Nesco American Harvest FD-50 Snackmaster Pro 4-Tray Dehydrator
by Nesco
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Our Price: $49.99
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Category: Kitchen
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: NescoBrand: Nesco
Model: FD-50
Product features:
- 500 watts of power dries foods and flowers quickly and evenly
- Dehydrator measures 13-1/2 by 8-1/4 inches; four trays are each 12-3/4 by 1/2 inches
- Patented system pressurizes heated air up through and across each tray
- Thermostat adjusts from 95 degrees up to 145 degrees
- Dehydrate fruits, vegetables, herbs, jerky, granola for camping, hiking, and other outdoor activities
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Nesco American Harvest FD-50 Snackmaster Pro 4-Tray Dehydrator
Customer Review: I have always wanted one of these, since I was a kid...
Summary: 5 Stars
It takes me twenty minutes to core, peel, slice, and treat 5-6 apples, lay them out on the trays, and get them started. After some experimentation, I have settled on using four parts water to one part lemon juice and a little cinnamon for the treatment, and the same liquid can be refrigerated and used on subsequent batches. (For other fruits, use common sense; e.g., for pears, I use ground cloves instead of cinnamon.)
I initially tried using a slicer/corer and then sliced the slices lengthwise in thirds or so. However, this gave them all an uneven thickness, which was not ideal. I then tried the way recommended in the book: core and slice in rings. This was better, but ultimately I developed a hybrid approach: cut the apple in half through the stem and core; core each half with a knife, peel, and then slice the other direction into half-rings. It's easier to get a uniform thickness this way than with the full rings, and more apples fit on the trays at once due to less wasted space. (I majored in math, so I know how to fit the max number of slices on at once without overlapping. YMMV.)
As far as apples: use apples that have good flavour. It does matter which variety of apples you use. Granny Smith have good flavour, but are not terribly sweet. Fuji are very good. Macintosh are excellent. Sarah will just about go through fire for dried Yellow Delicious. Gala are pretty good. Jonathan are excellent, and Jonagold are good. I want to do Grimes Golden, but I couldn't find any this year; maybe next year.
There's just one problem: at the thickness I've been slicing them, it takes about six hours for a batch of apples to dry. This produces one Ziploc freezer bag full of dried apples, which my family proceeds to eat in about an hour. They then look at me with greedy eyes: "When are you going to dry more apples, Nathan?" Well, let's see... if I put some more in right away, I'd have to stay up till about 3am to get them out. I have a feeling my family would be okay with that: they could then have dried apples for breakfast.
Since I wrote the above paragraph, I now have a four more trays (total of eight), which helps a lot. The book says that I can use up to twelve trays with this model. The four trays it comes with are enough for experimenting, but not enough for the sort of mass production my family wants me to undertake. (I keep pondering when the novelty will wear off. I'm not holding my breath: dried apples are _good_.)
My first batch of bananas was a little disappointing: I expected to get the crunchy hard banana chips like you buy for two limbs at bulk food stores. For whatever reason, the ones I did did not turn out that way. I left them in for way longer than the book said bananas would take, and they were still chewy. I first tried fully ripe bananas, then tried some mildly underripe ones next time thinking that might be the difference; it was not. Also, the book didn't say anything about needing to treat bananas, so I didn't the first time, and they turned brown. I should have anticipated that (they're *bananas*, after all, of *course* they would turn brown). I treated the next batch with pineapple juice, and they didn't turn brown.
The book says use ripe fruit. It's not kidding. Results with under-ripe fruit are disappointing at best. Results with ripe fruit are always good.
We tried jerky, and it works if you're into that sort of thing. (Personally, I'm not a big jerky fan.) I want to try carrots and other vegitables.
The book says watermelon comes out like candy, so I tried it. As would be expected, it takes a lot longer to dry than apples, but the results are good. They're not like what you'd expect, but they're good. Dried watermelon does not taste nearly as much like fresh watermelon as most people expect, but once you get over the difference, it does have a good flavour. It reminds my mom of pumpkin, but you can taste the watermelon in it if you're paying attention. It's an acquired taste, but after a couple of pieces you don't want to stop eating it.
Dried peaches and pears are fantastic. I still want to know how to make crunchy dried banana chips, though.
This is fun, and tasty.
*** Addendum: I have now had a chance to compare this model and the (cheaper) Ronco FD5 in action side-by-side, and the Snackmaster FD-50 is easily worth the extra ten bucks. For reasons why, see my review of the FD5.
Five stars. Five words: Buy one of these things.
Description of Nesco American Harvest FD-50 Snackmaster Pro 4-Tray Dehydrator
Made in the USA - Nesco American Harvest FD-50 Snackmaster Pro 4-Tray Dehydrator Professional food dehydrator and jerky maker uses patented fan to force heated air up the exterior pressurized chamber. Heated air is forced horizontally across each tray for fast, even and nutritious dehydrating. 1200 RPM motor and specially designed 5in. fan ensures the fastest, most nutritious drying.Drying apple slices in just six hours and beef jerky in nine-and-a-half, this 500-watt dehydrator is exceptionally fast for its price range. Its patented system pressurizes air up through the drying trays' outer rings and across each tray, ensuring not only speed but uniformity, so foods dry evenly. The dehydrator's thermostat adjusts from 95 degrees F up to 145 degrees F, offering flexibility for drying different items. Each of the four trays is 12-3/4 inches in diameter and 1/2-inch deep (the durable plastic dehydrator is 13-1/2 by 8-1/4 inches overall). Additional trays may be purchased, providing up to a total of 10 square feet for drying lots of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and/or flowers at one time. A fruit-roll sheet inserts into a tray so that applesauce or other fruit sauces can be dried into healthful snacks. You can also use the tray for drying other liquid foods, such as soups and sauces, for camping trips. This dehydrator comes with beef-jerky spices and a booklet with recipes and instructions. --Fred Brack
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