How to Dehydrate Food Without a Traditional Dehydrator

Traditional food dehydrators are expensive and often ineffective because they generate too much heat. But you can create your very own, far superior dehydrator using common household objects. Even if you have to buy everything brand new, you’ll still save money compared to electric dehydrators.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Electric box fan
• Paper or cellulose furnace filters
• Bungee cords with hooks
• Fruits, vegetables or meats for dehydrating

1. Prepare your fruits and vegetables by washing and slicing them. If you plan to dehydrate meat, use very lean meat and slice it thin for the best results.
2. Lay one furnace filter flat, and place your cut food pieces inside these grooves. Your furnace filters should have several V-shaped ridges. Make sure your food pieces are not so big that they spill over the edges because you’ll need to place another filter on top.
3. Fill up as many filters as necessary to hold all of your food, but do not exceed five. Stack them on top of each other, and place another filter on top to completely enclose all of your slices.
4. Lay the box fan flat so that the front of the fan is face up. Place the stack of filters on top of the front of the fan. Strap everything together securely using bungee cords.
5. Stand the fan upright, and ensure that the bungee cords hold everything in place. Plug in the fan, set it to high and let it blow air through the food for at least three hours. Different foods dehydrate at different rates, so check on it periodically to gauge when everything is ready to be consumed.

Tips & Warnings

• Place your makeshift dehydrator in a cool place away from direct sunlight while in use.
• The filters are reusable for dehydrating, but should be replaced if they get soaked in liquid of any kind from the food you dry.
• Do not use fiberglass filters for this procedure.