DIY Solar Dehydrator | World Chaos

DIY?Solar Dehydrator

Made from two cardboard boxes, some clear plastic wrap, and a little tape. You can build a nearly free solar dehydrator. Set it on a stool or chair and face it?s solar collector towards the sun, and you have a functional food preservation machine for little work and even less money.

The above picture almost says it all. Using a long thin cardboard box for the collector and a taller, nearly square, cardboard box for the drying box. Boxes could be made to size by cutting and taping together small cardboard pieces. Line the bottom of the collector box with a black plastic garbage bag or paint the bottom with black, water based, poster paint, (lamp black or soot mixed with a little vegetable oil would work as well).If you use spray paint or other toxic paints, let the collector bake in the sun for a day or two before use.?Cover the top of the collector with clear plastic wrap or window glass, etc. Tape it together as shown.

To increase the efficiency, you may want to cover the sides and bottom of both boxes with fiberglass or styrofoam insulation.

TESTS FOR DRYNESS:

Rely on appearance and feel to judge dryness.
Cool a test handful a few minutes before deciding whether the food is done.
Consider fruit dry when no wetness can be squeezed from a piece which has been cut ? it should be rather tough and pliable.
Consider vegetables dry when brittle.

PRE- AND POST-DRYING TREATMENTS FOR FRUITS & VEGETABLES:

Steam blanching is safe pre-treatment which can prevent spoilage ? especially of low acid foods such as vegetables.

Important post-drying treatments are:
Conditioning ? i.e. leaving in open air for long periods to equalize moisture content.
Pasteurizing ? i.e. exposing the dried foods to high heat to eliminate harmful organisms.

STORAGE:

Ensure food is thoroughly cool before storing.
Store in small quantities in glass or food-grade plastic.
Check supplies frequently for contamination or dampness.
Keep in a dry, cool place (between 4 C/40 F and 21 C/70 F).

PREPARING FOR EATING:

Fruits ? cover with boiling water in saucepan and simmer the fruit covered for 10-15 min.
- sweeten to taste at the very end of cooking.
- remove from heat and cool still covered Vegetables.
- soak all vegetables except greens in cold water until they are nearly restored to their original texture.
- use only enough water to cover and always cook in the soaking water. ? cover greens with enough boiling water to cover and simmer until tender.

From?Introduction to food drying

Related articles

Can you get ?prepper? foods at the grocery store? Yes, if you know about these?cheap emergency foods?we often overlook?

The rise of the modern ?prepper? is no accident, with shows like National Geographic Channel?s?Doomsday Preppersheralding a larger shift in social awareness. In the wake of storms like Katrina, Irene, and Sandy, even stubborn New Yorkers are realizing that Mother Nature packs a punch, and that most people aren?t ready to roll with it. This combined with rising concerns about economic troubles and bumbling government has caused a flood of newbie preppers to take to the stores, eagerly looking for the security of stored food, water, and medicines. The prospect can be daunting, especially if you?re trying to prep on your own or for a small group. Often, the biggest mistake new preppers can make is looking too far from home for the supplies they need.

The temptation to blow several hundred dollars on specialized?freeze dried foods?in durable looking specialty packaging can be almost too much to resist, and it?s the most common mistake new preppers with tight budgets make. In fact, many ?prepper foods? are so cheap. You probably already have some and forgot about it.

The ubiquitous jar of peanut butter is practically an American icon, and serves as an ideal prepper food in its own right. Dating all the way back to the Aztec empire, peanut butter offers protein, fiber, B vitamins, potassium, and?healthy fats. Available at nearly any dollar store, the plastic jars store well (anywhere from two to five years), and even if it does go bad, it won?t hurt you. According to Maribeth Cousin, a professor of food science at Purdue, ?Some people actually eat rancid food without knowing it, depending upon their individual taste buds.? Even rancid, the nutritional content remains intact, though the flavor suffers. Since rancidification is linked to oxygen exposure, sealed jars are not likely to go rancid.?

Honey is another good choice as a prepper food. As natural?sweeteners, honey and sugar are neck and neck, but where honey really shines is in its medicinal values. Honey packs a variety of nutrients, like B and C vitamins, iron and magnesium, and has powerful anti-fungal, antibacterial, and antiseptic qualities. Combined, these two facts mean that honey is a digestive miracle worker and can even be used to topically treat injuries like cuts and burns. Honey, also, never goes bad. Literally, it can?t do it. As moisture leaves it, honey takes on a crystalline structure, but a little heat will melt it right back down into a more usable state.

