ideas for cheap/repurposed materials for dehydrator screens(=shelves)?

[patandchickens]

I apologize if the answer to this is buried somewhere in the umpty-seven page long What are you Dehydrating thread, but my kids won't let me use the computer long enough at one stretch for me to have read my way thru it yet

So, anyone have clever ideas for something comfortably food-safe but easy-to-get and cheapish, to use for making a solar dehydrator? (edited to clarify -- I mean, to make the shelves that the food sits on, and ACTUALLY food-safe, nothing involving pvc or heavy metals or unable to be thoroughly cleaned after a few uses)

Thanks,

Pat

 

[Wildsky]

Not sure exactly what you need, have you looked at that plastic canvas folks use for crafts?

I'm using a piece right now as a cheese mat.

 

[buckeye lady]

Old metal window screens.

Hardware cloth tacked to a wooden frame

 

[Wifezilla]

Old trampoline fabric stretched over a wood frame?

I used to use the trampoline to dry stuff after the kids stopped using it

 

[FarmerDenise]

I use cardboard flats, occasioanlly with towels underneath and a sheet over the top and put them in my car in the sun. I'll even drive around and do errands with the stuff drying in the car

My car has been smelling like roasted onion the last few days.

Other fabric to use to make actual frames is anything that lets air circulate, tulle comes to mind. I have used window screens set on chairs and covered with sheets to keep bugs and dirt off, also weiged down with rocks, so the wind wouldn't blow things into the next yard.

 

[big brown horse]

I second the tulle. Double it up though. You can find boat loads of used wedding dresses and prom dresses full of layers of tulle at goodwill.

 

[freemotion]

I use tulle leftover from making a veil for a friend. Forget secondhand tulle....it is cheap-cheap-cheap! It comes in very wide widths and is often on sale for half price, so a $2 length will cover a lot of trays for dehydrating.

I just also use it to keep flies off cheeses that are developing their rinds in my kitchen.

I use it in my car in plastic soda can trays to dehydrate. I have a friend who puts an old window screen on her back seat (after hearing about my trays) and covers it with tulle to have a washable surface for the food.

I've also used paper towels to have a clean surface, and cotton muslin would work, too, but neither of those is as porous.

I dehydrate a lot of stuff in the car! Park in the sun and leave the windows open a crack if your floor isn't rusted out....

 

[raiquee]

Ok, I'm not sure if this fits your standards, but I saw on Food Network (Alton Brown) He did an episode on herbs. What he did to dry them was to layer them in air filters that you get at the hardware store. He then clamped them together and bungee corded them to the front of a box fan. Turn on box fan and let dry for 12 hours, then bungee corded the air filters on the other side of the box fan for another 12 hours. I think he did 3 screens full of herbs.

The end result was a crispy end product He never said it was "food safe" but for some reason I doubt he would put it on TV if it would kill ya. Now reusable....I think they would be reusable a couple times, but not washable and reusable. So that part catches ya up.

If nothing else it was an intresting concept

 

[ORChick]

Old cotton sheets/pillowcases. Either as the base of the screen on its own (stapled to the frame), or as a protective layer between your food and the metal/plastic/whathaveyou.

 

[ellie_may12]

Alton Brown on Good Eats used furnace filters stacked up on top of each other.