Dead upright freezer conversion into a large dehydrator

1st, dead upright freezers are most often FREE from appliance repair places, thrift/2nd hand stores, friends, neighbors, etc.

2nd, a dead upright freezer is ideal for conversion into a dehydrator because they are upright, large, well-insulated, has a convenient large easy open door, protruding door seals, are well insulated, generally have 4 or 5 large existing racks.

Interior walls are tough plastic like material that is easy to clean, and drill holes in for mounting more additional interior racks, if desired.

Kitchen oven racks are usually ideal & often available cheap from appliance repair places, from scrapped out ovens.

Simple to do:

A.
Remove compressor unit from underneath, so you have room to slide in a drip pan underneath the unit, to catch any fluid that may drip out. If its to tight to the floor to slide a drip pan under the front end. Simply set it on 2x4 or 4x4's to add additional height off the floor.

Drill a hole in the bottom, so any dripping fluid can drip out & hole can be plugged with a rubber stopper, drain plug mat, etc., when you want to.

B.
Install more racks, if desired. Simply use wood, or anything applicable for mounts screwed into the interior sidewall for the additional racks to sit on.

I used hardwood dowels cut to appropriate lengths. Drilled holes through the dowel pieces; used screws to attach them level to the interior sidewalls.

C.
Cut & pull off about a foot of the flexible door seal on the bottom of the door & around ½ that length from the top of the door seal. Doing so serves as a fresh air inlet at the bottom & warm air exhaust outlet at the top.

D.
Place a small new or used room size fan driven ceramic type heater (like shown below) on the interior floor of the unit in front of the slot in the door seal.

Wise to lay a cut to size piece of dollar store flexible cutting mat or small dollar store cutting board on the rack directly above the heater, so heater doesn't get dripped on.

Position the electrical cord in place running out the slot cut in the bottom door seal. Run the electrical cord under & behind the unit to a wall plug in.

That’s it. You now have a nearly free DIY upright floor model dehydrator with somewhere around 18 to 22 feet of interior space & far more rack space than any other home model dehydrator available in the world.

If it doesn't have an existing lock & key? Can be locked with the application of an exterior hasp & padlock. It is also easy to clean. I remove the heater, wipe out interior with a hot soapy washrag & rinse out with clean water, or a garden hose.

For smaller grids on the racks. The addition of inexpensive plastic mesh canvas mats from a craft store or eBay work well & can be ran through a dishwasher, when needed.

__________________
It’s dangerous to be right, when the government is wrong. The price of freedom can be seen at your local VA hospital.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Dead upright freezer conversion into a large dehydrator