When you think about essential appliances you should have in your home, you think about mundane tools like toasters, blenders, egg beaters, microwaves, toaster ovens and the like.
Most people don’t think there is much use for a dehydrator and it’s only a device that health nuts would get much use out of. What if we told you that not only are dehydrators great for making healthy snacks and preserving meat or making healthy dog treats, but they can be used to make your own potpourri and preserving flowers for crafts?
source: ronco.com
As versatile as a dehydrator may be, the search for an affordable, but good quality dehydrator trump the desire to make those healthy treats or make crafts. In that case, we’d like to introduce the Ronco 5-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator. This device is among the best dehydrators and for the price it’s listed for on Amazon, it is certainly something you may want to check out.
In this review, we are going to look at the various features of the dehydrator and then we are going to give you a glimpse of how other people have enjoyed (or not enjoyed) their experience with the product. Then, we’re going to give you our recommendation if you should purchase this device or not.
Without further ado, let’s get to it.
About The Machine
Ronco has been a popular name for kitchen gadgetry for over 50 years with devices like counter-top rotisseries, pasta makers, and of course, dehydrators. With this particular unit, the notable features include:
When you compare this model to others on the market, you may notice that it provides lower wattage than others. At 125 watts, you can expect the food to dry a bit slower than other dehydrators, but it’s set-and-forget feature makes it worth that extra drying time.
To use it, you just have to put food in their designated tray, stack the trays, and go. You don’t have to worry about trying to figure out what temperature to adjust the unit to because there is no temperature control system.
Because of this, you may not want to dry meat in it, as meat for jerky typically requires a temperature between 130 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. While 133 degrees is within that range, it is on the low side and could pose possible dangers.
With this unit, you will get 5 trays that you can use to dehydrate your food. The rotating trays ensures that the food is dehydrated evenly and thoroughly. With that said, if you are trying to dry herbs or create fruit leather, you will have to purchase the respective trays, as they are not included with this set.
What Others Say
Although the description of the product seems like it is a great item to add to your home, we wanted to give you a better look at what verified purchasers had to say.
source: ronco.com
Unfortunately, it seems like the crowd is pretty split on the Ronco 5-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator. Most of the customers who purchased this device left great reviews. Of these reviews, comments people have said regarding this dehydrator include things like:
Adversely, the remaining customers left bad reviews. Of these less than stellar reviews, the largest and most common complaint these folks had was that the heating element in the dehydrator was way too hot. Several have stated that only after using the dehydrator twice, the plastic trays melted!
One customer said they contacted Amazon twice and got a full refund. They then purchased the dehydrator locally and that unit worked fine. Perhaps Amazon received a defective batch.
Other complaints worth mentioning include:
Our Recommendation
When you spend your money on a product, whether it is around $200 or less than $50 like the Ronco 5-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator, you expect to receive something that you can actually use. We want to recommend this product for those who are looking for an affordable dehydrator, but we simply cannot. At least, not right now.
source: ronco.com
There have been far too many complaints stating this dehydrator is a fire hazard and it is dangerous to use because the heating element is too hot and melts the plastic trays.
We do want to point out that when the dehydrator has been purchased from Amazon, they may have gotten a defective batch from Ronco and they have not been sent back yet. Some customers have said they had previous models of this device that have worked wonderfully.
Our Rating