Dryer for fruit with own hands

Fruits are a source of vitamins and various useful elements needed to maintain health and strengthen immunity. But they can not be used fresh in the whole year. To provide the body with the necessary substances, fruits must be harvested in advance. There are two ways for this: canning and drying. A greater amount of vitamins in fruits is preserved when drying. In the process of preservation, a large part of the molecules are destroyed, so that the fruits lose most of the vitamins.

Features of drying the fruit

In order to dry the fruit, you can simply put them in a cool place and wait until they reach the desired state. This method has certain advantages, becausefor its implementation it is not required to make significant efforts and make large financial investments. In addition, with this harvesting process, fruits retain almost all valuable elements. But this approach also has a significant drawback.

Fruit so dried attracts insects. And to protect fruit from their invasion is not possible, because in the conditions of hermetic packaging and lack of contact with the air, the fruit simply does not dry. It is not a way out of the situation and treatment with chemicals, because in this case the taste of the product will change. In addition, chemicals penetrate into the structure of fruits, and such a product will no longer be absolutely safe. The most optimal way to prepare fruit for the whole year is to make a dryer.

Principle of operation of the

dryer The principle of the fruit dryer is as follows: the main work is carried out by a strong flow of air that passes through the layer of fruit. As a result of this influence, the metabolic processes are activated in the fruits, which accelerates the drying process. But the fruit should not be exposed to the effect of open airflow immediately. Beforehand, they should be held in the dryer for 3-4 days without exposing them to such an effect.

For this, the fruit needs to be cut and spread on trays, which are then placed on the body. Dry this way you can not only fruits, but also greens, mushrooms. During the heating, moisture from the fruit is removed, and their final moisture content is from 5% to 8%.To avoid a drop in temperature, care must be taken to insulate the walls of the structure.

Manufacturing technology

The design of the dryer for vegetables and fruits consists of three main parts:

• housing;
• fan;
• tray for placing fruit.

Various materials can be used to make the case. For example, sheets of plywood. The recommended size of the construction: width - 60 cm, length - 80 cm, height - 40 cm. The body must consist only of walls, the bottom and the cover need not be mounted.

An old refrigerator is also suitable for drying cabinet. From it you need to clean the freezer and the compressor. As a heater in the refrigerator, glass wool is often used, so care should be taken when removing it. Work should be carried out in tight clothing and rubber seals. The construction process takes place in the following order:

1. In the lower and upper part of the refrigerator, windows should be made to ensure that the airflow enters and leaves the structure.
2. You can secure the door with a conventional hook. If the hook is slightly bent and made on it notch, when closing the door will be more snug against the refrigerator, tightly closing the body.
3. As a bottom it is necessary to install a metal fine mesh net.

Grill grill can also be used for this purpose. Beforehand, you need to remove the wire handles from the grate. On the grid is mounted fan, equipped with an engine. This element can be removed from the old technique. In the absence of a fan, it can be replaced by incandescent lamps. They will need 2 pcs capacity of 150 watts. When using lamps, it will take a little longer to dry. At the top of the box are installed trays, which will affect the flow of air from the fan.

Method of manufacturing infrared dryer

This is a fairly economical and simple method of making a homemade fruit dryer. For work, you will need:

• heating film, which is used to install warm floors with a size of 50x100 cm. The power of such a film is 110 W;
• electric wire with plug and switch;
• insulation kit.

It is better to use bitumen insulation used for installing infra-red floors. On top of this material should be laid PVC insulation, it can be purchased at the sales of heating film.

To connect the wire to the heating pad, you will also need 2 clamps, 2 eyelets, 2 terminal rings. Wires are connected using a soldering iron:

1. In the process of soldering under a film it is recommended to lay a metal bar, this will avoid its overheating.
2. The temperature of this dryer reaches 58 ° C.This is enough to get a quality product. Such a dryer is quite convenient to use. It easily folds into a roll, which facilitates its storage or transportation.
3. Also this dryer is a multifunctional device, since the possibilities of its use are not limited to drying fruits. This device is also used as a heater in the cold period.

Solar drier

This design allows you to dry fruits with the help of solar energy. For work it is necessary to prepare wooden beams 50x50 mm. The width, length and depth of the dryer can be chosen arbitrarily, focusing on personal needs.

1. The bars are stuck together. Thus, three details are formed.
2. Next, the frame is lost.
3. The shelves of the structure must be mounted at a right angle to the solar side. In order to determine this angle, you need to install the future dryer in the sun and observe the shadow.
4. The enclosure should be tilted and tracked when the shading of the contours occurs. Then use the level to mark on the side parts of the shelves location.
5. The rear wall, as well as the side parts, must be sewn with plywood sheets or lining. At the rear, a metal sheet should be additionally installed, this will ensure the heating of the dryer. Above and in the lower part there are holes for air circulation.
6. To prevent the penetration of insects through these openings, they should be covered with a mosquito net.
7. Inside the structure is painted black. This is done to create a greenhouse effect, which is necessary for drying.
8. The dryer must be covered with a transparent material. For this purpose, suitable glass, cellular polycarbonate or transparent slate.
9. This is where the fruit dryer is ready with its own hands, it can be installed. It should be located at an incline, so the sun's rays in sufficient quantity will fall on the dryer. The necessary arrangement can be provided by leaning the case against any surface. If there is no suitable surface, pipes are attached to the sidewalls of the structure. For free air circulation, the shelves are made of mesh material. For example, from a mosquito net.

The solar dryer operates as follows. The sun's rays penetrate the transparent coating and heat the metal sheet attached to the back wall. As a result, the temperature inside the structure increases significantly and reaches 50 ° C.In these conditions, the fruit is drying up at an accelerated rate. At the same time, due to the removal of moisture from the outside, the products do not mold. This is facilitated by good ventilation. Cold air enters the dryer through the bottom hole, it heats up and through the opening in the upper part comes out. This principle prevents the appearance of mold on the fruit.

When drying, you do not need to try to speed up the process by increasing the temperature. As a result, a significant amount of vitamins and pectins in fruits are destroyed and their nutritional value will decrease. To obtain a good product, the temperature in the structure should not exceed 50 ° C.

Conclusion

The application of the dryer will allow the harvesting of fruits for the whole year. In this case, the fruits will not be subjected to destructive thermal effects, due to which they will retain practically all useful elements in their composition. The technology of manufacturing this design is quite simple, and the necessary materials are available. Before making, you need to consider all the features of the fruit dryer: feedback, design parameters, type, etc.

The process of manufacturing an infrared dryer for fruit is shown in the video: