Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I submitted this review for the Sedona as well since I have owned both. After endless hours of research comparing the Excalibur to the Sedona, I settled on the Sedona. I had purchased my Sedona a couple of years ago and liked it enough.... until it broke and I decided to try out an Excalibur. At the time, the Excalibur models did not have a clear door option, a timer, or a dual-temperature setting option, however Excalibur now offers all three of these options. I contacted Sedona and they sent me a replacement part for free, so I was able to swap out the part and get it working again. I had already decided I wanted to try the Excalibur, so this gave me the opportunity to test both of these side-by-side to see which one performed better. The Sedona has rectangular trays. Now they will tell you it doesn't matter because there are TWO fans (two is better than one!) and they are located at the back (better circulation!), blah blah blah. Everything I ever dehydrated in there took at least 14-18 hours, and even then never really seemed completely dry. My dehydrated goodies would rehydrate in their storage containers by the next morning, and I was always afraid of mold. Every recipe I came across would say to dehydrate for X number of hours (in an Excalibur) but I would have to add 6-8 hours (or more!). Never quite understood why until I tried the Excalibur. Additionally, I always had to rotate the trays in the Sedona as it seemed the front never got as dry as the back (so much for two fans circulating better than one). It's common practice to dry the first two hours at 145 degrees, though I usually set mine for 137 degrees in case there is a temperature fluctuation. On the Excalibur I was able to use the dual-setting for the first two hours at 137, then the rest of the time at 110. On the Sedona I just did this manually. I performed a side-by-side dehydrated raw kale test, then a side-by-side dehydrated raw apple test. Initially I had set both dehydrators for the same amount of time because I was used to Sedona time. I was completely shocked when I checked on my stuff and it was already dry (COMPLETELY dry!) midway through the time. With the Sedona I had to rotate the trays (multiple times) to try to get it to dry evenly. With the Excalibur, I didn't need to rotate at all! I actually prefer the plastic trays and drying sheets on the Sedona as they are much sturdier and easier to handle than the Excalibur trays/sheets. I didn’t think I was going to like the lift-off door of the Excalibur but I actually ended up preferring it to the Sedona door. With the lift-off door, you get complete access to the trays, without a door in the way. Also the beep on the Sedona is quite loud in the middle of the night whereas the Excalibur is considerably lower. Bottom line: the Excalibur outperforms the Sedona, hands down. If you're buying a Sedona and have never had the pleasure of owning an Excalibur, you will probably love it (but only because you don't know what you're missing).