OSTBA 5-Tray BPA-Free Food Dehydrator, 420W, 95-160
F, 48H Timer

This is my first food dehydrator, so I have no comparison point to make with other brands. All I can do is judge it on the aspects that seem good and bad.

The good:

- Large food capacity due to multi-stacking trays
- Lightweight construction, allowing for easy movement in and out of storage
- Simple button navigation
- Pats are mostly dishwasher safe

The bad:

- Lack of rubber feet/grips makes it easy to push the device around even when just trying to adjust settings
- Trays are fiddly to deal with when trying to stack/interlock them
- Display is hard to read due to being at the base. It would benefit from a display that was protruding and angled upward.
- Fan is relatively loud given how long you'll need to keep this machine on for the dehydration process. It's better suited for operation in a closed-off area of the house.

I have an OSTBA meat slicer that's pretty solid, and so I was looking forward to trying this dehydrator from the same brand. Maybe some of my cons above are normal for all dehydrators, but I was still a little disappointed with their presence.

So far, I've only tried dehydrating pineapples. I ran it for 6 hours, which I realized after the fact isn't long enough of a duration to really dry them out, and so I can't blame this dehydrator for the result still being slightly damp pineapple rings. But honestly, after 6 hours I was tired of hearing the fan in the background. I think I'm going to do more experiments with dehydrating and just run them overnight.

I think this dehydrator probably works well if you give it sufficient time to work. The airflow seems to be good, and the machine is pretty inexpensive. But so are a lot of other dehydrators on the market.

Performs reliably every single time. Simple interface and very low maintenance.

Surprised by how quiet it is while running. A great addition to my daily routine.

No complicated controls or extra hassle. Just reliable, high quality performance.

Operates softly and efficiently. Very happy with the build quality and performance.

Great product with prompt delivery. Operates quietly and gets the job done quickly.

Materials feel strong and well crafted. Has worked seamlessly without any issues.

Minimalist aesthetic combined with strong everyday performance. Would buy again.

Doesn't clutter space and delivers fast results. Very satisfied with this unit.

Delivered fast and carefully packaged. Works like a charm and feels very reliable.

Intuitive layout and controls. Makes daily tasks so much quicker and easier.

Looks high-end on the counter and operates flawlessly without overheating.

Has been operating smoothly since day one. Definitely worth the investment.

I've been using this daily and it works quietly and effortlessly. Very impressed with quality.

Clean, modern design that looks great in my home. Simple controls and functions perfectly.

Takes up minimal space while delivering consistent performance every day. Highly recommended.

Super easy to set up straight out of the box. Runs smoothly and cleans up easily.

Makes daily chores effortless. Very sturdy build and smooth operation.

Very smooth operation with no loud noise. Solid materials and clear instructions.

Replaced my old unit with this one and the difference is obvious. Runs smooth and quiet.

Unboxed, plugged in, and ready in minutes. Solid construction throughout.

The OSTBA Food Dehydrator is an efficient and user-friendly appliance that simplifies the process of drying fruit, veggies, and meat at home. It has five good sized trays, though the vertical space between the trays can be pretty limiting to just using thinly sliced foods.

The integrated 48-hour timer is a standout feature, allowing for worry-free operation without the need to constantly monitor the drying progress. The unit overall is pretty lightweight and the fan is noisy enough that you won't want this running in your kitchen when it's occupied (overnight, anyone?). However these shortcomings are balanced out by the entry level price point of the machine.

My only gripe is when I go to hit the buttons. It slides across my countertop , as it doesnt have anything grippy. I placed it on a large silicone mat and problem solved. It was effective on strawberries, bananas, and mango so far. I didnt have difficulty cleaning the individual racks after soaking them a bit. No unusual or odd smells or tastes from the device.

This dehydrator is a good size, and the whole thing (including the trays) feels pretty sturdy. The instructions tell you to do an initial run and wash it before using. It��s pretty easy to use, although it did take me a little while to figure out how to set the temperature. There are no included recipes though, so you��ll have to look online for those. I tested this out with sweet potatoes that I precooked and sliced, a Honeycrisp apple, and half a carrot. These altogether took around 10 hours to dry out, and the noise level seemed reasonable to me. I think it worked pretty well with the apple slices turning out the best by far, pretty much the exact same as store-bought apple slices. Now the food on the lower layers did finish a little quicker than the rest, but I��m pretty happy with this overall.

This dehydrator has worked great for me so far. I used it to make dried bananas and it handled that job very well. One thing I like is that you are not forced to use every tray every time. It comes with five 12.2-inch BPA-free trays, but for my batch I only needed four, so it was nice to have that flexibility.

