Food dehydrators for dog treats

[Mara]

I’m sooo tired of worrying over what’s in my dogs’ snacks. I recently discovered they love raw peeled “baby” carrots, and since then I’m feeding far more of those than the “regular” treats.

I’m considering getting a dehydrator so I can add a bit more variety - jerky and dried liver, plus more dried fruits and vegetables. Neither DH nor I are particularly fond of dried fruit and vegetables, so the dehydrator would be used mainly for dog snacks.

What brands would CoTHers recommend? I don’t want to break the bank and I don’t need one of the super-high-end kinds with a bunch of trays. Anything Ronco is, of course, not on the radar!

[Roxyllsk]

Go to amazon and check the reviews - they’re really helpful. I’m thinking of doing the same since I made sweet potato treats in my oven for the dogs and they love them.

[wendy]

I have a cheap one I bought off amazon. I only use it for dog treats. Can’t remember the brand, but it’s round with white plastic trays and the fan/heater unit at the top. Pretty much the entire thing can be pulled apart and washed in the dishwasher, which is nice. I had a cheaper one for a while that had a frame with the fan/heater built into the frame, and trays that slid into the frame. The trays could be put in the dishwasher, but not the frame, and the frame got all the drippings and powder on it, and was difficult to clean.

[MunchingonHay]

I want to get an Excalibur dehydrator. They are $$$.

The fan is on the side so it goes over all the levels as opposed to having a fan on top or on the bottom, where the air hits, and has to go around the levels.

Does that make sense? Some of the less expensive models, you need to shuffle the levels around to get an even dry.