Father's Day Gift Ideas {For the Kitchen} - Nesco Snackmaster Dehydrator & Jerky Maker Review

*Make sure to check the blog on Father's Day for a chance to win a Nesco Snackmaster & Jerky Gun Set for Dad!

This is the first installment of the "Father's Day Gift Ideas {For The Kitchen}" We will be featuring some great gift ideas for the Dad that loves fun food-related gadgets. First up is the Nesco FD-80 Snackmaster® Square Dehydrator & Jerky Maker. 

In order to properly test out how "man-friendly" this dehydrator is, I had my husband give me a hand in the kitchen. What better way to see if Dads would love this gift than to have a Dad test it? On top of the dehydrator, we also got to try out the awesome Jerky Gun! I had never used a jerky gun before but i'm completely hooked now! One thing I really love about the Snackmaster Dehydrator is that it comes with an adjustable thermostat! That way you can adjust your drying heat depending on what it is you're drying! That just makes sense to me. A lot of other dehydrators just use one setting and that just doesn't cut it for me.  

The Snackmaster Dehydrator is also unique in that it is one of the only dehydrators I've ever seen that isn't round! I absolutely love the square shape! It definitely seems roomier than other dehydrators and seems to hold more meat!

This is the first step in making homemade beef jerky! We used a pound of very lean ground beef and added the cure & seasoning packet that comes with the dehydrator. If you aren't using the jerky gun you can also use very thin strips of steak to make your jerky!

Next, we rolled the meat mixture into a log so that it would easily fit in the jerky gun! This eliminated a lot of mess and kept us from getting raw meat all over the place.

The loaded jerky gun! Isn't it awesome? I think it's awesome.

This is the fun part! The jerky gun comes with 3 different tips. We decided to go with the one that gives you two thin strips at once. There's also a round tip to give you a more "tube-like" jerky and a tip to give you bigger hunks of jerky. Once you have your gun all loaded, you just place it over one of the 4 dehydrator racks, squeeze, and pull the gun back to create a nice, long piece of jerky.

We probably could have been a little more efficient in our jerky placement, but it was our first time!

The Snackmaster has the fan on the top (in the lid) rather than at the bottom, like many other dehydrators. That's supposed to help the air circulate better and dry your meat quicker! Our jerky took about 6 hours to dry. The racks are also really easy to clean as long as you do it right after you've finished drying your meat! We washed ours with some soapy water and it took less than 5 minutes! Score! 

Our finished jerky was so delicious and so much cheaper to make it than to purchase it in the store! Nesco also offers a bunch of different kinds of seasoning mixes or you can make your own! My husband has promised to make jerky multiple times a month and I know he's telling the truth!

The great thing about a dehydrator is that you can use it for so many other things! It can dry your herbs, veggies and your fruits, too! My husband is completely in love with it and I know any Father would love to receive this Snackmaster Dehydrator for Father's Day! What man wouldn't love to make his own delicious jerky for a fraction of the cost?  Plus, when he's not busy making jerky you can use it to dry your fresh herbs and veggies! So, really it's a gift for yourself as well!

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Make sure to check the blog on: 

June 16, 2013 {Father's Day!} 

for a chance to win a

Nesco Snackmaster Dehydrator & Jerky Gun Set for Dad!

 

If you would like to purchase a Nesco FD-80 Snackmaster® Square Dehydrator & Jerky Maker  to make delicious homemade beef jerky you can do so here:

Nesco - Amazon 

To Purchase the Jerky Gun Set you can click here:

Jumbo Jerky Kit with Jerky Seasonings and Cure

Check out Nesco's Website to find out more about the Nesco Snackmaster and other Nesco products:

www.nesco.com

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Disclosure: I received a free product from Nesco for review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.