Nesco FD-1018A Gardenmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, for Beef Jerky, Fruit, Herbs, and Snacks, 8 Trays, White

I originally had this exact model - the 1018A, and it worked great. I loved experimenting with it, and drying all sorts of things.But then I heard all kinds of great things about the Excalibur, so I gave my old-faithful Nesco to my niece, mortgaged the house (just kidding...), and got the Excalibur. I used it a lot, too - and loved it. This is just subjective, but I didn't really think the Excalibur worked any better than the Nesco. (I hope all my fellow raw foodists don't hate me for saying that!) I will say this for the Excalibur - it looked better in my kitchen. It was quieter, too - so it was more of an "indoor" dehydrator. The Nesco is a "garage" dehydrator. (At least that's what my wife says.) But in my opinion, they both work the same.When I moved, I gave the Excalibur to my Mom, and she loves it. I didn't want to ask for it back again (kind-hearted son that I am), so I just went out now, and re-purchased the 1018 - just like the one I had before.What I like about this:1) It's expandable - up to 30 trays. (That's something that the Excalibur - as great as it is - couldn't do.) It would be a ton of work to fill 30 trays, so for now I'll just stick with the 8. To have trays that I'm not using would cause me to lay awake at nights - with overwhelming guilt and anxiety.2) This "package deal" is really a great savings. I priced what it would cost if I did all the accessories (screens, roll-up trays) individually, and this is much cheaper. I ALWAYS use the screens, even for things that don't need them, because they help keep the trays a little cleaner. Screens are easier to wash than trays. (BTW, I found it easiest to wash the trays in the bathtub. They are too big for the kitchen sink and for the dishwasher.)I know that this model has been around for years - so I anticipate that I'll have no trouble whatsoever with this. If there were any bugs in the design, they would have been worked out a long time ago. Any questions? Just holler, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Kinda new to dehydrating so this is what happened. Reading reviews and trying to get into this reasonably cheap, not knowing if the kids (twin B/G 16 & 13 year old daughter) would even eat it. Snackmaster seemed to be the best choice. I also bought 6 more trays along with the mesh liners. After doing several batches testing how long it took, how much yield, how many minutes it took the kids (and myself) to devour the 11 trays of banana chips, one dehydrator was not going to cut it.Ordered the Gardenmaster within a week along with 6 more trays and screens. The inch or so larger trays do make a difference, along with being able to stack 30 trays??? Has anyone done that? Love it, I use both now.The Gardenmaster is a lot noisier, but with the 8 trays it comes with, is a lot shorter drying time. It's loud like you don't want to be on the phone next to it. It is more convenient loading, no motor to pick up. Counter space, yeah, a little more.The snackmaster is very quiet and still does the job, just takes longer. 600w vs 1000 w gardenmaster.The Gardenmaster is one the left with just 7 of the trays on it, the Snackmaster on right with 11 trays.Wish I'd started with the gardenmaster now, I have yet to get any stockpile of fruits or jerky, it's gone by nightfall it seems.Update 9/23/20Been using 20 trays for fruits and jerky the past year. Still going strong, no problems. Still no headway on stockpile. I do not find the noise an issue, will order another ten trays for fruits. I don't think I'd try jerky with 30 trays, don't feel its hot enough. Love the unit.Update: still using after 3 years. One thing I do, with jerky is rotate the trays through, each one has 30 minutes or so near the highest heat at the bottom I’ve taken the temperature at the top of 10 trays and it was only 140*.3/4/22Ordered more trays, apparently they changed them, the “new” trays are a bit concave vs a slight cone on the originals. The new ones have a “castle” center ring. You cannot use these as the first tray, they do not fit the gardenmaster.3/8/22Nesco had this to say;New trays do need to be heated so the plastic relaxes and the crowns would point up just as when you open a new dehydrator we recommend heating the unit for an hour to relax the plastic same applies to new trays. Stack 4 and let the new trays heat. Please try this as this usually fixes the problem.“Usually” mine must not be usual. Nesco lost a customer, sad, I loved the unit, just wanted more “useable” trays.

I have an old American Harvest food dehydrator from the 1990s and this Nesco food dryer is the new model. Nesco, in case you don't know, bought out American Harvest in 1995, so if you liked the old American Harvest or have heard great things about the old American Harvest dryers, this is the same...but better! My old American Harvest was 13.5 inches in diameter but this new Nesco is 15.5 inches in diameter! Woohoo! More space for food. I purchased one of these for my son and he loved it so much that I purchased another for my daughter. My son uses it mostly for garden produce and gleaned food from abandoned orchards. My daughter swears it's the only one that she will use to dry her wild mushrooms. The temperature is fully adjustable so you can dry really wet things on a higher setting at first, then adjust the temp down for a 'crisping'. The motor is very quiet, not silent but certainly tolerable. We tend to place the dryer in a basement, porch or laundry room when running so we actually don't notice the sound at all. Whatever room you do place it will warm up from the heat so keep that in mind. The trays are lightweight and easy to move on and off the base. We bought additional trays to make fruit leather but pay close attention to the size you order to make sure they fit. I actually inadvertently purchased 10.5" trays and had to return them. All in all, this dehydrator works better than any other, especially for the price. Clean-up is easy too. We hand wash all our components, but I suppose they are dishwasher safe. Good design, user friendly, no funky plastic smells. Love it!