Great dehydrator, but the included jerkey gun broke on ...
348798
Great dehydrator, but the included jerkey gun broke on first use.  Some hot glue sort of repaired the gun since it was a separation of poorly laminated pieces, but now I need to apply upward pressure on one part for the trigger to engage the teeth and actually extrude the meat.  Bit of a pain but I bought it for the dehydrator, the jerkey gun was a novel extra.

Overall very satisfied.
1507051
Plastic plunger inside of Jerky and Sausage Gun broke after only 2 uses (after making about 10 pounds of sausage).  Needs to be more robust to be effective.
2073110
This is a great dehydrator!! My only complaint is that at checkout it said "Often sold with..." so i bought the herb drying tray and fruit roll up tray. They do not fit, don't buy them.
807962
I love this dehydrator. I've never had one before. And it was easy to set up use and clean.
There are several levels that can be added. Its not loud like some I'vee been around before.
My herbs came out beautifully and the house smelled great..lol
It's pretty large, holds alo t in it. I also bout a jelly roll insert by National Presto, it for perfectly and worked great with things that shed like rosemary.
Now into Jerky!
4711709
From the moment I oped the carton, the dehydrator was a pleasant surprise.  Easy to assemble, concise directions and utilitarian design made this product a five star product.  Jerky was fantastic.
4875730
I have had my dehydrator for a couple of months, and LOVE it!!  Have had no problems, and works great!!  Looking forward to getting some fruit leather trays for it
565707
Pros:  Works really well overall.
Cons: Middle trays sometime fall because middle of housing is a bit too wide.  Not sure if we got a defective unit or if this is a common issue.  Biggest con is that Excalibur doesn't offer any tray options for dehydrating liquids, such as soups.  This really limits the usability of the dehydrator for us.  At least some other manufacturers do offer trays capable of dehydrating liquids.
1581560
I've made multiple batches of strawberries and jerky in this machine and they've been perfect each time. It is a tad bit on the large side, but I can dehydrate 4lbs of beef in this in 1 run (also around 2 medium sized containers of thinly sliced berries). Only downside i can really say is while it does go from 95 - 158, it goes by intervals of 9 (so you can cook at 95,104, 113, 122, 131, 140, 149, and 158) which can be a bit of a hassle for more sensitive fruits when drying. However, this can be circumvented by just lowering your drying time a bit. Either way, I definitely recommend getting this unit if you're just looking for a nice large dehydrator for home use with automatic shut off (which is super useful for my work schedule!)

P.S. If you're going to dehydrate things, they need to be prepared in a very specific way (sliced a certain way and to a certain thickness). If you don't, your food will NOT dehydrate soon enough. Just like cooking: don't blame the stove if you don't cook something right :)
1590560
Freakin awesome.  I just enjoy having a dehydrator period.  I do a lot of hunting and fishing year round and this thing make dried meat, jerky, dried fish in a fraction of the time compared to putting it in the sun.

One big tip, if you putting hamburger style jerky, spray pam on the grills first and flip after the first hr or 2.  If you dont, you gonna be picking dried jerky bits out for days.

This is NOT, i repeat, NOT for large scale or if you need to make plenty meat.  The circular shape really limits the size and the amount of meat you can put on.  I suggest buying a couple extra trays.
4849605
Thank goodness! I had a 16 year old dehydrator that was down to 2 intact trays, and they stopped making trays that fit it.

I bought this with a bit of trepidation, because I never had a top-down dehydrator. It turns out to work much better than my previous model, and I don't have to deal with drips on the motor. I never cared about having adjustable temperature, but it turns out it's actually been useful.

I haven't tried the jerky gun yet: I'm vegan, so I'll have to play around with fruit stick recipes to make use of it, but I'll update my review when I do.

