're done making your latest batch of jerky.

Priced at nearly $400, the Brod and Taylor Sahara isn't a budget buy. However, if space is a premium in your kitchen, it could be worth the investment. This Amazon reviewer certainly thought so: "I recently downsized into an apartment and feared that I would not have the storage space for a dehydrator," they wrote. "However, the unique design allows the entire unit to fold up and fit easily within a kitchen drawer. I am ten uses in, and the quality of the appliance is evident. Thick, high-temperature plastics, sturdy glass doors, and stainless-steel components make the product feel like no corners were cut. I have pulled jerky, veggie crisps, and fruit roll-ups out of this thing (for a fraction of the store-bought cost), and I have had zero complaints whatsoever."

To buy: $395 at amazon.com

Best for Big Batches: Tribest Sedona Express

Want to make big batches of jerky or feed homemade fruit rolls to a crowd? The Tribest Sedona Express can help you do it. The machine has 11 stainless steel trays and a total drying capacity of almost 10 square feet. And in terms of dehydrating technology, Tribest is on the cutting edge. You can set your drying temperature manually or choose from one of the machine's preset programs, which include options for raw foods and speedy dehydrating jobs. It also allows you to start dehydrating at a higher temperature before automatically lowering it for a slow dry to preserve foods' nutrients and enzymes.

Dozens of Amazon reviewers—especially the jerky curious—are enamored with the Tribest. It has a 4.4-star rating from users who praise its high-tech presets and user-friendliness. "I highly recommend this model for anyone that loves jerky," said one reviewer. "Everything functions as described and is so easy a kid could do it. Works great!"

A second wrote, "I've had dehydrators for 30 years, but never anything like this. It's easy to program, it dries everything beautifully, makes fantastic jerky, and takes up little space. I wish I'd had this a long time ago!"

To buy: $436 at amazon.com

Best for Pets: Cosori Original Food Dehydrator

Homemade treats for your dogs, cats, or other pets are a cinch with Cosori's Original Food Dehydrator. The five-tray gadget is versatile enough to make beef and chicken jerky as well as vegetable and fruit snacks, like sweet potato and apple crisps. Plus, it has a user-friendly interface that conveniently remembers the last setting you used.

Users confirm that the Cosori appliance is excellent for DIY pet treats, calling it a smart investment. "The dogs get excited every time I bring it out because they know they'll be getting something good," a reviewer said. "Not only am I saving money on treats, but I know they are not getting any chemicals, preservatives, or who knows what in store bought treats."

Another said, "The time and temperature control make it simple for beginners or professionals to make great dishes. Quality item for a great price."

To buy: $70 at amazon.com