How to properly dry fish in a dryer and how, if necessary, to make it yourself? What are the best ways to dry fish to give it best taste? How to avoid the most common mistakes using these technologies? We will talk about all this in more detail in this issue and immediately please leave a comment at the bottom of the page to understand how successful the material turned out.
What are dryers and what are they for?
There are many varieties of dryers in terms of models, sizes, capacities, materials for manufacturing. There are frame and folding, stationary and hanging, designed exclusively for drying fish and universal, that is, they are also suitable for drying berries, mushrooms, nuts, vegetables, herbs, fruits, bee pollen.
All of them are united presence of walls from a mesh or gauze, excluding the contact of flies and their larvae with fish, and allowing air to do its job. As well as the presence of a door for loading and unloading the catch, shelves, hooks or wires to place the fish in the correct position.
It is in this opportunity to save your catch from infection with larvae and subsequent spoilage of products that the advantage of using various types of dryers lies in traditional way drying fish (by hanging on a rope or wire somewhere under a canopy, in an attic or balcony).
We make a dryer with our own hands
Modern online stores, as well as departments of fishing equipment in sports shops and in the markets they present to the buyer a wide variety of models of fish dryers in various options value for money.
But with all the variety of products offered, it is far from always possible to choose a dryer model that suits the needs of a particular angler. After all, the catches of different fishermen can differ dramatically in the number and size of fish caught. The home conditions in which the fish will be dried also differ. Therefore, many economic fishermen, adjusting the parameters of the device being created to fit their needs.
First of all, you need to decide Where will the drying take place?. If under a canopy or in the attic of a private house, there are no problems with dimensions. If in one of the rooms, on the balcony or loggia of the apartment, then the dimensions of the future dryer should be calculated based on the possibility of placing it in these rooms for drying and subsequent storage. You also need to keep in mind the size and number of fish caught on the previous fishing. Or calculate these parameters for future catches.
If there is very little space, you can consider options for folding and hanging dryers. After determining the required dimensions, you need to decide on the materials for manufacturing. They can also be very diverse. For the frame and the door, they usually use the bars, slats or boards left over from construction or repairs, the remains of an aluminum profile or corner - that is, any suitable durable materials.
- A door is hung on the assembled frame.
- The opening is hermetically sealed to prevent the entry of insects.
- A mesh is tightly attached to the walls (best of all, a mosquito net).
- Many people also stretch the net on the ceiling, but this is fundamentally wrong, since the deposited fly larvae can penetrate the cells and infect the catch. Therefore, the ceiling must be made solid, preferably from a plywood or plastic sheet.
- A tray is placed at the bottom for the timely removal of flowing fish oil.
- After that, shelves are made inside the dryer or several rows of wire with hooks are pulled (in accordance with the estimated size of the fish). Dryer ready!
Below are some examples of the original creativity of our anglers.
As they say, it is better to see once than to hear 100 times. Therefore, we invite you to watch the video from detailed description making a dryer with your own hands.
How and how much to dry the fish
The drying time and the choice of technology largely depend on the type and size of the caught fish, as well as on the gastronomic preferences of the angler himself.
Before drying the fish, it is necessary to salt it. Small fish can be salted whole. The larger one must first be gutted and cut along the back. And the biggest one will need cut into pieces suitable for the size of dishes for salting. The duration of salting, again, depends on the size of the fish and the angler's taste preferences - the longer you salt, the saltier the fish will be. Enough on average 2-6 days. After that, the fish is taken out, washed running water and on average for an hour is placed in a bowl with clean water for soaking and removing excess salt.
After soaking, the fish must be dried by laying it on a simple towel and placed in a constructed dryer. Exist two ways to hang fish on hooks or ropes of the dryer - behind the head (through the eyes) and behind the tail (after making a hole in the right place of the body of the fish with an awl).
Each method has its pros and cons. For example, if you hang it by the tail, then the fat will drain through the mouth and the fish may come out dryish. And if for the head, then the remaining fat can give the meat a peculiar taste. In general, each fisherman chooses the method of hanging according to the type of fish and with his experience and taste preferences.
