Dryer Turned Wasted Fruit Into Profit Center

Dryer Turned Wasted Fruit Into Profit Center FARM HOME Food 25-4-30 An excess of fruit and heat from a large compressor motor spelled financial opportunity to Bill Barkley, owner of Barkley's Apple Orchard, Ottawa, Ontario. He combined the two in a home-built fruit dryer. The dried fruit sells for about twice what he receives for fresh fruit. "We have a fair bit of fruit we can't sell to fresh market," says the organic fruit grower. "We knew there was a good market for dried organic fruit, but the small dryers were too small, and the big dryers were too expensive." Barkley's answer was to build one himself. With the help of a friend, he designed and constructed a plywood box with room for 20 trays. The trays were made from 2 by 4-ft. eggtray flourescent light panels that he cut in two. Heat is supplied from the outflow of the compresser on his walk-in cooler. Barkley suggests using a 5,000-watt milkhouse heater if waste heat is not available. Waste heat enters the plenum of the drier and is directed through a baffle made from floor heating grates. The grates direct airflow up and across all 20 trays evenly. The 70 degree air circulates across the trays and out through screened doors at the front of the dryer. "We found we don't need fast air, but we do need consistent, slow, high volume air," says Barkley. "If the air moves too fast, the tops dry and seal, but the centers don't dry out." Depending on your heat source, airflow and temperature are the trickiest aspects of the dryer to figure out. Leave the fruit in too long and it comes out crisp. Barkley has found that customers like apples dried down to about 20 percent moisture. That takes him about 12 -15 hours for the three bushels of apples required for one fill of the dryer. Of course, washing, peeling and slicing the apples takes another one to two hours. Barkley also uses the unit to dry basil, tomatoes and other garden produce for personal use. Barkley's investment of approximately $200 in the materials for the dryer paid off faster than he expected. He entered it in a provincial contest for energy efficiency. The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) Award Contest entry earned him a quick $1,000 for a 5-1 return on investment. The EFP is an initiative of the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition. Now the dryer is paying off in a third way as he offers plans for it through his Website . Orders have come from all over the world, including Slovenia, Hungary and Jamaica. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Barkley, 217 Percy St., Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6E9 Canada (ph 613 237-3548 Website: www.magma.ca/~barkhm5).

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