If you’re looking for a brand-new food dehydrator, you’re in the right place.
Why? Because I believe food dehydrators are the best, easiest, and most affordable way to make long-lasting healthy snacks.
We’re talking healthy snacks for every day or a future emergency.
But when it comes to food dehydrators, there’s a lot of misinformation and confusion out there.
Sure, you can find tons of tips and tricks—lots of good ideas and hundreds of food dehydrators on the market.
But that’s the problem! Anyone searching for the best food dehydrator will quickly become overwhelmed.
But don’t worry; today I’m going to share everything I know about food dehydrators, specifically:
- Why You Should Dehydrate Food
- How To Dehydrate Food (ancient techniques)
- Best Food Dehydrators On The Market Today
- Best Foods For Your New Food Dehydrator
- Maintaining Your Food Dehydrator
**Note: If you want our top recommendations, feel free to SKIP AHEAD HERE.
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Why You Should Dehydrate Food
Dehydrating food is an ancient technique. One that’s still widely used around the world.
Food dehydration has been around for tens of thousands of years. The earliest evidence of people doing it is from 12,000 BC!
That means we have been drying snacks for far longer than we’ve been living in cities. That’s how you know it’s such a practical survival skill.
Food dehydration was practiced by people who survived in the ancient wild—hunters and gathers who wandered across barren, uncivilized lands.
But Why?
First, dehydrated food lasts a whole lot longer than fresh food.
By drying it, you’re removing almost all moisture from the product. Mold, yeast, and bacteria need water, oxygen, warmth, and food to grow. So, by eliminating moisture from the equation, you’re helping to prevent food spoilage.
So dehydrating food increases its shelf life exponentially.
For example, a fresh banana from the store will last on a countertop for about a week. But if you slice up and dry that same banana into banana chips, it will keep for months (or even years). And you’re retaining almost all its original nutritional value.
Food dehydration is like stopping the food aging process!
This leads us to the second reason why you should dehydrate food – dried foods are packed with nutrients.
Sure, potato chips last for a long time too. But eating a lot of potato chips is bad compared to eating dried slices of fruits and veggies.
Foods you dehydrate – fruits, veggies, meats, etc. – keep most of their nutritional value.
That’s great news if you’re ever caught in an emergency and need nutrients but don’t have access to fresh foods. With a healthy stock of dehydrated food, you will not have to worry.
And last but not least, dehydrated foods taste great.
Something about sucking all the moisture out of things changes their flavor significantly. It’s why dried mango chips don’t taste like fresh mangos and why beef jerky doesn’t taste like regular beef.
Dehydrating food is both smart for survival and a delicious everyday snack!
Any food that lasts is healthy, tastes good, and is a perfect survival food source. And dehydrating your own food will save you money.
It allows you to turn fresh foods into long-lasting survival snacks at an extremely low cost.
As we all know, buying large amounts of beef jerky, dried fruits, and fish from the store takes a small fortune.
It’s much better and easier on the budget to dry your own foods using a food dehydrator.
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How To Dehydrate Food
The easiest modern method for dehydrating your food is to use an electric dryer. But we will get to those devices shortly.
But can still dehydrate food without needing a high-tech food dehydrator.
Our ancestors have been drying food for most of human history – long before electrical sockets and batteries came along.
How Did They Do It?
Two main ways.
1. Using The Power Of The Sun
The first is still popular today – especially with tomatoes: sun drying.
It’s a straightforward process that begins with selecting good produce. The best ingredients will make the best-dried produce.
Fruits should be cut into thin slices. And veggies (which have lower acid levels and spoil faster) should be cut into cubes or diced.
Spread your cut produce out on paper-lined trays or, better yet, cloth-covered wooden frames. Protect the food from insects using cheesecloth.
Set the trays outside, and turn the food occasionally for even dehydration.
At night, bring the drying produce inside. And if rainy weather moves in, you can save your batch with some last-minute oven-drying.
Another conventional method for sun drying is to hang foods on a string, protected with cheesecloth or a screen.
The benefit of doing this is you do not have to turn the product as often as it dries.
Now placing your food in direct sunlight or a shaded area will affect the finished product.
Most foods dried in the shade retain both color and flavor better. But it takes longer.
Food dried in direct sunlight will dry a lot faster.
Some recommend “pasteurizing” your dried food once it’s finished. You can do this by popping it into the oven (at 175 degrees F)—ten minutes for veggies and fifteen for fruits.
2. Using The Power Of The Wind
The second method for drying food is wind drying.
Place the food slices on a mesh tray outside, letting the wind’s power suck out the moisture.
