Food dehydrator ideas?

[julianf]

As if I've not got enough to be getting on with, I'm considering building a food dehydrator.

We have one currently but it's effectively a hair dryer in a leaky box. It takes ages and heats up half the ground floor of the house. On electricity...which costs about a million pounds a unit at present.


What I'm considering is either an electric unit with clever control, or one that I can plumb into the boiler.


If I go electric, I'm thinking it would have to have some sort of electronic relative humidity monitor, connected to a fan.

I don't think there's any sense in dumping hot air out of the unit all the time, until it's got water in it. And then some sort of element controlled with a PID. And a small circulatory fan inside.


If it's coolant powered, I guess, pretty much the same? Just with pipes instead?

I know it sounds crazy to bother to plumb somthing in, but I don't mine. I have accessible pipes.


What I'd like to find are some stainless mesh trays that I could just buy off-the-shelf and build an enclosure around them.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas / comments on any of the above?

Thank you.

 

[cheb]

Repurpose a tumble drier? Might not work with tomatoes

 

[Ross365]

What about some form of vessel which can have air pumped out of it? You can buy laboratory vacuum ovens of appreciable size.

 

[cheb]

Slightly more seriously, tumble driers have both controllable heat and humidistats that could be used in what you build.

Or blow filtered air from a dehumdifier through the box, or unfiltered air and wrap the food in muslin or similar.

 

[gaz1]

use a fridge they are many at side of the roads

i will give you this one as uss solar as well as computer parts

so you can see the tall fridge reference

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

We need shelving + infrared film for underfloor heating + low-speed fan blowing off steam + temperature controller. And a grid (perforated walls of the shelves) so that insects do not lay eggs. Spied on by lovers of dried fly agaric.

 

[KemppiFrog]

Local friend does sun dried tomatoes by leaving them in a tray behind the windscreen of a spare car, facing the sun. Esp good this past summer