?Powdered drink mixes are another easy, long lasting, and cheap way to stretch your budget and your diet in an emergency. As an example, Tang provides 100% of the daily dosage of vitamin C in an eight-ounce serving (after all, it was invented for astronauts). Kool-Aid? mix is another option, since it?s also high in vitamin C and E. Personally, I recommend?powdered Gatorade. Not only will it stretch your diet by adding calories, carbs, and vitamins to your water, but also it can be used to treat dehydration. A study in 2005 found that Gatorade was effective in treating cases of acute dehydration, which makes it an excellent option for families with young or elderly members.

?Another frequently overlooked item, while not exactly a food product, is indispensable if the grocery store shelves go empty. Multivitamins are an excellent addition to a stockpile. Costing between five and eight dollars, a 400-count jar will provide all the essential?vitamins and minerals?your diet might not be providing for weeks. The shelf life of vitamin supplements can range from one to five years, so be sure to check your preferred brand!

?The last item I?d like to touch on isn?t food by itself, but it?s essential for preparing food. Easily the most overlooked items on the list, cooking oil, salt, and pepper are a key part of an emergency stockpile. Without those, it will be very difficult to prepare anything at all. Nearly all recipes call for at least some salt, and most cooked items require at least some oil in preparation. Oil is important if you have small children to look after in a crisis, as the addition of even a little to your cooking will provide key omega-3 fatty acids essential to growth and development. If push really came to shove, vegetable oil can even be made into biodiesel, so you can drive away from whatever mess you managed to end up in.

??Keep Critical Items Near First Floor Exit

Please make sure you have a basic first aid kit as well as a few days of any medication you or family members take on a regular basis (prescription and over the counter). Also, include a change of clothes for each family member. If an earthquake is what you?re most concerned about, make sure you put the most critical?emergency supplies?in a back pack or even five-gallon bucket with a lid near the main first floor exit of your home.

?Have Cash in Small Bills?

Don?t forget some cash in small bills! If electricity is out, there may not be adequate ways to use a?debit card, get gasoline at a gas station, or buy supplies (like a piece of plywood to cover a window that breaks in an earthquake). We rarely use cash or keep it at home, but everyone in our family knows where we have securely stowed a zip-type bag of small bills for emergencies only.

Learn How to Take Care of Family after Emergency

You can go to the?FEMA?or?C.E.R.T.?website, and find many emergency ideas. FEMA will send you many guides free. Find out from your local Emergency Management office (either city, county or state) if there is a free C.E.R.T. class available. It may be through the Red Cross in your area. This is a great, free course that teaches you how to take care of yourself and your family after an emergency.

?Add to Camping Equipment

Our?emergency supplies?also include:

• cans of food and a manually operated can opener
• plastic plates and cutlery
• simple cooking utensils
• cat food for our pets
• hand sanitizer
• two buckets
• a toilet seat
• candles and matches
• tent
• sleeping bags
• camping cooker

Some of these emergency supplies are part of our camping equipment. Toilet seats were in great demand in Christchurch after the earthquake, so that has recently been add

Put It Together One Piece at a Time

Your first move would be to get a listing of what an?emergency kit?should contain and set aside a place for your emergency items until you can afford totes for the kit. It can be a shelf, closet, etc.

Gradually purchase one extra item at a time. Look carefully at your list and choose to purchase first the items that have an extended expiration date. The first items we put in our kit were paper products, soaps, scissors, tape and medical and personal clothing items. These items went in one tote.

I have a shelf with food items that expire, and by rotating those items, we keep a full stock. Occasionally, I will replace some of the paper items also. I keep another tote nearby and everything can be stacked in it at a moment?s notice. We eventually purchased a wind up light and radio. It took us awhile, but we are now ready for whatever happens.

Purchase in Parts

Make a list of all of the?emergency supplies?or items for a?first aid kit?that you feel you need. Then start purchasing one item a week. Look over the weekly sales flyers and then decide which item will be purchased that week. You might even find some items on a Freecycle list?..source poormansurvival

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