Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsUnacceptable Performance; Will Return
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2014
I bought this food dehydrator from Amazon after trying one from another manufacturer at a friend's house and really liking the results, then noticing this model at a discount at a local gourmet superstore. Although I used the same variety of fruit (Cortland apples) with this model, the food never became dry enough, even after an excessive amount of time and use of all of the temperature settings.In addition, the fan is quite loud, necessitating the relocation of the machine from my kitchen to another room. I had thought that this model would, in fact, be superior for my use in particular, since it has a fan-only setting that would mean not heating up any part of my house in summer. Given the wattage of the model and the time required to dry the food, however, I wonder if buying dried fruit wouldn't be more economical. Perhaps something is blocking the fan, or the machine I received is the rare lemon, but I have not experienced the results that others posting here have reported. The Waring demo video accompanying this listing may be telling in that it illustrates only the preparation of fruit leather and placement of fresh fruit for drying on the trays, and does not mention the recommended temperature or expected amount of time for drying the fruit, nor does it provide a visual of the dried fruit. In any case, I plan to return my purchase and will update my review, if appropriate.
Update: I think that this machine has a fundamental design problem, as, recalling that my friend's machine could be adjusted to vent more air through the sides of the trays, I tried stacking the oval-shaped trays with every other one rotated 180 degrees, and the fruit became much drier in short order. That is not a very stable or intended configuration for the machine, but it could explain why others have reported the motor burning out very quickly, as the fan is apparently constantly trying to move air through an assembly that, when properly loaded, is nearly blocked by the layers of food. I have initiated a return of the product.
