Steve submitted a new Showcase Item:
Dehydrator - Generic Brand
Dehydrator - Generic Brand
After a bit of research into food dehydrators i really couldn't bring myself to paying > $400 (and up to $700 for the really nice ones) for a unit so I went for a generic Chinese-made dehydrator. Was it a good choice.... read on...!
Where:
I ended up buying this one off eBay for $130 with free postage. It was located in the same city as me (Brisbane, Australia) so it only took a couple of days to arrive.
I noticed there were a fair few to choose from on eBay so it really came down to trying to pick one that had the most functionality and was geographically closest to me. I figure if it doesn't have to travel half the world to get to my doorstep then that's a good thing for the environment and also lessens the chance of damage en route.
Brand:
No idea! Really there is not one bit of branding on it or the instructions pamphlet that i can see. All I know is it was made in China and many of the components look awfully similar to many other models on eBay and even some that have a brand. I'm sure these things are all made in the same factory and then shipped out to different suppliers.
Packaging:
It arrived in a massive cardboard box which led me to think I might have gone too big with 10 draws.
It was well packaged with no damage and after removing it from the packaging I realised it was HUGE!
The wife took one look at it and said '...that ain't coming in my kitchen!'. Needless to say it now lives in my garage where I visit it regularly to spend quality time with it.
Seriously though, I am happy with the size as it will come in handy on the big jobs. Better too big than too small. Plus it will keep my garage warm in the cooler months while I tinker around. It's a win/win really.
Functions:
Many of the units on eBay didn't come with a timer, or a variable thermostat (temperature adjustment) or even an on/off switch, or any combination of these functions. It took a while to find one that had all three in the right size, at the right price, and in close proximity to me.
- Timer - this unit has a digital timer which is very easy to program in hours and minutes. It goes up to 40 hrs (apparently) but I haven't test that yet. Once set via 3 little push-buttons the unit will run at the temp set on the dial and then turn the unit off once the time runs out. the digital readout is large and easy to read and counts down once you hit go. I think this is a must for a dehydrator. You could get around it with a external timer (on...
I think the days of overcharging consumers for electrical appliances are coming to an abrupt end with the rise of China as a credible maker of quality products instead of the rip-off junk they used to make - gotta give credit where it's due 
