NESCO FD‑41B Snackmaster Food Dehydrator for Easy Home Snacks, Simple Blue Countertop Dehydrator with 4 Trays

2023 update: changing it from 4 to 5 5 stars. I’ve had this dehydrator for over a year now and it is still performing great. It’s small (4 trays) but has dehydrated everything I have put in it to perfection. I use it mostly to make single ingredient treats for my dogs. For the most part, sweet potato chips, apple chips (so delicious) and their favorite is raw dehydrated chicken strips. The chicken strips take 24 hours a to come out to crisp perfection. Best part is the trays easily slide out and go right into the dishwasher. To my surprise, nothing has ever stuck to the trays. Not even the chicken. I watched some YouTube videos recommending to spray trays with oil when making chicken strips. I’ve never had to do that with these trays. Something I appreciate since my dog is restricted to a low fat diet. Which is another reason why I purchased this dehydrator. Many dog treats out there are expensive and you don’t know what’s in them. The labels only show minimum fat content but not the max. Now I know and can control what my pups are eating. Back to the dehydrator, it’s so easy to use, and completely silent. It has a dial to set temperature and time to preference (rather than just a handful of limited presets). There’s a little reference chart on it that list suggested temperature for herbs, veggies, fruits, and meats. I believe it chimes before shutting off to let you know it’s done dehydrating. It also chimes as turn it on and adjust settings. My only complaint (very minor) is that you have to unplug it if you want to adjust temperature or time, once it’s already been set. Now that I have a better idea how long things take to dehydrate, it’s really no longer an issue. The cord is a little short but haven’t had any issues. The door easily opens and closes. Allowing you to easily check on progress. Another great thing about this dehydrator is it’s small footprint. It neatly stores away on a shelf in my pantry. I highly recommend this dehydrator. I’m so happy I purchased it. I love that the trays are not plastic. I love that it is so easy to use and clean. Like a microwave. I image those round dehydrators with the plastic trays are a pain to put together and clean. Not to mention toxic. I plan to purchase the larger 7 tray dehydrator in the near future. For now, the 4 tray works well. Its such a satisfying feeling watching my dogs devouring and joyfully crunching on healthy snacks that I made myself. With the cost of food these days, I think it’s worth investing in something that helps preserve it. With that, I have saved a ton of money on expensive dog treats, and feel better knowing exactly where the meat and produce came from. Original: Great little dehydrator. I am using to make sweet potato snacks for my dogs. I will say this is really small. I sliced a large sweet potato and wasn’t able to fit all the slices from a single sweet potato. It dehydrates nicely. Completely silent. Temp control and timer are adjustable, but once it’s set, you cannot adjust. I had set it at 12 hours and by the 6th hour I wanted reset the timer to 3 hours (so not to over cook). The only way of resetting the timer and temperature is to unplug it. To which, I feel the cord could be longer. Overall, it’s a great unit. Cooks everything very evenly. Nice small footprint, but the trade off is very small batches of dehydrated snacks. I think if I’m going to wait 12 hours to prepare a snack, I should look toward a dehydrator with more capacity.

Bought this as a filament dryer for my 3D printer spools it works great and the size is perfect for the spools of filament. Its really good quality, easy to use and at a good price.

I use this little dehydrator every weekend, often running it for over 24 hours at a time. I bought it to make healthy, one-ingredient dog treats for my dog, who I feed only human-grade food. So far, I’ve dehydrated salmon, capelin, shrimp, smelts, organ meats like heart, liver, and gizzards, as well as jerky from turkey, chicken, lamb, beef, sweet potato, and pumpkin. I’ve also dehydrated neck bones, marrow bones, and even her raw dog food to avoid commercial dog food on busy days. It holds about a pound of food, which is perfect for us and even allows me to share with the other dogs in the building. The treats are healthy and delicious, not just for dogs but for humans too. It takes up minimal counter space, and the racks are easy to clean—unlike the plastic round dehydrator someone gave me for free. Plus, it’s very quiet. Update 3 Years Later: It’s been three years since I first bought this dehydrator, and I have so many great memories making dog food and treats with it. It’s still going strong and working just as well as when I first got it. I’ve made countless treats and food for my dog, and it’s held up to all the use with no issues. I’m still very happy with my purchase and would recommend it to anyone who needs a reliable, quiet, and efficient dehydrator! Staple Recipe I Make Every Weekend: One of my favorite things to make is this simple, healthy dog food recipe that I prepare every weekend. It’s super easy, and the dehydrator makes it convenient: Ingredients: 1 pound of dark meat ground turkey 1 piece of Trader Joe's sardines in water (each tin comes with 3 pieces of fish, so I save the other 2 pieces to make 2 more pounds of food) 1 egg (don't waste the membrane) 4 heaping tablespoons of Honest Kitchen Seed & Nut Base Mix Optional: 3 cranberries, cut into small pieces Optional: 1 teaspoon of organic psyllium husk (don't overdo this) Optional: Veggies of your choice (I usually have frozen peas or leftover veggies from salads) Dash of dried ginger and turmeric Instructions: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Separate the mixture into 4 parts, one for each tray. Line the dehydrator trays with parchment paper, and spread the mixture over the parchment paper. Score the mixture in a crisscross pattern, like a tic-tac-toe grid, to make it easier to break apart later. Bake at 155°F for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove the parchment paper and bake the mixture directly on the racks for another 8-10 hours. I typically do this overnight so my pups have fresh food by morning, although it's not recommended to leave the dehydrator unattended. And there you have it: human-grade dog food that’s healthy and nutritious, and your dog will poop beautifully!

