What do the teflex sheets do on the food dehydrators trays?
The teflex sheets are a "non-stick" surface you you can make things such as fruit roll-ups (blended fruit) on the trays without them falling through the holes. They are brown sheets. Dont get them confused with packing material when you receive your dehydrator.

Between the Excalibur 2400 and 500, Which is the most affordable model that can easily accomodate the typical dehydration needs of 2-3 people?
Its hard to say.. depending on what you will be dehydrating.. and how much you will be using it.. My parents (2 people) have the 2500 at their house (they dont use it much), and its a bit big for them.. Since you cant add space to the units, I always reccomend puchasing a larger unit to be safe, as you can always run it 1/2 full.

Does the excalibur dehydrator plastic off gas?
All plastics off gas. Some are more prone to off gassing than others. Polystyrene off gasses the most since its molded at a low temperature(450-500 degrees). Most inexpensive dehydrators are made of polystyrene. The excalibur is made of Engineering grade polycarbonate, which is also used in jet aircraft windshields. The poloycarbonate is molded at 650 degrees. According to the owner of excalibur, off gassing occurs at 200-300 degrees above the highest temperature setting in the dehydrator, so off gassing is not a problem.

I was wondering if there is any difference in food dehydrators. I found the Ronco food dehydrator and it is considerably less than some of the other products out there. Will this do everything that the other products will along with maintaining the health benefits?
There is a vast difference in dehyrators. (especially the ronco and the excalibur)

Some differences:

1. Design (horizontal vs vertical air flow)

see: Click here for the excalibur 2900 page to see a picture and little write up. The horizontal air flow machines, I believe offer more even drying.

2. Adjustable thermostat. The excalibur dehydrators have a thermostat to manually adjust the temperature. We reccomend setting it under 116 degrees (for fruits and vegetables). When dehydrating under 116 degrees (I reccomend 100 degrees) you preserve enzymes in the food, for the most beneficial effects.

How long does it take to dehydrate a banana? I have heard that it takes 10-12 hours. Do have a dehydrator that takes less time to dehydrate.
The Excalibur dehydrators we sell have an adjustable thermometer, from 85 degrees to 145 degrees. Most dehydrators do not have an adjustable timer... The hotter the temperature, the less time it will take to dehydrate (a banana) or whatever you are dehydrating. I recommend to preserve nutrients, and enzymes in the item you are dehydrating to keep the temperature around 100-105 degrees. If you dehydrate at a higher temperature, it will work, and be done faster, but this is at the cost of losing nutrients, and killing the enzymes in the item being dehydrated. Bananas usually take from 6-10 hours.. Fruits take from 6-10 hours (bananas) to as much as 22-30 hours (for plums).. Vegetables take from 3-7 for mushrooms, to as much as 10-14 hours summer squash.

Why would you recommend the Excalibur Dehydrators over the American Harvest brand?
We have used the american harvest, and noticed I had to rotate the trays alot, and the trays closer to the bottom got hotter than the ones on the top. (uneven drying). They are nice because you can expand them.. unlike the excalibur.. Also the "solid" sheets on the american harvest were a thicker plastic not the thin teflex, and were not as non-stick.. which may have an impact when dehydrating certain items.. Cleanup in my opinion is easier on the excalibur, since the mesh sheets are removable, on the american harvest, the whole tray must be washed.

What type of foods will your dehydrator dehydrate and do you have recipes?
The dehydrator will dehydrate all fruits and vegetables, as well as meats for beef jerky. With each excalibur dehydrator we sell, a booklet comes with it to explain the various things you can do, and instructions on how to do it. If you require more recipes or information, I can recommend a book on dehydration that is available at the online bookstore.

How much does it cost to run the dehydrator?
Your actual cost will depend on your local utility company, and how much they charge per kW/hour. The dehydrators use 600, 400 and 220 watts for the 9,5, and 4 tray models. With our current utility prices here, the 9 tray works out to be about 3 cents and hour to operate.

The Teflex sheets I received are the wrong size. Can they be cut?
We sell teflex sheets to fit the 2500 and 2900 dehydrator models which are 14" x 14". they can be cut down to 12" x 12" to fit the 2400 model. You can also fold them if you prefer not to cut them.