Sunbeam DT5600 (page 3 of 3)

As stated the machine is noisy, how ever after some time it just becomes a hum in the back ground, in the kitchen. Beef Jerky on five trays I found took approx 8 hours, not bad really. Did not notice any significant power increases. Very happy with the final product of jerky.
Excellent Beef jerky, much better than the shops.. cheaper also!
Slightly noisy, but hell, what do you expect for fan forced.

We bought this product thinking it would be good. We bought it for $85 on special. We tried it to see how it works.
It was so noisey that we had to put it in the garage. We put some nectarines tomatoes apples kiwi fruit, for 14 hrs
still not dry. We are concerned about its power consuption. We are getting rid of it
Cheap
Took to long to do what it is surposed to do.

I purchased a new Sunbeam dehydrator and, like other reviewers, found it very noisy. My previous dehydrator was a 25 year old KMart cheap thing (still works but the trays are too buckled for use) that was much quieter. I also found the drying very slow. Drying almonds, for example, took a day on the old dehydrator, but took nearly 2 days with the Sunbeam. I'm writing in past tense because the unit failed after 5 months of normal use. It took 3 months to finally get a refund from Grays, but that's another story. I wrote a review about that too.
good size
Noisy, slow to dry, and, ultimately, unreliable

The sunbeam hydrator has been an essential tool for my many backing trips in the wilderness producing delicious meal for four friends. It dries meals, fruit (so yummy), yoghurt & dips. It's important to have everything light weight when you are walking for days on end but you also want food to be tasty & interesting.
Reliable, efficient, easy to use

I've used mine for beef jerky and dehydrating minced meat and vegetables for tramping.yes it is noisy so I put it out in the garage. It works well there and stops the smell going through the house. I do larger quantities so overnight works well for me. I haven't tried drying fruit yet but will when fruit ripe this year.
Dries meat and vegetables well making them light for back packing.
Noisy

I have used this only for beef jerky and have found it to be very effective. It produces a very nice jerky and dries the beef fairly evenly. It does make a bit of noise though but the results are worth it. Cleaning the trays is difficult with marinade really sticking to the grooves in the tray, even with soaking I can never easily clean the thing! I suspect this will be the case with all dehydrators though.
It works well, lots of space for dehydrating foods, cheap
Noisy, difficult to clean

I love dried fruit & so do my kids but it's hard to find ones without sulfates. So I wanted to make my own. It was cheap to buy but so very noisy. It took ages to dry any thing, & my electricity bill went up quite abit!! Not Happy
Cheap to buy
Uses a fair bit of electricity, Took longer than stated in book to dry the fruit.

I bought it specifically for making beef jerky only and for that it works fabulously and I couldn't be happier. It takes 5 hours and it is perfect ... just like the booklet said it would. The appliance is noisier than one would like, but I'm happy to put up with that for such fabulous beef jerky!!!
If you love beef jerky then this is the machine you simply must have!!!
It is a bit noisy.

From reading the other reviews here I am having the same problem - so disappointing. I am still trying to dry tomato wedges - book says 6 hours, has been drying for more than 12 hours already and not dry yet. I also agree with the others that it is very noisy so is currently in the laundry. I think I would have more success leaving them out in the sun for true sundried tomatoes.
Would love to try some of the fruit snacks but really, is it worth the effort.
I will offer it to other family members to try it out as I know they are interested.

Takes far too long and I have yet to find out what power consumption it is using.

Was given this as a gift earlier this year and I am very disappointed with the results after numerous drying sessions. It's too loud to use in the kitchen and takes twice as long to dry food which I'm makes me concerned about possible bacteria growth? I am now saving to buy a different one.
Inexpensive
Too loud; food takes a lot longer than stated to dry;

my kids love bananas so when i get them cheap i put them in the dehydrator & takes bout 24 hours to get them dry even though in the booklet it says 12hours & i have to keep the dehydrator in the lawndry cos it is very loud but as long as you keep door closed its fine, $95 all it cost for it so i think not a bad buy
did the job, cheap to buy
loud, took twice as long to do the food but thats life ah

I'm new to the whole dehydrating thing, but this product seems to me to do a pretty good job. It does take longer than I'd anticipated, but the results are good. I've dried loads of vegetables and am using them for soups. Also made some pretty delicious beetroot chips. Doesn't get them really crispy, but they taste great.
inexpensive, does what it is supposed to do
takes a long time, a little noisy

Does not dry tomatoes in under 20 hours if you follow the instruction booklet. Second attempt I cut them very thin and took about 12 hours. It needs a thermostat display.

Instruction booklet is useless

I purchased this with the idea to dry lots of fruit for snacks. As soon as I turned it on, I realised it could not stay on the kitchen bench, it was so loud. I had to put it in the garage, which was not ideal.
The fruit took a lot longer than stated to dry. The results for orange slices & mango slices was very nice, but I thought not worth the effort. It got little use after this. If someone wants to seriously go into dehydrating food, they are better off getting a more expensive machine.
Fruit slices were nice when eventually done
Noisy, slow, not what I expected

I love my dehydrator. It is a bit noisy so we use it in the laundry but so far i've made lots of dog treats and crackers as well as dried fruit and roll ups. Bought extra trays to be able to make extra roll ups at once. Lots of recipes on the internet.
Inexpensive.
Bit noisy.

I decided to purchase a food dehydrator to save myself some $$$ that I was spending on dried chicken treats for my cats. The food dehydrator works well and comes supplied with 5 drying racks. It does take many hours to dehydrate the food though. Useful for either fruits, meats or flowers.
Inexpensive
The humming can get a bit noisy so I placed it in my laundry and closed the door. A big drawback is that there is no timer function - just an on/off switch. As it is you have to remember how long you have set the machine for and check when to turn it off.

Had high hopes and plans for this product but it really failed to impress. Tried drying tomatoes and had similar results to other reviewers. The product is very loud when turned on and considering how long you have to have it turned on for, not worth the money or effort.
It was on sale when I bought it.
LOUD, takes forever to dehydrate foods

Tried drying tomatoes. Followed instructions in booklet but after approx 20hrs still only partly dried. Took item back and had it replaced. Followed instructions again only to find it was no different from the first one. Conclusion was that the product did not perform as stated in booklet. Very disappointed in product. Hate to see how much electricity it used during the time it was in operation.

Does not do what claims to do.