Below is a review and comparison of The Sausage Maker 5 Tray Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator and the Weston Prago Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator product lines.
The Sausage Maker has been making food dehydrators and other meat processing equipment for over 30 years and believe that they are one of the top suppliers and manufacturers in the market. The Weston Food Dehydrators are a fairly new dehydrator product line. The The Sausage Maker 5 Tray Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator and the Weston Prago Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator product lines carry several similar product characteristics including:
- Square/rectangular design versus circular tray design. This allows the Sausage Maker’s and the Weston Prago dehydrator’s fan and heating element to be placed in the rear of the food dehydrator unit versus top or bottom mounted fans that are on circular units.
- Horizontal airflow – Horizontal airflow drying systems are designed to: a) draw cool air into the rear of the dehydrator unit, b) heat the formerly cool air and then evenly distribute the warm air across each tray within the dehydrator, and c) use the warm air to draw out and remove moisture from the food on the dehydrator’s trays and then use the dehydrator’s fan to push moist, warm air out the front of the drying unit.
The main differences between the The Sausage Maker 5 Tray Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator and the Weston Prago Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator are as follows:
- The Weston Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator has 10 drying trays versus 5 for The Sausage Maker which almost doubles the square feet of drying space in the Weston Prago Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator
- The Weston Prago Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator has a 10 hour timer..
- The Weston Prago Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator costs about $50 less than the Sausage Maker 5 Tray Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator
- The Weston Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator has a 1,000 watt fan and heater versus the 800 watts on the Sausage Maker
The Weston Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator is $50 less in price, has about twice the drying area and has a timer. For the money, the Weston Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator offers attractive product features in a heavy duty stainless steel dehydrator body.
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The Sausage Maker Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator |
Weston Prago Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator |
| Size inches LxWxH |
18.75 x 16.50 x 9.0 |
16.0 x 17.0 x 20.0 |
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| Weight lbs. |
33.0 |
36.1 |
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| Air Flow |
Horizontal airflow |
Horizontal airflow |
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| Adjustable Thermostat |
Yes |
Yes |
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| Thermostat Range |
90–150°F |
84–155°F |
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| Timer |
No |
Yes |
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| Watts |
800 |
1,000 |
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| Tray Size inches |
16.25 x 12.5 |
16.25 x 13.75 |
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| Number of Trays, not expandable |
5 |
10 |
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| Drying Area |
8 sq ft |
15.5 sq ft |
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| Price |
About $290 |
About $220–$240 |
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| Price per Sq. Ft. of Drying Area |
About $36.18 |
About $16.45 |
Published 10/13/2009 12:00:00 AM
Tags: Sausage Maker, Weston, Horizontal Air Flow Food Dehydrators