A Guide to the Best Fruit Dehydrators of 2022
During the summer months, we’re treated to a bounty of luscious fruits. There are varieties of berries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, mangoes, melons, and much more. But, there’s only so much that you can eat at any one time. And these fruits can be very perishable. If you find yourself with more fruit than you can handle, a fruit dehydrator can help you salvage these fruits, and enjoy them months later! Since dehydrating removes only the water in the fruit, and leaves all of the nutrients behind, you’ll have a wholesome snack on hand, that you can take wherever you go!
There is some variation among fruit dehydrators, as to how much they can handle at a time. Also, we’ll see that some versions require you to supervise the dehydration process, rotating and alternating the positions of the food so that you’ll get a uniform result. And many fruit dehydrators are suitable for meat, fish, and even poultry!
We’ll check out some of the best fruit dehydrators in the Best Reviews Guide list. Instead of being just a way to save fruits from going bad, you’ll see that a fruit dehydrator can be a staple in your kitchen!
Types of Fruit Dehydrators
A fruit dehydrator uses heat to evaporate the water in foods, while a fan circulates the air in the device, driving the moist air out. Looking at the fruit dehydrators in the Best Reviews Guide list, you’ll notice two main shapes of devices. The shape of the dehydrator actually indicates the configuration of where the fan is located, and the way hot air circulates in the appliance:
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Vertical airflow: This will have a fan and heating element at the bottom of the device. You’ll notice that vertical flow dehydrators will have stackable trays. For best results, you should rotate trays, as well as exchange the locations of the top and bottom trays every 2-3 hours. An example is the Coocheer Food Dehydrator Machine.
Coocheer Food Dehydrator Machine
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Horizontal airflow: These dehydrators will have a rear-mounted drying fan, to circulate air horizontally. These will be suitable for more heavy-duty dehydration, with a more powerful motor. Although these models will be more expensive, they won’t require you to rotate or alternate the trays every so often. An example is the Magic Mill Food Dehydrator Machine.
Magic Mill Food Dehydrator Machine
What reviewers say
Here are some of the impressions of people who purchased a food dehydrator:
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Recipe book: Many dehydrators come with a small recipe book, providing ideas on dehydrating foods that are a bit more sophisticated, such as kale with cheese!
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Noise level: Since a food dehydrator may operate for hours at a time, take note of the noise level of the fruit dehydrator that you’re about to purchase. Most work at between 35-50 decibels. That’s usually no louder than your refrigerator when the motor is running.
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Save fruit: People who have fruit trees on their property are pleasantly surprised by the option of saving fruit. One customer said that her mango trees give her hundreds of mangoes. And a dehydrator is a great way to enjoy those mangoes, way after the summer season!
Important Features
Here are some nice features to look for when selecting a fruit dehydrator:
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Special shelves for different purposes: Certain foods will require different types of trays. The Magic Mill dehydrator has three types of shelves:
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Drying trays: These will be used for drying large foods, like slices of fruit, meat, fish, or even poultry.
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Mesh sheets: A mesh sheet will have very fine holes, so that you can dry out even very small items, such as spices, nuts, seeds, or tea leaves. You can also prepare your own granola bars, with less sugar and oil than the store-bought versions.
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Fruit leather trays: Some dehydrators will have a fruit roll tray. The fruit roll tray can also be used to collect the drippings from the items you’re dehydrating on the upper shelves.
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Preparing fruit leather: Preparing fruit leather is a popular use of a fruit dehydrator. You use this by taking either fresh or frozen fruits. Good candidates include
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Berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries,
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Stone-pit fruits, such as apricots or peaches
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Tropical fruits, such as dates, banana, mango, or papaya.
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You put them in a blender either by themselves or with lemon juice (both for taste, as well as a natural preservative) and a sweetener. Possible sweeteners include honey, fruit juice concentrate, or maple syrup.
Blend the mixture until it’s uniformly smooth. Pour the mixture onto the fruit leather tray, and spread it thinly across the entire tray. You can line the fruit leather tray with parchment paper first, for easier cleanup. Set your dehydrator at 140 F for 6-12 hours, until the fruit leather is dry and not sticky.
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Clear window: Many fruit dehydrators have a clear front window so that you’re able to monitor the drying process on all of the shelves of the dehydrator. That’s a big advantage because some fruits require that you rotate or exchange places as they dry out. And customers love the fragrance that fills the house as the machine is working!
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Safety features: Since dehydrating fruits can take several hours, there are some useful safety features, such as automatic shutoff. The Cosori Food Dehydrator will shut itself off when the amount of time you have programmed for dehydrating is finished. It will also turn itself off if it detects that the unit is overheating.
Cosori Food Dehydrator
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Programmable: All of the dehydrators that we reviewed are programmable, where you can type in the desired dehydration temperature, as well as the time that the device should work. You can usually program it to work from a half-hour to 48 hours or more, in half-hour increments.
Final Verdict
We went through some of the features of the best fruit dehydrators. They help you make healthy snacks, at a fraction of the price of what you’ll pick up at a health food store. And once you get started using one, you’ll want to start experimenting with many other foods and food combinations!
