I found the Cabela's 10-tray dehydrator on sale so I grabbed it and got the Backpacker's Gourmet book about dehydrating. So far I have made beef stroganoff, shepherd's pie, turkey sausage rigatoni, and spaghetti with meat sauce. Just put on thin layer on tray (I use a tray mat) and it takes 3-4 hours. All have been very good in my taste tests. I found that it can help to put in a tablespoon of sauce mix or gravy to the dehydrated meal before doing the vacuum sealing. It comes out to about $3-$4 per double serving meal, not including the cost of the dehydrator or electricity, not too bad.
I have noticed that the particular dehydrator I have that the food drys faster towards the top and back, which makes sense logically since the heater/fan is in back of unit. I was wondering if this is common of all dehydrators or if some models have solved this by design?