After hanging, the dryer is placed out of hit zone sun rays . Best in a draft. The catch is dried for about a week. Samples are taken starting from the smallest specimens.
Possible mistakes
When salting and drying fish, the most common mistakes should be avoided.
- Salt for salting should be ordinary, coarse grinding. In no case not iodized! Its use is guaranteed to spoil appearance and the taste of dried fish.
- It is not necessary to wash the fish immediately before salting (it is washed only before soaking), otherwise it will inevitably become dry.
- Herbivorous fish should not be salted without gutting in hot weather. The algae remaining in its insides will begin to rot - the fish will have a bitter aftertaste or it will completely deteriorate.
- When placing fish in the dryer, care must be taken that they did not touch. This will prevent uniform drying.
Summer is a fertile time for picking berries, mushrooms, fishing and other enjoyable activities. Often, a successful angler faces the problem of preserving the catch for a long time. Currently, there are several most used methods. Among them we can highlight the drying of fish. With the qualitative performance of this operation, the catch can be saved for a year or more. To provide High Quality process, we suggest you make a fish dryer using a minimum of material and tools.
Before starting work, we consider it necessary to point out some features of such a device. An obligatory element of a modern dryer is the mesh frame of the body. Its task is to prevent the penetration of flies, which tend to lay future offspring on a fresh product. In addition, strong cords are used to secure the fish, which can withstand the weight of the processed catch. The trays located at the bottom of the dryer will ensure the collection of brine released from the fish and moisture that is actively released in the first few days.
Assembling the fish drying box
We begin the manufacturing process of the device with the installation of the case. To make a dryer for fish with your own hands fit various materials. In the design we are describing, the body is made of wooden bars with a section of 30 × 30 millimeters. Wood for parts can be selected as hardwood and conifers. Focusing on the desired dimensions of the fixture, file required amount details in accordance with the presented photo, using a carpenter's saw, electric circular saw or electric jigsaw.
After sawing, in order to avoid injury during the operation of the dryer, the bars must be planed to smoothness using a manual or electric planer. We recommend that you assemble the case using self-tapping screws, wrapping them with a screwdriver or a screwdriver. The ease of assembly allows you to quickly assemble the dryer during a multi-day fishing trip to remote areas of our country. At high summer air temperatures, drying can become the only way catch conservation.
Additional strength of the design of the dryer will help to provide additionally installed transverse bars. For achievement maximum quality assemblies recommend corner connections strengthen by installing additional metal parts. Steel corners also attach with self-tapping screws.
For ease of use, adding portions of fresh fish and removing finished products It is convenient to supplement the dryer with an opening door. It is made in the form of a frame with a transverse bar and is additionally reinforced with window corners. For hanging the door, you can use different kind hinges or piano hinges, fixing them to the body and door with small screws.
The next step in the installation of a do-it-yourself fish dryer is the installation of internal cables for hanging fish. This is conveniently done using eye screws, which are a steel ring attached to a threaded rod. You can use any screwdriver to install them. It is enough to insert the tool into the ring, press lightly at the beginning of screwing, and then turn the eye screw along its axis to screw it to the required depth. Tie any strong cord to the fastener rings.
Finishing the installation of the device is to install the bottom in its lower part, made of sheets of plywood or hardboard. Cover the walls of the dryer with a strong nylon net with minimum size cells. To do this, it is good to use the one found in hardware stores. window grid. Remember that its main function is to prevent flies from getting inside. It is convenient to fix the bottom and the net with the help of construction stapler. To avoid tearing the mesh material of the dryer, when attaching it, fold its edges several times or lay a strong plastic tape on top.
For ease of transport, for example when cleaning a room, secure with outside end walls two furniture or door handles, and install plastic or aluminum pallets on the bottom.
Homemade fish dryer from a plastic box
In addition to the described, you can find other options for dryers. Consider the features of some of them.
The first type of device is budget-friendly and simple. At its core plastic box for glass containers with installed transverse bars for hanging fish. Insect protection is provided by two removable mesh covers.
