I have the round Nesco American Harvest Snackmaster Pro Dehydrator - fan on the top. My first one lasted 20+ years (used at least once a week, and non-stop during garden and apple season), so when I needed to replace it not long ago, I got another one just like it so all the extras (trays, Clean-A-Screen Sheets, Fruit Roll Sheets) I purchased over the years could still be used with the new one. The link below has some good general guidelines for choosing a dehydrator. When I teach classes on the subject, the majority of the people attending also have a Nesco. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: National Center For Home Food Preservation - Dehydrator

cynic, as an aside to the roaster discussion, I use a big green unbreakable Stanley Thermos. It's not pretty, but I got mine because all th farmers and construction workers I know used them. Mine will keep a pot of hot chocolate steaming hot for several hours while the kids go tobogganing, so we're talking outside in a Michigan winter and usually stuck right into the snow. I used them a lot for camping, I could make coffee at breakfast, put it into the Stanley and it would still be drinkable at supper. Oh, and I've put ice water in it or iced tea when spending a few hours out in the hay field and it keeps ice in the liquid for a couple of hours too. I can definitely recommend them, although my oldest one is over 20 years old, so I'm hoping they haven't "improved" them. Annie

I'm the polar opposite of Grainlady. I don't particularly care for kitchen gadgets (although Elery does) and seldom use them, opting for basic knives, pots, etc. I LOVE my Nesco, though. I have the 6 quart and the 18 quart and I use both of them regularly. I don't have a toaster oven, a counter top convection oven, etc., although Elery does have a countertop rotisserie oven. Of course he does. (grin) The 6 quart does a wonderful roast chicken, and I use it in place of a crockpot. I can cook outside in it when it's hot and the kitchen is steamy, which was an issue in my old house, although for the first time ever I'm living in a house with air conditioning, so it might not be an issue this year. I've cooked in the garage, I did lamb on the back porch so I could avoid the smell, and I've dragged it to my daughters' houses when they were short on space. I use it for additional cooking/oven space on holidays, although now I have double ovens, so I might not have to do that either. The big one I use to simmer large batches of stock for canning or freezing, to make the baked beans or au gratin potatoes for family parties (we have a lot of those, we like to get together, what can I say), I've used it to bake brownies when my oven was on the fritz and I can take it with me and just plug it in and not take up kitchen space when we're at one of the girls' houses. We took it with us when we did Christmas with Elery's family too, so we didn't mess up the oven/stove assignments at his son's house. So I'd say yes you need one, although I would encourage you to borrow one for this particular gathering and see how you like it. You very well might decide that you need one after all. Annie

Hi Annie, I too would get browned skin without it but boy does the fan crisp it up quick and picture perfect. So many people seem more concerned with looks over taste it seems. I use it to crisp up most anything. Ribs, roasts, even chops. If I want it good and brown (which occasionally I do) then turn on the fan and let it go. Keep in mind it will evaporate a lot of the juices. So I often cook it first, suck the juices out that I want to keep and then turn on the fan for a while. You likely would not use the fan during the whole cooking process. Other things to use it for? I use mine to make burgers and convection makes them look like they're off a grill and helps the taste IMO. Baking certain things.It's a convection oven then. Much is subjective. Personally for things like brownies I think it's fine, maybe better without? I never think to try it when I make biscuits or rolls in there but should try. Not sure if the convection would work like some claim to make things rise higher. You probably would minimize or eliminate the need to rotate pans if you put in layers and side by side pans in a larger unit. One of the problems with a roaster oven is the occasional issue of the edges of the food or pans next to the side of the unit will cook faster or overcook, and the fan would minimize to eliminate that issue. Virginia Olson of Nesco used to recommend a sacrifice noodle be placed against the cookwell to absorb and even it out when you make lasagna in the cookwell. I never did it and never had a problem but then, I like a bit of the crunchy noodles in lasagna and pasta anyway so if it happened, it wouldn't bother me. Before I bought the Roast-Air adapter kit I used to just cock the lid to let out some of the excess moisture. Things brown more in dry heat. Electric roasters, slow cookers and pressure cookers for example are more moist heat environments while a conventional oven is a dry heat environment. That's why things will stay more moist in a roaster than a conventional oven. Here's a link to a convection roaster manual that might give some other ideas. People make a big mistake by assuming. Roasters are a different appliance and they operate a little differently. There's a bit of a learning curve to maximize the benefit. It's not difficult to learn and learning is also tasty. I often tell people that although it's an oven and for the most part think of it as an oven, but sometimes you need to think of it as a slow cooker the way a slow cooker oughta be. Maggie2094, that's a good looking (and may I say NON FLABBY) bird! :) You bring up a good point I often forget. They're lightweight and easy to move around. My mother's was heavier but then it had an insulated lid and I think had insulation around the sides too but that was an OLD roaster.