DIY food dehydrator ala alton brown

[Sooner_Will_Survive]

for those looking to get started in drying you dont need to buy a food dehydrator. alton shows how to make your own dehydrator using a box fan and several cheap air handler filters

fruits and vegis

YouTube- Good Eats S11E6 Whithering Bites (1/2)

and

YouTube- Good Eats S11E6 Whithering Bites (2/2)

jerkey

YouTube- Good Eats - S09E03P01 - Urban...

YouTube- Good Eats S09E03P02 - Urban Preservation...

like him or hate him he does teach you a thing or two. this works a treat. as he says do not stack more then 3 high. this also preserves the food much better then with heat though it does take longer. now that summer is soon to be over you will be able to purchase box fans on the cheap.

[rncmomx2]

Huh...I got 3 older round dehydrators I use to use before we built our outdoor one...wonder if I can use a 15 inch fan and use the trays from the round dehydrators with it I still need some things drying at night when the sun isnt out.....the sun never hits our foods but we use the captured heat from the solar to dry it from underneath.

[cranky1950]

That's actually way cool but make sure you use paper filters rather than fiber ones.

[Sooner_Will_Survive]

when drying some foods you dont want it to cook. and yes use the cheap paper filters not the fiber ;-)

[Sooner_Will_Survive]

figured id bump this as its that time of year again

[Vectorwoman]

I would think you would use more electric when using fans. Plus a couple of fans and filter would cost more money than a dehydrator.

I just don't see the point in doing this versus using a dehydrator.

[Sooner_Will_Survive]

Originally Posted by Vectorwoman

I would think you would use more electric when using fans. Plus a couple of fans and filter would cost more money than a dehydrator.

I just don't see the point in doing this versus using a dehydrator.

most dehydrators have heat which over cooks the material being dehydrated. many already have a box fan. remove the 100watts of heat in your dehydrator and you just have a fan. i do not believe my 20" box pulls 100watts

[ghostNshadow]

thanks been looking for an easy way to make jerky at home the info is greatly appreciated

[Creek Walker]

Here is a solar one I just finished and testing with some Okra. So far internal temperature has made it to 100 degrees and holds. It has an old crank window from a camper to regulate air flow out the top. Right now it has a 1/2 inch gap at the bottom where the window butts up to the heat chamber and after I get that sealed off hopefully I can obtain 120 degrees for at least 6 hours given enough direct sun.

I took an old snackmaster dehydrator whose element burned out and rewired it so I could use the fan. Not sure how that is going to help.

I don't have any building plans for this as it is just something I cobbled together from scrap wood. Total cost $0.00 it's all recycled.

The next one will be a downdraft dehydrator in hopes of getting more airflow without using a fan.

For now it will be used for vegetables with little water content. If I can't get the temps up to at least 120 then tomatoes are probably out. I still have to fix the heat chamber and line it with aluminum cans. As of right know it just has a piece of corrugated aluminum roofing painted black I may just add another piece about 2 inches on top of the other one instead of the aluminum cans.

The trays are just some cheap dehydrator trays from a couple of dehydrators I purchased at the consignment center. The dehydrators were the blower-less kind you have to rotate the trays on and I didn't like them. The rest on cut to fit pieces of garden fence. See I told you it was cobbled together.

[OKCorral]

Originally Posted by Creek Walker

See I told you it was cobbled together

Hey, it works and looks great! I have one of those dehydrators without a fan (53 watt element) and the tomatoes had white spots on them which I suspect was mold. Threw 'em all out

Right now I've got an easy bake set up in my kitchen oven with 100 watt light bulb and small fan and thinking about getting an old non working oven or dishwasher to use as the box for a permanent installation. Another DIY build uses a lower thermostat for a water heater and it's 8 bucks at HD or Lowes.

[MadPrepper]

Originally Posted by OKCorral

Hey, it works and looks great! I have one of those dehydrators without a fan (53 watt element) and the tomatoes had white spots on them which I suspect was mold. Threw 'em all out

Right now I've got an easy bake set up in my kitchen oven with 100 watt light bulb and small fan and thinking about getting an old non working oven or dishwasher to use as the box for a permanent installation. Another DIY build uses a lower thermostat for a water heater and it's 8 bucks at HD or Lowes.

I haven't thought of that. I've been looking for the right thermostat for my diy dehydrator design, and these things are in the right temp and power range. Any link to the web page?

Thanks.

[OKCorral]

Originally Posted by MadPrepper

...these things are in the right temp and power range. Any link to the web page?

Exactly! 100 - 160 degrees is perfect.

http://courtneymeier.artifex.org/deh...ator_plans.pdf

[MadPrepper]

Originally Posted by OKCorral

Exactly! 100 - 160 degrees is perfect.

http://courtneymeier.artifex.org/deh...ator_plans.pdf

That design is amazingly similar to mine. The cross flow is something I wanted and had never seen in any diy, and I looked a lot. And the thermostat is a perfect hit.

I don't like using light bulbs; They're very inefficient heat producers. I like the heating element in this design:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/sanders63.html

But, I can't for the life of me find it anywhere. If I could, I would use two to get 1200 watts. These boards had some coverage and claimed they could be had, but I can't find them:

http://www.survivalistboards.com/sho...d.php?t=171149

I can use a small space heater and with it being garage sale season here, I can probably pick one up for a few bucks.

I would also have an active venting of the moist inside air instead of propping the door open. I'm trying to find a way to control exhaust fans base on the humidity in the box. Might have to make my own sensor.

[OKCorral]

Originally Posted by MadPrepper

I don't like using light bulbs; They're very inefficient heat producers. I like the heating element in this design:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/sanders63.html

But, I can't for the life of me find it anywhere. If I could, I would use two to get 1200 watts. These boards had some coverage and claimed they could be had, but I can't find them:

Alton uses a ceramic heat coil from the pet store typically used for keeping reptiles warm and I'm pretty sure they aren't 600 watts and cost 30 bucks, not $5.

Walmart sells a little 200 watt ceramic heater that I plan to try out and Instructables has a hack using a dorm fridge and a heating element from a crock pot. I'm not a fan of the light bulbs either.