Food dehydrators realistic for off grid?

softdown

Looking at a 10 tray unit for $200. Likely a good price from the big C….o. Currently $300 at the big A….n.

But I am wondering about energy consumption. 

I don’t know if it is realistic to turn it off at night. 

littleharbor2

I have an Older cheap version of one of these And they don't appear to use that much power Due to the fact they don't create much heat Probably wouldn't be too hard to look up the specs

JRHill

It depends on what you are dehydrating, to me. If fruits or veggies we have a home made multi row open on all sides and the top with window screen covered with 1/4" wire fabric and let the sun do it. If meat it's a different story and we use a store bought that makes heat and circulates air. You want it done ASAP for food safety. Then it's dependent on the health and amount of battery storage so there is no risk to your freezers.

softdown

littleharbor2 said:

I have an Older cheap version of one of these And they don't appear to use that much power Due to the fact they don't create much heat Probably wouldn't be too hard to look up the specs

Thought it odd that I found no specs on the C***** ad. Found this at A*******:

Wattage	1000 watts
Product Dimensions	21.3"D x 16.9"W x 16.4”H.       Temp range from 95F to 167F. Doubtful the heating element is on more than a few minutes at a time.

BB.

I have an older 6 tray version of that unit... Works fine, but don't think they are very "energy efficient". For our unit, the temperate does not hit set point until near the end of the cycle--When the fruit is pretty much dry. So it does end of being a small "room heater".

I suggest you get some silicon mats. Even with the still screen shelves, most stuff sticks to the screen and it takes some work to peel the product off the racks.

I used these mats and cut them to size.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FP3NXMZ

Product peels off the silicon mats very easily.

-Bill

softdown

OK - thanks for the input. I’ll buy some silicone mats now. Cleaning is not my forte anyway. 

I don’t know if I’ll use it much. But the prepper in me just had to have it. 

If a person bought their fruit in season, with low prices, it would be possible to see a sound investment. Right now Costco has oranges at .88 cents/pound. Their Business Center sells 20 lb boxes of tomatoes at very reasonable prices. But it is hard to eat 20 pounds of tomatoes before they grow soft. 

I might do beef jerky but last time I tried that I’d wolf down $15 worth of jerky in one sitting. Tastes too good.  

I was really hoping you would chime in on the “efficiency”, or lack thereof, of using a single charge controller for the new solar array:

750 watts to the east at ~10 degrees.

750 watts to the west at ~10 degrees.

Might be closer to 15 degrees upon closer inspection. I’ll put a roof gauge on it when the weather clears. Finally getting some very badly needed rain. 








BB. said:

I have an older 6 tray version of that unit... Works fine, but don't think they are very "energy efficient". For our unit, the temperate does not hit set point until near the end of the cycle--When the fruit is pretty much dry. So it does end of being a small "room heater".

I suggest you get some silicon mats. Even with the still screen shelves, most stuff sticks to the screen and it takes some work to peel the product off the racks.

I used these mats and cut them to size.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FP3NXMZ

Product peels off the silicon mats very easily.

-Bill

BB.

Before you purchase a 100 lbs of fruit/etc... Buy smaller amounts first. We do a lot of apples and pears because we have a couple trees.

Some things dry nicely, and others no so easy. For example, oranges tend not to dry very fast because of the "cell" structure slows  moisture from leaving the fruit.

We also use a vacuum bag sealer to keep the product dry and the quality from degrading (I.e., reabsorbing moisture from the air--For example apples become almost "leathery" over time if not sealed).

And the "simple/cheap" vacuum bags can get pierced by the sharp edges of the fruit. Found that mylar bags tend to be more rugged but really need a more expensive vacuum sealing machine to draw air/oxygen out of bag before sealing...

And it ends up being a lot of work to take 100 lbs of raw apples to peal and slice into 10 lbs of dried fruit.

-Bill

softdown

Peal apples? I’m pretty sure the peals are the most nutrient dense by far.