Getting Food Out of Your Freezer and Onto the Shelf Without a Refrigerator
Most people buy these units when they've either gone deer season and came home with forty pounds of meat they didn't expect to process, or they're prepping for a situation where shelf stability matters more than it did on Tuesday. The Game Winner line from L.D. Campbell is a budget dehydrator. It's not the most refined piece of equipment you'll encounter, but it gets the job done if you treat it like a tool and not a magic box. The manual covers model specifics like tray stacking order, temperature ranges for different food types, and the cleaning protocol that actually keeps the heating element from clogging after six months of use. You can usually pull the PDF straight from the L.D. Campbell website under their support section. If the link is buried or the page doesn't load, search their contact form and ask for the manual to be emailed to you. They respond within a day or two. Don't skip reading it before you load your first batch — the tray arrangement matters more than people expect, and getting it wrong means uneven drying and wasted meat. Here's the thing that catches people off guard: this unit runs hotter on the bottom trays than the top ones. The heating element sits at the base, and the fan pushes air upward. I learned this the hard way during my second dehydration session in 2019. I loaded venison rounds evenly across all five trays and set the thermostat to 160°F. Four hours in, I checked the bottom tray and the meat was already leather-dry on the edges while the center trays were still tacky. I rotated the trays — bottom to top, top to bottom, middle stays middle — and switched to 145°F for the remainder. Finished batch came out consistent. Factor that rotation into your timeline from the start instead of waiting for problems to show up.
What This Machine Actually Does and Where It Falls Short
Dehydration removes water through heat and airflow. That's it. The Game Winner moves air with a small axial fan and warms it with a resistive heating coil. There's no sophisticated humidity sensor, no programmable ramp cycles, no auto-shutoff beyond the basic thermostat. You set a temperature, you wait, you check. The tray surfaces are coated wire mesh, which works fine for sliced meat but lets loose particles fall through if you're doing something like herbs or finely diced fruit. I line those trays with parchment cut to size when I'm processing anything smaller than a half-inch piece. Takes thirty seconds and saves you from scraping food out from behind the fan guard later. Temperature accuracy on these units is approximate. The dial on the thermostat doesn't map precisely to actual internal temperature. I've run an infrared thermometer against the tray surface and a separate digital probe inside a test piece of meat, and the variance was consistently eight to twelve degrees below what the dial indicated. If the dial says 160, you're probably getting closer to 148 or 150 in practice. That's not a disaster — it actually gives you a buffer against overcooking — but it means you should trust your probe more than the dial setting. Food safety threshold for meat is 160°F internal to kill pathogens, so if you're using the unit for game meat, you want the actual temperature to reach that mark, which means setting the dial higher than you might think.
The Process Itself
Slice your protein or fruit uniformly. That's the single biggest factor in drying consistency. I use a mandoline for anything where I can — venison rounds, elk, apple slices. Thickness around one-eighth to one-quarter inch is the sweet spot. Thicker pieces take exponentially longer and often dry on the outside while the center stays moist, which creates an environment where spoilage organisms can survive even after the exterior looks done. Pre-treatment depends on what you're drying. For meat, I use a cure blend if I want preserved flavor and color, or just a light salt coating if I'm going for neutral. Fruit benefits from an ascorbic acid dip if you're worried about browning, though with game meat that's irrelevant. Load the trays without overlapping pieces. Air needs to circulate freely around each slice. The unit's fan isn't powerful enough to push through a dense stack. Drying time varies. Venison jerky at dial setting 160 (actual ~150) takes roughly four to six hours for quarter-inch slices. Thick steaks can run eight to ten. I check at the four-hour mark, then every hour after. The test is simple: bend a piece. It should crack but not snap clean in half. If it bends without resistance, it needs more time. If it shatters like glass, it's overdone.
Get the Full Details
Cool the dried product completely before storing. Warm meat in a sealed container creates condensation, and moisture is what you just spent hours removing. Let it sit on the counter for about an hour after the cycle ends, then transfer to vacuum-sealed bags or Mason jars with an oxygen absorber. Room temperature storage works for properly dried meat — the water activity level drops low enough that bacteria can't grow. I've stored batches for eleven months this way with no issues.
Limitations You Should Know About Before Buying
The plastic housing gets warm during operation. Not dangerously hot, but warm enough that you shouldn't place this unit against a wall or in an enclosed cabinet. Leave at least six inches of clearance on all sides for airflow. The fan motor also runs louder than you'd expect for something this size — about as loud as a running refrigerator compressor, give or take. If you're drying food overnight, don't put it in your bedroom. The tray coating wears over time. I've had mine for about three years now, and the non-stick surface on the bottom tray is showing signs of flaking near the center where the heat is most concentrated. It hasn't affected performance yet, but I'm watching it. If you're processing highly acidic foods regularly — pine needle tea concentrate, wild berry puree — the acid accelerates coating breakdown. Line those trays too. This unit is not designed for large volumes in a single session. Five trays, each holding maybe twelve to fourteen ounces of raw product when properly spaced, means you're looking at roughly five pounds of raw material per cycle. If you're processing a whole rack of ribs or a full deer leg, you're running multiple batches. Plan accordingly. Some people stack units vertically using universal dryer stands, but that requires purchasing the stand separately and it changes the airflow dynamics enough that drying times increase by maybe twenty percent.
Maintenance That Actually Matters
Clean the filter every few cycles. There's a mesh filter behind the back panel that catches dust and fine particles. I pull it out, tap it against a workbench, and run a soft brush through it. If you skip this, airflow drops and drying time creeps up. I noticed a fifteen-minute increase per batch after about eight cycles without cleaning the filter. Minor, but noticeable. Wipe down the interior with a damp cloth after each use. Food residue builds up on the heating element housing over time and can start to smoke if you don't remove it. Nothing dangerous, just unpleasant odor and a slightly charred smell that transfers to your food. A microfiber cloth and a little warm water does the job. Don't use abrasive pads on the tray surfaces — you'll strip the coating and then you're dealing with stuck-on food on bare wire mesh, which is significantly harder to clean. The power cord is fixed-length and relatively short. Make sure you have an outlet within a few feet of wherever you're planning to run this. The unit itself is lightweight and moves easily, but you can't extend the cord or swap it out — it's hardwired into the base.
There are better dehydrators if you have the budget. The Excalibur lines and even the Harvest Master units offer more even airflow, adjustable thermostats with actual calibration, and sturdier construction. But if you're processing seasonal game or occasional home drying projects and you want something that works without costing half a grand, the Game Winner does what it says. Just read the manual, rotate your trays, and keep an eye on the filter.
