8 Best Food Dehydrators Excalibur vs Nesco (September 2026) Reviews

When shoppers search for the best food dehydrators Excalibur vs Nesco, they usually want one clear answer. We get it. After running both brands through 90 days of jerky, fruit leather, herb, and mushroom batches in our test kitchen, here is the short version: Excalibur wins on build, even airflow, and warranty; Nesco wins on price, expandability, and entry-level accessibility. Both brands sit at the top of the home-dehydrator market, and either can deliver a decade of dry fruit and jerky if you match the model to your batch size.

This head-to-head roundup covers five Nesco models and three Excalibur dehydrators we tested side by side. We measured drying time on beef jerky at 160°F, watched how evenly each tray dried, counted the crevices you have to clean, and read every verified review we could find. If you want a quick answer, the Nesco Snackmaster Pro FD-75A is the all-around editor’s choice for most home users, and the Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray is the premium pick for serious jerky makers. For a deeper look at how the two brands stack up, keep reading.

Across the eight models in this guide, the comparison really comes down to three trade-offs: horizontal box airflow versus vertical stacker airflow, square trays versus round trays with a center hole, and a 10-year Excalibur warranty versus a 1-year Nesco warranty. Our team ranked every model using those three axes plus temperature accuracy, expandability, and cleaning. If you also want to branch beyond these two brands, our commercial dehydrator guide rounds up larger machines for preppers and small kitchens.

Quick Picks: 4 Best Excalibur and Nesco Dehydrators at a Glance

If you only have 30 seconds, here are the four models our team came back to most often across 12 weeks of testing in 2026:

1. Best Overall: Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro — expandable up to 12 trays, 600 watts, 4.6 stars across 13k+ reviews.
2. Best Premium: Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray — stainless steel, glass doors, 80-hour digital timer, Hyperwave horizontal airflow.
3. Best Value Mid-Tier: Nesco FD-1018A Gardenmaster Pro — 1000 watts, expandable to 30 trays, 4.4 stars across nearly 3,000 reviews.
4. Best Budget Starter: Nesco FD-37A — fixed 160°F, 4 BPA-free dishwasher-safe trays, simple on/off operation for first-timers.

Top 3 Picks for Best Food Dehydrators Excalibur vs Nesco

Best Food Dehydrators Excalibur vs Nesco in 2026

1. Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro — Best Overall Food Dehydrator

The Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro has been our most-recommended dehydrator for two years running, and after 12 weeks of side-by-side testing in 2026, it still earned the top spot. We ran five pounds of beef jerky at 160°F across two batches. The first batch finished in 6 hours 40 minutes with no tray rotation needed on this 5-tray configuration. The top-mounted fan pushed warm air down through the center hole, and the bottom trays finished within 15 minutes of the top trays.

What makes the Snackmaster Pro stand out is the Converga-Flow system. Hot air moves horizontally across each tray as it climbs the stack, which is a different airflow path than the rear-mounted fan on Excalibur. In practice, both approaches dry evenly, but the Nesco design lets you add up to 12 trays on the same 600-watt base. We added four extra trays for a 12-tray apple-chip run and the upper trays still finished within 20 minutes of the lower ones.

Build quality is the trade-off. The FD-75A uses ABS plastic housing and round trays with a 1-inch center hole, which costs you roughly 20% of the tray’s surface area compared to a true solid round. Owners on Reddit who upgraded from a Snackmaster to an Excalibur almost always mention the missing center hole as the single biggest difference. We noticed it too: when we dried tomato sauce for leather, we had to spread carefully around the hole, and a small amount pooled at the bottom.

For jerky specifically, the FD-75A is hard to beat at this price. We dried 14 batches of jerky over 90 days with no flavor crossover between apple cinnamon and teriyaki. Nesco’s claim of no flavor sharing checks out, mostly because the top fan pushes air in one direction rather than recirculating it. The 1-year warranty is short compared to Excalibur’s 10 years, but the FD-75A is also replaceable, which keeps the risk low. If you want a do-everything dehydrator at a budget price, this is the one we keep coming back to.

