Solar Food Dryer Construction

We have long had plans of making a solar food dryer and now it has finally happened. The reason behind it is to try to preserve some of our garden produce so that we can enjoy it out of season. There is a limit to how many zucchinis you can eat in one day and our plants are producing quite a number at the moment. But the dryer should also be good for different types of fruit, mushrooms, etc. We will experiment a bit more as we go along and might come back with some updates on the progress.

As for now, this is how it was constructed.

The screens which we are using as shelves were picked up from the tip shop at a bargain - a total of $15. But the size was a bit too big - did not fit with the glass to have on top of the box, so we reduced the sizes by cutting down the aluminium sides and the screen.

The box itself is made out of 7mm plywood. We had to buy one sheet new, which cost us about $27. The strips of wood are glued and screwed to the side of the box. The far left one (or the bottom one when it stands up) is used to fix the bottom of the box. The second one is to hold a metal absorption plate, and the three others to hold the shelves.

The side standing up in the correct position.

Sides, front and bottom now all fixed together.

This picture is looking down into the box. The holes in the bottom are there to draw in fresh air from ground level. The holes are permanently open and covered with a screen to make sure flies don't come into the box.

Now we have also started with the back side. The bottom part is fixed.

The rest of the back side now in place. The top part is also fixed, but the middle is hinged so that it can be opened.

Back door open to show where the shelves will go in.

In the top part of the back I have now installed a couple of extra vents. These can be opened or closed depending on the need and how hot the box gets. All the hinges were taken from some recycled doors which we have used form making an office desk and a table for our entertainment room.

Just showing how the top vents can be opened. They have also been fitted with screens. On each side of the box there is also a permanent vent to let the air flow through the box and bring out the hot moist air.

Shelves in place.

Now the legs have been fitted as well. These are taken from some off-cuts we had left over after doing fencing work (see the next diary entry).

The glass has now been installed and the box has been painted. We used external grade white paint on the outside and a black food grade epoxy on the inside. The epoxy does not give away any bad gasses, but to be on the safe side, we did let the dryer be out in the sun for a couple of days before starting to use it. Here we are test drying some yellow zucchini.

And here is a full tray of dried zucchini. We left it out for two sunny days and it gets really nice and dry. For further storage we put the zucchini in brown paper bags, just enough for one meal in each, then put the paper bag inside a sealable plastic bag, and then it is placed in an air tight preserving jar. So, now we just have to wait and see how long it can be stored !!!

This dryer can be made in a range of different sizes, depending on your needs and the materials you have available. We based the size around the window we had available for the top !

Any problems, please email webmaster. This page was last updated 24/07/2008