The Problem with Food Dehydrators
 

They suck .... a great deal of power, run up your electric bill and cannot keep up with a country garden summer harvest .... no way.

I own a ten shelf unit that consumes 1000 watts, it does a good job, dries relatively fast, its one of the best on the market and it sucks.

Here's a few places to check into a home built high volume solar food dryers. This is going to be this winters project, I'm selling the grid tied machine after this summer. Look for it on Ebay ...


The most effective ones are large area, not stacked.

BUILDING AND USING A MIDWEST SOLAR FOOD DRYER

http://www.manytracks.com/images/Hom...-Open-SB-x.jpg

http://www.manytracks.com/Homesteadi...rFoodDryer.htm





A stacked solar dryer

This is a simple herb and food dryer from Appalachian Mountain College Design as modified by Richard Komp.

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects.../msfooddry.htm



Stacked dryer made from a refrigerator. Solar collectors on the backside.

http://www.ptecovillage.org/images/l.../FoodDryer.jpg




A stair stepped design, more area means more heat.

http://www.siffordsojournal.com/uplo...016-778358.jpg

http://www.siffordsojournal.com/2009/03/air-it-out.html




Another large volume flat collector dryer. All the specs are included.

http://geopathfinder.com/9473.html

http://geopathfinder.com/mediac/400_...yOpenDryer.jpg

Re: The Problem with Food Dehydrators
 

Nice pictures, but you're dead wrong about dehydrators using a lot of electricity. The box fan in your window during the summer uses a ton more electricity than a dehydrator, but I'll bet you're not going to ditch the fan.

Re: The Problem with Food Dehydrators
 

You must be talking about those cheap plastic dehydrators that can barely make jerky after a week. Been there, done that. My EvenFlow dryer has a 1000 watt heating element and actually dries food.

I prefer dried storage over canning / freezing.

Do you have any idea what it takes to preserve produce from a large garden ?

Being prepared and freedom is about growing your own food and storing it, not just buying MRE's and bullets.


BTW, those pictures include links for construction.

Re: The Problem with Food Dehydrators
 

When I was a kid we used to dry food/ make Jerky by wrapping it in cheese cloth and tying it in the upper rafters (by the roof) of the garage the sun beating down on the roof and the peak vents provided the airflow.

My town was normaly 100 degrees in the summer, so it only took a day or two.