stainless steel dehydrators

[robhealthy]

Has anyone purchased a stainless steel dehydrator? They are made by a company called the sausage maker. They are available with stainless steel shelves also. I am just wary of using any of the plastic ones with all the talk about chemicals leaching into foods etc.
They are a little more expensive than the Excalibur or Lequip but it looks like they would last indefinitely.
Just curious if anyone has had any experience with them.

[Raene]

No experience, sorry, but I'd love to hear more as I'm anti-plastic too and hate thinking of my food heating on top of plastic sheets. Yucko.

[robhealthy]

The sausage maker co is actually in Buffalo NY.
They have a website if you google it with all the info on these.

[Raene]

Wow it looks AWESOME! Too bad it works at such high temps, but I guess you could stick with 90-115 degrees.

[robhealthy]

yes I think that would work ok on the temperatures and would probably last a lot longer using it at lower temps. It looks like it will withstand abuse better too than the plastic ones. I like the option of stainless steel shelves too and then just use parchment paper when drying runnier items.
I am going to contact them and see if it functions properly at lower temps.

[robhealthy]

I contacted the company and the one I am looking at the 5 shelf unit will work fine at the lower temperatures (and as I thought will last longer that way). The 5 shelf does not have a numeric thermostat but gives approximates so there would be some experimentation to start with.
I think this is the one I will end up with though.
Full 1 year warranty too.

[queenfluff]

RobHealthy,

I have a 5 tray Sausage Maker. It is all stainless steel except for the temperature knob. My bf is sort of a dehydrator expert (he is developing a new type of the dehydrator) and he has worked with many different brands and he says the SausageMaker is more powerful than the Excalibur. Apparently the fan is more powerful so it gets better air flow.

I have used but never owned the Excalibur and I know that those plastic sheets can break and the Sausage Maker does seem to have more power.

My stuff comes out better in the Sausage Maker. The air flow seems to be better.

The only downside is that it seems to be a bit noiser because depend on where you put it you can get some steel "rattling". Plus it is heavier if you are moving it.

It doesn't come with telflex sheets - although you can buy them through the SausageMaker site if you want. I believe the dimensions are different than the Excalibur (bigger I believe) so I don't think the Excalibur ones with really fit the SausageMaker. I use natural wax paper for my wet items and it works pretty well. I put some olive oil on them so my items don't stick.

For the temps, it isn't digital but they seem to be right on. I stick a room thermometer is there to check it when I change the temp.

Let me know if you have any questions on the SausageMaker. I really like mine. I wish it was less noisy though. :)

Oh, also, we had to order through the website I think. But I think you can buy them at hunting stores if you have one of those near you.

[robhealthy]

thanks for the information. I will purchase soon. I think they are a much better investment than the Excalibur.

[Apasaraw]

I own the stainless as well...I really like it. Feels well made and sturdy which is a plus for me. I'm squeamish about plastic..not for health reasons per se...it's just a personal thing. I wish they made a glass one. haha! I love glass...so inert....so pretty.