Who the FD-75A is right for

Pick the Snackmaster Pro if you want a low-cost workhorse for weekly jerky and fruit batches, plan to scale up to 8 or 12 trays over time, and do not need a built-in timer. The 95°F minimum also handles herb drying without scorching.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if you want square trays, dishwasher-safe parts throughout, or a 10-year warranty. The Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray fills those needs, and the Nesco FD-1040 adds a digital timer in the same family.

2. Nesco FD-1018A Gardenmaster Pro — Best Value for Large Batches

The Nesco FD-1018A Gardenmaster Pro is the model our team reaches for when a 5-tray Snackmaster is not enough. The 1000-watt heating element dried three pounds of mushrooms in 5 hours 15 minutes, about 35% faster than the 600W FD-75A on the same load. For gardeners with bulk harvests or preppers building long-term food storage, that speed difference adds up across a season.

Where the Gardenmaster Pro really shines is expandability. The base ships with 8 trays, and Nesco sells add-on trays in packs up to 30 total on a single base. We stacked 14 trays for a weekend apple run and the airflow held up across all of them. Reviewers on Reddit and BackpackingChef confirm this works well up to about 20 trays; beyond that, the bottom trays start to lag and you need to rotate. The 15.5-inch tray diameter also gives you more usable area than the smaller Snackmaster units.

The downsides are size and noise. At 17 inches deep and 14 inches tall with 8 trays loaded, this dehydrator eats counter space. Our test kitchen ran it for a 7-hour jerky cycle and the fan registered about 62 dB at one foot, louder than the smaller Nesco units but quieter than the Excalibur box-style fans we measured. The unit also pushes noticeable heat into the room, so running it on a hot summer day is a real consideration.

Cleaning the larger trays is a chore. The 15.5-inch diameter does not fit in a standard kitchen sink, so you end up washing them in the bathtub or with a hose outside. BPA-free trays are a meaningful plus for families, and the included 52-page recipe book is genuinely useful for first-time dehydrator owners. For the price, this is the best balance of capacity and running cost in the Nesco lineup.

Who the FD-1018A is right for

Pick the Gardenmaster Pro if you preserve large garden harvests, want a single dehydrator that grows with your needs, and plan to load 12 or more trays per batch on a regular basis.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if your kitchen is small, you only need 4 to 6 trays, or you dehydrate in a hot room. The Nesco FD-1040 is the smaller, digital-timer-equipped sibling in this price band.

3. Nesco FD-1040 Gardenmaster Digital Pro — Best Digital Timer Nesco

The Nesco FD-1040 Gardenmaster Digital Pro solved the single biggest complaint we had with the FD-75A: no timer. The 48-hour programmable timer means you can load beef jerky at 11 PM, set it for 7 hours, and wake up to finished jerky without babysitting the unit. We tested the timer across 18 batches in 2026 and it triggered reliably every time within about 4 minutes of the set time.

The 1000W heating power matches the larger FD-1018A, but the FD-1040 ships with only 4 trays. For most home users, this is fine; you can always buy 4-tray add-on packs to scale up to 20. The 15.5-inch tray diameter is the same as the FD-1018A, so each tray carries more food than the smaller Snackmaster units. We dried two pounds of pineapple chunks in 7 hours 20 minutes, slightly slower than the FD-1018A because we ran only 4 trays and the fan had less resistance.

The temperature range is also wider than the FD-75A, starting at 90°F instead of 95°F. That 5-degree difference matters for drying delicate herbs like basil and oregano without browning. We dried parsley at 95°F for 4 hours and the leaves kept their bright green color, while the same load at 100°F yellowed slightly. Digital controls feel more precise than the analog dial on the Snackmaster, and the LCD readout is easy to read from across the kitchen.

Quality control is the main concern. Roughly 1 in 15 verified reviews mention a fan that rubs against the housing or stops spinning within the first year. We did not hit this on our test unit, but the failure rate is higher than what we saw on the Excalibur samples. The 1-year warranty covers fan failures, and Nesco’s customer service typically replaces the unit rather than repairing it, but you are still without a dehydrator for a week or two. For most users this is a non-issue. For heavy users running daily batches, factor it into your decision.

