The dehydrator I have been using for a long time, finally gave out. I bought this as a replacement - first the directions were sparse - didn't really tell me how to use all the parts - second,what used to take me 8 to 10 hours took me 18 and could have gone longer - there wasn't enough heat to dry the jerky - even the slices of pepperoni I put on the top tray, so I can tell which tray was on top as I rotate them, dried rubbery, not crisp. Will be replacing this soon.