TSM Stainless Steel Dehydrator with 5 Stainless Steel Shelves

The TSM 5-shelf stainless steel dehydrator competes at the upper end of the consumer dehydrator market.  It’s made by TSM Products, a company that makes a wide range of professional meat processing equipment. This review covers the TMS 32702 model, which has flush, top-mounted controls, and 5 stainless steel shelves.

Design

The TSM 5-shelf stainless steel dehydrator is styled like a commercial appliance. The exterior housing is is 304 series, 22 gauge, food grade Stainless Steel. The shelves are also stainless steel, with ¼” holes. The front door has a handle and louver vents, and lifts completely off the machine. A digital thermometer probe can be inserted through the front door using a special hole designed for this purpose. The TSM 32702 dehydrator has a rear-mounted fan and heating element, which blows air horizontally from the back to the front of the machine. The removable front door is louvered with several large vents to rapidly discharge moisture. This arrangement helps to provide an even dehydration process and eliminates the need to rotate trays because of the horizontal airflow.  

Capacity

With 5 shelves measuring about 16 .25 x 14.5 inches, this TMS dehydrator is a medium-capacity dehydrator. Each tray provides about 1.6 sq. ft. of drying area, for a total of about 8 sq. ft. when all 5 trays are in use. Trays can be fully removed and slide into the unit on special freestanding brackets.

Cleanup and maintenance

The TSM 32702 provides two interesting features that make routine cleanup and maintenance a lot easier:

1. The back panel, which houses motor and electrical components, can be unclipped and removed completely from the main housing
2. The brackets that support the shelves are free standing and can also be removed in addition to the shelves.

Controls

The controls of the TSM 32702 are located on the top of the machine, at the rear, and include a temperature control gauge, a 12-hour shut down timer, a timer bypass switch, and a dedicated power switch. The temperature range of the TSM is 90 to 165 F. The temperature gauge does not list numbers, but is instead is color-coded to a quick start guide printed next to the controls. This guide shows recommended settings for different foods.