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4/9/15

Homemade Canvas Food Dehydrator Tray Liners







I didn't purchase a food dehydrator of my own until my husband saw them on sale at Lowe's for just under fifty bucks, so it's probably not a surprise I certainly am not going to pay the high price companies want for food dehydrator trays!  However, they are needed!  The holes of a food dehydrator let tiny pieces of dried food fall through them and believe me, diced carrots get tiny! (And peas and blueberries and many other dried goodies!).

The first thing I did was march down to a local store and buy a few sheets of clear plastic canvas.  Walmart has them, but Michaels was closer to me that day so I got mine there for about $.59 each.  If you don't have a store near you, I'll link to a couple random options from Amazon at the bottom of this post.

I simply laid two canvas pieces out on the counter, drew around them with a marker (I used a highlighter first, as it was right next to me in a kitchen drawer and I was too lazy to walk through the house to the office to get a Sharpie.  However, I realized if I wanted to let others know how to do this, I better use a marker that showed up on the photos!  So I did grab a Sharpie for a couple of the pictures.)

Lay the canvas side by side on the counter.
You can tape them in place in the corners if you find they are moving too much on you to trace.
Trace around both the outside of the tray and then the inside circle as well.

Use scissors to cut the canvas into half circles.
Cut on the *INSIDE* of the line around the larger outside circle.
Cut on the *OUTSIDE* of the line on the inner circle.

Fit to your tray.
You may have to trim some of the edges to make it fit.
When it lays flat inside your tray, both flat around the outside and inside edge, your are done!

Washable, sturdy, and will allow your fruit and vegetables to dry without falling through the holes of the dehydrator trays.



Use sheets of plastic canvas.  I chose clear so there is no color added.



Laying the two canvas pieces side by side and placing the dehydrator tray over them - equal on both sides, directly down the center - to trace both the outer edge and the inner circle.


Trace around the outside edge - being careful the canvas doesn't move around - so you get a perfect half circle.
You will cut around the INSIDE of this trace line.



Carefully trace the inner circle as well.
You will cut around the OUTSIDE of this smaller trace line.


After you make your first trays you can actually use them as a pattern to trace additional liners and not have to use the tray to trace around each time.  This makes it a little easier.




Remember to cut inside the line as it needs to fit INSIDE your tray -  You will probably have to try to fit, trim, fit, trim, to get it to fit perfectly.


Two liners placed on the dehydrator tray!










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