Excalibur 3926TB Review
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
This Product Excalibur 3926TB | |||||
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Awards | Best Full-Size Dehydrator | Best Mid-Size Food Dehydrator | Best for Storage Space | ||
Price | $370 List $299.95 at Amazon | $190 List | $395 List $395.00 at Amazon | $110 List $94.99 at Amazon | $70 List $69.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score | |||||
Star Rating | |||||
Bottom Line | The best bet for production scale home dehydration with uniform outcomes | The unit's digital interface, transparent door, and metal trays make it a go-to for most home kitchens | 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 |
Rating Categories | Excalibur 3926TB | Magic Mill Food Deh... | Brod & Taylor Sahar... | Presto 06301 Dehydro | Hamilton Beach 32100A |
Dehydrating (25%) | |||||
Temperature Accuracy (25%) | |||||
Ease of Cleaning (25%) | |||||
Ease of Use (25%) | |||||
Specs | Excalibur 3926TB | Magic Mill Food Deh... | Brod & Taylor Sahar... | Presto 06301 Dehydro | Hamilton Beach 32100A |
Tray Dimensions | 15" x 15" | 13" x 12" | 21" x 31" | 15" diameter | 10.5" x 13" |
Number of Trays | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Temperature Range | 105-165 F | 95-165 F | 86-165 F | 90-165 F | 100-160 F |
Tray Material | Plastic | Stainless steel | Stainless steel | Plastic | Plastic |
Power Consumption | 440W | 480W | 750W | 750W | 500W |
Capacity | 15 sq ft | 7.6 sq ft | 15 sq ft | 3.25 sq ft | 3.75 sq ft |
Outside Dimensions | 19" x 17" x 12.5" | 18" x 14" x 13" | 12.5" x 22" x 3.5" | 14.5" x 15" x 7.25" | 10.5" x 13" x 11" |
Our Analysis and Test Results
Performance Comparison
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.
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.
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.
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.