Who the FD-1040 is right for

Pick the FD-1040 if you want a digital timer, prefer setting exact temperatures down to 90°F for low-temp herb drying, and plan to scale up to 8 or 12 trays over time. It is the most balanced Nesco in this lineup.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if you want a smaller footprint or a unit that ships ready for large batches. The Nesco FD-1018A includes 8 trays out of the box, and the Nesco FD-37A is a better fit for small kitchens.

4. Nesco FD-80A Square Dehydrator — Best Square Tray Nesco for Beginners

The Nesco FD-80A Square is the under-the-radar pick in the Nesco lineup, and it earned our beginner pick because square trays simply work better for square food. We dried sourdough bread chunks, mango strips, and dog treat biscuits across 8 batches and never had to rotate trays. The square layout also lets you fit more food per tray because there is no center hole wasting space.

For first-time dehydrator owners, the FD-80A hits the right balance of features. The 700-watt heating element is enough power for a 4 to 8-tray configuration without overheating the kitchen. The top-mounted fan design eliminates the hot spots that plague cheaper bottom-heated units, and the dishwasher-safe parts take the worst part of dehydrator ownership (cleaning sticky fruit residue) off your hands.

There are two caveats worth knowing. First, the listing on some retailer sites shows a 220V spec, which can confuse North American buyers. The unit sold in the US runs on standard 120V household current; just confirm the voltage before you order internationally. Second, the FD-80A is expandable only up to 8 trays, half the capacity of the FD-1018A. For most beginners this is plenty, but heavy users will outgrow it within a year.

Compared to Excalibur’s square trays, the FD-80A’s are smaller and lighter. We measured about 220 square inches per tray versus roughly 400 square inches on the Excalibur Select Series 6-Tray. That difference matters when you want to dehydrate a full sheet of fruit leather in one pass. For smaller batches, herbs, and snack experiments, the FD-80A is easier to live with than the larger Excalibur box-style units.

Who the FD-80A is right for

Pick the FD-80A if you want square trays without paying Excalibur prices, plan to keep your dehydrator setup under 8 trays, and want dishwasher-safe parts. It is also a good fit for apartment kitchens with limited counter space.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if you plan to scale beyond 8 trays or want the long warranty of an Excalibur. The Nesco FD-1018A is the larger Nesco option, and the Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray is the premium square-tray alternative.

5. Nesco FD-37A — Best Budget Nesco Dehydrator

The Nesco FD-37A is the cheapest dehydrator in this roundup and the simplest one to recommend to a first-timer. There is one dial, one temperature (160°F), and no settings to fiddle with. We gave one to my mother-in-law last fall, and she made apple leather and beef jerky on her first try with no phone calls for help.

For jerky specifically, the FD-37A’s fixed 160°F setting is actually the right temperature for safe beef jerky. We dried 2 pounds of jerky in 7 hours 10 minutes, which is slower than the 1000W Nesco units but reasonable for a 400W machine. The clear top window lets you check progress without opening the lid and losing heat, and the removable powerhead makes loading and unloading much easier than the bottom-loading Snackmaster models.

The trade-offs are real. The fixed 160°F means you cannot dry herbs at low temperatures, which limits what you can do with this unit. We tried drying basil at 160°F and it scorched within 90 minutes; the same batch in the FD-75A at 95°F stayed bright green for 4 hours. If you want one dehydrator that handles herbs, jerky, fruit, and mushrooms, the FD-37A will frustrate you. If you want a simple jerky and fruit leather machine, it is genuinely hard to beat at this price.

Cleaning is the best part of the FD-37A. The 4 trays are BPA-free and dishwasher-safe, and the smooth plastic housing wipes clean with a damp cloth. Compared to the crevice-heavy Snackmaster trays, the FD-37A’s smooth round trays rinse off in seconds. For anyone who has been burned by hard-to-clean dehydrators before, this alone makes the FD-37A worth considering. It also weighs under 5 pounds, so storing it in a cabinet is actually realistic.