Only 2 (very small) criticisms:
-- no off switch. I hate having to climb over my half-fridge to reach the outlet and unplug this.
-- would be perfect if it had exactly 1 more tray. I know they sell expansion packs, but I would end up with extra trays, and I've read enough reviews to know once you exceed 6 trays it doesn't dry as well.
3104072
I bought this dehydrator in a local store for 59.99 for jerky. (I wanted to see and touch this before purchase and wanted jerky NOW.) although it's all plastic, it seems very sturdy. I got it home, washed it off, put the sliced jerky meat on it...and 6 hours later..jerky. excellent. I have no previous dehydrating experience except  the oven which did not give me the results I wanted. This machine is well built I love the motor and fan on top, as well as the tempurature control. 500 watts seem to be about right for me. I used my own jerky seasoning blend but this dehydrator came with 2 packets of jerky seasoning, as well as a fruit tray. I don't have any plans to use the fruit tray, but it's great at catching drips. It cleans up easily with a brief soak and a bottle brush. it held more than I thought it would so next time I will get even more product. I didn't rotate trays or anything snazzy, I just loaded it up, plugged it in and went to bed. it actually does what it says and moves the air across the trays evenly. its a lot quieter than I expected, a nice plus. you cannot hear it run unless you are standing next to it. the unit gets warm to the touch, but not hot. I would have given this 5 stars if it had a timer and an off/on switch. but it's really no headache to unplug it to check out the drying items. I will purchase a cheap timer for this unit. I would recommend this for the beginner or even intermediate hobbiest.
4821234
I dehydrate alot of meat to make jerky. I used to use 2 of the 4 tray round dehydrators and even they they worked just fine, I find the 9 square trays hold alot more.  And the trays are easier to clean and this machine runs so much more quiet.  I def recommend !
3466085
Large capacity, works very well.  It runs circles around the smaller dehydrators and is much easier to clean.  I don't have the problem of jerky sticking to the trays as much either.
2050337
I purchased this dehydrator for my fathers day gift, 2018.  I have made banana chips, crystallized rhubarb, and apple butter leather.  The unit does generate heat, so I am looking forward to drying more items during the winter.

In other reviewers I noticed issues with the plastic door; I can understand the door could crack or break and I believe it is due to the door hitting against the trays.  My suggestion is to  take your time when sliding the door in place and adjust the shelves as the door slides down and up.

The issue I have, is I can not find where to purchase additional leather trays.

Otherwise the unit has performed perfectly and looking forward to continued drying during the winter.
168258
This dehydrator works very well. Dehydrates foods very evenly front to back and top to bottom as described. No rotation or turning of trays necessary. However, there are a few fatal design flaws!!
First, the trays are flat and smooth on the top, BUT instead of also being flat on the bottom, they are ridged making them an absolute NIGHTMARE to hand wash. Also, there is no removable drip tray in the bottom. I didn't really think about this until I made a batch of jerky. Then ooohhhh my! Fat had dripped off the jerky and run across the bottom of the unit. The fat ran into grooves under where the last tray goes and was a giant pain to clean out. Of course it also ran behind the metal mesh screen in the back of unit. The screws for said screen are inserted from the back, so I had to remove the back of the unit with the motor in order to clean it out! It would be pretty simple to include a removable drip tray!! Quite an oversight.
Took almost as long to clean as it did to dehydrate the foods.
Not sure I would buy it again, but now that I have it I just put tin foil into the bottom before each use.
Conclusion: Easy to use and works exactly as advertised. If you have a dishwasher, go for it; just remember to put something in the bottom to catch any drips. If you handwash; may want to look elsewhere.
2256681
I had one before and loved it. Sold it when I didn't have room or time to use it. I will always make room for the dehydrator. Works great on grapes, apples, bananas, etc.
2665645
worked great, but the soap dispenser was broken when it arrived, never got to try it.  The brush worked great for car and for the RV it was awesome, but broke before finishing the RV wash the first time.  Hubby fixed with superglue but after a couple of washes it broke again.  Only comparable ones we find are Air driven, and more expensive.  Please make one to withstand more use!