Obviously, for this method to work, you need consistent wind.
Luckily, dehydrating this way does not require hurricane-force winds. In fact, you can wind-dry your food inside with a fan.
Just place the trays or racks of goodies in front of the fan and let it sit. Chemistry will do the rest.
Storing Your Dehydrated Foods
After your food is all dried out and ready to store, get yourself some plastic bags.
Zip locks work, but the best option is to use a quality vacuum sealer to remove the air and moisture from the storage container.
Another option is to use mylar bags and oxygen absorbers to remove the oxygen after it’s sealed.
Always make sure your storage container is air-tight and void of moisture!
If any humidity gets locked in with the food, it will spoil. And there’s nothing worse than breaking into your survival food to discover your dried snacks have gone bad when you need them most.
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Best Food Dehydrators On The Market Today
While using the sun or the wind to dehydrate your food is free, it’s definitely not the most efficient method to dehydrate. Not anymore, at least.
But an electric food dehydrator will speed up the drying process exponentially. Plus, they ensure a much more consistent drying, hence better results.
They are simply the best way to dehydrate food, and there are tons of them out there!
No matter what size, style, or price you’re looking for, there’s a food dehydrator out there for you.
Here are the best ones on the market today:
1. Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro
Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro
This is our favorite and the food dehydrator we recommend.
The Nesco Snackmaster Pro food dehydrator has a thermostat that allows you to dry different foods at the proper temperature for that food (95º-160º F).
It includes 600 watts of drying power due to its top-mounted fan.
The Nesco comes with 5 plastic trays, but you can also expand this unit with extra trays up to 12 total (trays are 13 1/2″ in diameter).
Opaque exterior supports blocking light rays, which can destroy the nutritional content of food being dehydrated.
This unique drying system forces air down the exterior pressurized chamber (not through the trays). The heated air is forced horizontally across each tray, converging on the core for fast, even, and nutritious drying.
So there’s no flavor mixing and no need to rotate trays.
An all-around excellent food dehydrator. It’s one of the most popular ones at a great price.
2. Gourmia GFD1950 Digital Food Dehydrator
Gourmia GFD1950 Digital Food Dehydrator
If you want to go big, this is your best option.
With nine trays, this is a huge dehydrator, capable of drying lots of food at once.
The Gourmia GFD1950 has a digital timer and temperature control.
Plus, with its transparent front door, you can keep an eye on the progress of your dehydration.
3. Excalibur 3900 Tray Deluxe Dehydrator
Excalibur dehydrator is a trusted brand that’s been around since 1973!
This family-sized option is hard to beat.
It offers 15 square feet of drying space, spread out over nine trays that stack vertically on top of one another.
The Excalibur 3900 trays are easy-to-clean poly screens, and the unit comes with a built-in adjustable thermostat.
This allows you to adjust the temperature/speed at which you dry your foods.
Note: You may want to consider upgrading to the Excalibur 3926tb – which features a 26-hour timer and adjustable thermostat for even more temperature control.
4. Nutrichef Food Dehydrator Machine
Nutrichef Food Dehydrator Machine
The Nutrichef is an easy-to-use dehydrator that does its job at the press of a button.
It comes with five removable dehydrator trays that stack vertically.
The Nutrichef Dehydrator is compact and fits comfortably on a countertop or table.
But because of its smaller size, you’re limited on how much food you can dry at any given time.
5. COSORI Premium Food Dehydrator
COSORI Premium Food Dehydrator
The COSORI Premium has one feature that sets it apart from the rest; 6 stainless steel trays.
Stainless steel is safer and easier to clean than most other “non-stick” tray types.
Plus, this food dehydrator has all the other bells and whistles you’d expect, such as:
- Time Controls – digital control panel to set the timer in 30-minute increments for up to 48 hours
- Quite – the noise is less than 48dB, which equals noise levels recorded in a library
- Glass Front Door – to keep an eye on your food as it progresses
6. L’EQUIP FilterPro Food Dehydrator
L’EQUIP FilterPro Food Dehydrator
The L’Equip FilterPro Food Dehydrator does something no other dehydrator I’ve come across does – it filters the incoming air!
This ensures your dried foods remain clean of contaminants throughout the drying process.
Plus, this L’EQUIP dehydrator can hold up to 15 stackable trays. This one comes with 6 trays plus 2 extra deep trays for yogurt or other large items.
The energy-efficient 530-watt drying system and solid-state variable temperature control will make dehydrating lots of food a breeze.
7. Hanging Food Drying Net
Hanging Food Drying Net
Not all modern-day food dehydrators require electricity!
