How to Build a Solar Food Dehydrator for $300, Preserve 10 Pounds of Food at a TimeBy Justin Gardner While canning, pickling and freezing work well, adding dehydration to the mix gives you even more diversity. Instead of spending lots of money on a fancy machine, you can make a solar food dehydrator for much less, and take pride in your DIY project. Dennis Scanlin of the Appropriate Technology Program at Appalachian State University spent nearly 20 years testing and experimenting solar dehydrator designs. His solar dehydration unit can dry large amounts of food quickly, and is wheeled for easy movement. Plus, you can add light bulbs to improve operation when the weather is cloudy or humid. With a few tools and basic woodworking skills, this solar food dehydrator can become a vital part of your homestead. This design relies on indirect solar power, meaning the drying food is not exposed to the sun but instead to solar-heated air. Our dryer takes advantage of the natural process of rising hot air to operate efficiently without any electric fans. The drying chamber of this dehydrator supports 11 trays to hold up to 10 pounds of thinly sliced food about 35 to 40 medium-sized apples, for reference. It can dry this amount of food in two sunny days, or about half this amount of food in one sunny day because of better ventilation and reduced food mass. The temperature inside the chamber can easily soar to more than 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Visit here for detailed instructions on building and using Scanlins solar food dehydrator. Justin Gardner writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com Why would you use poisonous pressure treated wood?????????? I agree!! Right, rip 26 or 28 red cedar, its lighter as well as safer How to avoid / eliminate that peculiar sun-dried smell of sun-dried food items? Well, we tried to sun-dry many leafy vegetables, thin onion / potato slices etc. with the help of one social organization: Volunteers Overseas, for the benefit of agriculturists. (It was around 40 years ago.) I have used a solar dehydrator for years and have not come across the oder problem you speak of. Do you clean your produce before dehydration? Is the water clean that you use to wash your produce? 