Review: Excalibur STS60B

Excalibur dehydrators have long been considered to be among the best that the food dehydrator market has to offer. One of their newer models, the Excalibur STS60B, promises to continue the company’s tradition of providing professional performance for home users at an affordable price. This high-quality food dehydrator is a good choice both for beginners entering the world of food dehydration, as well as users looking to upgrade from their first dehydrator.

Check out our honest review of the Excalibur STS60B to find out what are its best features, as well as what are the potential downsides this food dehydrator could have.

Excalibur STS60B Key Features

• Adjustable digital thermostat 
• 48-hour timer
• Quiet but powerful 480 watts motor
• Powerful and efficient vertical airflow design
• Comes with 6 mesh screens, 4 yogurt cups and 2 fruit roll sheets

It’s easy to see that the main goal of the company was to create an affordable food dehydrator that will meet the needs of experienced users and newbies alike. And we’re excited about this machine, because they pulled it off! The Excalibur STS60B is easy to operate, yet offers a wide variety of handy features that satisfy even the more demanding consumers. The digital thermostat can be adjusted from 85°-165° F, which means you can get equally fantastic results with an impressive variety of foods. The lower temperatures and longer drying times are ideal for fruits and veggies as this will help preserve enzymes and important nutrients, and the high temperatures meet the needed health standards for drying meats to make jerky as per the USDA guidelines. The range 160°-165° is ideal to prevent growth of bacteria in the meat as it dries.

To boot, Excalibur STS60B comes with a built-in timer that can be set for up to 48 hours in advance. This means no need to fuss over the batches of food you’re drying, simply program the dehydrator to work at an optimal temperature for the perfect amount of time and get perfect results in each use. No risk of burning your produce to a crisp or under drying foods only to realize hours later when you go to store it! You can find all the info about ideal temperatures for dehydrating in the booklet that comes with this appliance, or you can even refer to the temperatures listed in the recipes you can find online.

While there’s no denying that the powerful performance and high-quality materials are the biggest selling points for the Excalibur STS60B, one can’t help but notice that the assortment of accessories that come with it is quite impressive. This particular stackable model comes with 6 basic trays, but what’s great is that the company also provides 6 mesh screens, 4 yogurt cups, and 2 fruit roll sheets. So not only can you dry herbs or dehydrate pureed fruit and veggies into leathery snacks, but you can also make homemade yogurt. Another awesome way this dehydrator helps you eat healthier and save money while doing it!

Excalibur STS60B Pros

• Big capacity that’s great for large families
• Stackable trays prevent cross-contamination
• Square shape that’s convenient for storing

If you are in the market for a compact food dehydrator that won’t take up half of your counter but still allow you to dry big batches of food at once, Excalibur STS60B is the answer. The six stackable trays are quite spacious and can fit a lot of food in one batch, which is ideal if you have a big family. In addition, the fact that the trays of this dehydrator model are stacked one upon another means that you can combine various types of food to be dried in one batch, without having to worry about the scents mixing together (yes, we don’t like strawberry crisps that smell like sweet potatoes either). So, in case you want to preserve various fruits and veggies that you have leftover from garden harvest, you can do so without having to separate them! Time-saving and practical—who wouldn’t it be impressed by that? Because, we sure are!

The dimensions of this unit are 12” in height, 11.75” in width, and  17.25” in depth. When compared to some other food dehydrators on Amazon, the Excalibur STS60B is relatively compact. To boot, the square shape of this dehydrator makes it easy to store in any spare corner of the kitchen or on the countertop.

Excalibur STS60B Cons

• The trays have to be rotated

In all honesty, a budget-friendly, high-quality food dehydrator such as the Excalibur STS60B leaves very little to be desired. However, some people might find it bothersome that the trays in this model have to be rotated throughout the drying process to ensure consistent drying. The bottom-mounted dehydrators usually require this, so if you want to skip on this step, check out models that feature horizontal air flow, such as the Excalibur 3948CDB or Magic Mill Food Dehydrator.

The Verdict

If you want the famed Excalibur quality but at a fraction of the price, the beginner-friendly Excalibur STS60B is precisely what you’re looking for. This affordable food dehydrator has a large capacity that makes it suitable for large families, as it allows you to dry big batches of food at once. 

The bottom-mounted 480 watts motor is not among the most powerful in the range, but its performance will satisfy the needs of most average home users. Additionally, you’ll love the stackable trays and the vertical airflow that prevent cross-contamination of scents—giving you the chance to dehydrate various types of foods in one go. All things considered, if you need a versatile food dehydrator with reliable performance and a variety of useful features, and don’t mind being a bit more involved in the dehydration process, then you won’t be disappointed by the Excalibur STS60B.

Buy the Exclibur STS60B on Amazon Now!