This simple hanging net food dehydrator provides users with a non-electric drying alternative.
It can be used for sun drying or wind drying and comes with protective netting to keep bugs out and let the sunshine in.
The Hanging Net Drying Dehydrator includes four shelves and compresses down into almost nothing for super-easy storage.
Not just that, but at this price, it’s by far the most affordable option on this list.
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Best Foods To Dehydrate
If it’s fresh and has moisture, you can probably dehydrate it.
That means fish, meat, fruits, and vegetables are all fair game. But the process is different for each, and for some foods, you can add spices for a little flavor boost.
Fruits
Apples, mangos, pears, bananas, plantains, tomatoes, grapes, peaches, oranges, dates, etc.
Dehydrating fruit takes, on average, 8-12 hours of dry time to reach full dehydration. And you should let them cool for about 60 minutes before packaging. This allows any excess moisture to evaporate.
Some people spice their apples with a little bit of cinnamon sugar before placing them in the dryer. This sweetens up an already delectable treat.
The same can be done for just about any fruit before dehydration and packaging.
Also, you can use any excess fruit from your garden and turn it into fruit purees to make fruit leather (or sometimes called a fruit roll).
Vegetables
Broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots, corn, peas, potatoes, etc.
As with fruits, veggies take about 8-12 hours to dehydrate fully and should be given an hour to cool.
With veggies, you can get creative with your spices as well. Add some chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic salt, or black pepper to spice things up.
Meats
Pork, beef, venison, rabbit, turkey, chicken, pheasant, etc.
Meats take longer than anything else to dehydrate because of the texture of the flesh.
Allow from 6-24 hours for meat, depending on the thickness and type.
Don’t be afraid to try different kinds of spices to alter the flavors of your meat. Dried salted pork is a popular favorite. But you can also rub venison or beef in a red chili rub or a garlic-lime infusion.
Excellent Jerky Gun
Also, don’t forget about making your own beef jerky. The key to making great jerky is using a stainless steel jerky gun!
And don’t forget about your furry friends – you can also make fantastic dry meat dog treats with a dehydrator!
Another way to preserve meat is by making pemmican (a 50-plus year superfood). You should try our pemmican recipe if you’ve never heard of it.
Fish
Freshwater fish, saltwater fish, shellfish, cephalopods, etc.
Fish lands between veggies, fruits, and meats, on the dry-time scale. Fish should be left to dry between 10-15 hours.
Wind drying is popular with fish because there are often consistent winds near oceans and lakes.
You should add salt to help dry your fish. And not just for flavor’s sake but also because it adds extra preservative qualities to the meat.
Salting fish doubles down on the preservative power of your dehydration process.
Bread
Survival bread, survival crackers, hardtack. These are all names for a simple dry, dense bread that will last decades if you prepare, dry, and store it properly.
As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Family First Food Planning Guide. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.
How To Maintain Your Food Dehydrator
Just like any other kitchen appliance, dehydrators need regular maintenance. Luckily, most modern dehydrators make this easy.
The most significant thing to watch out for is shelf cleanliness.
After each dry, remove all the shelves and wash them to remove any leftover food particles. For some dehydrators, this is easier than for others.
That’s why when shopping for a food dehydrator, you should look for ones with washable shelves. Otherwise, you’ll be doing most of the cleanup by hand.
It’s also good to scrub the inside of your dehydrator after a few uses.
Drying foods can leave a slight residue on the inside of your dehydrator that builds up over time. If left for long enough, the residue could start to change the flavors of future foods you dry.
For example, your dehydrated fish might get a fruity smell. Or your dried veggies might develop a fishy taste. No one wants that!
The solution is easy: once every three or so uses, thoroughly scrub the inside of your dehydrator.
Final Thoughts
Stocking up on non-perishable survival food for an emergency or a disaster is an absolute must. But some survival foods don’t taste all that great.
And a lot of them lack the necessary nutrients to get you through a dangerous survival situation.
Dehydrated foods offer a tasty, healthy, long-lasting way around that problem.
It allows you to preserve the food you grew, foraged for, caught, or hunted yourself.
Knowing how to use the wind and the sun to do this is very useful in survival situations.
But having your own modern electric dryer is even better. It speeds up the process and makes for more consistent, reliable results.
Invest in a food dehydrator and start stocking up!
It’s so easy.
Just start drying every week and build your food stockpile of dehydrated foods that will grow. And when disaster strikes, you will be thankful to have all that tasty dried food at your fingertips.
Will Brendza
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