Making Your Own Non-Stick Dehydrator Silicon Trays for Sticky Fruit

I shared with you that I dehydrated some melons this week. A few weeks ago, I made some plastic trays for my smaller dehydrator out of plastic canvas sheets used for crafting. 

I have used plastic canvas in the kitchen before when I use canning jars as seed sprouters. I just cut the plastic canvas to fit under the canning ring and by using different sized hole of plastic canvas (they come with larger and smaller holes depending on the craft) you can do small spouts like alfalfa or larger ones like mung.

The dehydrator trays I made worked wonderfully and I thought I had already blogged about it but when I went to look back and link it to my post a few days ago, I realized that I had taken the pictures and not actually posted about it. 

You would be surprised at how many times I do that. I take pictures and then get busy and never post but because I took the pictures, I think I did post about it and then tell the kids to go look for a specific post later and they can't find it. 

One of these days, I may just have to post a week or two on things I thought I did already. 

Anyway, I didn't realized that I didn't have enough plastic sheets for all my trays as I haven't used my dehydrator in a year since it was broken and recalled (See here for that post.) My sister also found me two new trays in the box at a second hand store for $2 so I had those trays that didn't have plastic sheets as well. 

I used the trays to dehydrate the melon without the plastic sheets as I was tired and wanted to finish up but I paid the price after when I tried to take the fruit off the trays without the plastic, it was so stuck. It wasn't my best moment. 

So, I  decided to make a few more of the plastic canvas fruit sheets for my Nesco and Harvest Made dehydrators that I love but need those for sticky fruit.

I was able to find more plastic canvas sheets rolled up and sold bulk but new at the second hand store. I probably got 6 or 8 sheets for $1.50 for my newer ones I made this week but as you can see, I got the ones I used to make these and take these pictures for a quarter each at the second hand store. 

I am always amazed what I can find new at the second hand store. I'll be looking for an absolute weird item and think there is no way I will ever find that at the second hand store and then within a week or so, it is there. 

My ice maker comes to mind. I've never seen one there before or after and my exact model I needed just happened to be there right when my ice maker decided to quit. Here is a post about that.
Our Heavenly Father really does give us the things we need and want. 
These plastic sheets are so easy to make. As you can see, I just laid it out on top of the tray size I needed made and traced onto the plastic sheet using a Sharpie where I needed to cut out the plastic or trim it. 

I cut off the corner edges making it round and then cut the circle in the middle section. It took all of ten or fifteen minutes to make all of them. 

I wasn't "exact" on the cutting and if you folded it in half as some may choose to do to cut it, it would be more symmetrical but I really didn't care what it looked like as long as it works and is functional. You could choose any color of canvas that you want but I like the clear and did use a few white as I ran out of the clear.

I don't know if they technically are "food grade" so I will warn you up front that this is just my solution for my dehydrator but if you are doing this, do it at your own risk as I am not knowledgeable enough to declare it food grade. 

I assume we are taking a risk dehydrating on any type of plastic but since that is what all the dehydrators are made from, I assume we are taking risks by just using them. I remember my mother dehydrating on the roof of our home using screen material stapled to wooden frame and we probably got toxins from the roof permeated through our fruit. Funny how things have progressed. 

I remember my brothers made a HUGE dehydrator out of a wooden box and screens with light bulbs and fans as well. I personally will take the risk with my little plastic dehydrators that are so easy to store as that one was half the size of a fridge these days. 

I now have made a plastic sheet for all the trays that I have and am going to try and use the Magic Mill dehydrator this week if I can get more melons and will see how it fares with the plastic sheets on it. 

I keep thinking I will get more done but once again, I am fighting gallbladder issues and have had an infected root canal so the past few weeks haven't been my best. 

I will remind you to WASH them very well. I sprayed mine with "Totally Awesome Cleaner" as that stuff cleans everything and then I washed it with dish soap after letting it soak for some time. I figured that would take everything off that it could. Throwing it in the dishwasher a few times would probably also help. 

Happy Harvest!