REASONS TO BUY
Massive capacity
Quick clean-up trays
Uniform food results
REASONS TO AVOID
Difficult to clean interior
No viewing window
Expensive
Excalibur 3926TB Review
This is our preferred option if you're after high-volume dehydration and professional results
Credit: Amazon.com
RELATED: Best Food Dehydrators
Our Verdict
We found the Excalibur 3926TB to be the best food dehydrator in the class. While it is one of the more expensive machines in our review, the steep price is matched by the vast amount of tray space. This model might not be for everyone as it leans towards production food processing as opposed to compact storage. However, if you have the space available and want high-performance across-the-board, this is the model for you.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Excalibur 3926TB | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  |  | |||
| Price | $370 List $219.29 at Amazon | $395 List $395.00 at Amazon | $110 List $97.95 at Amazon | $80 List $60.99 at Amazon | $60 List $44.21 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | The best bet for production scale home dehydration with uniform outcomes | Fantastic adjustability with an innovative folding design | A quality dehydrator for the space conscious consumer | This unique dehydrator has ample tray space in a rectangular, stackable format; it also has simple controls and is easy to clean | A simple machine that has two settings, is easy to clean, and is very inexpensive |
| Rating Categories | Excalibur 3926TB | Brod & Taylor Sahar... | Presto 06301 Dehydro | Hamilton Beach 32100A | Nutrichef PKFD12 |
| Dehydrating (25%) | |||||
| Temperature Accuracy (25%) | |||||
| Ease of Cleaning (25%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (25%) | |||||
| Specs | Excalibur 3926TB | Brod & Taylor Sahar... | Presto 06301 Dehydro | Hamilton Beach 32100A | Nutrichef PKFD12 |
| Outside Dimensions | 19" x 17" x 12.5" | 12.5" x 22" x 3.5" | 14.5" x 15" x 7.25" | 10.5" x 13" x 11" | 12" x 7.5" x 13" |
| Capacity | 15 sq ft | 15 sq ft | 3.25 sq ft | 3.75 sq ft | 3.25 sq ft |
| Tray Dimensions | 15" x 15" | 21" x 31" | 15" diameter | 10.5" x 13" | 12" diameter |
| Number of Trays | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Tray Material | Plastic | Stainless steel | Plastic | Plastic | Plastic |
| Power Consumption | 440W | 750W | 750W | 500W | 250W |
| Temperature Range | 105-165 F | 86-165 F | 90-165 F | 100-160 F | Max 180 F |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
Performance Comparison
Large and in charge, this model has tray space to share.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Quality and Consistency
The most important aspect of a dehydrator's performance is how the food coming out of it tastes and feels. While the dehydration process is simple enough to understand, it can be easy to mess up. The 3926TB produces uniformly delectable results in terms of texture, evenness, and flavor with beef jerky, vegetables, and fruit.
The lack of a transparent door means an extra step when checking the progress of the food.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Easy to Use and Accurate
The main contributors to quality outcomes with a dehydrator are timing and consistent internal temperature. When a product is designed to allow these elements to be controlled by the user it can help a great deal. The 3926TD has a pair of knobs to manage time and temperature. The problem is that the temperature knob is marked off in temperature ranges, making precision temperature settings difficult to attain. This is a likely cause of the temperature deviations we observed in our test.
Tray liners make food removal and unit cleaning quite a bit easier.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Clean-Up
Our testing has revealed that, with few exceptions, dehydrators are a bit of a pain to clean up. There are two parts to this process. First, there are the trays. Next is the interior and in particular the floor of the machine where all the drippings accumulate. The Excalibur has easy-to-clean trays thanks to its removable, non-stick mesh tray liners. The interior of the machine is another story. The plastic of this model has a rough texture, and as such it adds some difficulty to the wipe-down process. However, we've seen much worse, and it's nothing a little elbow grease can't overcome.
Value
The 3926TD is a very expensive dehydrator. However, this hefty price tag is congruent with the size and performance of the product. As such, we think this model is well worth the money assuming that you actually need the tray space.
Old school knobs make it a bit harder to attain accurate temperature settings.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Conclusion
The Excalibur delivers consistent, high-quality performance in our side-by-side tests. That is not to say that there are no other machines that delivered similar results, but none that boasts the capacity of this machine. It's a large, expensive production dehydrator designed for serious cooks. If you're looking to make dehydration a regular part of your life, this is the model for you.
—
Nick Miley and Michelle Powell
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