Best Dehydrators for Food Security and Storage

While shopping for holiday gifts this year think about giving gifts that will keep on giving year after year! Things like food storage, emergency preparedness, and things that promote learning life skills. Here’s my 2020 gift guide for the best dehydrators for food security and storage.

I think if we take away anything from 2020, it will be that it’s a good idea to prepare for the unexpected. Living in Florida for the majority of my life, I’ve learned to keep a stockpile of non perishables in my home for our dreaded hurricane season.

But what if that isn’t enough?

What I realized this year like so many others was that when EVERYONE has the same ideas and needs all at once, you need to be one step ahead of the game. So when the store shelves became bare of canned goods and long term shelf stable food…

It was eye opening, but I didn’t panic.

I bought as many fresh foods as I needed, went home and ordered myself a larger food dehydrator.

And it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for our family.

I bought myself an Excalibur 9 Tray which was an upgrade from my little Presto. You can see me using it above dehydrating some things I bought on sale for Thanksgiving. Using a dehydrator is a great way to make your own spice blends, soup starters, and brine seasoning like I do for our turkey.

While I liked the Presto dehydrator I had for drying herbs, it took quite a while to dehydrate anything else. But quite honestly, at the time all I was using it for was just herbs and not planning for long term food security so it didn’t really matter.

These are just some things I pulled out of my pantry to show you…

I really love the Excalibur for so many things. We have even made beef jerky and dog treats using it.

Excalibur does have a 4 Tray model too that is fantastic. It’s a little less expensive but it won’t hold as much. That’s something to consider.

COSORI is about the same price as the Excalibur 4 tray and has great reviews, so if you’re looking for more of a midway level dehydrator for food security, than this one might be for you.

But if you or someone you know is just starting out and you don’t want to commit to a large, more expensive dehydrator than a Nesco or the Presto (one I had) will be a great starting off point.