Nesco Food Dehydrator: Affordable Food Preservation with Great Taste and Nutrition
By seamist
Nesco Food Dehydrator
A Nesco food dehydrator not only preserves food, but you can make your favorite snacks. Do you love jerkey and dried fruits? Do your kids love fruit roll ups? You can even grow your own spices and dry the plants. Jerkey, dried fruit, and spices are all expensive. Nowadays, in today's economy, anything you can do to save money is important. Not only can food dehydrators save money, but they can prevent spoilage and wasted groceries. If you have a dehydrator, next time your fruits or vegetables start to go bad, just slice them and put them in the dehydrator. Later you can enjoy the dried fruits as a snack or in recipes or have a savory bowl of steaming soup of strew made out of your dried vegetables. Furthermore, in addition to preserving food, unlike canned or frozen fruits and vegetables, if you're a single household or small family, it allows you to eat only what you want rather than wasting food by having uneaten leftovers. In addition to these benefits, whereas canning and freezing use extreme temperatures to preserve food, dehydration is the least destructive method. It retains the most nutrient value of food.
Preserving Tomatoes
Benefits of a Nesco Food Dehydrator
Nesco makes a wide line of food dehydrators, and they have several great benefits. Some of the benefits of a Nesco Food Dehydrator are:
- Most of their models have top-mounted fans and a patented converge-drying system. This system forces air down a pressurized exterior chamber and then across each tray horizontally. Insuring even drying, it eliminates the need to rotate the trays.
- Adjustable thermostats from 90 to 160 degrees
- Vita-save exterior - Nesco dehydrators have an opaque exterior which prevents light from destroying the nutrient value of some foods.
- Expandable - In most models, you can expand the number of trays used.
- Many different models with most of them at an affordable price.
If you're looking for a food dehydrator, don't waste another day. Check out these great products and buy one today!
Ten Cheapest Nesco Food Dehydrators on Amazon
Food dehydrators can vary in price considerably. These are the ten cheapest Nesco food dehydrators on Amazon.
- Nesco American Harvest 5-Tray FD-35 425-Watt Snackmaster - $39.49
- Nesco American Harvest FD-28JX Jerky Xpress Dehydrator Kit with Jerky Gun - $39.95
- Nesco FD-39 500-Watt - $48.99
- Nesco American Harvest FD-35BJW-5 Snackmaster Entre Fodd Dehydrator with Jerky Kit - $54.99
- Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt - $54.99
- Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster Express 4-Tray - $59.99
- Nesco 4-Tray -$60.22
- Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore - $63.77
- Nesco FD-61WHC Snackmaster Express All in One Food Dehydrator Kit 5 Tray W/ Jerky Gun - $65.50
- Nesco Snackmaster Express - $66.00
Best Nesco Food Dehydrator for the Money
Out of the ten cheapest Nesco Food Dehydrators, I think the best value for the money is the Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt at $54.99. It has the most wattage at 700 watts. It has 5 trays which are expandable up to twelve trays. Furthermore, out of 170 Amazon customer reviews, all but 37 reviews were five stars, and the remaining reviews were four stars.
Comparison Chart for Nesco Food Dehydrators
Amazon's Price
| Star Rating
| # of Watts
| # of Trays
| Size
| Includes
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt
| $54.99
| 41/2
| 700
| 5
| 13.5 x 10.9 x 13.3 inches ; 10.6 pounds
| recipe book, 2 solid sheets, 2 mesh sheets, and 3 jerky spice packets
|
Nesco FD-80 American Harvest Square-Shaped
| $67.79
| 41/2
| 700
| 15.2 x 15.2 x 10 inches ; 9.3 pounds
| ||
Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC Snackmaster Express
| $129.98
| 41/2
| 5
| 13 x 11 x 13 inches
| fruit roll sheet, clean-a-screen for drying herbs or sticky fruit; recipe guide
| |
Nesco American Harvest FD-1010 Gardenmaster
| $118.29
| 41/2