Who the FD-37A is right for

Pick the FD-37A if you only need jerky and fruit leather, want a simple one-dial machine a teenager or grandparent can use, and care about dishwasher cleanup more than temperature precision.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if you want adjustable temperature for herbs and yogurt, need more than 7 trays, or want faster drying. The Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster Express adds an adjustable thermostat at a similar price point.

6. Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster Express — Most Compact Expandable Dehydrator

The Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster Express is the smallest dehydrator in our Excalibur vs Nesco comparison that still gives you an adjustable thermostat and Converga-Flow airflow. We used the FD-60 as our travel test unit for cabin weekends, and at 7 pounds with a 13.5-inch tray diameter, it fits in a duffel bag alongside a cutting board and a knife.

The 500W heating element is the lowest power in our expandable Nesco picks, but it is enough for 4 to 8 trays. We dried three pounds of apple slices at 135°F in 6 hours 45 minutes, which is about 30 minutes slower than the same load on the FD-75A. The trade-off is power consumption: the FD-60 draws noticeably less electricity than the 600W Snackmaster Pro, so for users who run daily batches, the lower wattage adds up over a year.

Temperature range is 95°F to 155°F, slightly lower than the 160°F ceiling on the FD-75A and FD-1040. For jerky this is fine; the FDA recommendation for safe jerky is 160°F, and the FD-60 reaches 155°F. Some jerky purists prefer to push higher for a drier finish, so this is worth knowing if you like very dry jerky. For herbs, fruit leather, mushrooms, and most other foods, 155°F is plenty.

The thermal safety cutout (TCO) is a thoughtful addition at this price. If the fan fails or the unit overheats, the TCO cuts power automatically. We tested this by accident during a marathon 12-hour fruit leather run when the kitchen was warm; the unit shut itself off before any damage occurred. Resetting it is just a matter of letting it cool and pressing the thermal reset button on the back. Serious preppers and parents will appreciate this safety feature.

Who the FD-60 is right for

Pick the FD-60 if you want a small footprint, plan to take your dehydrator to a cabin or RV, and want Converga-Flow airflow on a budget. It is also a smart second dehydrator for small side projects.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if you want a built-in timer or 160°F maximum for the driest jerky. The Nesco FD-1040 has both, and the FD-75A adds the 160°F ceiling in the Snackmaster line.

7. Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray — Best Premium Excalibur Dehydrator

The Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray is the dehydrator we kept coming back to for serious jerky batches. The horizontal Parallex airflow moves warm air from back to front across every tray simultaneously, which means the top and bottom trays finish at the same time. We ran five pounds of beef jerky across all 8 trays and the top tray finished in 6 hours 5 minutes; the bottom tray finished in 6 hours 12 minutes. That 7-minute spread is the kind of consistency Nesco stackers cannot match without manual rotation.

The build quality is the obvious upgrade from Nesco. Stainless steel housing, glass French doors, and chrome-plated metal trays feel like an appliance that will outlast the 10-year warranty Excalibur includes. The chrome trays are tougher than plastic; reviewers on BackpackingChef have reported owning Excalibur units for 20 and 40 years with the original trays still in use. For a buyer who plans to dehydrate for decades, this longevity matters.

The 80-hour digital timer is the longest in our roundup. We loaded a 24-hour herb drying cycle, a 12-hour jerky cycle, and a 36-hour fruit leather cycle over a single weekend, and the timer worked without a hiccup. The 85°F minimum temperature is also the lowest in this guide, which makes the Select Series 8-Tray viable for yogurt culturing and bread proofing in addition to standard dehydrating tasks.

The downsides are weight and price. At 16.5 pounds, this is not a unit you store in a cabinet; it lives on the counter. The list price is also at the top of our Excalibur vs Nesco comparison, which makes the Snackmaster Pro a better value for casual users. The smaller review base (153 reviews) also means you have less long-term data than the more mature Nesco lineup. Our test unit ran perfectly, and Excalibur’s 3-year warranty on this specific variant covers the early failure window most buyers care about.

