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OfflineCornelius
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Dehydrator Project
    #3182839 - 09/26/04 02:34 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

If you have an old foor dehydrator lying around and you're afraid to use it on your shooms because of the heat issue, then here's something you can do to adapt it into a nice dessicant dehydrator :grin:

Firstly, if you bought a dehydrator brand new, then I wouldn't recommend this incase you're not happy with the results or you suddenly find that you have a bunch of apples you want to make into apple chips. I found mine for 2 bucks at a thrift store so I wasn't too concerned with tampering with it.  :tongue: One thing I've certainly noticed at thrift stores is that while their supply of pressure cookers is next to zero, they almost always have at least one food dehydrator - it's just one of those items that people often buy compulsively and only use once or twice. I also see them all the time at garage sales.

First thing is to remove the heating element and/or the fan from the bottom of the unit. Most of the dehydrators I have seen do not have fans built in but apparently some do. In my particular case this made room for the tub of dessicant that sits in the bottom. I suppose if your model has room, then you can leave the element intact. (I found that it's nice to have the cord removed so the unit becomes easier to move around though):

removed heating element:



This is the bottom portion of the dehydrator. I cut up pieces of tough plastic sheeting and taped them over the  bottom holes. Simple enough. The tub of dessicant sits here in the centre (the tub that came with the small jug of Damp-Rid was perfect):

bottom of dehydrator:



Next, measure the diameter of the drying trays and cut to size pieces of thin metal window screening (available in rolls at large Hardware stores and sometimes sold by the foot). The sreening prevents the smaller shrooms from falling through the rather large holes in the original trays. Place the newly cut screens into the trays:

original tray:


window screen:


screen close up:


screen inside the original tray:



The final step is to seal up the vent holes in the dehydrator lid. Mine had an adjustable one, but none of the settings would be fully closed. I used the same plastic sheeting that i used to seal the holes in the bottom of the unit. I'm sure every model is slightly different, so you'll have to improvise a little:

Lid of Dehydrator:



And that's it!



All the components fit together and create a decent seal for optimal drying action.

The beauty of this setup is that most dehydrators come wih several trays (mine had 6!) So you can add trays as you need them. This allows for quite a bit of space and more importantly it also allows you to keep different strains seperate during drying. It's a good idea to label the trays since it's easy to mix up strains especially when they're dry and shrivelled :smirk::




Have fun!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :tongue2:

Edited by Cornelius (09/26/04 07:23 PM)

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Invisiblegloom
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Registered: 09/14/04
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Cornelius]
    #3182931 - 09/26/04 03:05 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

you have just helped out MANY people including myself.
now, what is the best drying time when using a dehydrator? how long do you dry them for?

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InvisibleATWAR
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Cornelius]
    #3182986 - 09/26/04 03:23 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

You should cut and paste that into the FAQ contributions section.
I like the idea of the screen, I need some of that...


Some dehydrators have build in fans. I think one of those types with the heating element removed would work just as well. It would be possible to fan dry for a few hours, then seal it up with dessicant. Then with a small internal box fan, you could circulate the air inside further aiding in the dessication process... Perhaps someday....


I prefer the heated method. It is faster, easier, and it gets them just as dry as dessication... I honestly have never noticed a potency difference that was significant (if any at all) using heat. I have dried in all sorts of methods and in the end it all resulted in the same thing. Mushrooms that had their effect at a usual dosage. But, thats another discussion...


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To give is to live...


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OfflineCyber
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: ATWAR]
    #3182998 - 09/26/04 03:29 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

I have one like that but I mounted a fan onto the bottom and left the heater in. It gets to about 90F and the air moves through it great. It takes about 24 hours to dry them to cracker dry and I too have seen no difference in potency.

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InvisibleATWAR
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Cyber]
    #3183030 - 09/26/04 03:38 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:

Cyber said:
I have one like that but I mounted a fan onto the bottom and left the heater in. It gets to about 90F and the air moves through it great. It takes about 24 hours to dry them to cracker dry and I too have seen no difference in potency.




:cheers:

That is exactly what I have done also. An old wick-type humidifier fan has now become the fan on the bottom of my cheap dehydrator. Fan off 160F. Fan on 90-100F with vents fully open. That humidifier fan moves some air. If I take the lid off without turning the fan off, the dry shrooms will blow off the top rack and into my hair  :tongue:

It works for me...


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To give is to live...


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Invisiblegloom
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Registered: 09/14/04
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Cyber]
    #3183036 - 09/26/04 03:41 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

is dessication a fan-only drying process or am I wrong here?

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InvisibleMagash
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: ATWAR]
    #3183079 - 09/26/04 03:54 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

The reason you never noticed a difference in potency is it takes much more then a dehydrater can put out to lower it. I'm with you guys.  :thumbup:


--------------------
All creatures tremble when faced with violence. All creatures fear death, all love life. If we can only see ourselves in others, then how could we possibly hurt another creature?


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OfflineCornelius
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Cornelius]
    #3183599 - 09/26/04 07:20 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

There seems to be a lot of debate about whether heat is bad for mushrooms. Either case might be true, but why not cover your bases? It definitely can't hurt to use dessicant.

Anyway, this idea is just here to share with those people who feel better about not using heat. Also, for people who have not yet invested in a drying setup - it's worth picking one of these things up a thrift store if you can find one for a few bucks.

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OfflineCornelius
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: gloom]
    #3183616 - 09/26/04 07:26 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:

gloom said:
you have just helped out MANY people including myself.
now, what is the best drying time when using a dehydrator? how long do you dry them for?




It all depends on how many mushies are inside the dehydrator. Also, I fan dry them first for a day before putting them in the unit - This removes a good percentage of the water and helps save on dessicant usage. I would say your shrooms should be dry within 1-2 days.

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Invisiblegloom
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Registered: 09/14/04
Posts: 125
Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Cornelius]
    #3183821 - 09/26/04 08:21 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

however, if you do decide to use a food dehydrator with heat, you can make nice, crispy "mushroom chips"  :crazy:

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InvisibleMykro_Guy
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Cornelius]
    #3183906 - 09/26/04 08:42 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

im a fan of using a simple fan.... place your much infront of a fan for 2-3 hours and your done. everytime ive used dissacnt my mush turns blue b4 i can get them dry

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OfflineGr0wer
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: gloom]
    #3183927 - 09/26/04 08:49 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

same with air dry and dessicant. But if your judging the "cracker" taste.. i bet the heated dryed ones might taste a bit better because they dry rapidly and completly.

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OfflineKillBill
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Gr0wer]
    #3184519 - 09/26/04 11:19 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

When shrooms are put into a damp rid container, and for whatever reason, they don't dry and they get a darker color on the cap, is this poisonous?

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OfflineCornelius
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: KillBill]
    #3184645 - 09/26/04 11:54 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

The shrooms don't go INTO the damp-rid container i.e., don't put the shrooms in direct contact with the damprid, and everything should be fine.

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Offlinehyphae
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Re: Dehydrator Project [Re: Mykro_Guy]
    #3186205 - 09/27/04 12:08 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:

Mykro_Guy said:
im a fan of using a simple fan.... place your much infront of a fan for 2-3 hours and your done. everytime ive used dissacnt my mush turns blue b4 i can get them dry



NOT! in 2-3hrs. and definitely far from cracker even in the desert :wink:

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