How do you steam hay?

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Trekker

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Can anyone tell me how they steam their hay without using a bought steamer..

I normally soak the hay..but with us having bad winters water gets everywhere and then freezes..plus its heavy..

Theres got to be an easier way!
 
You can't really do it without a steamer, though if you have a handyman who can design and build one then go ahead, it is a mix of electricity and water, so make sure he knows what he is doing!
Start off by examining your steam iron!
 
it's so easy!

Just buy a plastic dustbin. Put your haynet in. Pour a couple of kettles of boiling water on it. Lid on and when it's cool it's done!! :)
 
We use a large bin small hole near the bottom and connect the hose from a wall paper stripper and hey presto hay steamer. A lot cheaper and does exactly the same job.
 
LadyLuck1977 said:
We use a large bin small hole near the bottom and connect the hose from a wall paper stripper and hey presto hay steamer. A lot cheaper and does exactly the same job.
Click to expand...

Same here. If you look at the "proper" steamers they all work off what is essentially a wallpaper stripper.

I use a wheelie bin with a hole drilled an inch or so from the base. We put a brass connector with a thread through the hole & the hose from the stripper is screwed onto this. I put my stripper on a timer & the two nets within are ready by the time I get to the horses.

This method uses much less water (maybe 2 kettles full). So no need to lug it around or add to the mud by tipping it out.
 
Friends clever husband made us one last year - there were 6 of us using 2 dustbins and wallpaper stirippers as described above but it was taking forever to steam 6 nets, 2 at a time. He made a large oblong box out of MDF with a lid with a rubber seal and a clip to close it. He put an entry hole in both sides, he then got some copper piping and made a grid at the bottom of the box with lots of little holes in to create a grid of steam jets, and then set a heavy wire mesh above the grid for the nets to sit on above the steam jets, we then "plugged" a wallpaper stripper in each side and it was large enough to steam 3 large haynets at a time - it is brilliant! The total materials (excluding the wallpaper strippers that we already had) came to less than £50 and we sited the box outside the barn and kept the strippers inside out of the rain etc as the pipes are long enough. If we only needed a single net steamed we just used the dustbins again.
 
You can steam it in a heavy duty plastic sack, once you've poured the water over it quickly tie the top of the bag up and very soon you will have steamed hay.

Much more economical from the water point of view and hay seems to stay crisper and more appetising than soaked hay.
 
LadyLuck1977 said:
We use a large bin small hole near the bottom and connect the hose from a wall paper stripper and hey presto hay steamer. A lot cheaper and does exactly the same job.
Click to expand...

We did this using a wheelie bin with a milk crate in the bottom to hold huge haynet or 2 small ones off the floor and steamer pipe. Hubby just drilled a hole near the bottom, used to put the pipe through and then also to empty the water out. works fabulously and so cheap (stripper was £12, wheelie bin £30). We put it on a timer so hay was steamed ready for breakfast - just must not forget to fill the water up in the stripper!

Same as Legaldancer!! Great minds and all that.....
 
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LadyLuck1977 said:
We use a large bin small hole near the bottom and connect the hose from a wall paper stripper and hey presto hay steamer. A lot cheaper and does exactly the same job.
Click to expand...

I used that method last winter for the first time after hoiking soaking wet hay nets about for the previous 12 years, wish I'd started doing it years ago, can't recommend it enough!!!!!!!
If you don't have a wallpaperstripper it's worth the 30 quid or so to go and buy yourself one!
 
galaxy23 said:
it's so easy!

Just buy a plastic dustbin. Put your haynet in. Pour a couple of kettles of boiling water on it. Lid on and when it's cool it's done!! :)
Click to expand...

This is what I do too. I have two, both of whom need their hay steaming and this works a treat, even if it is an utter pain in the arse.
 
LadyLuck1977 said:
We use a large bin small hole near the bottom and connect the hose from a wall paper stripper and hey presto hay steamer. A lot cheaper and does exactly the same job.
Click to expand...

^^^ This ^^^ (used to until YO accidently knocked down a wall and killed my steamer unit, but has now bought a Happy Horse steamer for the yard)

my home made version worked a treat, just put a brick or something in the bottom so the haynet sits off the floor and the steam can circulate. Woud also recommend a brick on the lid to make sure as little steam as possible can escape! Oh! And a timer so that the steamed hay is ready when you arrive at the yard to feed!
 
galaxy23 said:
it's so easy!

Just buy a plastic dustbin. Put your haynet in. Pour a couple of kettles of boiling water on it. Lid on and when it's cool it's done!! :)
Click to expand...

The downside of this is that as soon as the kettle stops boiling, you loose the temperature needed that will kill off any spores or other nasties. With a steamer, the temperature remains constant (about 100 degrees) once its up to temp and the hay never gets that hot that it would scald or certainly it cools quickly enough. IME horses love hot steamy hay!
 
Just started a few weeks ago witha wallpaper stripper & rain butt (hole already drilled!) have tried dustbin & kettle but didn't work for me.
Reading here I think I should block up the small vents at the top of the barrel too, though hay is mostly steamed sometimes some of it is a bit dry.
cost me £54 including timer switch.
 
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