REVIEW – I love dried fruits and nuts. When the Paris-Rhône PE-FD001 Food Dehydrator came up for review, I thought it might be a chance to see if homemade really is better. I’ve been testing with various food items and am now ready to report my findings.
What is it?
The Paris-Rhône PE-FD001 Food Dehydrator is an electric food dehydrator with six metal racks, a plastic mesh for finer items, and a tray for fruit leathers
What’s in the box?
- Paris-Rhône PE-FD001 Food Dehydrator
- Wire racks (6)
- Plastic tray for fruit leathers
- Plastic screen for finer foods
Hardware specs
From product website
- 🍓【360-degree circulating air, more uniform and efficient air drying】Using the latest air circulation technology, high-efficiency air circulation path, improving drying efficiency, rear fan, upper air outlet, circulating air evenly passes through all layers of trays, better lock in freshness
- 🍄【Drop-down door with transparent viewing window】Drop-down door Easier to insert and remove trays without getting stuck, View window for easy observation of air drying process
- 🌿【30-degreen Slope LCD screen design】Directly observe and operate without bending over, and the humanized upgrade design for kitchen lovers comes from a French brand-PARIS RHÔNE
- 🌞【Precise Temperature Control and Upgrade Time Setting】temperature ranging from 95ºF to 158ºF, Time setting from 1-72H, The upgraded temperature control, and time range meet the individual needs of kitchen lovers, better to keep the nutrition of the object, Countdown and auto shut off functions are also perfectly integrated into this food dryer
- 🍉【Versatile Accessories】: Food Dehydrator for Jerky Meat Fruit includes 6 stainless steel trays are for regular food like fruits, vegetables, and meat; one mesh sheet for small food such as nuts and herbs; one fruit roll sheet can be used for fruit rollups or for catching falling crumbs
Design and features
The Paris-Rhône PE-FD001 Food Dehydrator is a stainless steel box 12.5″ x 13.25″ x 17.875″ with a glass door on the front. The door opens downward, and is sealed with a magnetic lock. Above the door on a 30º slanted panel are four buttons and a .875″ x 2.5″ LCD display. When plugged in, the panel lights up and displays time and temperature. To the left of the panel, a “+” and “-” button allows you to adjust the parameters. To the right of the panel, the Time/Temp button toggles between the two readings. The fourth button is a start/Stop button.
In the rear of the box is a large, very quiet fan, about 7.5″ in diameter. Behind it are several air intakes cut into the back panel. On the top are vent slits to allow warm, moist air to escape. The vent area is about 3″ x 5″. (You’ll want to keep these two areas unblocked during operation.)
Setup
There is no hardware setup – just wash and dry the grids, put the food in, plug the Paris-Rhône PE-FD001 Food Dehydrator in, and turn it on.
Performance
This is where the hardware enables art, rather than engineering. The time and temperature controls, combined with your preparation, will determine the quality of your results, and, like all things in life, it seems, preparation and planning let to a better product. Experimentation will also improve your product over time.
For instance, on the very first batch I ran (herbs – basil, parsley, and cilantro), I found that cilantro needs to use the fine mesh tray because the leaves dry up to such small bits. Basil and parsley weren’t as bad, but all the herbs do better with the mesh.
While the manual goes over the basics of time and temp for common foods, there are many more nuanced preparation steps to using this tool. (How thick to slice? Do I use vinegar water or ascorbic acid water to prevent apples from turning brown? Should I dip banana slices in honey water?) I really like it (and the results!), and am continuing to experiment with how best to get the results I want. The simplicity of operating the Paris-Rhône PE-FD001 Food Dehydrator encourages experimentation, because there is next to no cleanup, and at such low temperatures, cool-down is almost instantaneous. Drying foods does take time, however.
What I like
- Extremely quiet operation
- Large readout
- Large range of drying times for a wide variety of foods
What I’d change
- There is no on/off switch. The LED and buttons stay lit if it’s plugged in.
- The temperature range has presets that are not logical. I think it’s set to work in full degrees Celsius, but the display is being converted to Fahrenheit.
Final thoughts
Somewhere in our distant past, someone discovered that drying foods quickly in a fairly dry environment would allow them to keep much of their flavor without rotting or being eaten by vermin. As we moved indoors, discovered electricity, and perfected other methods of food preservation, we kept improving what tools we used for this process. Today, food dehydrators preserve everything from spices and nuts to citrus, stone fruits, and veggies.
As with anything in our modern world, there is a wealth of knowledge (as well as misinformation and blatant sales tactics) online about how to use a food dehydrator. I’m only covering the hardware, and through my testing found this: The Paris-Rhône PE-FD001 Food Dehydrator does what it says it will do quietly and without taking up a ton of space or requiring a lot of fussy assembly or cleaning.
Price: $149.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Paris-Rhône.
