# Round vs. square dehydrators



## pengyou (Jun 22, 2009)

I want to buy a food dehydrator. It seems that most of them are round - a few are square. I am interested in the square ones because I have limited storage room to store it when not in use, and square makes more efficient use of space. Also, a square fruit roll up compared to a round one (using the same amount of fruit) is going to take up a little bit less space as well.

I am curious - why are most of them round? I know that it is cheaper and uses less materials to make a round object than to make a square object.

Any ideas? suggestions for brands? I will first be dehydrating veggies and fruits, but in time - maybe next spring - will try to work on meats.


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

I bought a 9 tray Excalibur brand, it is square and works fine. We were given a 5 layer round one and it was not very good, I ended up giving it away. More drying space in the square ones. The round has a hole up the middle for the air to flow. Get the silicon sheets with it, they work good for fruit leather or vegetable leathers. Shop around to get the best price, but here is the one I bought.
http://www.amazon.com/Excalibur-2900ECB-9-Tray-Economy-Dehydrator/dp/B001NZPP6U


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

We also have the Excalibur 9 tray and like very well. The fact it has a fan, where several others don't, makes it a better unit by our way of thinking.


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## gibbsgirl (May 1, 2013)

We have an excaliber. I think it's ten trays. Stainless steel and glass doors.

It was almost $1000. We saved and second guessed for years before we got it.

But we're very happy with it now that we took the chance and made the purchase. Works very well. Should last a long time.


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

We have a round one and the second it dies I am getting an Excaliber 9 tray model. I may get the Excaliber before that though. One thing I do like about the round tray one is that we can dry pizza sauce on it and roll it up. When we want pizza, I can unroll the sauce, put it on the crust, brush it with some water and add toppings. After it is baked the sauce leather is soft and the kids can eat it without drips or a big mess.


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## arrocks (Oct 26, 2011)

My experience is just the opposite of the others. I have one of each - 9 tray Excaliber that is ok and a Nesco Gardenmaster that is great. The round Nesco dries food in 1/2 the time even with extra trays added, uses less power, is fully adjustable for temp and cost half the price of the Excaliber. Most importantly, it dries much more uniformly than the Excaliber does - the outside edges of the trays are just as dry as the center all at the same time so I don't have to keep rotating the foods on the trays.


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

I have had several round tray dehydrators. I have a Nesco Gardenmaster (the one pictured here: http://www.harvestessentials.com/negaprodefd.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=negaprodefd&gclid=CjwKEAjwhdOwBRDFsYTfhvzX1hYSJAAfCUcLOolbvrohPT93ICdOOvN-eN4w6B9QkrvpOCuaCn1T0xoCzbXw_wcB) and am happy with it. I bought extra trays so sometimes it's stacked 10-12 trays deep and I have never had a problem dehydrating food. I like the ability to adjust the temperature.

I have never had a square unit but have looked at them. So far, I'm happy with my Gardenmaster.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I think round is done in more inexpensive products as the fan drives the air from the center of the bottom and is not able to drive it evenly through many layers if it is square. 
Square ones drive the air from the back to the front and it can reach the corners.
In both types I end up changing the layers round at some point. Much less with Excaliber than with the round one I have. The moisture from the lowest tray on the round ones gets pushed through the other trays rather than out the front on each layer like the square ones.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

Squares give you the largest internal area for the outside dimensions. Mine is round though because it was all they had and was cheap on close out.


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

arrocks said:


> My experience is just the opposite of the others. I have one of each - 9 tray Excaliber that is ok and a Nesco Gardenmaster that is great. The round Nesco dries food in 1/2 the time even with extra trays added, uses less power, is fully adjustable for temp and cost half the price of the Excaliber. Most importantly, it dries much more uniformly than the Excaliber does - the outside edges of the trays are just as dry as the center all at the same time so I don't have to keep rotating the foods on the trays.


We have a Gardenmaster and it works great too, but I keep hearing rave reviews about the Excaliber. I may rethink that. I am happy with how ours works and it gets used a lot. It is on it's 6th year with heavy use and keeps going. I have 12 trays for it now so I can get a lot done at once, but usually dry 8 to 10 at once.


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## arrocks (Oct 26, 2011)

> We have a Gardenmaster and it works great too, but I keep hearing rave reviews about the Excaliber. I may rethink that. I am happy with how ours works and it gets used a lot. It is on it's 6th year with heavy use and keeps going. I have 12 trays for it now so I can get a lot done at once, but usually dry 8 to 10 at once.


Glad to hear I am not alone.  My Gardenmaster is going on 10 years old this season and still chugging along just fine. I have 14 trays but normally run 12 while my Excaliber seems real limited with only 9. 