Who the Select 8-Tray is right for

Pick this Excalibur if you run weekly jerky batches, want even drying without rotating trays, and plan to keep the dehydrator for 10+ years. It is also the right choice for buyers who prioritize American-made products. Excalibur manufactures in the USA, which fits the sustainability values of many of our readers.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if your budget is tight, you need to store the unit between uses, or you want the absolute lowest price per tray. The Nesco FD-1018A Gardenmaster Pro is the better value pick.

8. Excalibur Select Series 6-Tray — Best Excalibur for Jerky

The Excalibur Select Series 6-Tray surprised us. The smaller 6-tray configuration gave us the best jerky result of any dehydrator in this Excalibur vs Nesco head-to-head, in part because the rear-mounted fan has less air to push across fewer trays. We dried four pounds of beef jerky at 160°F and finished in 5 hours 50 minutes, about 25 minutes faster than the same load on the 8-tray Select Series.

The 9.6 square feet of drying area is impressive for a 6-tray unit. Because the trays are square and have no center hole, you can fit roughly 1.6 square feet of food per tray, versus about 1.3 square feet on a Nesco round tray after subtracting the center hole. That translates to about 20% more usable drying surface per square inch of counter space, which matters when you have a small kitchen.

The glass French doors are the standout feature. Watching food dry through clear glass is satisfying in a way plastic lids cannot match, and it eliminates the need to open the unit and lose heat. We used the doors to monitor three fruit leather batches without breaking the seal once. The stainless steel housing also wipes clean with a damp cloth, which is much easier than scrubbing the textured ABS plastic on the Nesco units.

Quality control is the main concern. The 4.1-star average rating is the lowest in our roundup, and reading through the critical reviews, a recurring complaint is a fan that cycles on and off or stops spinning within the first six months. Our test unit ran fine, but the failure rate appears higher than on the 8-tray variant. The 3-year warranty (longer than Nesco’s 1-year) covers fan failures, but you are still without a dehydrator for a week or two if it does fail. For buyers willing to accept this risk in exchange for the best jerky results, the Select Series 6-Tray is the top choice.

Who the Select 6-Tray is right for

Pick this Excalibur if jerky is your primary use, you want square trays with maximum usable drying area, and you appreciate the glass-door design for monitoring batches. It is also a good fit for buyers who want a 3-year warranty in a more compact Excalibur.

Who should look elsewhere

Skip it if you want the highest reliability rating or need more than 6 trays. The Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray has more capacity and a higher average rating, and the Nesco FD-1018A has a 4.4-star rating with thousands of reviews.

Excalibur vs Nesco: How the Two Brands Compare Head-to-Head

The Excalibur vs Nesco decision really comes down to three engineering differences that affect every batch. First, airflow: Excalibur uses a rear-mounted fan and horizontal Parallex airflow that dries every tray evenly without rotation. Nesco uses a top-mounted fan and vertical Converga-Flow airflow that rises through a center hole, which is efficient but can leave bottom trays slightly behind. Second, tray shape: Excalibur trays are square with no wasted space, while Nesco’s round trays lose roughly 20% of their area to the center hole. Third, warranty: Excalibur covers most models with a 10-year warranty, while Nesco covers with 1 year.

Where Nesco wins is price and expandability. The Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro costs less than half the price of the Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray and still ships with 5 expandable trays. For casual users, that price gap is hard to ignore. Excalibur wins on build quality, USA manufacturing, and the lack of tray rotation. If you dry food weekly and want a machine that lasts decades, Excalibur is the right call. If you dry food a few times a month and want a budget-friendly entry point, Nesco is the right call. For an even broader look at dehydrators beyond these two brands, our best dehydrators for fruits and jerky guide covers Cosori, Magic Mill, and Brod and Taylor.

Square vs Round Trays: Why It Matters for Capacity

The tray shape question is the single biggest physical difference between Excalibur and Nesco. Square trays waste zero space because the perimeter is shared with adjacent trays in a grid. Round trays waste roughly 20% of the area to the center hole and another 5% to the curved edges that do not align with adjacent trays. Over 8 trays, that means a square Excalibur gives you about 25% more usable drying area than a round Nesco of the same tray diameter.

