| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| JenniferJuniper |
Posted - May 29 2008 : 04:57:53 AM
Has anyone made these? I've googled and found 2 styles, one that uses a heavy duty foil-lined cardboard box and a 150 watt light bulb, and one solar powered one requring some carpentry skills.
Any tips?
Farmgirl Sister #204 |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| JenniferJuniper |
Posted - Sep 23 2008 : 3:15:14 PM
btw....after all this, I ended up finding a Mr Coffee food dehydrator in excellent condition at flea market this weekend for $3!!!
Farmgirl Sister #204 |
| Ms.Lilly |
Posted - Aug 15 2008 : 5:26:08 PM
My Hubby just made me a solar dehydrator and it is awsome! He got the plans on-line but we also saw it in a back issue of Backwoods Home Magazine last year. If any one is interested I will find the issue and give you the information, i'm sure it can be googled.
Lillian |
| StitchinWitch |
Posted - Aug 14 2008 : 9:24:56 PM
My first dehydrator was my car parked in the sun. I put the trays in the car, cracked the windows, and hoped it would all dry before it cooked. It worked really great for fruit leather.
Happiness is Homemade |
| lacisne88 |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 10:56:40 PM
I've never made one but actually after reading this post it makes me want to. I want to be able to dry my own foods but I didn't want to buy a dehydrater.
Chelsey
Farmgirl Sister #283 |
| LivingWell4You |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 7:05:43 PM
Hi, girls -
FYI: Mother Earth News has an article in the current issue: "A Beginner's Guide to Drying Food." On page 17 they have a "Super-easy, Low-cost Solar Dehydrator" made from cardboard boxes. It says "This is not a permanent food dryer, and it's certainly not waterproof - but you wouldn't leave your drying product out in the rain or snow anyway."
God bless - Karen |
| Tammy Claxton |
Posted - Jun 06 2008 : 2:43:37 PM
Me and my hubby love Alton too! He has the best ideas and the neatest gadgets!
Crafty Bay Farmgirl Chapter
"What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger"
Farmgirl #152
http://countryintheburbs.blogspot.com/ |
| JenniferJuniper |
Posted - May 29 2008 : 08:58:44 AM
woo hoo, I found AB's contraption instructions!
I think I may try to build the AB version and the light bulb model, and run both for comparison. I want these tested & running by late summer, the amount of blueberry & apple picking here is awesome.
FOOD DEHYDRATOR, ALTON BROWN STYLE:
You can make your own at home that will work perfectly. All you need is a box fan, and four cellulose, rather than Fiberglas, heater or furnace filters. Now you can get these at your local hardware store. They’re extremely cheap. Sometimes, they come with this kind of little paper grid over it, and you can just cut all that off. Now a lot of food is wet and/or sticky when cut so you need something to keep it from sticking to the filters. Look for commercial “Dehydrator Tray Liners” which are used in store-bought dehydrators, you can find them on the net.
To assemble your dehydrator, place one filter on the fan so that the ridges would be parallel to the floor when standing upright. The first mat of food goes down. Another mat goes on top to sandwich for safety. And then another filter for proper air flow. You only want to do this 3 stacks high, four and there are so many filters that the air flow is impeded so much that that last layer on the outside does not dry properly. The last filter goes on with the metal facing out, if it’s there. A couple of bungee cords to hold those filters in place. Don’t stretch them too tight, they could pop.
Set up your home-made dehydrator some place nice and peaceful, turn on your fan, and let it do its thing for 42 to 48 hours.
Before you put your fruit into the dehydrator you need to compose your very own batch of Antibacterial Anti-aging, Dried Fruit Dip. To do so, squeeze enough lemons to get a cup of fresh-squeezed juice. And don’t worry about taking out the seeds and the pulp and all that. Finally, dilute it into one quart of water.
Try finding the "Withering Bites" episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown, you can see him explain and put this whole contraption togethr.
Farmgirl Sister #204 |
| Alee |
Posted - May 29 2008 : 08:19:31 AM
Michelle- my husband and I DVR all of the episodes. We love his sense of humor and his recipes are always great!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
| chellybelly |
Posted - May 29 2008 : 06:47:22 AM
I have a slight addiction to Good Eats on the Food Network. He made a jerky dehydrator on there with a box fan, some air filters and a couple of bungee cords. Not too sure if you could use it for something other than meats though. I bet if you do a google search for "good eats jerky" you can find the directions.
Hope this helps!
Michelle
Farmgirl Sister #203
http://theonewhoholdsthebaby.blogspot.com/ |
| Alee |
Posted - May 29 2008 : 06:35:22 AM
There is also another way that Alton Brown recommends involving (he uses furnace filters but I would only do that if it was a 100% natural one!) and a big box fan. I will have to see if I can find a description of it in his book that we have. He did a demonstration on his cooking show.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
