Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC is basically the same unit as Nesco FD-61; the only thing that makes this model different is all the extras you will get when purchasing the unit. Most users claimed that they happened to get this model because the basic Nesco FD-61 was out of stock at most stores.
So what will you get once you open the box of Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC?
Obviously you will get the Nesco American Harvest FD-61 itself, with one base, 4 large trays and a power head rated at 500 watts, and variable climate control ranging from 95 to 155 Fahrenheit degree for various foods. Most of the accessories that came with the unit were located inside the trays and you will gladly find that all of them are made in the USA. So the unit comes with the quality you expected with such an affordable price. Rather than quiet, this dehydrator actually whispers a bit, it has an emitting hum which is close to quiet window-mounted AC unite. As for durability, this machine is very stable and has excellent construction, but gets warm once it is plugged-in.
Here are the extras included for Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC:
- An extra tray, so you will have 5 trays total.
- A jerky kit, consists of a jerky gun, 3 tips, 5 cures and 5 seasonings.
- 2 clean-a-screens, which has narrower holes for placement on a tray to prevent smaller food from falling, or preventing sticky foods like banana and pineapple from being hard to release once it is dried.
- 2 fruit roll-up trays the trays that cover the existing trays to prevent anything from falling below.
- A recipe/guide book which contains the usual instructions and care handling, also many recipes, instructions, tips, and suggestions for preparing fruits, vegetables, meats, herbs, desserts, hobbies/crafts, and more.
The unit is actually expandable to 12 trays, but you may have to begin rotating the lower trays to the top during the drying process if you really use all 12 at the same time. However, if you are good with 5 trays, rotating the trays is not necessary. You may want to do that when drying jerky though, trade the top tray with the bottom after the first hour and your jerky will come out perfect. Drying mixed fruits, banana chips, orange slices, and apple slices with all the 5 trays will take approximately 12 -15 hours. While the apples came out perfect, with the same taste and texture as the one sold in stores, and orange slices came out crunchy, I found that the bananas were a bit too chewy with such length of drying time. You may want to try drying the bananas again on their own (not with other fruits), this might help getting the perfect texture of dried-banana.
The included jerky gun holds almost 3/4lb ground beef jerky mix, and with the tips included you can get a strip, narrow stick, and wide stick shape of beef jerky. But there is a small complaint about the jerky kit; when the plunger is at the end and expelled all the beef mix you may find some jerky left in the tip. You will have this kind of experience with the narrow and wide beef stick tips; there is almost a full piece left in the tip. You may need a chopstick to push that piece of meat through the stick tip, or a blunt knife and your finger for the flat jerky tip, so no meat will be left to waste.
You will like the fruit roll-up trays which has the material on the softer side. This will help releasing the food easily once it is completely dry, you can also use them on the bottom tray to catch grease and other junk when you use the machine to dehydrate beef. As for the recipe and guide book, you will get many cool recipes to make experiment with your dehydrator. If you have crafting hobby you can even use it to make wreaths.
Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC can hold 1 to 1.5 lbs of meat the same amount to use with the included seasoning packets. This product is really recommended for those who are still in doubt about which dehydrator to get as well as those who have never dehydrated foods before. You will find how great and easy this product to use as others have experienced it. Click here to get more insights from other users.
The unit is available on Amazon with nearly $65.00 each, including the all the extras. It is much more affordable than Excalibur 3900 which I would recommend if you have more budgets to spend on a food dehydrator unit. I prefer Excalibur for its square shape which makes the unit fits my kitchen shelf nicely and doesnt need much space to store. It also has 9 trays which allow more foods to dehydrate. If you have the same interest as I do and you think the price fits your budget, click here for more words from customers who have used the machine.
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