How to Dry Food With a Wood Fire

1). Chose a day when relative humidity is already low. As humidity approaches 100 percent, it becomes proportionally harder for water to evaporate from food, and requires more energy.
2). String peas, beans and peppers on separate lengths of waxed dental floss or fishing line. Hang close to the wood fire or above it.
3). Slice firm-fleshed fruits and vegetables to 1/8-inch thickness or thinner with a utility knife, mandolin or food processor. Toss slices in citrus juice or apple vinegar and blot dry on paper towels. Lay slices on metal cookie sheets or trays in a single layer, with enough space between each slice to prevent them touching.
4). Cut meat into thin slices to be dried for jerky and marinate in the jerky seasoning mix of your choice in a large container with a tight-fitting lid or a gallon-size, plastic zipper-style storage bag. Lay meat slices on metal trays, spaced so that they do not touch.
5). Place metal trays on top of the wood stove or on a frame built over a wood fire. Use mesquite, hickory, apple or cherry wood. To build the frame, drive four steel rods into the ground, a foot apart, on each side of the fire. Don a welding helmet and full leathers. Use a 110-volt gasless MIG to weld rebar or angle iron across each pair of rods, across the full width of the fire as you are facing it. Set your drying trays across the rods.
6). Bank the fire so that it is burning low and slow. Ideally, it should be glowing red-orange to rippling black-orange coals. Add small pieces of wood as needed to keep the temperature steady, but do not build the fire back to flaming, crackling or roaring.
7). Turn the vegetable or fruit slices every 10 to 15 minutes to prevent browning on the bottoms. The slices should snap audibly when they are finished drying. If they do not, continue to dry them until they do. Dry the meat until it is leathery, but still flexible. To make jerky into pemmican, pulverize jerky and mix with bacon grease and dried fruit. Store in tightly covered containers and use within three weeks.