Food Dehydrator Conversion

fatality

Well-Known Member
ok guys, i am real happy the outcome of my new prototype bud dryer.
I'm so happy i am going to go through it with you all. If you have a food dehydrator then maybe this might be up your alley. I had one sittin around so i figured why not. another thing that is neat is you dont have to fuck up your food dehydrator at all, when your done usin the bud dryer it comes right off so here we go.
what you will need are:
1. food dehydrator
2. 2 gallon nursery pot
3. "masey" cheapo wal-mart fan
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
take your 2 gallon pot and cut out the bottom. this is where your fan will rest. now you have to cut out a slit on the side of the pot as well for your power cord to nestle down nicely.11111111111.jpg
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
now the fan should nestle in the bottom of the pot like so, make sure you get it to nestle down nicely, just make sure you notch the power cord slot enough111111111.jpg
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
now i figured since the fan we are dealing with has a lil more balls than a computer fan we should make some resistance down at the bottom tray of the food dehydrator. mine came with a white perferated screen so i put that at the bottom along with covering the center hole with some duct tape. the center hole seemed too big and if i didnt cover it up i think i would have dealt with uneven drying. then throw that bottom tray on the base of your dehydrator1111111.jpg111111.jpg11111.jpg
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
now get some buds ready, in this case i got some that have been hanging for 2 days now so from the get go this experiment is kinda flawed, but the show must go on222222.jpg111.jpg
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
then put your lid on the dehydrator, and put your conversion unit on top of the lid and plug it in...... SET IT .... AND FORGET IT lol ......... ill have a smoke quality report in a few days i am assuming, stay tuned11.jpg1.jpg
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
hmmmmm, now i wonder if it would or would not b a bad idea to turn the dehydrator on as well, that fan should pull out a lot of fuckin heat quick, im going to throw in a thermometor in the dehydrator and plug it in and see what temps i am dealing with since there is a fan on top now..... interesting
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
this dehydrator add on is a prototype like i said, there will be a lot of changes, i just duct taped all around the fan so it is airtight on the pot, i also duct taped the pot to the dehydrator lid for more suction
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
since looks are everything these days i got out the duct tape and pimped as quick as possible, just kidden it helps with airflow lots. also i threw in a thermometer and i got a steady 65F , it is in a cold dark room though so i imagine when temps get warmer the temps inside the unit will fluctuate accordingly... oh well, just a test, but if it works i see dollar signs.... its name is "the de-HYDRO-dome"... catchy huhwwwww.jpg
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
also wanted to add that the fan is on the low setting, and the 65F reading is while the dehydrator element is on as well.....
 

snew

Well-Known Member
The problems with dehydrators is the heat. Alton Brown did a cooking show on drying Beef, jerky. In which he used 3 non-fiberglass (cotton) AC filter the Beef (pot) is laid out on the filters and the filters are bungeed to a box fan. One would have air moving with no heat. It would not be as fast as the dehydrator but would not add heat to the THC.
I do realize that beef is not pot but the process could has well have cross application.
I have thought of disconnecting the heat on a dehydrator, so that just the fan runs. It would then keep a slow supply of fresh air. I believe I'll look for one at a yard sale this summer and give it a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfI0NKl-Kq0
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
As promised, a quality control was assessed. I was able to take the smaller buds out today and i'll tell you, they are fuckin tasty. The fuckin dryer is a big success, whoever wants to get in here and talk about the heat levels being too high, well they haven't assembled one of these bad mofo's themselves. the fan on top does indeed dissipate the heat that the element on the bottom dishes out. it fuckin works good, and i got some good tastin smoke right here to prove it.... for what it's worth.... thanks Al B. fuct....... the idea in my mind for this prototype came from your box thread i read...... SO, bottom line, if you have a food dehydrator and want to dry your fuckin bud quicker, go back through this and build this simple ass device...... you will be happy...... just pull them out when they are not fully dry but crispy on the outside so to speak, then move them to paper grocery bags to allow the moisture to
come out from the center for a while, then after they are about done sweating you put them in to jars for the cure. easy way to b sure if it is ready to cure is get a hygrometer and put it in your cure jar. let it set a while and if it reads over 70% then take the fuckers out a bit and let them dry. 60-65% then you can burp the jars every week or so. BUT IT DONT TASTE TOO AWFUL BAD RIGHT OUTTA THE FUCKIN DRYER ANYWAY. any questions, holla
 

lordjin

Well-Known Member
The problems with dehydrators is the heat. Alton Brown did a cooking show on drying Beef, jerky. In which he used 3 non-fiberglass (cotton) AC filter the Beef (pot) is laid out on the filters and the filters are bungeed to a box fan. One would have air moving with no heat. It would not be as fast as the dehydrator but would not add heat to the THC.
I do realize that beef is not pot but the process could has well have cross application.
I have thought of disconnecting the heat on a dehydrator, so that just the fan runs. It would then keep a slow supply of fresh air. I believe I'll look for one at a yard sale this summer and give it a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfI0NKl-Kq0
I have a huge storage bin with a hole cut out and a muffin fan with charcoal scrubber on it. Heat would change the taste, no?
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
apparently i am unliked lol, possibly due to the straightforward, not give a fuck attitude i have. I dont care though. lordjin heat will fuck up the taste, yes.... if you have too much heat. if you can keep the ambient temps in the dehydrator below 80f then you are golden, NOTE the drying process will be quicker if the ambient temps inside the dryer are higher than the temp outside the dryer. but if you are scared dont plug in the element, i have tried both ways and couldnt notice a taste difference, this fucker is real cool, especially if you have a large harvest and wanna quick dry some to have some quick smoke, but i can honestly say, after a good cure, no one could tell which was quick dried or line dried, real talk, take it however you may
 

fallinprince

Active Member
Tbh Bogus response Thc boils at 180-200 degrees. I seriously doubt as long as your product isnt reaching 100 degrees it will even notice aside from getting dry. (80 degrees sounds great)
I've walked around with bud in my pocket on a hotter day than that(hmm 120 degrees neone?)

Long story short lets see how this shit goes tried it much yet? i was thinking about trying this very same thing minus the fan
 

fatality

Well-Known Member
dude you have to put the fan in or else the dehydrator will get way too hot bro, well over 100 and thats too hot for me, you dont wanna super quick dry them, you just wanna get them smokeable in like 3-4 days :)
 
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