Drying Hops - furnace filter hop sandwich

Alton Brown made beef jerky on good eats this way and I thought this would be a good method for drying hops.

Take 2 furnace filters (without fiberglass if you can) and spread the hops on top of one of them. Put the other on top. Now you have a hop, filter sandwich.

lay a box fan down on the table, air blowing up. Put the hop-filter sandwich right on top of the fan and use bungee cords to strap it on top. Then - turn the fan on. You'll need to prop the fan up a bit so it can draw air but this should dry the hops out very quickly without using heat.

enjoy

i had thought about this too, and if you need to dry more, add another filter and make another layer.

That was an excellent idea. I have a dehydrator, and it works good for jerky, but I'd like to try the box fan method for hops if I ever get mine to produce.

Jerky will even taste better with this method...no heat is key.

Atl300zx said:

Jerky will even taste better with this method...no heat is key.

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Exactly... Alton Brown also uses this same method for drying fruit. Since there is no heat involved, the flavor and the nutrient values are changed very little. I am not sure what effect a small amount of heat would have on the hops, but why find out if you don't need to.

As to doing multiple layers, if I remember right, AB says to not do more than 4 layers thick... Too much resistance from the filters at that point to make it effective.

I'd probably build a small collar to put between the two filters to allow a little more hop volume in there. Now how's that for optimism on this year's yield!

Bobby_M said:

I'd probably build a small collar to put between the two filters to allow a little more hop volume in there. Now how's that for optimism on this year's yield!

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That's a great idea, especially since hops are going to be pretty light and loosely packed when drying (unlike jerky) so you can probably safely have a whole pile of hops in there rather than just a single layer of them per filter.

I just chuck mine on a window screen and leave it in my shed for a few days. Works like a charm.

I'm pretty sure the furnace filter is simply a way to keep from blowing a ton of dust into your hops. Relative sanitation is important if you plan on dry hopping with them. In any case, I wouldn't want to see what hops looked like if you blew air over them with some other coarse mesh between the hops and fan. It would look like the intake of your computer case.

I wouldn't worry about drying them in the open air you should see how the big guys process them!

Bobby_M said:

I'm pretty sure the furnace filter is simply a way to keep from blowing a ton of dust into your hops. Relative sanitation is important if you plan on dry hopping with them. In any case, I wouldn't want to see what hops looked like if you blew air over them with some other coarse mesh between the hops and fan. It would look like the intake of your computer case.

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What about doing the first layer above the box fan as a furnace filter, then the rest of the layers in window screening?

I know the Hop Unions in Yakima dry the hops in massive kilns. I don't know how hot they get, but I know heat is involved.

IIRC, they get the "barn" up to 120F and it's mostly because hotter air can hold more moisture.

I'm thinking fan on the bottom, filter, cardboard box (with 4 sides only), Fill with hops about 6" thick and fire it up. I don't think anything needs to go on top unless your location has a lot of dust that can fall in. Of course, don't crank the fan to the point where the cones get blown out the top.

Bobby_M said:

IIRC, they get the "barn" up to 120F and it's mostly because hotter air can hold more moisture.

I'm thinking fan on the bottom, filter, cardboard box (with 4 sides only), Fill with hops about 6" thick and fire it up. I don't think anything needs to go on top unless your location has a lot of dust that can fall in. Of course, don't crank the fan to the point where the cones get blown out the top.

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I'd put a screen on the top if I were doing it. What appears to be a gently breeze with wet hops may well blown half of your dry hops right out of the box.

Otherwise I'm liking your idea. I'll have to build that contraption for this fall. If the current growth rate of my plants is any indication then it should be a substantial harvest. Last year I did the food dehydrator with my first year crop, but it was full with only a few oz of dry hops. I'm going to need a bigger system for a mature harvest.


Craig

Another idea I have is to borrow my mother in law's basement dehumidifier and put it to work in a closet on the highest setting along with a box of fresh hops. It generates plenty of heat and should pull all the moisture out of the air.

Anybody read the Build your own Oast article in BYO?
My neighbors tossed out a perfect dresser for something like this. I saw it in the morning on the way to work and it was gone when I got home. Very sad!

I love Alton Brown and thought of this idea as well, but would strapping your hops to a fan shake/blow some of the lupulin off onto the filter, lowering possible IBUs?

If not, then that's how I'm drying this year!

Well you're not going for hurricane force. I think the fan on low coupled with the resistance it's going to encounter through the filter will create more of a gentle breeze. You're just looking to carry the moisture away.

speed and temprature are key to getting the best flavor.

Not enough speed and they can mold. Too much and you'll lose the intraciticies of the flavor.

Fill a brown paper bag loosly filled with them. Roll down the top. Every day, mix up the bag so what was in the center becomes on the outside. Do this for about a week (less if you're in a very arid climate)

Transfter into large glass jars. Seal it up. If condensation apears on the glass you may have moved them in too soon.

Open the glass jars once a day for 30 min. mix the cones and seal it up again.

once they are nicely dried keep them sealed in the jar to stay fresh.
Some like to freezer them...