BioChef Arizona Sol nine-tray dehydrator review

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How easy is the BioChef Arizona Sol to use?

The digital display is clear and well labelled, and the control buttons are very responsive. Classically designed, there are just two controls: one is a timer and the other adjusts the temperature. Like other BioChef models, the temperature ranges from 35-70C and goes up in five degree increments. The timer can only be set for 19.5 hours, which proved an issue when we dried basil.

We’d like to have seen a little more information in the manual. Although detailed when explaining the pre-treatment of foods and the technicalities behind dehydrating, we’d have appreciated more specific information about what size to cut ingredients and how long to dehydrate them for.

On the plus side, the stainless-steel trays are all dishwasher safe and the plastic inserts are all non-stick, so need nothing more than a quick wipe to clean.

Results

Despite needing more information from the manual, we were able to produce some fantastic results using the Arizona Sol dehydrator, which is testament to how good a piece of kit this is. We cut our fruits (apples and lemons) 0.6mm thick and set them to dehydrate at 65C. Our apples were pliable with a slight snap around the edges and lemons had a glassy interior and had kept their vibrant yellow hue. Apples and lemons were quick to dry, taking seven and nine hours respectively.

Mushrooms were the quickest to dry out, taking just five hours. They were spongey with a leathery appearance. Tomatoes were intense in flavour and colour, these dried faster than the 10-14 hours suggested: they were fully dehydrated in just eight hours.

We hit a slight roadblock when dehydrating herbs – specifically basil. As we’ve found with all of the other dehydrators we’ve tested, herbs take almost a day to dry. The timer on this model runs for up to 19.5 hours, which meant we had to turn the dehydrator on again to continue the drying process. It’s a minor gripe, but to be able to switch a dehydrator on and leave it to do its thing is an understated convenience.

A flat plastic tray is provided for drying fruit leather. Again, there is no information in the manual about drying times of temperature, so we set the Arizona Sol to 45C and checked on the fruit leather periodically. It took 10 hours to dehydrate and we found the leather was evenly dried and tender with an intense blackberry and apple flavour.

Conclusion

This large dehydrator consistently produced professional results. It’s simple to use and comes with a wealth of accessories, allowing you to get the most out of your dehydrator. It’s better suited to someone who knows what they’re doing when it comes to dehydrating as the manual doesn’t go into much detail about the nitty gritty.

It has a large footprint so will either need a dedicated spot on the kitchen counter or space to put it when not in use. Thankfully, it’s pretty light, so moving it around isn’t likely to be a pain.

It’s a fast machine; in each test it was either faster than the manual suggested or faster than we expected it to be, which is a positive on both counts. Food was evenly dried and intense in flavour.

Specifications

Number of trays: nine
Temperature range: 35-70C
Time: up to 19.5h
Dishwasher safe trays: yes
Accessories included: three non-stick sheets, three fine mesh sheets, three plastic tray
Wattage: 700
Dimensions (cm): H: 41.5 x W: 34.5 x D: 45

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This review was last updated in April 2021. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk