A popular choice in the world of dehydrators is the Waring Pro Dehydrator. This is a dehydrator which is a bit on the cheaper side, and is a starting point for many people who want to get into dehydrating food. But can it keep up with some of the other competing dehydrators? Be sure to read on to find out.
Product Features:
Waring has existed as a company for over 75 years now, and they have a long and reliable history when it comes to kitchen appliances. A few years ago they began to make food dehydrators, and the Waring Pro DHR30 is one of the more popular models they currently offer. This particular dehydrator is a stack-able model giving you the ability to stack up to 9 trays altogether, and additional trays will set you back around $15 a tray if you want more than the five included. This gives you enough drying space to do around 3lbs of jerky or fruit which is a fair amount. The size of the model is around average for this kind of dehydrator, and it is roughly 13″ W x 10″ H. The heating fan is located at the bottom, which were are somewhat skeptical of based on previous poor experiences with these kinds of designs. Unlike most dehydrators who have a temperature dial, this one comes with four presets to choose from. According to the manual the Low temperature setting is roughly 110F, Medium is about 140F and High is around 175F. We would prefer to have a temperature dial to be honest, as this would give a more exact method of controlling the heat. An interesting addition is the ability to only use the fan without the heating element. This is quite handy if you have any kind of item that doesn’t need any heat to dry out.
Waring Food Dehydrator Model 11df21 Manual
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Waring Food Dehydrator 11df21 Manual Instructions
Only one fruit roll sheet is included unfortunately, meaning you will need to buy some more if you have plans to make a decent quantity of fruit rolls or fruit leather. The gaps on the trays are quite thin, therefore drying smaller items such as herbs will not be an issue, and there is no need for any clean-a-screen trays with this model. The trays and the lid are see though, allowing you to keep an eye on the drying process all the way through. The unit is powered by a competent 620W unit, which should give enough power to dehydrate anything you throw at it. We aren’t 100% what the recommended retail price is, but it seems to be listed at most shops for under $80. This is around average for an entry level dehydrator, so we will have to see how it competes against the other cheaper models. It also comes with a very reasonable 5 year limited warranty on the motor, which is quite generous for a budget model. Now lets have a look at home it actually performs.
Waring Food Dehydrator DF-415-8 Manual. Waring Food Saver 11DF21 Food Dehydrator. What setting is 135 degrees. Waring Food Saver dhr 20.
Beef jerky is always a firm favorite to try out first, so we got 3lbs and stuff the dehydrator full to see how it would cope. 3 hours in things were looking ok, and we suspected the jerky would take around 7 or 8 hours to dry on the high setting. After around 5 hours we compared the jerky on the top tray with the jerky on the bottom and we could straight away see that the top tray was softer than the bottom one. This is a common issue with the stack-able models, and we suspected that this would happen. After a quick shuffle of the trays, we left the unit for another 2 hours to see if rotating the trays would fix the issue. Sure enough 2 hours later, the difference between the top and bottom trays was much less noticeable, so it seems this model does indeed suffer from the same inherent design flaws of stack-able models. After 8:30 hours in total the jerky was all done, and evenly dried throughout all the trays. This is a reasonable drying time, and the jerky certainly tasted great.
Next we moved onto some fruit, and we chopped up a few apples to see how long it would take to dry them out fully. We used the Medium setting, and 3 hours in it was looking like around 6 hours in total would be a reasonable estimate. However the same issue cropped up again, where the apple slices on the bottom tray were drying out faster than the top ones. So again we rotated the trays, placing the bottom ones on the top and vice versa. 3 hours later we came to check the results and the apple was all fully dehydrated. The Waring pro dehydrator had done a nice job, and a drying time of 6 hours is not too unreasonable.
After this we decided to try something a little messier – some tomatoes. After slicing them up, we filled up 3 trays and left the machine to work it’s magic. We used the medium setting again, and after a few hours we rotated the trays to make sure everything was evenly drying. With only three trays in use, the difference in drying temperature between the top and the bottom trays becomes less apparent. We imagine with all 9 trays in course, you will have your hands full juggling all the trays in an attempt to make sure all the food is dehydrated at the same time. After 5:30 in total our tomatoes were all done, but they had left a bit of a mess in the machine. With a bottom mounted fan, this means cleanup is a bit troublesome, and we did have to use a bit of elbow grease trying to get all the bits of the tomato that had fallen to the bottom. A small portion had gotten into the fan area, and again this is a simple design flaw with these types of models. The fan itself isn’t too noisy when the unit is operational, but we do have to wonder how long it will last when there is debris falling down the trays into the motor area.
