I make jerky in my smoker and use the dryer because I don't want to have to move the pieces around and dirty up another appliance. Plus I get really good results using the smoker for the whole process.
BTW- I made my own jerky dryer using a low CFM 120v computer fan and some ABS fittings. Here's the fan I used: AC Infinity 120v 80x80x38 fan. It fits on a 3" ABS cap, only have to cut a 2" in hole for air flow and then use a couple of bolts to hold the fan on.