Solar Food Dehydrator

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This is a solar food dehydrator that we use for our apples, peaches, and bananas. On a full sunny day, it can complete a few racks of fruit but usually we like to give it two days. I stated that it uses 2×3’s for the frame but it’s actually 2×4’s.

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Video Rating: / 5

18 thoughts on “Solar Food Dehydrator”

  1. Curious about your feelings and/or opinion of the screening you used for your drying trays. Is there any issues in your mind about the screen being food grade? Can regular screen wire, synthetic or aluminum, be harmful? Being the neighborhood scrapper I have quite a few yards of both. Seems I remember reading once that regular screen wire that is not made for this application can transfer toxins, etc. Not picking on anything you've done, just concerned. Great design. Thanks for sharing it.

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  2. my question is, if your product isnt finished dehydrating in 8/10 hrs, does it setting overnight, cooling off affect the finished product?  any how do you control the tmep in the unit?  i live in the south and i built a coke can collector which easily puts out 135 f on a sunny day with a 30 f temp.

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  3. Come on….get rid of the annoying subtitles please….WE can hear you just fine and they block the view of what you are doing…… Thanks

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  4. Thanks a bunch for this great video. A Good weekend project. Think I will make it half the sice of yours.
    Greetings from Denmark

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  5. This looks like the best design of all I've researched, so far. (I built 4 2 foot square 'Walker Solar Dehydrators' that I've found unwieldy to move and difficult to fill/empty.) You've thought of every 'problem' I've considered. Except how to store the behemoth when not using it! 🙂 Thanks.

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  6. So I've been spending quite some time constructing my first Downdraft Dehydrator to dry leaves (for tea and medicine), fruits and vegetables (for preservation), and seeds and nuts for small-scale oil extraction, and I am finally finished. I ran a few tests which started yesterday, and today I found out that the roof over the chimney (the highest point on the device) was affecting the internal temperature. I am currently reconstructing the chimney (making it a bit higher and adding a different type of roof) so that the internal temperature can be stabilized during this heat wave affecting the island of Jamaica. I got internal temperatures between 35.5 (95.9 F) and 49.8 (121.28 F) degrees Celsius today (you only need 40 oC (104 F) to adequately dry plant materials and preserve nutrients). Planning to get it all sorted out tomorrow. This is a modified version ( scaled it down by 50%) of the one you built.

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  7. Great video instruction and great design, and thanks for pointing out key ideas like reversing the drill for the acrylic, third wheel, and the goof about accounting for the size of the acrylic sheet stock size. Kudos!

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