Do-It-Yourself Fish Dryer.
Hello.
First, I’ll tell you why I need another dryer, and what conditions it must meet.
My first plastic box dryer is a good option for an apartment, with the ability to remove odors.
This is where the advantages end.
With the advent of the opportunity to dry fish in the open air, a mesh dryer was purchased, which is perfectly ventilated outdoors.
But there were also disadvantages to it - the inability to dry fish on its side measuring 300-500g or more.
The lower part of the fish, in contact with the mesh shelf, could get warm and to avoid this, it had to be turned over from time to time.
Also, the material of the dryer did not pose any obstacles for the neighbor’s cats, so I had to bring the fish into the house at night.
Therefore, a new do-it-yourself fish dryer had to have the following properties:
1. The frame must be vandal-resistant for cats.
For this purpose, the frame of the dryer was made of ordinary pine boards of natural humidity with a cross-section of 100x25 mm.
The front and back walls of the fish drying box were covered with a stainless wire mesh with a mesh size of 1.2 mm and a thickness of 0.4 mm.
2. The design of the fish dryer should be convenient to use.
The box must have legs to be placed both on a solid base and with the ability to be suspended.
This leads to another feature: loading/unloading of fish should be carried out through the front wall, and not from above.
The fish should be suspended on a perch, in my case from a rebar, and quickly loaded into the dryer as a whole batch.
...Well, then, with the help of a hammer and nails, we put together the most primitive structure.
The dimensions are arbitrary, but in this video the internal width, height and depth were 95, 60 and 30 cm.
The width of the dryer corresponds to the width of the stainless mesh.
The design is devoid of hinges and other metal; two slate nails are used as a locking mechanism.
After assembling the frame, carefully fill all the cracks in the wooden structure.
...And a few more words regarding dried fish and its fermentation.
The fish dryer must be placed in the shade under a canopy; natural ventilation is usually sufficient.
Do not try to remove moisture from the product as quickly as possible; fermentation takes time.
Salt the fish for at least 21 days before drying.
In theory, during this time, parasites and all that are killed in the product.
Although formally, fish is salted much faster, and parasites can be dealt with by freezing.
But, I personally noticed that keeping fish in salt for a longer time has a positive effect on the taste of the final dried product.
Therefore, in my personal practice, I am in no hurry to wash the fish exactly after 21 days.
The fish is salted in the cellar for a month or two or more, and it only becomes tastier.
Once again, fermentation takes time!
...And yes, such fish are not sold in stores, due to the highly costly and time-consuming technology of piece production.
Bon Appetit and...
Thank you for attention!