Hanging fish dryer
The next type of dryer is practically devoid of a body. It is represented by a large mesh bag, inside of which the same mesh shelves with a steel wire frame are fixed. With this method, the fish does not hang, as with all the others, but is located lying down.
The basis of the next design of the dryer is made of coarse steel construction mesh, additionally covered with fabric gauze. A clear disadvantage of this type is the fragility of the natural mesh, which will require additional costs after it has worn out.
Dryer from a metal profile
The last of the dryer organization options we describe today has the longest service life. This is achieved through the use of aluminum alloy parts as the basis for the design. Ensuring tightness between the body and the cover, the upper edge of the walls is additionally glued with a rubber seal.
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Today I decided to tell you about one of my last year's purchases. The little thing is very specific, but very useful.
So. Vertical three-tier dryer for fish. (suitable for drying not only fish, but also other products)
In the review I will tell you about the dryer itself, as well as about my recipe for drying fish. Beware, there is content 18+
What is this dryer for in the first place? And it is needed for, as the name implies, for drying and harvesting dried fish. The dryer has three undeniable pluses which make it very useful.
The first plus: the dryer allows you to save space well. She is ergonomic. Allows in a relatively small amount of space to dry relatively a large number of fish.
The second plus: with its dimensions, when folded, the dryer takes up very little space.
Third plus: the mesh design completely excludes access various flies and other scavengers to dried fish. No need to fence boxes, hang gauze or look for places where the fish will dry, and the flies will not climb into it.
Additional Information
Perhaps these dryers in your city are cheaper. Ask at local fishing stores. For example, such dryers are sold for a price comparable to the monitored price, but with dimensions of 25x25cm.
I used to dry fish the old-fashioned way. On a stretched wire and wrapped in gauze. Like this:
The disadvantage of this method is that the flies climb to the still raw fish and lay larvae. Even gauze does not always save if the fish is poorly wrapped. Therefore, when I came across the option to buy a folding dryer, I bought it without hesitation:
Now the price is unfortunately higher than last year. But you can look in other stores or wait for sales.
The dryer comes from the store in a package:
Quite compact when folded
Dryer dimensions 35x35cm:
When unfolded, the height of the dryer is about 57cm (plus the length of the ropes):
This is how the dryer looks like in working condition:
The material of the dryer is some kind of fine synthetic mesh. Quite thick and strong. Stainless steel frame. The castle is also synthetic. There are two sliders:
Opens easily:
In the open state, there is access to three shelves on which you can lay out fish for drying.
After it closes, and not a single fly or other muck will get close to the fish.
Well, now I will show exactly how I cook and dry the fish. To be consistent. I'll start from the very beginning and point by point:
Point one:
Early in the morning, we go fishing. Preferably away from the city, to places where there are few fishermen, and the fish are not knocked out by Chinese nets. We have a good time fishing. We catch fish. We are resting. We sunbathe. We burn.
On the day of fishing, the weather was changeable. It's hot, it's raining. But in the end, about 3 kg of large roach were caught:
Point two:
I bring the roach home. I'm cleaning. Gutted. I cut off the heads and cut along the spine into two halves:
I put the cut fish in a prepared container.
I fall asleep with salt, sugar and red pepper. The recipe is simple:
for 500 grams of fish I use 1 tbsp. a spoonful of salt without a slide, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sugar, 0.2 teaspoons of bitter red pepper.
I mix thoroughly. I close the container with a lid and put it in the refrigerator for two days for salting:
And I myself go to cover my neck, face and hands with cream. Because everything that was open burned down:
Point three:
After two days, I take the fish out of the refrigerator. I lay out the fish in three layers on the dryer already suspended on the street and close it:
As you can see, the fish is open on all sides for fresh air, so the drying process takes place without any problems, stagnation, etc.
Point four:
It's been 3 days since the fish was put outside on the dryer. It's time to harvest. More precisely, it's time to pull the fish. She's ready:
The dryer worked just fine. The fish dried evenly on all sides. No flies got to the fish. The fish looks very appetizing.
