If you’re a fan of Alton Brown’s Good Eats, you’ll find that he loves taking a concept, breaking it down, and finding a way to do it himself….sometimes much more convoluted than the original premise. But THIS happens to be one of those things that is easy to do, really cheap, and can get you through until you CAN get your own dehydrator (btw, the Nesco FD-80 is really affordable – read my review here).
(By pricing out the parts, you can actually get a dehydrator for the price of this hack, assuming you don’t already own a box fan of your own. But where’s the fun in that?! This is a fun project on it’s own!)
Make Your Own Dehydrator Hack
What you’ll need:
Box Fan
Cellulose furnace filters (like the ones you can get from the big box DIY stores)
Plastic Canvas (Alton suggest dehydrator liners, but plastic canvas from hobby stores works great, too)
Bungee cord
- Prepare your slicked fruit or beef jerky for dehydrating. (need ideas? Checked out these 101+ Dehydrating Recipes)
- Lay a sheet of plastic canvas on filter
- Place single layer of fruit, jerky or vegetables on filter
- Layer with another piece of plastic canvas
- Stack filters on top of each other on box fan
- Wrap together with bungee cord
- Stand up fan and let it rip!
Watch below and you can see how to make your own dehydrator.
Convoluted? Yes. Fun? You betcha!
Katy Willis is a writer, lifelong homesteader, and master herbalist, master gardener, and canine nutritionist. Katy is a preparedness expert and modern homesteader practicing everyday preparedness, sustainability, and a holistic lifestyle.
She knows how important it is to be prepared for whatever life throws at you, because you just never know what's coming. And preparedness helps you give your family the best chance to thrive in any situation.
Katy is passionate about living naturally, growing food, keeping livestock, foraging, and making and using herbal remedies. Katy is an experienced herbalist and a member of the CMA (Complementary Medical Association).
Her preparedness skills go beyond just being "ready", she's ready to survive the initial disaster, and thrive afterward, too. She grows 100% organic food on roughly 15 acres and raises goats, chickens, and ducks. She also lovingly tends her orchard, where she grows many different fruit trees. And, because she likes to know exactly what she's feeding her family, she's a seasoned from-scratch cook and gluten-free baker.
Katy teaches foraging and environmental education classes, too, including self-sufficient living, modern homesteading, seed saving, and organic vegetable gardening.
Katy helps others learn forgotten skills, including basic survival skills and self-reliance.
She's been published on sites such as MSN, Angi, Home Advisor, Family Handyman, Wealth of Geeks, Readers Digest, and more.