I want to get a food dehydrator. (not a Freezer-Dryer, I can't see spending that kind of money, several thousands of $$$ at this time).

I did do a forum search and saw a topic from a few years ago that gave me some good ideas, but I thought I'd ask if any is new to the market with a good machine, or things have gone downhill with the older brands.

I'm thinking either an Excalibur or a Magic Mill, both are $200-ish or lower. Fits my budget.

I mainly want to put up a lot of vegetables and such.

Thanks in advance.
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We use a NESCO Gardenmaster dehydrator. It has served us well for jerky, dried fruit and veggies. Additional trays can be bought. Ordered on Amazon and also addded more trays from there. If you want an link I'll post it for you.

We went with ROUND because some advised that round does more even air circulation than the square ones.

^^^^ Yes for the link, thanks ^^^^
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My mistake, we have the NESCO SNACKMASTER: All my positive comments apply!

Link

I have an older (probably 10+ years) Excalibur 9-tray here. I don't use it much since I got my freeze drier, but it's still great for certain things (herbs).

It also works great for drying brass.

I have a Nesco like above.^^^
However, I only have used it to dry brass.
Got mine at the old Bed,Bath & Beyond for around $65-70 as I recall.

I use a Nesco Snackmaster here also (albeit mostly for dried quail training treats for the dog). Did some dried apple and peaches last year that were excellent.

I’ve used both Excalibur and Magic Mill, and they’re both pretty solid for the price. The Excalibur is great for even drying and lasts a long time, while Magic Mill is a bit more budget-friendly but still does a good job. If you’re mostly drying veggies, either should work well. I’d recommend checking out the latest reviews to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.