"C. Loon" wrote:

>
> 1. I notice that the pricier online American Harvest Snackmaster models
> (http://www.nesco.com/Products/snackm2.html) offer temperature control. To
> you all who have dehydrators with thermostats, what advantages does that
> give you?
> Is it worth it?

I have an American Harvest which I am very happy with.  I dry herbs at the low
temperature, fruits at the medium, jerky at the highest.  I've used it 4-5
years now.

>
>
> 2. I imagine marinated jerky is fairly drippy. Do the drippings make the
> trays hard to clean? Do they drip through the trays and damage the heating
> element, as is claimed on the Excalibur Dehydrator website?
> (http://www.kctc.net/life/exfacts.htm)

The American Harvest has flexible solid trays available that you can put inside
the regular slotted trays.  These are perfect for making fruit leather (just
put 2 cups of applesauce or pureed fruit per tray). I also use them for jerky,
which keeps the meat juices from getting all over.  With this model, I can't
imagine how the juices would
get into the heating element, even if you used the slotted trays, unless you
really had a flood.

Lynnet