Best Dehydrators for Beef Jerky
Jerky is one of the famous mouth-watering dishes that we can find on the earth. Every person loves to eat jerky, especially during the trekking, camping or traveling. Jerky is tasty food that comprises of the high amount of protein which benefits our health a lot. Instead of buying the dried jerky from the grocery store, do you know that it can also prepare at home?
Yes! You heard it right! Dried jerky can also prepare at home with the help of the food dehydrator. The food dryer circulates the hot air inside the machine for dehydrating the jerky that is kept all over the trays. There is no need to put the sliced jerky in the sunlight for drying. Your dried jerky gets quickly prepare in the food dehydrator in few hours.
Since there are so many food dehydrators for jerky that is available on the market then, how will you pick the right product for yourself?
Well! Don’t worry as you have landed on the right page. Here we will introduce you to the ten best dehydrators for jerky along with some vital buying guide information. We will also provide you the reviews of our top five contenders.
So, read on to know more!
Comparison Chart
Below you can find the comparison chart of the best dehydrator for jerky that allows you to make a simple comparison between the products before reading the reviews:
| Product Name | Temperature range | Wattage | Timer | No. of trays | Adjustable thermostat | Where to Buy? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excalibur 3926TB | 105?F to 165?F | 600W | Yes; 26 Hour | 9 trays | Yes | Check on Amazon |
| Nesco FD-75A | 95ºF to 160ºF | 600 watts | No | 5 | Yes | Check on Amazon |
| Nesco FD-1040 | 90ºF to 160ºF | 1000 watts | Yes | 4 | Yes | Check on Amazon |
| Nesco FD-61WHC | NA | 500 watts | NA | 5 | Yes | Check on Amazon |
| Presto 06300 | 95°F to 165°F | NA | No | 4 | NA | Check on Amazon |
| Nesco FD-28JX Jerky Xpress | 160ºF | 350 watts | NA | 7 | NA | Check on Amazon |
| Chefman Food Dehydrator | 95°F to 158°F | 600 watts | Yes | 6 | Yes | Check on Amazon |
| NutriChef Food Dehydrator | Max 180ºF | NA | Yes | 5 | Yes | Check on Amazon |
| Hamilton Beach 32100A | 100ºF to 160ºF | 500 watts | Yes | 5 | Yes | Check on Amazon |
| Nesco FD-80A Square-Shaped Dehydrator | 130°F - 140°F | 700 watts | No | 4 | Yes | Check on Amazon |
Essential Things to keep in mind while buying jerky dehydrator
The following are the critical list of things that you should keep in mind while purchasing the jerky food dehydrator:
- Easy to view
The shelf food dehydrators are one of the best types of dehydrators for drying jerky. These dryer machines help in the proper flow of air on all over the trays so that every single piece of the jerky gets evenly dried. In fact, you can quickly look at any shelf without taking them out.
- Top Mounted Fan
The top mounted the fan in the food dehydrator is quite a beneficial feature for drying the jerky instead of the bottom mounted fan. Since jerky is food that has a high content of fat and top mounted fans are safe for drying such foods. If somehow any drop of the oil drips down, it will get collected on the bottom most tray.
- Easy to customize
Most people prefer to buy a food dehydrator for jerky that is compact and can easily get placed on their kitchen shelf. But as per our experience, it is not the right thing to do. The jerky needs lots of space for drying and to make it gets dried from all sides; you have to keep them far from every piece. So, you should buy a food dehydrator whose size can increase with the help of the addition of new trays. You can increase or decrease the size of such machines as per your need.
- Size of the machine
You should pick the dehydrator which suits your needs for drying jerky. For example, some people love to eat big size sliced jerky, and for them, the stackable food dehydrator is an excellent option to buy.
- Additional accessories
Some manufacturer also offers the extra accessories like jerky gun along with the unit. Such accessories help you a lot in making and cutting the uniform strips of the jerky easily and quickly. These products are the big plus while buying a good dehydrator for jerky.
Reviews of our Top 5 Best Dehydrators for Jerky
The following are the reviews of top five best dehydrators for jerky:
1. Excalibur 3926 TB Food Dehydrator with 26hr Time
The top contender on our list is Excalibur 3926 TB Food Dehydrator. It comes from one of the most famous and reliable brands on the market, i.e., “Excalibur.” It is a technically innovative food dryer machine for jerky that you can buy today. It is appropriate for both, i.e., commercial and personal use.
What makes this product suitable for drying jerky?
