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I was thinking about getting a dehydrator for fruit and vegetables, I also like tofu and beef jerky and biltong.....
I live in france in a rural region where people still hunt boars and bucks, so wild meat is easy to get and dried boar ham is one of my favourite meat.......excuse my english, I'm sure I can explain...
most of the dehydrators on the market were a little too expensive (I wasn't sure I was going to use it intensively....)
so I searched the internet for home-made stuff and this is what I got:
http://www.popularmechanics.co.za/article/make-your-own-biltong-dryer-in-an-afternoon-2010-05-13
this is a very common type of dehydrator made by people looking for a cheap efficient way to dry food at home.
other types were made of cardboard boxes or wood, but plastic had the advantage of durability and was easier to clean.....
so this is what you need:
I live in france in a rural region where people still hunt boars and bucks, so wild meat is easy to get and dried boar ham is one of my favourite meat.......excuse my english, I'm sure I can explain...
most of the dehydrators on the market were a little too expensive (I wasn't sure I was going to use it intensively....)
so I searched the internet for home-made stuff and this is what I got:
http://www.popularmechanics.co.za/article/make-your-own-biltong-dryer-in-an-afternoon-2010-05-13
this is a very common type of dehydrator made by people looking for a cheap efficient way to dry food at home.
other types were made of cardboard boxes or wood, but plastic had the advantage of durability and was easier to clean.....
so this is what you need:
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Signing UpStep 1Stuff needed: around 30 euros...
I got the whole stuff in less than one hour at the local hardware and computer shop....
-one storage box (this one is 30x30x25cm), mine was clear because soooooo cheap, I used duct tape to help light reflect instead of going out the box and lighting the whole room.
some people used aluminium foil...but you'd better choose a black box...
-one computer fan (this one is 9x9cm and 12w) and a converter.
-plastic rods (metal or wood would work too)
-aluminium screen (lighter than steel, plastic would have been better, but I couldn't get any...)
-screens for the exit of hot air (those ones come from an old computer, they have a type of plastic wool to protect from dust or insects)
-a 100w bulb is good, mine is 60w.
-bulb stand, electric wire, plug and a connection thing.
-glue, duct tape, saw, dremel, good music and a cold beer.
I don't have a dremel, but I strongly recommend it as those strorage box are a bit fragile and mine broke on several spots while drilling.....that's why I had to wrap it with duct tape.
-one storage box (this one is 30x30x25cm), mine was clear because soooooo cheap, I used duct tape to help light reflect instead of going out the box and lighting the whole room.
some people used aluminium foil...but you'd better choose a black box...
-one computer fan (this one is 9x9cm and 12w) and a converter.
-plastic rods (metal or wood would work too)
-aluminium screen (lighter than steel, plastic would have been better, but I couldn't get any...)
-screens for the exit of hot air (those ones come from an old computer, they have a type of plastic wool to protect from dust or insects)
-a 100w bulb is good, mine is 60w.
-bulb stand, electric wire, plug and a connection thing.
-glue, duct tape, saw, dremel, good music and a cold beer.
I don't have a dremel, but I strongly recommend it as those strorage box are a bit fragile and mine broke on several spots while drilling.....that's why I had to wrap it with duct tape.
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The power here in france is 220V, so I got a 220V/12V converter (the needed power for the fan)
BUT the fan runs a little too fast...a dimmer switch plugged before the fan might be a good idea.
the bulb is 60watts, but 100watts would heat more, so get a 100watt bulb....
hope this helped!
You took great photos and your English was perfectly understandable, don't worry. Have you found any new things you would fix if you made a second box?
Do you think two fans would work better or something?
the air exit should be on the upper side of the box, as heat goes up...the fan is not good for all dryings....I sometimes switch it off as it actually cools down the box temperature...the ideal box would have a 100w bulb or 2x50w bulbs and a dimmer switch to tune the fan speed, this way, you cold adjust the air speed/lightbulb heat ratio.
works perfectly, though....I dried beef in 5 days and apple slices in around 2 days.
anyone could make a reallyreally cool box with a good choice of components and a better tool set.
surely would work for icelandic shark and codfish......