| 1000
| 4, expandable to 30 trays
| 17.3 x 17.3 x 11.5 inches ; 13.9 pounds
| 1 solid sheet, 1 mesh sheet, and 1 packet jerky spice
|
Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore
| $63.77
| 41/2
| 500
| 13.5 x 13.8 x 9.8 inches ; 7.5 pounds
| ||
Nesco American Harvest 5-Tray FD-35 425-Watt Snackmaster
| $39.49
| 4
| 425
| 5, expands to seven trays
| 14.1 x 14 x 10 inches ; 4.4 pounds
| |
Nesco FD-1018P American Harvest 1000-Watt Gardenmaster Dehydrator and Jerky Maker
| $147.10
| 41/2
| 1000
| 8
| 17.2 x 17.2 x 15.9 inches
| 8 clean-A-screens, jerky spice and cure, and a how-to book
|
Nesco American Harvest FD-35BJW-5 Snackmaster Entre Fodd Dehydrator with Jerky Kit
| $54.99
| 41/2
| 425
| 5
| 13 x 9 x 13 inches
| jerky gun
|
Nesco Snackmaster Express
| $66.00
| 41/2
| 500
| 4
| ||
Nesco FD-39 500-Watt
| $48.99
| 21/2
| 500
| 4, expanded to up to seven trays
| 13.9 x 9.7 x 13.8 inches
| |
Nesco American Harvest FD-28JX Jerky Xpress Dehydrator Kit with Jerky Gun
| $39.95
| 4
| 350
| 4
| jerky gun with 3 custom tips, 4 spice & cure pack
| |
Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster Express 4-Tray
| $59.99
| N/A
| 500
| 4, expandable to 12 trays
| 13.6 x 9.8 x 13.5 inches ; 8.2 pounds
| fruit roll sheet and 2 original-flavor jerky spice and cure packets
|
Nesco Gardenmaster 4-Tray
| $119.95
| 5
| 1000
| 4,expandable to 20 trays
| Fruit Roll Sheet & Original Jerky Spice
| |
Nesco FD-1018 Gardenmaster
| $166.00
| 5
| 1000
| 8, expandable up to 30 trays
| 17.50 x17.25 x11.25 inches
| |
Nesco FD-75BJ9 700-Watt
| $79.99
| N/A
| 700
| fruit roll sheet, Clean-A-Screen, and 9 original jerky spice and cure packets
| ||
Nesco FD-1018P Gardenmaster Pro 8 Tray
| $159.99
| N/A
| ||||
Nesco FD-61WHC Snackmaster Express All in One Food Dehydrator Kit 5 Tray W/ Jerky Gun
| $65.50
| N/A
| 500
| 5, expandable up to 12 trays
| 13.5 x 11 x 13.6 inches
| Jerky Gun
|
Nesco 4-Tray
| $60.22
| N/A
| 500
| 4, expandable up to 12 trays
| ||
Metalware/nesco FD-75PR "Nesco" Professional Food Dehydrator 700-watt
| $70.59
| N/A
| 700
| 5, expandable up to 12 trays
| Roll Sheets, 2 Clean A Screens For Drying Sticky Fruit & Herbs & 3 Original Jerky Spices & Cure Packets
| |
Nesco Snackmaster Express
| $66.99
| 3
| ||||
Nesco FD-1018P Snackmaster 8 Tray Food Dehydrator (FD1018)
| $147.99
| N/A
| 1000
| 8, expandable up to 30 trays
| 8 fruit roll sheets, 8 drying screens and the HP-9 How to Dry Foods book by Deanna Delong
|
Nesco Food Dehydrators
Don't Forget to Buy Extra Trays!
Nesco Fruit Roll Sheets
Jerkey Supplies
Check Out these Informative Cookbooks on Food Dehydration
Comments
Thanks for this! We've been thinking of getting a dehydrator for quite sometime. My brother bagged 3 deer this year and freezer space is running low and we love jerkey. This was right on time for us! We weren't sure which way to go, we've heard of the Nesco line and then the super expensive stuff at Cabela's but these are quite reasonable. Again, thanks!
Hi Rkhyclak
You are very welcome. Yes, I understand about having enough room to freeze the deer. Living in rural Minnesota, we usually bag at least one deer a year if not more. My bf like to make a lot of jerkey out of his deer as do many others living up here. Have you ever tried turkey jerkey? While I was browsing the net tonight, I read about someone who absolutely loved turkey jerkey. Anyway, thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment!
I've had one of those for a few years now. Love it, it works wonders.
Hi Food Insurance
I love mine too; they are sure convenient. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.


































rkhyclak 2 years ago
Thanks for this! We've been thinking of getting a dehydrator for quite sometime. My brother bagged 3 deer this year and freezer space is running low and we love jerkey. This was right on time for us! We weren't sure which way to go, we've heard of the Nesco line and then the super expensive stuff at Cabela's but these are quite reasonable. Again, thanks!