Algonquin Adventures / Bought a dehydrator recently?

**Posted by Zemantics** 9/07/2023 9:00 am

Curious if anyone has bought a dehydrator in the past few years with positive experiences.

My old Nesco crapped out on me -- it keeps blowing thermal fuses despite replacing. I've read less-than-optimistic reviews about newer Nesco models. The Excalibur dehydrators seem to have great reviews. There's also some others I've not heard of before such as Magic Mill.

I know some older dehydrators passed down from your grandma's grandma are probably alive and kicking... but I'm stuck buying in this modern market. Any insights are appreciated!

**Posted by RobW** 9/07/2023 1:14 pm

I'm on my 2nd Nesco but that's the 2nd over the course of 15-20 years. I may not use it as much as other folks, but I put a lot of hours on it prepping for my trip this summer and it never blinked.

Last edited by RobW (9/07/2023 1:21 pm)

**Posted by PaPaddler** 9/07/2023 1:46 pm

I'm still on my first Nesco and it's been at least 15 years. I'm not a heavy user, but it's been solid.

**Posted by TripperMike** 9/07/2023 3:16 pm

Excalibur's are fantastic, I'll be upgrading to one if/when my Nesco craps out.

**Posted by hiker72** 9/08/2023 6:01 am

We have an Excalibur and love it, although it hasn't been used nearly as much as we had hoped (yet!).

Last edited by hiker72 (9/08/2023 6:02 am)

**Posted by Shayne74** 9/08/2023 6:33 pm

I have an Excalibur. Seems great but was our first so nothing to compare it to. Gets the job done.

**Posted by Zemantics** 9/08/2023 10:17 pm

How's the Excalibur for dehydrating chili, stew, or other saucy dishes?

With the nesco, I had used additional fruit leather trays on the bottom-most racks to capture the liquids of the dishes. It worked well as these trays would end up as a leather of the sauce. Does the Excalibur have a similar arrangement that allows it to dehydrate such meals?

**Posted by hiker72** 9/09/2023 1:39 pm

Zemantics wrote:
How's the Excalibur for dehydrating chili, stew, or other saucy dishes?

With the nesco, I had used additional fruit leather trays on the bottom-most racks to capture the liquids of the dishes. It worked well as these trays would end up as a leather of the sauce. Does the Excalibur have a similar arrangement that allows it to dehydrate such meals?

The unit we purchased did not come with solid racks or mats, so we had to buy a separate package of silicone dehydrator mats. Unfortunately, I haven't tried dehydrating saucy dishes yet, so I'm equally curious as to how that will turn out...

**Posted by Zemantics** 9/09/2023 10:56 pm

hiker72 wrote:
Zemantics wrote:
How's the Excalibur for dehydrating chili, stew, or other saucy dishes?

With the nesco, I had used additional fruit leather trays on the bottom-most racks to capture the liquids of the dishes. It worked well as these trays would end up as a leather of the sauce. Does the Excalibur have a similar arrangement that allows it to dehydrate such meals?
The unit we purchased did not come with solid racks or mats, so we had to buy a separate package of silicone dehydrator mats. Unfortunately, I haven't tried dehydrating saucy dishes yet, so I'm equally curious as to how that will turn out...

That'd definitely be a deal breaker for me to hear negative reviews on that front. The nesco was solid for a good ten years for me in that regard. The last customer service convo I had with them where I explained having replaced a Thermo resistor several times and their solution was a new power head kinda ticked me off

**Posted by backatit** 9/11/2023 2:31 pm

I like my excalibur. I have successfully dehydrated spaghetti sauce and chili using parchment paper - not very watery sauces but definately wet.

Zemantics wrote:
hiker72 wrote:
Zemantics wrote:
How's the Excalibur for dehydrating chili, stew, or other saucy dishes?

With the nesco, I had used additional fruit leather trays on the bottom-most racks to capture the liquids of the dishes. It worked well as these trays would end up as a leather of the sauce. Does the Excalibur have a similar arrangement that allows it to dehydrate such meals?
The unit we purchased did not come with solid racks or mats, so we had to buy a separate package of silicone dehydrator mats. Unfortunately, I haven't tried dehydrating saucy dishes yet, so I'm equally curious as to how that will turn out...

That'd definitely be a deal breaker for me to hear negative reviews on that front. The nesco was solid for a good ten years for me in that regard. The last customer service convo I had with them where I explained having replaced a Thermo resistor several times and their solution was a new power head kinda ticked me off

**Posted by Shayne74** 9/11/2023 7:26 pm

Works great for chili imo. Definitely requires some cleanup but it's does a great job. I can fit a decent sized crackpot worth at once. Enough to feed 6 .

**Posted by Zemantics** 9/12/2023 9:47 pm

Thanks guys. What size of Excalibur do you have?