Point five. Most Responsible:
We go to the store. We buy beer. And we start eating fish:
In my case, one and a half liters of dark unfiltered Bruge Dark organically fit into a calm Saturday evening with my family. (Please don't forget that overuse alcohol can be detrimental to your health. But the use in moderation and not very often is quite allowed):
While talking quietly, almost all the fish was eaten by me, my wife and three children. So I'm going fishing again this weekend.
Conclusion:
You may have forgotten, but this was a review of a fish dryer. The product is definitely needed and useful. Helps a lot for those who love to exercise. homemade dried fish. Never regretted that he bought. Like simple design but worth the money. And I can definitely recommend to buy.
That's all. I wish you all a good weekend and a good summer. I plan to buy +71 Add to favorites Liked the review +109 +200
acquired new toy I made a dehydrator.
"What the hell is this?" you ask. Ooooh, it's a thing!
If you say in Russian and understandable language, then this is an ordinary dryer. These are freely sold on the Internet and home appliance stores.
How it works - from room to drying chamber air is forced in, which then exits a special hole, taking with it particles of liquid from the product.
They dry mainly fruits, berries, mushrooms, thin slices of meat and even fish.
The most widely known apparatus in Russia is the Sukhovey - many families have one. But what happened to me is a truly universal thing!
I must say right away that the idea is not mine! I have LJ friends who are capable)) The king of sausages and syrniki. I remembered the idea, and then for some reason I constantly stumbled that something needed to be dried, but nothing.
No, I used to calmly use the oven for these purposes - I turned on convection without temperature. Or if you wanted to quickly - confection, minimum temperature and ajar door.
Now, hehe, I'm whining again - I don't have an oven (temporarily, temporarily, for half a year already and xs when it appears). So it is very necessary to make a drying box.
The second magic pendel in favor of the dehydrator happened from the Hare - I periodically, and everything would be fine, but the picnic-garden season began - there are regular guests in the house and a refrigerator always clogged with pots and bowls. I simply do not have the opportunity to allocate a whole shelf for dried meat.
That's all, guys, I've assembled a dehydrator! On the knee, pink instruments and female hands right in the middle of the living room
The hare performed feats with a fence and didn’t give me a normal screwdriver in my hands - he needed it himself, so he helped me only at the very end.What nnada:
- plastic container or box with lid
- threaded rod on M6 or M8
- nuts and washers suitable for the diameter of the rod
- ventilation grille
- forced draft fan
All this goodness cost me a little more than a thousand rubles: 516 rubles a huge box on wheels and 700 rubles accessories (4 kg of nails for a suddenly fallen fence). Forced exhaust you can find cheaper ones, and you won’t need so many nuts.
Forced exhaust is located at the bottom - we mark the place. The ventilation grille is located as far as possible from the hood - ideally on the lid of the box, but my lid was uneven, so the place for the grille will be on the wall opposite from the hood at the top. We also mark the place for the hole. (if anyone is interested, I drew this with a special glass pencil, but you can use a marker or scratch it with something sharp).
Cut holes for the hood and ventilation grill. In fact, the easiest way to do this is with a special circular saw-crown - the most large diameter 10 cm, just like all built-in hoods and grates have this size. BUT! The screwdriver was busy, and I was embarrassed to take a drill. There was an idea to use a jigsaw - I was afraid that the plastic might crack. I went a longer, labor-intensive, but accurate and accurate way. Normal hand drill and with a thin drill I made holes around the perimeter of the circumference of the holes (I put a piece of rubber under the bottom so as not to spoil the floor, and a piece of paper so that the borders could be better seen).
And then the usual kitchen knife cut through the jumpers between the holes. If you heat the knife with a lighter, things will go much more fun.
We insert the ventilation grill into place, we also install the hood, it still has special holes for fasteners. (Dada, in the frame man's hands- The hare came to look at the process, give valuable advice and mock pink pliers.)On the side of the box along the top, stick masking tape and make markings for the holes for the bar. We drill (yeah, much faster with an electric screwdriver).
It remains to cut the threaded rod to the desired length. The most short rod in the store - meter. I would just cut it in half, but the Hare suggested not leaving long ends sticking out. While I was thinking about going to a neighbor for auto-dismantling and asking for help with a grinder (thanks, of course), the Hare sawed everything with a hacksaw.
