Each experienced fisherman has in his arsenal a device for drying or drying his catch. Indeed, often a specialist in his business manages to get a significant catch. Then the question arises, how to properly dispose of it. Here a home-made fish dryer comes to the rescue, which can always be made from improvised means. In addition, often such dryers are used for drying meat. And the dried product will be stored for a long time and can be consumed at any suitable time. For a real fisherman or hunter, such a device will become indispensable.
Fish drying
To make the jerking high-quality, only fresh fish should be used. Frozen won't do. Cleaning the scales is not worth it, but cleaning the insides is necessary. First, without them, the fish dries faster. And secondly, they will definitely give bitterness, which will negatively affect the taste. After all, it will be a shame to make a lot of efforts to catch and eat your fish, but because of an uncleaned belly get a spoiled product. After you need to rinse the carcasses well in cold water. Further, a little salt is poured onto the bottom and the first layer of fish is laid. The fish is filled with salt and the next layer is laid perpendicular to the previous one. And so on. The more salt is put, the harder the fish will turn out, up to the state of a brick. Under-salted fish will be fresh.
For drying, it is recommended to use low-fat varieties of fish. Otherwise, the shelf life of such species will be reduced to a week. Usually, roach, ram, sabrefish, bream, mullet, etc. are dried. And for beer, it is preferable to dry the roach, ram or carp. For drying, you can use the oven or electric dryer. But, of course, the preferred method will be drying under natural conditions and in a specially made dryer.
Varieties of fish dryers
There are many instructions for making do-it-yourself fish dryers with your own hands. We will distribute them among the main varieties, based on their designs:
- Outboard.
- Collapsible.
- Frame (stationary).
- With a fan.
Regardless of the differences in design, all dryers are united by the need for free access of air into the dryer and fish storage devices, be it shelves or hooks.
Easy drying
The fish can be dried without resorting to the manufacture of any structures by hanging it on a clothesline somewhere under the roof or on the balcony. Also, drying can take place outdoors. But this simple option does not exclude the possibility of infection of the product with insect larvae, and also does not protect it from flies. Therefore, it is preferable to use special dryers with walls, the manufacture of which does not require special building skills and craftsmanship. At the same time, making a fish dryer with your own hands does not require large financial expenses.
Hanging drying
A characteristic feature of such dryers is their suspended state, in contrast to stationary structures. Thanks to this, you can find the most favorable place for sunlight, wind, adjust the desired height and position.
The easiest way to make a hanging and mobile dryer for drying fish with your own hands is to use an old umbrella, which has retained its ability to close and be open. It is necessary to sew on the edges of the opened umbrella a fine-mesh mesh to a height of about a meter. Then a ring equal to the diameter of the umbrella is made of thick wire. The ring is placed inside the mesh about 80 cm from the edges of the umbrella and sewn to the edges of the mesh. From below, the net will be pulled together by a cord, opening and closing the dryer. The handle of the umbrella does not carry a purpose in this design, and therefore can be removed, but without consequences for opening and closing the umbrella. A hook is attached to the central upper part of the umbrella (a loop can be sewn) for fixing to a tree or other objects. At the end, the fish is placed under the dome and hung on hooks, the drying process begins. If the unnecessary tulle is preserved, then it will fit perfectly for this purpose instead of the net.
Collapsible Dryers
Dryers of this type are very convenient for their compactness, as they can be disassembled if there is no need for them. Such drying is used in small apartments. In addition, a collapsible dryer can be taken with you for fishing and relaxing, drying at the place of catch.
Frame Dryers
Frame or stationary views involve the manufacture of a do-it-yourself fish dryer base in the form of a box. The photo below shows an approximate appearance of a frame dryer.
Usually the box has a wooden structure measuring 600 x 300 x 300 mm. The slats are attached to each other by corners, and the base is covered with a mesh with a small mesh. The grid is fastened with construction brackets or nailed with trims. If it is supposed to hang fish, then hooks or screws are screwed on the upper part along the sides, on which a rope or wire is pulled. Then the nails are bent in a zigzag manner on which the fish is strung, and placed in a box. The door is hinged from the back on the top of the box. In front, you can lock the door on the sides with locks in the form of hooks.
There is also a front-end version of the frame-mounted fish dryer with your own hands when the door is on the front of the structure. Then the fish is not hung on hooks, but laid out on shelves arranged horizontally in several rows inside the box. Shelves are placed on the corners attached to the side walls. They are made in the form of a rectangle, on which a grid is stretched for laying fish.
Dryer with fan
All of the above methods for making fish dryers with their own hands are designed for drying in the open air. But this opportunity is not always available, or it is necessary to dry the catch in the winter. It is for this purpose that it is proposed to consider a method how to make a dryer for meat and fish with your own hands, despite the lack of favorable environmental conditions.
One of the easiest ways to speed up the drying process is to use a fan. The power of the device should be selected based on the area of the dryer. Naturally, someone needs to dry buckets of fish, while someone prefers to pamper himself with a dozen or another salted product according to his own recipe. It is safe to say that the drying speed will directly depend on weather conditions and fan power. With a large volume, you can use two or more fans.
Among the existing methods for manufacturing a box for a dryer, moisture-proof drywall is used. A hole for a fan is cut out in one side part, and on the other side a grid is fixed. The rest of the box remains deaf. On the upper part of the longitudinal sides, places for twigs are cut into which the fish hangs. After the box is covered with a lid, which can be made from a wooden frame and mesh.
It is possible to use for the frame and finished factory boxes of the required volume from other materials.
You can also make a fish dryer with a fan in an ordinary apartment by installing an electric fan in the shaft for extracting it and attaching an ordinary frame dryer fitted with a grid to it.
Plastic Box Dryer
Such a dryer can be attributed to a collapsible and fairly compact form, because it is not difficult to assemble and disassemble it. And at the end of drying, two drawers are folded and take up the minimum amount of space. Transportation will also not be problematic.
So, to make such a fish dryer with your own hands, you will first need two plastic drawers and a mesh so large that these boxes are wrapped. The first box will be located at the bottom, and at the bottom of the second, honeycomb sectors should be cut. After this box will lie upside down on the first, forming a plastic box. At the top of the box are installed wooden slats on which the catch is suspended. This can be done with the help of bent nails, or you can drive nails on the sides of the rails and remove the hats. To prevent insects from entering the dryers, two bags with elastic bands at the necks are made from the prepared mesh. The bottom bag will be permanently fixed on the box, and the top will be pulled on the box after placing the fish in the dryer. Here’s a do-it-yourself fish dryer.
The design can always be improved by adding, if necessary, an intermediate box with a completely cut bottom, if you need to dry a large pike, zander, etc. Rails can also be located at different heights in the side cells of the box.
Window mosquito net dryer
It is not difficult to make such a dryer by connecting window mosquito nets, which stand idle in winter as unnecessary. Just make a frame, attach the corners for the rails and put the door.
Some features of salting fish before drying
Of course, the main ingredient that allows you to store the catch for a long time in a dried form is salt. But if you use not only it, then you can achieve a significant improvement in taste. For example, ground 10 sheets of bay leaf mixed with peas of black pepper will certainly have a positive effect on the taste of dried fish. Mixing salt with sugar in a 3 to 1 ratio will appeal to gourmets of stockfish. In hot weather, it is recommended to gut the fish before drying to prevent spoilage of the product.
We examined the basic ways how to make a fish dryer with your own hands. Choosing the best option for yourself, you can save your whole weighty catch and enjoy your own cooking fish for a long time.