Katie Haven and Jackson Vanfleet-Brown demonstrate the workings of the solar food dehydrator
Two years ago this week our garden was over producing and there
was no way to preserve it all, due to a series of unfortunate events – namely,
hell and high water – that left us without power or running water for eight
weeks of 2014. The garden decided to ripen every single fruit and vegetable all
at once. We were drowning in bounty with no means to preserve it, so most of it
was either given away, or churned back into the soil for compost.
So imagine my interest when Katie Haven of McFarland CreekLamb Ranch posted a photo on the ranch’s Facebook page of a solar dehydrator
with the caption, “Just finished
my new solar dehydrator. High overcast and its 130 degrees inside! Can't wait
to start drying the 20 lbs of cherries I just picked.” Compact and lightweight,
the solar dehydrator looked easy to assemble and even easier to operate.
I stopped by during a summer
rainstorm when Katie and her friend’s son, Jackson Vanfleet-Brown, took a break
from chores to wait out the rain. We chatted around her kitchen table while in
her garden sunflowers and hollyhocks acquiesced to stormy winds and thick droplets
of rain.
Thumbing through The Solar Food Dryer by Eben Fodor,
Katie spoke about why she wanted to build her own, “I like the idea of
minimizing electrical use, and I want to dry cherries and apricots.” The book
contains detailed assembly instructions for an efficient and highly cost
effective design for a simple, light weight box that is used to off the grid to
preserve home grown food.
Katie and her friend’s son,
Jackson Vanfleet-Brown, spent a weekend assembling the solar dehydrator from scrap
lumber leftover after the rebuild of the McFarland Creek Lamb Ranch barn, which
had succumbed to the Carlton Complex fires in 2014.
The food dryer is made from
common materials, locally available here in the valley: plywood, 2x4s, ¾ inch
trim, sheet metal, flat black spray paint, and glass and screens cut to order
from Methow Valley Lumber.
The top of the wooden box is
angled with a sealed glass cover. A back door is used to access the inside of the
box, where removable food-drying screens slide above a piece of sheet metal,
painted flat black. The black metal absorbs
solar heat and transmits it to the air flow surrounding the food-drying trays.
The solar food dryer works
with natural convection. Warm air inside the box rises and exits through small
circular vents near the top of the box, creating a vacuum which draws cool air
in through the bottom vents. The cool air is warmed as it flows below the black
metal panel, and the now warm air rises around the food-drying screen above.
The food is dried using this natural convection of efficient hot air flow.
A small thermometer tracks the
internal temperature of the box, which can reach an astounding 160 degrees
Fahrenheit on a triple digit day. Optimum
drying temperature is between 110 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. To cool
the internal temperature of the box, airflow can be increased by opening
another vent on the back, near the top of the box.
To date, Katie has put up five
quarts of dried cherries, and was in the process of drying apricots last
weekend. “The cherries took about two days to dry, apricots took about 3 days,”
she explained. Later this summer Katie will use the solar dehydrator to process
tomatoes, apples, pears, and herbs.
The solar food dehydrator looks like a fun weekend project
and a wise investment. No electrical power needed, no noisy fans. Just fill it
up with produce and let the sunlight and natural convection do the rest of the
work. More information can be found at www.solarfooddryer.com.
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