Can you suggest a good dehydrator?

[moneca]

A friend and I are both looking to buy dehydrators for crispy nuts and such and wanted to ask wise mamas what a good brand might be. I'm also thinking of **trying** to dehydrate liver to make liver snacks for my dog when we're hiking. We have her on the BARF diet so no grain. Has anyone done this?

Thanks!

[MyLittleWonders]

We have this one and have been very happy with it. It'd dehydrated quite a few placentas (we did mine and taught my midwife, who told other clients about us, who contacted us and borrowed the dehydrator ... ), and have done quite a bit of fruit. We finally have it back now and plan on using it for jerky (but not the stuff they do, but rather marinated thinly sliced steak). I love the idea of making doggie treats; our dog doesn't usually get "treats" because he's raw fed too. But he'd love some dehydrated jerky. What a great idea. Anyway, the dehydrator was fairly cheap and does exactly what we need it to do.

[Berty]

I have the Excalibur and love it. The temp. control is great for making a variety of things. I take all the trays out and also use it for making yogurt. The only thing I wish it had was a timer to turn itself off.

[kbchavez]

if you're interested in your doggy treats being fairly chewable, you can mix the liver with ground beef and dry it in the dehydrator. I make jerky this way (for me!) and it has a nice chewy texture that's a lot easier to eat than regular jerky. Since dogs don't have the grinding molars we do (I think?) these would probably be easier for them to eat. I mix mine with kefir and let it sit in the fridge for a few days before drying. YUM.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

We have this one and have been very happy with it.

We have this one, too, and I really like it.

[moneca]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be checking them out. I guess dehydrating straight liver would make them a bit tough. I'll have to play with until I get a good mix.

[Tcarwyn]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

We have this one, too, and I really like it.

and so do we and I kind of like it too...although I have been experimenting more with traditional forms of dehydation ( sun, etc). I cant say we use our dehydrator all that often...but I am thinking of eating more raw soon so than I might use it more...

Tanya

[JElaineB]

We're very happy with our Excalibur dehydrator.

[Metasequoia]

I have a GardenMaster - I like it a lot.

[~Shanna~]

Can ownders of the Nesco and the Excalibur comment on the noise and ease of cleaning for each of these? I'm trying to decide between them....