The all-new Boffdrybox prototype! - New drying box tek? - Mushroom Cultivation

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Boffsun
Rev.

Registered: 01/19/05
Posts: 55
Last seen: 21 years, 4 months

The all-new Boffdrybox prototype! - New drying box tek?

#3894106 - 03/09/05 08:10 PM (21 years, 7 months ago)

So those of you who saw my last post will know that I was recently blessed with a large harvest and was at odds with how to dry the mushies. At the suggestion of Dog, I hurrily splayed them all out on a table and began to fan dry. But that was too easy. I wanted a nice little tupperware box to sit beside my TiT and PmP, and so now I propose the third sister, the BdB... hehe

ok so this is the prototype - I've already realized there are a couple big improvements that could be made.

1) use a finer screen than chicken wire - some of my smaller guys fell periliously into the dry-z-air.
2) make proper notches on the inside of the box for each shelf, on which they can rest. This should still yet make for more efficient use of space and drying area. That being said, i had plenty, and only used 3 shelves when i made 4.

I got the computer fan idea from a similar tek i saw awhile ago involving a comptuer fan blowing IN to a plastic-drawer. I TAKE NO CREDIT! Unfortunately, i can't remember where I saw it... :crazy:

If anyone knows what i'm talking about, PM and i'll edit this to put credit where credit is due.

I made this whole thing for about 30$. Canadian :wink:

. I know some will object that you can buy a commercial food dehydrator second hand for that, or less than that. But, this is much bigger, the parts are very very easy to find, and a hell of a lot more fun to make! :laugh:

so this is the pic of the Boffdrybox:

The basic idea is this: A computer fan is wired up to a radioshack wall adapter, which is then installed into the lid of an airtight container. The fan is installed so that it blows OUT, drawing air from within the box. There is abunch of little holes in the bottom of the container and some desiccant. There are abunch of chicken-wire shelves in the box. When the box is sealed, the fan pulls air in through the holes at the bottom, over the desiccant which dries it out, up over the shrooms where it is rehydrated, and then out of the fan.

The computer fan i got at a computer repair shop on my street for 5$ and wired it up to an old 12volt adapter. If you don't know anything about electronics, don't worry it's really simple: cut the wires at the end of the computer fan, so that there's only two, not the big white thing that there's already. Strip the two wires so about 1 cm is exposed of each. clip off the end of the the cable coming out of the adapter, and strip those wires. 1 from the adapter goes to 1 out of the fan, and the other to the other. twist the wires together and duct tape the exposed ends. Unless the polarity is marked, you don't know which wire goes to which, so you have a 50% chance of getting it right your first try. When you plug the adapter into the wall, the fan should spin. If it doesn't you got them reversed. Make sure the voltage on the adapter matches the fan. It should be marked on each.

here's my fan wired up and installed into the lid:

Next you need to make some holes in the bottom of the container. I did mine with a screw... it was pretty hard plastic and had a tendency to crack. place them about 1/2 inch from the bottom, as they need to be just at the same level as the top of the desiccant.

making the holes:

Next fill the bottom with some desiccant. Spread it out so the top is just at the level of the holes at the bottom. I used two small bags of Dry-Z-Air (calcium chloride):

Then cut your chicken wire (or finer screen) into shelves. bend the bottoms so they sit above the desiccant, or the shelf below whatever may be the case:

Put the chicken wire in, and load each level up with shrooms!
here's a view from the top, loaded with half-dry mushies:

Then lock your lid down, plug the badboy in, and listen to the sweet hum of mushrooms drying.
I have only ran one batch through here, but it worked very well. Tonnnes of space, and my shrooms were completely dry in about 24 hours (plus the 6 they were fan-dried), and i live in a very humid environment. A rainforest in fact. :cool:

I would really like some suggestions, and perhaps someone else could try this out too and let us know how it worked for them.
If this works out well and the mods would like me to make it a more formal Tek for the preservation section of this site, let me know. :grin:

Happy Drying!

Boffsun

Extras:

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