Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm actually between 4.5 and 5 stars, but it's probably closer to 5. I hike and camp a lot, and part of that hobby is making sure I have enough food out on the trail. When I was younger and didn't care so much about weight I went in for the full moisture MRE things (and I still do if I'm going some place where water availability might be a concern), but as I get older I've gone more for the dehydrated stuff. Thing is, commercial freeze dried food is kind of pricey per meal. So I started making my own dehydrated meals, figuring that the utility for freeze drying only kicks in if you are storing the food for a long time. I'm comparing this to my Nesco FD-80A Square-Shaped Dehydrator Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging that I've had for a few years. I found this Hamilton Beach model to compare very favorably to the Nesco. First, big points for being square shaped...that means less wasted space and it's easier to load, at least for me. Total capacity is about the same between the two, and the scheme is the same...stackable trays, etc. I will say that for the dehydrating I do (more on that in a minute), I wish there were more mesh screens available. I actually made my own out of some plastic mesh sheeting I found at Michael's, and it seems to work well. The overall design is different...the Nesco has the heating element on top, blowing the air downward. This has the element on the bottom, blowing the air up. Intuitively the Hamilton Beach seems to have the better design, since heat rises and the fan doesn't have to work so hard to get circulation through all of the trays. In practice I think the effect was minor but noticeable. The downside to this design is one extra part (a clear plastic lid), but on the other hand that's appreciated. With the Nesco I had to take the heavy top unit off to see if the food was ready, with this one I can look through the lid. So in terms of overall design and convenience, I think the Hamilton Beach product is superior. As for the use and interface, the Nesco had a simple dial on the top. This one has a digital readout with temperature as well as a timer function. This itself makes the Hamilton Beach more utilitarian than the Nesco (which has no timer at all). I rednecked engineered one by using a lamp timer in conjunction with the Nesco, but having the timer built in is a serious nod to convenience. I also like seeing the exact temperature instead of a simple analog dial. Results: well, (and people laugh at me for saying this), I found that cooked-then-dehydrated pasta cooks faster on the trail than does pasta right out of the box. This is a concern out on the trail since you have to carry fuel for your stove, and I don't want to carry more than I have to. Anyway, this dehydrator is large enough to dehydrate a pound and a half of cooked elbow pasta, spread thin among the trays on my homemade mesh screens (incidentally, I used mesh screens in all the trays to no ill effect....). I then pack it with some cheese powder/powdered milk into a Food Saver vacuum-sealed bag, and I have a trail lunch/dinner ready to go. The square design makes it easy to make other things, especially dried sausage or jerky...much easier to load straight food items in a square box shape, after all. I'm in the habit of rotating the trays halfway through the drying time, and I did here...though I'm not too sure that it's strictly necessary with this design. End result - it did a very good job on a variety of foods, and as the capacity is slightly larger than my Nesco I'm pretty happy with it. This isn't really that silent when it comes to operation, but it's not overly loud either. Think of it as a pleasant white noise, perhaps a bit lower in volume than a window box fan. The sound never bothered me. So I really do like this dehydrator. I found it to work very well. My main nit is with the control panel, as it has that plastic membrane over the buttons. I really like real buttons and stuff, not membrane keyboards. But that's the only real issue I have with this unit. It does a good job, offers the timer function (which is fantastic), and has little convenient touches like being able to look at how a tray is drying without disassembling the whole thing. It's a good product!