Well! This product comes with the nine trays offering the large drying space of 15 square feet. It can quickly meet the requirement of drying the jerky in large amount quickly. What we like more about this product that it has an ON/OFF also switch that shut down the machine automatically as soon as it times get up.
In fact, you don’t have to worry about the setting up the temperature of the unit as it has an inbuilt temperature controller. Due to the flexible poly screen tray, the jerky also does not get stick to the shelves after drying. The Parallex horizontal airflow technique allows the fast drying of the jerky without the need of tray rotation. The fan at the back distributes the air evenly on all the trays.
2. Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator
The next name on our list is of Nesco FD 75A which is an excellent food dryer for drying jerky, vegetables, and fruits. There are five trays in this unit, but you can extend it up to the twelve shelves when you have to dry jerky in large quantities. You also get additional accessories along with the machine like Clean-A-Screen flexible screens, fruit roll sheets and three packets of jerky spices. Any person who does not have much info on cooking the jerky in this machine can take help from the instruction booklet given along with the product.
What impresses us more about this food dehydrator for jerky is that there is no need of doing the tray rotation while drying jerky in it. All the food gets evenly dried over the trays in few hours with the help of the uniform circulation of the air. The patented Coverga flow system of the machine helps in dying the food like jerky quite quickly. You can set the temperature of the unit as per your need with the help of the adjustable thermostat feature that ranges from 95 degrees F to 160 degrees F. Isn’t it fantastic?
3. Nesco FD-1040 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator
Here comes the next contender on our list, i.e., Nesco FD-1040 food dehydrator. It is a powerful BPA free food dryer machine for cooking jerky which comes with the power capacity of the 1000 watt. The size of the unit is very compact, and you can quickly place in your kitchen. The fan also located in the top section which is a good thing for drying high-fat content food like jerky.
The main highlight of this product which makes it suitable for drying jerky is that it has an adjustable thermostat and a timer. It means that you can dry the jerky at the high temperature efficiently for avoiding the development of any dangerous bacteria. This unit also recommended by many chefs for drying jerky at home. It can dehydrate the jerky in just a few hours which is quite fast than any other similar food dryer machine.
4. Nesco FD-61WHC Snackmaster Express Food Dehydrator
There is more food dehydrator for jerky that comes from the “Nesco” again. This product possesses a compact design. You can quickly move it from one place to another without taking anybody’s help. Drying jerky in this unit is very easy, and you can do this in just a few hours. The manufacturer of the product provides a clean sheet and a fruit roll sheet for drying herbs as well.
The best part about this product is that it comes with the five trays for drying jerky, but if you want to dehydrate jerky in bulk, then you can add more shelves in this unit, i.e., up to twelve. You will love to know that along with the machine you also get a jerky gun that helps in making even size strips of the jerky. It has a patented flow system for drying that allows you to dehydrate the jerky without rotating the trays. There are a top-mounted fan and an adjustable thermostat feature in the unit which is perfect for drying jerky.
5. Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator
Our fifth pick is the Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator which is a user-friendly food dehydrator for jerky. With so many features it comes at very reasonable price on the market, and that is why it has gained more popularity among the buyers. The design of the unit is compact, and thus you can move it quickly from one corner to another corner of your house.
There are so many reasons which make us select this food dehydrator for jerky. The glass top of the unit allows you to see the entire process of drying jerky that you keep on the top shelf. There is a bottom mounted the fan in this machine which provides a consistent flow of hot air on all the trays so that no pieces of jerky remain unevenly dried. You get so many useful additional accessories along with the product like fruit roll sheets, jerky gun and a nonstick mesh screens that helps you a lot while drying the jerky correctly.
You get one manual book along with the unit that teaches you the right way of drying the food like jerky. You can increase its expandability by adding more trays if required. The temperature of the unit has a preset setting of 165 degrees F, and due to even flow of the air, you do not have to rotate the trays while drying jerky.
Final word
Jerky is not only a tasty snack to eat, but it also comprises of lots of nutrients. Now you can prepare the dried jerky quickly at home with the help of the food dehydrator. There are so many different types of food dehydrators that are available on the market, but all of them are not perfect for drying the jerky.
Since it becomes challenging for picking the right food dehydrator for jerky, we have chosen the top ten best food dehydrators for jerky in the above buying guide for you after doing in-depth research and study. After reading the above reviews of the top five picks, you will surely find the food dehydrator for jerky which suits your need and budget.
So, what are you waiting for now? Go and buy yourself best dehydrator for jerky today and start making a healthy version of the crispy and healthy jerky snacks.
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