Each rack can be set to one of two heights, which is useful depending on what you are drying. That gives you a little more room for thicker slices or bulkier foods, and it makes the machine feel more versatile than a fixed-tray design. The round layout is also compact enough for regular kitchen use without taking over the counter.

The controls are straightforward. It has an adjustable temperature range from 95 to 160 degrees F, plus a timer that runs from 1 to 48 hours in 30-minute increments. That gives plenty of room to experiment with fruit, herbs, vegetables, jerky, and other snacks without feeling limited by the settings.

I also appreciate how easy it is to live with. It is fairly quiet while running, so it is not obnoxious in the kitchen, and cleanup is simple. The trays are dishwasher safe, which is always a win. It also has practical safety features like auto shut-off and overheat protection, so it feels well thought out for everyday home use.

Overall, this is a solid, user-friendly dehydrator. It is easy to operate, easy to clean, and flexible enough for different batch sizes and food thicknesses. For anyone wanting a compact 420W dehydrator for fruit, herbs, veggies, or jerky, this has been a very good one.

This is a great dehydrator. The temperature range is good (95-160��F) and the lower temps are useful when drying certain herbs and fruits. The tray height is slightly adjustable which is a cool feature, however the tray height is still not enough for larger items which has always been a problem for many lower priced dehydrators. I give this product 5 stars because this is a good quality dehydrator for a low price. I do wish it had more tray height, its been an ongoing issue for me and most of my friends who work with herbs, veggies, fruits and/or mushrooms. No one wants to have to slice everything to dehydrate it, especially mushrooms and peppers as they store better whole.... but for most applications the tray height is more than sufficient. I am including a picture of some peppers i dehydrated so you can see how much better low temp slow drying is for retaining color. Lower temps and slower drying also retains more volatiles so you retain more flavor and scent (which 95 degrees with this dehydrator is a great temp for this) For faster drying 160 is a good temp for the high range it's pretty standard with smaller dehydrators.
I should also mention the tray I used to dry peppers with was a breeze to clean, I just rinsed with super hot water. That's a big plus as my other dehydrators are much more difficult because everything falls through the holes and sticks. The tray design is better on this dehydrator.

I had another food dehydrator, but it was very simple and lacked any controls for temperature or time. This dehydrator has both temperature and timer controls, making it very easy to dehydrate different foods. With 5 large trays, you can dry a LOT of items at the same time. The base is very heavy and contains the fan and heating element, there are non-slip feet so it stays put on the counter. The trays are clear and durable. I LOVE that the plastic trays are BPA free and very easy to clean; it says they are dishwasher safe, but I clean mine by hand.

The trays are large at about 12-inch diameter and there is a clear cover that fits over the topmost tray. The controls are easy to operate, there is an on/off button, a mode button that switches from time or temperature settings and a + and - button for adjusting the time or the temperature. Time can be set from 1 to 48 hours, and temperature can be set from 95 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. An LED display shows the time remaining and once the timer counts down to zero, the heating element shuts off but the fan stays on for about a minute before the whole thing turns off. Very nice since you can set and forget. The price is excellent for the quality of the material and workmanship, very highly recommended.

I like this dehydrator, it's round shape and light weight makes it easy to carry and store and when running the noise level is very low. Even though it is quite light, it seems very sturdy and the trays don't bend or flex. The controls are very simple, just temperature and time. The plastic trays are easily cleaned in the dishwasher. You get 5 trays which can be adjusted to two different heights giving you some flexibility to handle thicker or oddly shaped foods. I found out that a thin sliced banana doesn't quite fill one tray so unless you are trying to really crank out a lot of food at once, the 5 trays should be plenty, you could easily fit 6-7 sliced bananas in the thing at once.

Also, it's not designed as a single unit, there is the base, then the 5 trays stack on top. So you can remove the 5 trays and store them separately, allowing you to store the unit in drawers or cabinets that aren't tall enough to fit the entire unit as one piece. The overall size of the thing is manageable for a small kitchen.

I actually have a countertop oven with a dehydrate function, but it only handles 2-3 trays made of wire mesh which is more difficult to clean, doesn't hold as much and lets any drips fall onto the bottom on the heating coils of the oven where they are harder to clean. This OSTBA dehydrator with it's 5 trays are easier to handle and hold more, plus any drips fall down into the base of the unit which is easy to wipe clean, the heating coils of the OSTBA are in the base and covered so nothing can drip on them.

The only disappointing thing was that OSTBA didn't include any recipe book or time/temperature guidelines for different foods. Thankfully, I was able to find plenty of recipes on the internet, but it would have been nice if they included a few to get you started.