I've used my fair share of dehydrators over time, so wanted to give the Snackmaser, Jr a try. My thoughts: It's a great little machine that's perfect for small spaces and small jobs. Pros: Compact - so small it will fit almost anywhere - trailer, RV, camper, cabin, tiny apartment, cabinet. It's the size of a decent sized air fryer without the height. Temp control is 95-175F (35-80C) which is broader than many dehydrators on the market Quiet - it's relatively quiet. Not as quiet as a Cosori, but remarkably quieter than I thought it would be Cons: The trays don't quite fit in rails well, so it is easy to misalign and drop a tray 400 Watts - on the lower end so things will taking longer to dry if you are used to a more powerful machine. Just something to remember since drying times won't reflect what books and tutorials tell you. Stainless trays will stick - so use some parchment paper since this machine does not come with mesh or fruit leather sheets (though 3rd party ones are inexpensive and can be customized to fit) Plastic case that is thin - if this is an issue for you. Tips: The machine does not turn right off, but does run the fan until the temp drops to 115F - so can be confusing (safety measure, yes) Do not soak the trays or the drip tray - which can be a problem when things stick a lot. So use parchment. Overall, it's a great little starter machine for kids (though it does get VERY hot), for tiny spaces, or for someone who just wants a small dehydrator for small projects without investing bigger money. It is not great if you plan to use it a lot to stock a pantry as the volume it produces is quite small.

This is the best little dehydrator that I have ever used. It has exceptional quality it works well it's very quiet it's very easy and I love that it is all metal inside. I had a larger dehydrator that was all plastic inside and it was 16 trays and this little 4 tray one outperforms that giant one. The metal trays wash really well and I like the size of this and how compact it is.

I chose this dehydrator for several reasons, the first is the size. It takes up very little space on my kitchen counter. I leave it out because I’ve been using it almost everyday for over a month. I make dog treats for my little chihuahua with dehydrated sweet potatoes and apples. I wind up eating a lot of the apples too. The trays are stainless steel so no food touches plastic. The fan is at the back of the dehydrator instead of the bottom so all the food is equally bathed in warm air and the food dehydrates evenly. I’ve also dehydrated some vegan cheez when I needed to get rid of some moisture - just remove a shelf or two and set a corelle bowl of almond or cashew cheez in there for an hour or two. I love the temperature and timer controls. I’ve found 135 degrees at 14 hours gives me crispy apple or sweet potato chips. The noise is minimal. I returned two that were just too noisy before finding this one. The beeps when the timer is up is enough to hear it but not enough to wake me up if it’s in the middle of the night. I’m just really happy with this purchase and it’s already paid for itself, not having to buy dog treats or keep my oven on all day long.

Used it this Christmas to dehydrate Orange slices for the Christmas tree. Did an excellent job. It is a bit loud, but I just turn it on and go on about my business. I also dehydrated some extra celery I had in the fridge b/c I didn't want it to go bad. I'm pleased with it. Love how small it is. Would like it to be quieter. I ran it at night with our bedroom doors closed to do the oranges. Probably not a smart idea.. esp if it overheated or something but.. it didn't and I'm still here... and my oranges were beautiful.

Bought for 3D printer filament drying. Works awesome and fits two spools if you don't use any of the trays or only the bottom drip tray. I've used it to dry PLA, PETG, and TPU for fantastic prints that were a stringy mess before drying. Only works in Fahrenheit and hour increments, up to 24 hours. The plastic on top is perfect for writing a set of temperatures/times for various filaments. The outside stays pretty cool to the touch even after an overnight drying session.

Works great for jerky, fruit and vegetables, just a little small. Quite, would buy another but bigger

Fue para un regalo, pero les fascinó, es fácil de usar,.solo hay que ir practicando otra acertar en los tiempos, muy buen producto, muy probablemente me pida uno para nosotros

Magnífico deshidratador por su precio. Es para lotes pequeños o bocadillos (“snacks”), como indica su nombre. Soporta uso prolongado y su temperatura es exacta. Las bandejas son de metal, lo que representa una ventaja de calidad, además de que su sistema de calefacción está situado al fondo, lo que evita goteos sobre el mismo. El motivo por el que no le di cinco estrellas, es que llegó con un pequeño defecto en los diodos de los numerales de tiempo y temperatura. Tres líneas no se iluminan con total intensidad. Sin embargo, eso no perjudica su funcionamiento, por lo que decidí ahorrarme el trámite de devolución y recompra. Es importado y llegó en apenas una semana. Muy buen aparato.

Temperature seems a bit lower than machines says and timer is a bit off ( set for 10 hours, turned itself off at 9.5 hours). Other than that very easy to clean and nice and compact.