does anyone know if my RONCO food dehydrator will last if i run it straight from now till rollover? i've been crankin out (if you call crankin a batch every day or 2) apples and jerky and cant quit!!!

-- thekid (frorider76@hotmail.com), December 01, 1999

Answers

Why not? It just blows warm air. If it burns up, get a new one.

-- cheftrd (cheftrd@cheftrd.com), December 01, 1999.

I had a Ronco dehydrator and after I used it once it ended up in the garbage can! It is the biggest piece of junk I ever bought off an Infomercial. Never again will I buy anything from the TV!!! It has no fan, so it dehydrates very uneven. Some gets half done and some gets burned to a crisp. They tell you to rotate the trays, and when you do, it still burns the food!!!

Now I'm the proud owner of a American Harvester Snackmaster. It does a superb job of dehydrating. It only costs about half the price of that dammed Ronco I wasted my money on, and I never have to rotate the trays!!!

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), December 01, 1999.

I had one of the Ronco dehydrators, until I gave it to a friend in Colorado (didn't want to carry it along when I moved). It worked well enough for me, but you DO have to rotate the trays and the like. Since it's basically nothing but a heating element in a convection chamber, running it from now until whenever shouldn't be any problem (no fans = less to break).

Keep in mind that "Ronco" is one of the names in the so-called "Echelon" list (link here ). Good thing you didn't mention making "squirrel jerky" or you'd REALLY be in trouble (The Squirrel King knows).

-- The Whistler (I'm Here, I'm There, I'm Everywhere@so.beware), December 02, 1999.

Freddie,
Roger on the American Harvester Snackmaster...a great little device, huh? Well designed, evenly distributed airflow, stackable to 8 trays...I've been using one for the last year and I love it!!

-- Jay Urban (Jayho99@aol.com), December 02, 1999.

The excalibur is terrific and designed to run 24 hours a day. Does a nice job because of the thermostat. Their cheapest model needs to be plugged in by hand but can be put on a timer and at 200watts doesn't use much current. Meat, fruit, vegetables are all done easily. Sealed in a jar with a good lid they will last for years. Vit C or Fruit Fresh to make a dip will leave fruit light colored for more than a year. Charlie

-- Charlie (cstewart@ime.net), December 02, 1999.