So those were a few of the basic tests we performed. The drying times seem around normal for a dehydrator of this kind, and it more or less performed as expected. Being a bottom mounted fan kind, it will of course suffer from the design flaws of these kinds of dehydrators. If you want to avoid this then you will have to look at doubling your budget and look at getting a model with a horizontally mounted fan like the Excalibur Dehydrator or perhaps a superior stack-able model such as the Nesco American Harvest Dehydrator if you are on a tight budget. It isn’t necessarily a bad dehydrator, but you can get something better for a similar price.
Pros:
- Good price
- See through trays and lid
- Power 620W motor
- 5 Year limited warranty on motor
Cons:
- Bottom mounted fan
- Uneven drying
- Tricky to clean
Summary:
Overall this is a fairly standard dehydrator. The drying times are acceptable, and the price is quite affordable. But you can get better stack-able models for around the same price, so if you are on a tight budget we would recommend you look for stack-able model with a top mounted fan instead for better results and easier cleaning. At the time of writing this unit was on sale on Amazon, and you can go here> to check if it is still on sale.
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If you have lost your dehydrators owners manual then don’t despair, as we will be providing temperature and preparation guides for some of the most popular fruit, vegetable and jerky foods in this article. Some popular Dehydrators such as the Nesco Dehydrator have done the most sensible thing and printed a very brief temperature guide to popular recipes on top of the machine itself, so there is no need to keep digging out your recipe guide each time you want to try out a new kind of food. For everyone else who perhaps bought their dehydrator second hand without a recipe guide, or for anyone who lost their recipe booklet we have a short guide below this.
Temperature Settings For Fruits – 135F
Fruits need a medium to high temperature to help dehydrate them to the correct texture. Most popular fruits will take around 7 hours to fully dehydrate at this temperature. Below are some of the popular fruit preparation choices.
- Apples: Remove core and cut into 3/8″ slices. These are a nice quick and easy snack to make, and generally take between 4 – 10 hours to dehydrate.
- Bananas: Peel, and cut into 3/8″ slices. These take slightly longer than apples to dehydrate, often taking between 6 – 12 hours in total.
- Melons: Get rid of skin and cut up into 1/2″ slices. Melons do take a while to dry out, taking between 9 – 18 hours in total.
- Peaches: These are best peeled and cut into eights or quarters. Drying times range between 6 – 12 hours.
- Pears: These can be peeled if necessary, but they must be cored and either sliced into eights or quarters. These take between 7 – 15 hours to dehydrate fully.
- Pineapple: Must be peeled and cored, then sliced into either 3/8″ or 1/2″ slices. Drying times vary between 6 -12 hours.
- Strawberries: These are quite easy to prepare, simply slice them in half or cut into 1/2″ slices. They should take between 5 – 11 hours to dehydrate.
Temperature Settings For Vegetables – 135F
Like fruit about, vegetables need a medium to high temperature for optimal dehydration results. The thick texture of most vegetables means that they will take on average around 9/10 hours to dehydrate. Lets have a look at some popular choices below.
- Carrots: Can be peeled, and should be cut no thicker than 3/8″ slices. Dehydrating times vary between 7 – 11 hours.
- Mushrooms: Mushrooms are very simple to prepare, and simply need to be cleaned with a thin brush before dehydration. They can take between 4 – 9 hours to dehydrate.
- Onions: These must be peeled, and the tops must be cut off. After that they can be sliced into 3/8″ thick. Total time takes between 7 – 11 hours.
- Potatoes: White potatoes should be used for this. Some folks blanch them, but it can be done without. Peel, then cut to 3/8″ slices. Dehydrate for between 6 – 12 hours.
- Tomatoes: These should be washed, then cut into quarters or eights, or sliced 3/8″ thick. After that they will need between 6 – 12 hours to dehydrate.
Temperature Settings For Jerky – 145-160F
Jerky needs a high temperature to fully dehydrate due to the density of the meat texture. In addition to this, it must also be dried at a high temperature so that bacteria cannot develop on the meat at any point. Any temperature above 140F is sufficient to prevent this. Prior to dehydrating, you must try to get as much fat as possible off the meat. Fat doesn’t dehydrate well, and doesn’t make the food very healthy. If you are making jerky from ground beef, try to find a decent lean meat mix for the best results. A bit of salt is a common way to season the meat, but there are a range of other options you can consider such as onion powder, garlic power or pepper to make some quick and flavorful choices. There are many different powder mixes sold online, so you will need to experiment and see which one is best for your tastes.
Drying times generally vary, depending on how thickly sliced the jerky is. Thin slices such as 1/4″ can be ready in as little as 5 hours, whereby thicker slices of around 3/8″ can take up to ten hours.
Summary
Hopefully this little guide will give you a rough idea of how to prepare and dry your food. If you are searching for a quality new dehydrator, then you can have a look at our reviews section to help you find one.