It remains to insert the rods into the prepared holes and secure them with nuts and washers. Alternatively, instead of ordinary nuts, you can screw on wing nuts - this way it will be more convenient to remove the rods if you have to dry something bulky.
Everything, the drying box - the dehydrator is ready!
A dehydrator, or dryer for fish or meat, is a must-have item for many fishermen and hunters to use as one of the ways to process their prey. In order not to spend money on an industrial design, you can make a fish dryer with your own hands with minimal financial costs.
Of course, the most inexpensive option for a dehydrator is an ordinary clothesline, on which a fish is strung and placed somewhere under a roof or on a balcony. With all its simplicity, this option does not exclude the infection of fish during the drying process with larvae. various insects, as well as from sitting flies. Therefore, the most practical and reliable dryers for food are always designed with walls that protect prey from flies, other insects and pollution from the street, but somehow promote free air circulation. According to their design, dryers for fish or meat are different:
- Suspended
- collapsible
- Stationary
- With fan
Hanging dryers differ from stationary dryers in that, in accordance with their name, they are suspended from the wall, thanks to which their height and position can be adjusted, which is convenient when choosing the most suitable place for the amount of sun or wind. Collapsible dryers very convenient in that they can be disassembled for compact storage while they are not in use. In addition, they are mobile, and during long-term fishing, the catch can be immediately placed in the dryer right on the shore of the reservoir. All these dryers are adapted to dry fish on outdoors. What to do if there is no such possibility, or dehydration of fish needs to be done in winter? In this case, a dryer for meat and fish with a fan will help, which is quite simple to do with your own hands.
In order to make a dryer with a fan, you will need the following materials:
- Plastic container with lid. You can use a plastic box for children's toys.
- Extractor hood with outlet grate. Sufficient fan power is 280 cubic meters. Instead of ventilation hood you can use a PC cooler.
- Threaded rod on M8 or M6, can also be used metal bars 3 mm in diameter.
- Nuts, washers, bolts.
The sequence of work on the manufacture of the dehydrator is as follows:
- At the bottom of the box, on its short side, it is necessary to mark with a marker the place for mounting the ventilation hood. The place for fixing the grate for the hood is also marked, it is best if it is located on the lid. If this is not possible, it is built into opposite side from the fan at the top. Holes can be cut with a jigsaw, a circular saw-crown suitable diameter, or use a drill with a thin drill: holes are drilled around the perimeter of the circle, then the jumpers between them are removed with an ordinary knife. If you heat the blade of the knife, the plastic will be cut more easily.
- The fan and the grate for the hood are installed in the prepared holes, fixed to the walls of the box with fasteners. The lattice can be planted on liquid nails.
- Next, you need to mark the location of the holes for the rod, which will hold the fish or pieces of meat during drying. To do this, masking tape is glued around the perimeter of the box, and markings are already applied to it. Holes are drilled with a screwdriver or drill. Another option for attaching a drying rod is using duralumin corners. They are fixed on the long sides of the container with the shelf down, fastened with bolts, and on the shelves of the corners they are arranged through holes for the bar. With the help of such corners inside the dryer, you can make several rows.
- The threaded rod is cut into the required number of bars of the desired length using a hacksaw.
- The rods are inserted into the holes, fixed with nuts and washers. If you need to dry something roomy, you can unscrew the nuts and remove the rods.
- The fish is strung on rods through the eyes or clings to hooks and hung on rods. Then the container is closed with a lid, the fan is turned on, the box is placed in any comfortable spot for several days.
Such a dehydrator is universal, since it is used not only for drying fish, but it is also a dryer for meat, vegetables or fruits. In addition, if thick parchment is placed on the rods, you can dry small products - berries and mushrooms. The dryer from the container is quite capacious, airtight, protects products from the penetration of any insects. How fast the food will dry will depend on the outside temperature of the dehydrator. Modify similar dryer it is possible if you install a special adapter-timer to set the operating time, as well as a device that supplies warm air inside.