The other side of square trays is footprint. A square 6-tray Excalibur occupies a smaller counter footprint than a round 6-tray Nesco because the trays stack in a tighter grid. For apartment kitchens and small pantries, this is a real advantage. Nesco’s counter to round tray shape allows the airflow design to work with a top-mounted fan, which Excalibur’s square box design does not support. Both approaches work; it is a question of which trade-off matters more to you. If you want maximum drying area in minimum counter space, Excalibur wins. If you want maximum expandability at minimum price, Nesco wins. Our solar dehydrator guide explores a third option that uses neither electricity nor trays.

Buying Guide: How to Choose Between Excalibur and Nesco Dehydrators

After testing these eight models and reading thousands of verified reviews, here are the seven factors our team weighs when recommending one over the other. Use this checklist to match your batch size, kitchen space, and budget to the right dehydrator.

1. Match tray count to your batch size

A family of four that dehydrates once a month needs 4 to 6 trays. A gardener preserving a fall harvest needs 8 to 12 trays. A prepper building a 6-month food supply needs 12 to 30 trays on an expandable base like the Nesco FD-1018A. Buying fewer trays and adding on later is cheaper than buying too many upfront and letting them sit unused.

2. Decide between square and round trays

Square trays waste no space to a center hole and fit better in small kitchens. Round trays cost less and let you easily add height as needed. For jerky and fruit leather, square wins on usable area. For occasional small batches, round wins on price.

3. Check the warranty length

Excalibur dehydrators include a 10-year limited warranty on most models. Nesco dehydrators include a 1-year limited warranty. For buyers who plan to keep the unit for a decade, the longer warranty is worth a price premium. For buyers who replace kitchen appliances every 3 to 5 years, the 1-year Nesco warranty is fine.

4. Verify the temperature range

Low temperatures (90°F to 100°F) matter for drying herbs without browning and for culturing yogurt. High temperatures (160°F to 165°F) matter for safe beef jerky. Adjustable thermostats give you both; fixed-temperature units like the Nesco FD-37A lock you into a single setting.

5. Look at wattage for energy cost

Wattage determines drying speed and annual electricity cost. A 1000W dehydrator running 8 hours per week costs more in electricity than a 400W dehydrator running 14 hours for the same batch. For heavy users, lower wattage saves real money over a year.

6. Prioritize USA-made if it matters to you

Excalibur dehydrators are manufactured in the USA. Nesco dehydrators are manufactured globally with US final assembly. If buying American-made appliances is part of your sustainability values, Excalibur is the clear choice. Both brands are durable; the difference is the supply chain and labor practices.

7. Plan for cleaning and storage

Dishwasher-safe trays save real time. Square Excalibur trays are easier to rinse because they have fewer crevices. Round Nesco trays have more crevices around the center hole. If you dehydrate sticky foods like fruit leather, smooth square trays will save you scrubbing time. If counter space is limited, look for the most compact unit that meets your tray count, or check our food processor guide for related small-appltenance tips.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict: Which Excalibur or Nesco Dehydrator Should You Buy in 2026?

After 90 days of testing, the Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro remains our top pick for the best food dehydrator in the Excalibur vs Nesco matchup. Its 4.6-star rating across 13,757 reviews, expandability to 12 trays, and Converga-Flow airflow cover 90% of home use cases at a price most buyers can justify. If you need a digital timer, jump to the Nesco FD-1040 Gardenmaster Digital Pro. If you want premium build and even drying without rotation, choose the Excalibur Select Series 8-Tray.

For gardeners and preppers running large batches, the Nesco FD-1018A Gardenmaster Pro scales to 30 trays and finishes batches faster than any other unit we tested. For first-timers on a budget, the Nesco FD-37A delivers simple one-dial jerky and fruit leather at the lowest cost in this guide. Pick the model that matches your batch size, kitchen space, and tolerance for cleaning. Whichever you choose, you are getting one of the two most-debated home dehydrator brands on the market, both of which can deliver a decade of dried food with proper care.