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A friend has asked advice on buying a food dehydrator and I’ve been loving ours so offered to share some words and thought they may be of interest to others here.

If you’re considering buying a dehydrator, here’s a few things to think about (based solely on my experience):

• The first question I ask of anything that enters my kitchen these days is “How easy are you to clean?”  If the trays arent removable and/ or replaceable, be warned.
• The second question I ask of new additions to the kitchen is, “Where shalt thou sleep?”  We have done a lot of dehydrating – but our dehydrator has spent the majority of its stay with us in our only closet.
• Price a good mandolin as part of the purchase.  My knife skills are very confident but I am not a chef.  The mandolin makes lighting speed of precisely measured product for your trays.  Identically cut product will save you hours of processing time.  Most of our cuts are 2-3 mm wide (about 1/10th of an inch).  A 2mm piece will dry 33%-50% faster than a 3mm piece even though it’s only 1/25th of an inch wider.  Our mandolin was about 1/3rd the price of our dehydrator (you can buy later, just know it is a wise choice).
• Buy as big as you can afford or store.  To understand why, cut an apple into thin slices and spread on to a cookie sheet.  You’ll have a problem fitting one medium apple on an entire sheet.
• Buy a good peeler.  We love our $6 Zena Star Peeler (I actually own 4)
• Consider a spice grinder – you may want one for things like beet powder
• Trays which feature replaceable sheets are handy and can be cheaper to maintain.
• Now on to something controversial and biased: buy square.  Many circular dehydrators have a doughnut hole up the center to encourage air circulation.  This drastically reduces your surface area for product.  Our square unit has a massive fan and the trays are practically made of air which allows great circulation.
• Look on Craigslist, eBay and the like.  Many get tired of their dehydrators fast – you will find that if you buy a good unit you can also sell it near what you paid for it.
• Buy a house with a garage (still working on this one).  A dehydrator produces heat – they are not very insulated (in fact they want excess heat to escape) and can heat your house in the winter.  To conserve power, buy a mandolin.  Summer time (and hot pepper) dehydrating would be great if done in a garage.
• Know that it is a bit more involved than slicing and dumping in the dehydrator.  Not a lot more but there is a bit more process than I figured there was (like cranberries)
• (EDIT May 24, 2011) Our unit has an on-off switch.  A lot of people on our Facebook page lament that their units do not. 
• (EDIT May 24, 2011) Variable heat.  A lot of units have one temperature setting which is good for most things but may be too hot for gentle herbs and/or too cool to do things like jerky without finishing or starting in the oven.  Variable heat generally raises the cost of a unit but if you can afford it, it’s a fantastic luxury (and something that I would list as a near requirement if you intend to significantly dry enough goods to make a dent in your pantry or winter eating).
• (EDIT Sept 19, 2011) The location of the fan apparently makes a massive difference.  Our fan is side-mounted and a lot of reading has let me to beleive this is a HUGE benefit if you plan on dehydrating multiple things are the same time (which we do all the time).  A top or bottom fan can resist in taste-leeching meaning that flavors of different products in the drier will mingle.  I’ve never had a problem with this and have drawn the concolusion that this is a big part of the reason.
• (EDIT Sept 19, 2011) A timer is a luxury that many people swear by.  It allows you to time the drier to turn off in the middle of the night (or middle of the day) so that you don’t risk over-drying.  I have lived without it and can see the benefits but it’s not make or break to me (you can also buy power bars with a timer built in to ‘add one’ to your drier).
• (EDIT Sept 19, 2011)  Consider the benefits and costs of a stainless stee version.  They are heavier and more expensive but resolve the fear many have with plastic, heat and food.  It’s a personal decision.  If you decide to go for metal, note that they can be much more difficult to find (a trend that I beleive will change in coming years).