Solar dehydrator – savemaple.org

Post G22-015: First test of tote-based food dehydrator, version 2

Construction details are given in Post G22-014.

Bottom line: Works just fine if you ventilate it with a computer fan. Leaving this outside on two consecutive chilly, dry, sunny days was adequate to get 1/4″ potato slices dry enough to snap crisply when bent.

It was a little cold yesterday for solar food dehydration, not expected to top 60F. But it was sunny and dry. And that was enough to let me test and refine my revised tote-based food dehydrator (Post G22-014). This is nothing more than an under-bed plastic tote with a bit of radiant barrier insulation outside, some cheap cooling racks inside, and a few holes in the top connected to thin plastic pipe.

Continue reading Post G22-015: First test of tote-based food dehydrator, version 2

Post G22-014: Plastic tote food dehydrator, version 2: Construction.

Edit: See Post G22-015. Skip the drying racks, just place the food directly on the floor of the tote. Replace the ventilation “chimney” with a computer fan. With those changes, two days in the sun produced perfectly dry potato slices.

Last fall I came up with what I hoped would be a cheap and simple solar food dryer capable of drying tomatoes in the humid climate of Virginia. Continue reading Post G22-014: Plastic tote food dehydrator, version 2: Construction.

Post #G21-050: Simple solar dehydrator, quantifying failure.

This is just a brief followup to Post #G21-049, where I decided to make a simple solar food dehydrator out of a plastic tote. My goal was to turn the last few batches of tomatoes into sun-dried tomatoes without using electricity. Continue reading Post #G21-050: Simple solar dehydrator, quantifying failure.