drying Overstuffed Dehydrator- 2016 PersonalBest stacking trays

salsalady

salsalady

eXtreme Business
When faced with the task of processing about 80 pounds of jalapenos, I had to speed things up a bit.   
 
Solution-
Overstuff the Dehydrator! 
 
I ran the jalapenos through the food processor slicer and then just piled them on the trays.  Wrap around the trays with plastic wrap (or foil) making sure not to block the air flow on the bottom or top.  I wasn't worried about color darkening up on these chiles, so I put the heat up to about 115F.  I think they were pretty well dried after 24 hours, but I was busy and didn't get back to check on things for 48 hours.  By then....All Dried!
 
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This was probably about 20 pounds.   Some were frozen and the rest went into a peck of pickled peppers....... 
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What can I say....I'm inherently lazy~~~   lol
 
 
2016 EDIT- total trays in picture 13 1/2 and then I added another one.  40pounds of peppers! page 2~
 
 
 
Wow you must of had a good year---a LOT better than my year. well done and I am impressed with your ingenuity.
 
I am going to recommend you for the creative pepper user of the year :onfire:
 
Thanks guys~ 
 
Balac, I didn't grow the chiles.  A local farmer grew them as well as some habaneros.  I think I did 30 # of habs and 230 # of jals.  The habs were also dehydrated and the rest of the jalapenos were chopped and frozen.  I really hadn't planned on dealing with that many chiles.  After the first 150# of jals, I told the grower I'd take about 10 pounds of red jalapenos if they had some, they showed up with 80 pounds...and most of them green.  :doh:  As 'Daddler said, had to "git er done" somehow.
 
sicman said:
Cellophane!   not just for wine anymore ;)
Click to expand...
:rofl:    you got that right, Siccy!  ;)  :rofl:
 
 
It's technically not a "geeme" (which is the act of saving a half consumed beer for later by covering the can with clingwrap), so I can't say the chiles have been Geeme'd,... and I wrap my wine before I start drinking it, anyway....But it's definitely another great use for clingwrap. 
 
I've also done the overstuffed dehydrator wrapped with foil, but that's kind of a pain as the foil has to be taped in place to hold it together and to kind of seal up the top and bottom.  Clingwrap worked much better, but foil will work in a pinch.
 
@ C-cowboy, thanks! and yea, it wasn't purdy, I should of tidied up a little.
 
Glad it'll help! 
 
If someone wanted to take it one step further, some kind of solid spacers could be put on each level to keep the weight of the trays from smashing down on the chiles.  Same principle as the dowels and plates used for tiered wedding cakes.  Actually...just brainstorming as I'm typing here...a wooden dowel of about 1" diameter, cut into (1"-1 1/2") lengths would work great as tray spacers.   Wrap it up and dry away!  
 
aw, shucks, thanks Pepperjack~  
 
 
 
oboesushi :rofl:  Actually.....beers is already a THP unit of time measurement.  Such as...
 
 
"Stir the roux for 4 beers or until nutty brown."
"I was 3 beers deep into repotting before I realized I forgot to put fertilizer in the dirt mix."
"This is a 6 beer bowl of chiles."  (It'll take 6 beers to get them all washed and de-stemmed)
 
 
Making it a unit of linear measurement.....Love It!!!!  
 
 
Although it's not quite universal as some beer cans are taller than others, I think it's close enough.  :cool:
 
 
 
Full List of Definitions.  Prolly needs an update~
 
2014 Update!   Pimping out the Ghetto Dehydrator!
 
Our local farmers again outdid themselves. I ordered a box (30 pounds) of red jalapenos, and they bring 40 pounds of red jalapenos, and 37 pounds of habaneros!  Welllll, what can I do???  Can't turn away a perfectly good chile now, can I?  
 
Last year, I stacked up all the trays right on the one below it and the trays and chiles got all stuck together.  (Pita!)  This year...time to recycle/repurpose some PVC.  Marked 2" increments, hit it with the jigsaw (easier than the SawzAll),  trim up the edges, wash-rinse-sanitize.....
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Put 3 spacers on each tray and pile up the sliced habaneros.  The red habs are really wet, I'll pull the trays and fluff them about every 12 hours and cook it at about 110F, a little hotter than normal, but for this situation, color of the dried product is not an issue and I'm more concerned with getting everything dry fast.  Try to line up the spacers to help with weight distribution on the trays.  The plastic trays are not that strong and lining them up doesn't stress the trays.  Add the lid and wrap it up!  making sure to not cover the bottom and top center hole for airflow. 
 
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Will post more pics as it goes~
 

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Whoa!  What do you do with all those peppers?  Do you have any other food items in your diet?  LOL....  And lordy be, how do you cut all those and so thin? 
 
I am truely impressed!  Great job!  I would love to have all those Jalapenos!
 
Salsalady I suggest you invest in a better dehydrator. If you want a LARGE cheap way of doing it. I suggest converting a 55 gallon drum. Heating elements + hot water heater thermostat + shelves + fans = mass dehydrating on the "cheap".
 
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