We Tested 22 Food Dehydrators—These 6 Are the Best for Healthy Homemade Snacks

Our Top Pick

Magic Mill Commercial Food Dehydrator

$160 $72 at Amazon

We gave the Magic Mill Food Dehydrator perfect scores across all categories, including design, performance, noise, ease of use, and cleaning. Everything about our top pick was designed with the user in mind. The front door is easy to open and stays open when you need to access the trays, which are also easy to slide in and out. We also love that the doors are see-through so that you can see the progress of your food inside.

Thanks to its rear-mounted fan, the machine dries food evenly regardless of which of the dehydrator's seven trays it is on. And even with its superior airflow, it operated quietly during our tests. The soft-touch digital interface makes it a cinch to set the time and temperature, or you can set it on "Fast" mode or "Raw" mode and let the dehydrator do the work. During our tests, the temperature stayed consistent throughout the drying time.

Cookbook author and Allrecipes Allstar Aimee Broussard also tested the Magic Mill, giving it high praise for its user-friendliness, quiet operation, and quality results. "The jerky rivaled that of store-bought jerky with minimal effort," she says. "I also like that this machine automatically transitions to warm mode when the cooking time has expired."

If a top-performing machine wasn't enough at this price point, the Magic Mill also comes with mesh trays for herbs and nonstick trays for fruit leather, in addition to the seven dishwasher-safe racks.

The Details: 15 x 13.5 x 19 inches; 15.7 pounds; ranges from 95 to 165 °F; 600 watts

Runner-Up

Cosori Stainless Steel Dehydrator

$160 at Amazon View on Cosori.com

The Cosori Food Dehydrator ranked right up there with the winning machine, earning a 4.9/5 rating from our tests. We loved its even drying, quiet operation, and user-friendly design. The compact, medium-capacity machine doesn't take up too much space on a countertop, and temperature and time controls are digital and easy to use. The door opens and closes nicely from the side and will even stay open as you move trays in and out of the machine.

This dehydrator includes six stainless steel trays that make the most of the space, and they're dishwasher safe for a quick and easy cleanup. It's slightly more compact than Magic Mill's model, so it's a nice fit for smaller kitchens. Plus, it comes with a cookbook to help beginners get started. The only downside: At 23 pounds, it's one of the heaviest on our list, which may limit your options in terms of where to store it.

The Details: 17.8 x 13 x 12 inches; 23 pounds; ranges from 95 to 155 °F; 600 watts

Best Budget

Elite Gourmet Food Dehydrator

$40 at Amazon $40 at QVC View on Shopelitegourmet.com

This round five-tray dehydrator from Elite Gourmet goes for less than $50 but still packs a powerful drying punch. It may have a small footprint, but the capacity felt more substantial than some of the other small models during our tests.

The plastic trays and unique stacking design allow you to watch your food dry from all angles, which you may need to do considering it doesn't have a timer and the knob temperature control only allows you to set a range instead of a precise temperature. But since it is under 5 pounds, it's incredibly easy to pull down from a high shelf in your kitchen or pantry (if that's the only free space you have) when you want to use it.

The Details: 12 x 12 x 9 inches; 4.25 pounds; ranges from 95 to 158 °F; 350 watts

Quickest Results

Nesco Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator

$160 $89 at Amazon $148 $102 at Walmart $110 at Wayfair

Of all the dehydrators we tested, this Nesco model was the speediest to come to temperature (it reached 145 degrees in just five minutes!) and took under four hours to make fruit leather. It comes with four trays, but if you want to dry large batches, you can buy more trays and use up to 20 at once. Because of its outstanding performance and customizable design, it earned perfect ratings for both categories in our tests.

This dehydrator doesn't have a window to view the progress of your food, a fact that Aimee didn't love. "Having to remove the lid in order to monitor doneness each time was not ideal... Because the lid has to be removed each time to check, I feel like it allows the jerky to lose some of the temperature each time." That said, Aimee did praise the Gardenmaster's ease of use.

In order to cut down on the amount of times you remove the lid, you can use the digital time and temperature control to still get accurate results. Another thing to note is that it can get pretty noisy while operating, so you won't want to use this machine when guests are over.

The Details: 15.5 x 15.5 x 9.5 inches; 8.95 pounds; ranges from 90 to 160 °F; 1,000 watts

Easiest to Store

Brod & Taylor Folding Food Dehydrator

$395 $295 at Amazon View on Brodandtaylor.com

Worried about where you will store your dehydrator? The Sahara machine may be the answer. When not in use, it folds down to less than 4 inches tall and comes with a zippered carrying case. We love its storage-friendly design and simple, utilitarian look—but keep in mind that it requires quite a bit of counter space while in use since it's wider than other models. All in all, we gave it a perfect score for its design.

This dehydrator has seven large racks and 11 square feet of drying space, making it one of the biggest options on our list. However, if you're drying lots of food in one batch, you may need to keep an eye on it over the hours. During our tests, we did note that the temperature didn't stay super consistent, and the food on one side of the machine dried faster than the other.

The Details: 22 x 14.40 x 11 inches; 25.2 pounds; ranges from 86 to 165 °F; 750 watts

Most Attractive

Tribest Digital Food Dehydrator

$550 at Amazon $450 at Wayfair $550 at Home Depot

Food dehydrators aren't always known for their looks, but this one from Tribest won us over with its sleek appearance. It was one of the most aesthetically pleasing we tested, with a clean, simple design and large capacity that wasn't too bulky. We could even see ourselves leaving it out on the counter while not in use.

Aside from its appearance, this machine offers nearly 10 square feet of drying space with 11 stainless steel racks that you can fill with a wide variety of foods. During testing, we loved how quiet it was, noting that the noise just fades into the background as it runs. We also appreciated how quickly and evenly it dried herbs and fruit, producing fruit leather that came off easily and in one piece.

"I liked that this dehydrator has the clear-view glass front," says Aimee. It allows users to monitor the progress inside without constantly opening up a lid or door and wasting precious heat. Plus, it adds a bit of aesthetic flair.

The Details: 17.5 x 14 x 12 inches; 21 pounds; 77 to 167 °F; 470 watts