But the big advantage to me is the faster drying time. Been doing onions and potatoes the past couple of weeks and the Nesco is almost 2x as fast as the Excaliber on both.


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## Cp4056 (Apr 17, 2012)

Is there a temp adjustment on the round model? On the Excalibur, you can dial down the temp to preserve nutrients. This may possibly account for the increase in drying time some people report about Excalibur. I have a nine tray Excalibur and I love it, but I try never to exceed 115 degrees


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## arrocks (Oct 26, 2011)

Cp4056 said:


> Is there a temp adjustment on the round model? On the Excalibur, you can dial down the temp to preserve nutrients. This may possibly account for the increase in drying time some people reports outage Excalibur. I have a nine tray Excalibur and I love it, but I try never to exceed 115 degrees


There is on many models, including the Gardenmaster, but not all. I normally use 125-135 as most charts seem to recommend to neutralize the spoilage enzymes present. My Excaliber manual says the same as my Gardenmaster manual - 125 for vegetables and 135 for fruit.


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## lolart (Sep 1, 2010)

American Harvest simple 4 tray and a LEM 10 tray which to me compares to the Excaliber very well.
The round one I do need to rotate the trays during drying and with the fan at the back I don't need 
to with the LEN.


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## DW (May 10, 2002)

We have the round one, too. Was MIL, have used it for yrs. We did buy a couple more trays. I like to make layered soup in a jar for xmas so I dry lots of veges. We really like it.


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## rosalind (Oct 6, 2014)

I was never willing to buy a plastic dehydrator, and one year my parents surprised me with a Costco purchased stainless steel food dehydrator. I love it and my husband and I use it all fall. Pretty darn good price, too, if you are planning to process a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QCXU5M?psc=1

STX 10-Tray Stainless Steel Digital Food Dehydrator, 1200-watt


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

I bought my American Harvester round 6 tray at a thrift shop for $7, that was about 7-8 years ago and it still works great. It does have temp adjustment, and I learned to use the lowest temp when all my kidney beans ruptured themselves at 135 degrees. Boy are those dehydrated beans handy to have though.


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## shellybo (Nov 9, 2013)

arrocks said:


> My experience is just the opposite of the others. I have one of each - 9 tray Excaliber that is ok and a Nesco Gardenmaster that is great. The round Nesco dries food in 1/2 the time even with extra trays added, uses less power, is fully adjustable for temp and cost half the price of the Excaliber. Most importantly, it dries much more uniformly than the Excaliber does - the outside edges of the trays are just as dry as the center all at the same time so I don't have to keep rotating the foods on the trays.



Thanks! I was thinking about getting a Gardenmater and you convinced me. Glad you have both units and can give a fair comparison.


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

I have several - 2 American Harvest/Nesco (one is 30+ years old, bought new and still going strong), one Excal bought used (repaired once after 15+ years, died again, but was great and would buy again although parts are outrageous), and a really old (1960s-70s) 20 shelf Nature's Way free standing with 2 motors and fans/2 compartments, butcher block top, also bought well used. All 3 running tonight with apples! Also have a newer Nesco style with the heat/fan on top, center mount, but it has to push air down, then pull air back up and out...after 2 hours the slices weren't drying as well as on the old one, so I pulled the trays and stacked them on my older bottom heat/fan American Harvest Snackmasters. 

My name is Chix, and I have a rummage sale/ thrift shop dehydrator problem. 

If anyone has any info about the old Nature's Way company, please fill me in!

This summer my BIL bought a Cabela's huge 24 shelf dehydrator out of their bargain cave for half price. He likes it.


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## Melesine (Jan 17, 2012)

I had a round one, but about five years ago I bought a 9 tray Excalibur with the timer. It's much nicer and more versatile than the round dehydrator I had. I also use my Excalibur for proofing bread and rolls, once shaped the pan sits right on the tray so I can do more than one pan at a time. I also use it to ferment yogurt by just removing the trays and setting the jar inside.


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## FLAndy (Nov 6, 2015)

I'm enjoying this thread. I inherited a Ronco round 7 tray dehydrator from my grandmother when she passed. It has no temperature control and no fan. You just plug it in and a heating element heats up to an unknown temperature and the hot air naturally rises and exits tjhrough vents in the top - it is terrible. I stopped using it because it took so long and results were hit and miss. I have decided to b uy a new one and lo and behold this thread pops up. Unfortunately, I have a very tight budget so I wont be buying anything too fancy. Especially with 4 kids and Christmas arond the corner.


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## gam46 (Sep 18, 2015)

Borrowed a round one which worked but annoyed me greatly with having to rotate trays and not liking my perception of lack of area per tray. Purchased a refurbished nine-tray Excalibur, like new with warranty, but lower cost. Love everything about it.


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