COSORI 6-Tray Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator

Settle back for a (very) quick trip through dehydration history. I've been dehydrating food since the 70s, when only kooks did it and the only way you got a dehydrator at all was to build it yourself or dry stuff out in the sun, covered with cheesecloth. So I've learned a few things along the way. (That one lasted for about 35 years, by the way.) When it died, I got an Excalibur that was a sweet little machine despite its larger footprint. It worked, it worked well, and the only weird thing about it was that somebody had stuck the heat control knob on (slightly off center) with a wad of silicone caulk. Still don't know what that was about. But it didn't make the trip with me when I moved back to my home state; I didn't anticipate needing any more dried food (I still have a ton from the Excalibur and even a little from the Nameless Home-made). Fast forward to today, where I'm not going to lecture anyone on what's happening in what used to be this nation. I decided I'd better have a few more dried staples on hand, so wound up getting this machine (the $159 size; the more expensive, larger model may have different features). I've only had it about a week, but it's been going nonstop. The temperatures are accurate and it dries food in about the amount of time its "cheat sheet" lists. It's easy to load and clean, and it has a small enough footprint to fit on my tiny counter. The mesh trays (except for the plastic fruit-leather one) go in the dishwasher no problem. But it does have a few quirks, and one really major flaw (which could be fixed easily, but not by most of us at home). Quirks: --The mesh shelves appear to be almost square, but they aren't. They'll only fit one direction into the slots, and of course that direction is not the one you're oriented to when you have the tray full of food. It's a Rule of Life. --The fruit-leather tray fits in, but very oddly. I don't use fruit leather so that's not going to bother me. Just an FYI. --The instructions for setting temp and time are clear, and once you get the hang of it it's fine; but they are not at all intuitive for me. I'm sure they would be for younger people, but I'm old and wrinkly. Flaw: --Somebody wasn't thinking when they sized the mesh for the shelves. The openings are very close to a half-inch square. That means if you put, say, blueberries on it and they stay on the tray initially, as they shrink while drying they're going to fall through and all wind up, possibly in a state of "we're going to mold just to show you," in a pile on the very bottom. Also, the instructions say to boil them 'til the skins split. I have *never* done this while drying berries and never had any problem. I suspect doing this would cause more goo problems than anything else. I picked up some inexpensive plastic cutting boards and cut them to fit the trays. For some foods, that works better with the plastic underneath (except that mine aren't thick enough to stay flat; they bow in the middle). For others, like the blueberries, they need to go on top so the berries won't fall through the mesh. It's not a perfect solution, but it works OK. This is especially odd since typical widths for slices of anything to be dehydrated are 1/8" to 1/4", with a quarter-inch pushing it. My other dehydrators have had more screen-door-like mesh, which is much easier to work with. I'm not sure whether Design wasn't speaking to Operations that day or what, but it's going to alter my plans a fair bit as to how I'm used to cutting the food. Overall, so far I'm pleased with it, assuming it doesn't give up the motor ghost in a couple of weeks. It's not heavy, but it does feel sturdy; the pieces fit together smoothly; and it does the job. It's just that gigantic mesh hole that makes me give it three stars.