Solar Food Dehydrator

It has been about a month since we finished our Solar Food Dehydrator! In that time we have dried quite a bit of basil, oregano, and thyme. The Dehydrator is in great working order and we wanted to include some instructions and a supply list so you can make your own!
To make a 3 by 3 dehydrator you will need:

• 12, 36″ X 2″ X2″ pieces of wood
• a 36″ X 36″ piece of fiberglass greenhouse material, or a 36″ by 36″ Plexiglass piece
• a 36″ X 36″ piece of aluminum flashing
• a 36″ X 36″ piece of corrugated aluminum roofing material
• a 36″ X 36″ food grade steel screen. This can be found online. We improvised and used instead some stainless steel grill screens. These come in 12″ by 24″ pieces. Instead of having one large screen food we had three smaller ones that fit into a 36″by 36″ square.
• 4, 36″ X 2″ X 4″ pieces of wood as well as a few more pieces to make the legs of the stand.
• 2, 4 ” pieces of scrap wood.
• 2, 6″ T hinges
• 1.5 ” screws and corresponding washers

Begin by making a 36″ by 36″ frame with the 2″ by 4″ boards. This frame needs to be tilted to a 15 degree angle. Then screw the corrugated roofing to this frame with the grooves going vertically. On the downward end of the slope screw in two pieces of 4″ scrap wood with two inches sticking up above the corrugated roofing. This stops the food screens from sliding down the roofing.

Next, assemble 4 of the 36″ 2″ by 2″ into a square. Onto this frame you will screw first the plexiglass on one side and the aluminum flashing to the opposite side. Be sure to pre-drill the screw holes and use the washers or else the fiberglass or plexiglass will crack.

The next step is to make the food screens. If you find food grade stainless steel screen you can use 4, 36″ 2″by2″ pieces of wood to make one screen. Or, if you do as we did and use the stainless steel grill material to make your screens you will have to make several oddly shaped screens. Just make sure they fit into a 36″ by 36″ square.

The last step is to attach the two T hinges to connect the bottom frame with the top of the dehydrator. Then you are ready to dry food!

We adapted these directions from the Solar Food Dehydrator directions we found on the website: geopathfinder.com

Good luck! ~ Kirsten

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