The new onions were done coming up...so I decided to chop up last years onions, that were left, and dehydrate them in the solar dehydrator...
Unfortunately, I had already put some apples in and unfortunately that would make the apples absorb the flavor of the onions. So What to do.
Everyone knows how hot the inside of a car can get...so I put the apples on a window screen and placed it in the car, then cracked the two front windows a centimetre so todays gentle breeze would take away any moisture buildup in the car. It worked great.
Ill be doing an upgrade to my solar dehydrator soon. I want to ad a small camp stove in the bottom that can be removed to use in the trailer during the winter. The reason is, one of the problems of a solar dehydrator is that, by the time your harvest starts coming in full force, the weather is getting cooler and more unpredictable. Sometimes the humidity is to darned high and water wont absorb into the air. The small camping wood stove should solve the problem of a sudden weather change as well as keeping the dehydration happening into the evening.
This is also where an electric dehydrator and a solar dehydrator can work hand and hand. One of the down sides of an electric dehydrator is the cost of electricity which can make just buying dried food cheaper than the energy cost. Partial dehydrating with solar, then finishing them off in the electric to make them crisp is a good combo.
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
Just a quick few morning thoughts before dragging out the grinder to try and salvage a failed attempt at a cold storage to try and see if I can change it into a partially underground greenhouse.
Any improvised dehydrator is based on convincing warm air to move over the surface of what you are trying to dehydrate, then whisking away the moisture particles that attach themselves to that warm, dry, moving air. Without the moving of air it is just a cooker.
I collect window screens when people are throwing them out. these work very well for corn or small beans or any small cut items. Excessively wet items don't work well on these. like tomatoes or high sugar items, like bananas or cut plums, as they will stick to the screen.
Another option, is simply putting these screens with airflow underneath, on a black surface on a sunny day with a slight breeze.
The point of dehydrating is to inhibit bacterial growth buy removing the water that bacteria needs to propagate themselves. This is a major way, the rest of the world stores food. Visiting china town or little india, in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal will be a good education in how much of the worlds food is stored this way. Next time you are in one of these areas, spend some educational time learning just what can be done from people that do it all the time.
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.