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I am planning to dry my hot peppers and make spice powders. Not looking for a $79 cheapo version.... want something quality. I may start making spice mixtures to sell at a local farmer's market.....

I have 2 of these $25 electric dehydrators they work great. Be sure to get a dehydrator that does not get too hot because it will cook away all the spicy stuff in hot peppers then they are no longer hotter. About 5 years ago I planted about 10 chili pepper plants. Soon as the peppers turned red I harvested them, they do not all get red at the same time it is slow going that is why you need 10 or 12 plants so you can harvest enough peppers at one time to fill the dehydrator. I learned once several peppers are harvested they will mold inside in a few days if I did not do something with them soon. I also learned to cut all the chili pepper length wise in 4 pieces, cut off the stem, scrap out the seeds, they dehydrate very well like that in 4 pieces. Soon as peppers were dry I put them in the kitchen bender on high 3 minutes peppers made good chili powder. I made 5 lbs of chili powder one summer.

I don't grow chili peppers anymore I buy them at the Mexican flea market $2 lb they come in 5 ranges of HOT. First range is ZERO hotness these are good for color and flavor only. Next is mild, then medium, then hot, then very hot.

I've got a dehydrator very similar to Gary350's and it is all I need to get the job done------though I only have one of them and sometimes find myself needing another. It was probably no more than $25-35 when bought new a few years ago and I've dried fruit, vegetables, loads of hot peppers and have probably used it to make a couple hundred pounds of beef jerky.

Like Gary mentioned, you don't want one that gets too hot or your results will not be consistent.

This is the one recommended by America's Test Kitchen. I've come to trust their equipment reviews. The horizontal airflow makes for fast, even dehydrating, which is what I lack using the small top- or bottom-element "cheapo" dehydrators. It also comes in a 9-tray version and a 5-tray version..

Allyn wrote:This is the one recommended by America's Test Kitchen. I've come to trust their equipment reviews. The horizontal airflow makes for fast, even dehydrating, which is what I lack using the small top- or bottom-element "cheapo" dehydrators. It also comes in a 9-tray version and a 5-tray version..

This is what I was looking at, but the $189 version....

Gardener123 wrote: This is what I was looking at, but the $189 version....

Excalibur is supposed to be THE name in home dehydrators, and it was highly recommended by ATK. They tend to go big, though -- for example, rating the 15-tray model higher than the 9- or 5-tray model because of capacity, but all I'd need might be the 9-tray model. The different capacity models are different wattages -- from 400W to 600W -- so be aware. I like the rear fan and heating element on the Excalibur. It dries much faster and more evenly than my Nesco. With the Nesco (top fan and heater) I'm frequently shuffling the trays around to get even drying, and the circular trays just seem to not hold as much as a nice, big square tray that has no wasted space in the middle. I also like the thermostat control and the timer on the Excalibur. It's much more precise control over the amount of heat and the length of drying time. With the less expensive ones, there's really no way to control the heat reliably. They might have heat settings, but the unit just does what it wants.

I have a Nesco Gardenharvester. I have had it for 3 years, and use it almost every week in the winter and during the summer and fall, almost everyday. I have 22 trays and still feel that it drys everything at the same rate as long as your pieces are the same thickness. I have had the fan motor burn out once but my husband just bought several motors for it for about $10 each and switched it out, and I have the extras on hand encase it goes out again. I think I didn't get the trays dry enough after I washed them and water got down inside. I really like it. But I haven't used any others to compare with it. I like the amount of trays I can use and the different heat settings.

Allyn wrote:

Gardener123 wrote: This is what I was looking at, but the $189 version....

Excalibur is supposed to be THE name in home dehydrators, and it was highly recommended by ATK. They tend to go big, though -- for example, rating the 15-tray model higher than the 9- or 5-tray model because of capacity, but all I'd need might be the 9-tray model. The different capacity models are different wattages -- from 400W to 600W -- so be aware. I like the rear fan and heating element on the Excalibur. It dries much faster and more evenly than my Nesco. With the Nesco (top fan and heater) I'm frequently shuffling the trays around to get even drying, and the circular trays just seem to not hold as much as a nice, big square tray that has no wasted space in the middle. I also like the thermostat control and the timer on the Excalibur. It's much more precise control over the amount of heat and the length of drying time. With the less expensive ones, there's really no way to control the heat reliably. They might have heat settings, but the unit just does what it wants.

I agree with this. I have an Excalibur and never go back to a department store variety of dehydrators.

Well, I was cleaning my basement and found a box that I didn't know what was in it.... turned out to be a 4 tray Nesco dehydrator..... I started a batch last night and it did a great job.... but if I want to sell pepper powders, this won't be good enough.... This thing has been boxed up for 17 years - I remember that someone gave it to us when we got married.

While we're talking dehydrators..... I LOVE the way the house smells when I dehydrate pineapple.