When you go to the market for buying a food dehydrator, you get lots of options to consider. Some of them are stainless steel dehydrators, and few of them are plastic material dryers such as Excalibur food dehydrators and Magic Mill food dehydrators.
In this below article, we are going to discuss and compare between the two famous companies i.e. Excalibur and Magic Mill which are indulged in manufacturing some fantastic food dehydrators from very long time. But going deep into the topic, we will firstly get familiar about both the dehydrators making companies first.
Brief Introduction About Excalibur Company
Excalibur Company was established in the year 1973, and it has its headquarters in Sacramento, CA. This famous dehydrator brand has existed in the business now for nearly 40 years. Several gourmet chefs, as well as culinary schools, use this brand’s food dehydrator for the cooking purposes.
Excalibur was purchased by The Legacy Cos of a Florida in October 2011 which makes the commercial food equipment and marketing appliances. The initial design of the Excalibur food dehydrators brand is a simple case and a shelf with a back-fixed fan which blows the air all over the trays. It is a proven design that provides even airflow and makes rotating trays during drying unnecessary.
The Excalibur brand is quite popular over the internet also. You can use its dehydrators for drying out the foods which require more heating temperature.
Brief Introduction About Magic Mill Company
The other famous company which manufactures excellent food dehydrator is the Magic Mill that includes the features like BPA-free, compact design as well as an astonishingly extensive range of features. Actually, regarding features, the Magic Mill food dehydrators can give real competition to some of the greatest Excalibur dehydrators out there.
Comparison Between the Excalibur Vs. Magic Mill Dehydrators
There are lots of similarities and dissimilarities which you might find between the Excalibur food dehydrators and Magic Mill food dehydrators. In the below section we have listed some of the important points so that you can relate and compare between the two types of food dehydrators:
1) Shape of the Trays
The Magic Mill food dehydrators possess rectangular shaped trays whereas most of the Excalibur food dehydrators have square shaped trays.
What Does This Mean?
Usually, the Food Dehydrators which have the rectangular or square shape of trays result in proficient usage of the space. In fact, such trays offer you a significant benefit if there is less space in the countertop of your kitchen.
These kinds of trays are also very useful for dehydrating long strips or pieces of food. Some of the stackable food dehydrators which come with the round shape of trays usually have a hole in the center that does not make good utilization of the space given. It means having square and rectangular shape dehydrators has a plus point over the round shape trays.
Result
We can say that that there is no much difference between the Magic Mill as well as the Excalibur dehydrators at this point.
2) Capacity of the Dehydrators
The next criteria through which we will compare the two dehydrators are the capacity which they offer for drying. The size of the trays in the maximum number of Excalibur’s non-commercial stainless steel models is 15 x 15 inches. It means every single tray offers around 225 square inches of dehydrating space.
Now, the Magic Mill trays measured between 13 x 12 inches. It means that it’s every single tray offer only 156 square inches of dehydrating space.
What Does This Mean?
When you have more drying space, then you can dehydrate a lot of foods in one single batch. It benefits a lot when you have a large family or a big gathering at your home.
Result
After comparing both the food dehydrators, the trays of the Excalibur food dehydrators offer extra drying space.
3) Position of the Fan in the Appliance
The position of the fan in the Magic Mill dehydrator as well as in the Excalibur food dehydrators possesses rear-mounted fans.
What Does This Mean?
When the fan is located on the back side of the dehydrators, it makes the hot air flows horizontally and dries out the whole food on all the trays uniformly. In fact, due to this feature, you do not have to rotate the trays in between the process of the food dehydration.
One more significant benefit of having the fan at the backside is that you do not have to concern about the drippings from the vegetables, fruits, and meats on the fan at all.
Result
Both types of food dehydrators have the rear-mounted fans which do not make any variance between the two.
4) Feature of Adjustable Thermostat
The maximum number of Magic Mill and Excalibur food dehydrators comes with the feature of an adjustable thermostat. However, the Magic Mill dehydrator provides a marginally extensive range of temperature range i.e. 95 degrees F to 158 degrees in comparison to the most of the Excalibur models.
What Does This Mean?
The adjustable thermostat feature is one of the essential factors which help you in getting fruitful outcomes while drying food in a food dehydrator. If the temperature is set at the lower range then, that can cause fermentation or spoilage of the food. But, if you select too much high-temperature range then, this can abolish the health-promoting enzymes as well as nutrients in the raw foods.
Result
The Magic Mill food dehydrators provide a marginally broader temperature range as compare to the Excalibur models.
5) Built-In Timer Feature
Even though all the models of the Excalibur do not originate with an integrated timer, but all of its non-commercial models does have an inbuilt timer whose range varies between 26 to 99 hours. The Magic Mill food dehydrators also have a feature of a timer in them which can only be preset up to the maximum of 19.5 hours.
What Does This Mean?
When you have a timer in your food dehydrator, you do not have to worry about the drying process at all if you have a busy and a hectic schedule. The appliance will get automatically shut down when the time of the preset timer gets up. It benefits in the uniform and perfect drying of the raw food.
Result
In comparison between the two dehydrators models, the Excalibur dehydrator’s timer has a lengthier maximum setting.
6) Material Used in Manufacturing
The most of the Excalibur food dehydrator used the stainless tell material for manufacturing the unit whereas the Magic Mill dehydrators are made from the plastic material.
What Does This Mean?
The food dehydrators which have are made up of stainless steel material serves you for longer years whereas the food dryers which have the plastic body have the short span of life. Plastic appliances are more prone to the breakage problems.
Result
If you are looking to buy a robust food dehydrator, then Excalibur food dryer will be a better option.
7) Weight of the Appliance
The weight of the Excalibur food dehydrators normally varies between 25 lbs. to 40 lbs. whereas the weight of the Magic Mill dehydrators is very less due to the plastic material.
What Does This Mean?
When a food dehydrator has less weight then, you have a benefit of quickly and easily carrying from one place to another. But if your appliance is heavy then portability is not possible. This feature helps you a lot when you want to take your machine along with you on a trip or a journey.
Sometimes the weight of the machine gets the increase due to the existence of the stainless steel trays in them, for example, in most of the Stainless Steel Excalibur dryers. In Magic Mill, the outer body is made up from the plastic material, and some of its models have stainless steel trays in them which do not increase the overall weight of the product.
Result
The Magic Mill dehydrators are lightweight to move than the Excalibur dehydrators models.
Conclusion
Excalibur Dehydrators vs. Magic Mill – Which One is the best to buy?
In the end, we just want to say that the Excalibur dehydrators and the Magic Mill dehydrators both have advantages and disadvantages in one or some other way. Each of them has some benefits which make them popular among the buyers these days.
You have to decide that which dehydrator model suits you the most by your budget, requirement and the usage. If you need a dehydrator that has robust construction, then Excalibur will be a good choice, but if you want to buy the appliance which suits your pocket, then the Magic Mill models will be a better option.
At last, we cannot say firmly that which the best dehydrator among both of them is but, it is true that whichever food dryer you buy it will be going to provide you the benefit of food dehydration for the longer period.