I bought a small harvest right in May 2023, with a 3 tray shelf. They have since designed a new shelf unit which holds 1 additional tray. Initially, I bought it to freeze dry Quail Eggs!

Thanks for sharing these 6 tips!

I’ve been freeze drying for a while and it is awesome! It does take time, but don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. It does eliminate basically any and all food waste. You can freeze dry chili, casseroles, fruits and veggies, ham and beans, etc. it is endless. Canning jars work great for storing things in but with those or Mylar, don’t forget the oxygen absorber. You can also use your freeze dryer to vacuum seal canning jars. Freeze dried candies and ice cream are high demand treats for the kids too. Much love and respect to you and yours!

I never imagined that this channel would go down the content road that it has when I watched your first video on your Ruggable rugs. Your offerings over the last year or two are definitely more up my alley than I would have predicted. 👍

Great insights. As soon as I head the weight - I hoped there was a SMALL size - for one person! And, I've used vacuum pumps (to make extracts), some fairly heavy duty vacuum pumps. A suggestion to all - - follow the service guidlines on the oil life (I change mine at half the recommended rate). It's not the wear or the debris it's the MOISTURE the VACUUM oil absorbs that makes it perish. Cheating and trying to extend the life of the oil can be tempting - because even when changed it still looks almost clear, in my case. Best investment to protect your investment (IMO) is frequent oil changes of the right oil. NOT hydraulic oil, VACUUM oil. And certainly not any oil you'd use in the kitchen or on an automobile. Protect your pump and it will protect your gear. IMO.

Nice to here it comes with that stuff....nowadays when you buy a stove doesn't even come with a plug you assume it wont.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

This is super helpful! Thanks so much 💗

This is much appreciated. Someday I hope to get a freeze drier!

I ordered a small 😊and it’s on the way . Small was my first choice especially due to the weight and because it can hold up to 10lbs of food/batch which is plenty.

I understand that pre freezing in a standard freezer helps with the overall time to freeze dry?

You also need to be aware that it is quite loud. Mine is about 5 years old and perhaps the newer ones are quieter

@user-sy7ck3ln6o

6 ай бұрын

Not that much quiter. I have the newer premier pump.. and I would not run it in my house.

Been waiting for a deal to get mine, and they are currently $500 off for Black Friday.

I have wanted a freeze dryer since I stopped one in the store! Just can't afford it.

Why did you decide on the Harvest Right freeze dryer versus other brands?

So you got the large. That needed the higher voltage circuit and plug...does the small and medium need the circuit upgrade too or just regular standard plug that's normally installed in the walls?

@CabinGirl2001

8 ай бұрын

Small and medium uses standard 110 outlet.

@user-sy7ck3ln6o

6 ай бұрын

Yes... small/medium just needs standard 110 outlet @@CabinGirl2001

What is freez drying?

Awesome, you post a comment that is helpful to others maybe thinking of getting into freeze drying and youtube deletes your comments even though I posted no links, just tips.

@user-wo6fe6de3i

7 ай бұрын

KZread is getting a little out of hand with their algorithms

Is freeze drying an alternative to canning?

@bc-guy852

7 ай бұрын

Good question. I'd like to know as well.

@user-sy7ck3ln6o

6 ай бұрын

Freeze Drying is totally different than canning. Both are great options. With canning.. by comparison, you're limited considerably to the amount of time the food will remain edible. Freeze drying- most foods will list 15 to 25 years if correctly packaged (air tight/oxygen/moisture free) like mylar bags with oxy absorbers or vacuum sealer that can vaccum seal mylar bags. Freeze dried foods.. on average will weigh anywhere from about 70% to 95% less than the foods that are not Freeze dried. Compared to Canning.. the glass jars are really heavy and they can break. Upside to both methods... you have food even if the power goes out. Both methods are great and I would encourge both. I do both.. I've freeze dried almost everything in my Freezer.. and now I only keep a about 7 to 10 days of food in Freezer. I have solar source to run my freezer if the power does go out, but not indefinitely.. so there is that problem. With most freeze dried foods,... YOU WILL NEED WATER.. The old 1 gallon of water per person per day.. is out the window.. cause you'll need water to rehydrate many of your freeze dried foods. However, Freeze Dried Fruits.. most of them are quite good in their FDd state, as they are good snacks. Freeze Drying IS NOT THE SAME AS DEHYDRATING.. Huge huge differnce between the process and the results. You lose valuable vitamins in Dehydrating. You maintain 98% or better of vitamins A & C in Freeze drying. Dehydrating.. foods.. many of them will NOT LAST MORE THAN ABOUT 2 YEARS for some foods. Some Dehydrated foods if stored correctly will last longer than 2 years.

Thank you! I just brought one home this week and am making a spot in the basement. I would love any videos you can do on the using and maintaining of the freeze dryer. I know I will do meat and eggs but want to experiment with everything. You mentioned making powdered milk but I wondered about powdered cream. How much fat content in an item will make it difficult or impossible to freeze dry. Those are some of my initial questions. It will be a fun and useful adventure!

@pamt8430

8 ай бұрын

The higher the fat content won't last 25 yrs. Check out different companies and see what they freeze dry, check ingredients and shelf life then you can gage what you want to put up. Pre-freezing will save time in the FD.

@bc-guy852

7 ай бұрын

@@pamt8430 I'd be happy - if it kept cream or even milk for a month or three! Being able to make 'pure astronaut food' would be nirvana

@user-sy7ck3ln6o

6 ай бұрын

Hopefully by now you have found some good vids, but if you havent here is the short list of EXCELLENT videos/CHANNELS that speak to this: School Reports , Phil at 4800 ft, John in Bibs and Live Life Simple. You will find more than enough information to learn. School Reports is the guy who came up with the Weigh out/put back in for 2 hours/Weigh it out. Basically if the weight changes, more than 1 gram from the weight out, then YOUR FOOD IS NOT... (REPEAT) NOT FULLY DRY. You will want to put it back in for at least 2 more hours again. I found that if I had a tray that was 2.5 grams lower I automatically stick it back in for 4 hours. PRE FREEZE EVERYTHING ALWAY! This will reduce how hard your FD has to work and it saves time off your total FD'ing time.

While Harvest Right claims that you can freeze dry up to XX pounds of food per year.. Well... let's talk about that. It's highly unlikley you'd run your FD like that to achieve that lofty goal, due to circumstances: Frist... you can do the math.. and you'll learn that you're running your FD unit non stop.. and let me clue you.. it's quite a task to do that; and you'll need more than one set of trays/lids.. More like 3 sets: Second; the pumps are not quite. so .. Unless you have a very well sound insulated room or basement to run it in.. You're not going to run your FD inside 24 x 7! Third, that means you'll be running it likely in your garage.. well.. depending on where you live.. if your garage gets much warmer than about 85F.. You wont want to run it. cause it will cause the pump to run hot and you'll burn it out.. Some foods you can stack deeper than others, and get a lot on your try. Some foods dont work that well stacked. I use a nifty silicone sheet between layers for some foods, like bananas, or mushrooms. They're called "Kispog 10 Pcs/Sets Silicone Dehydrator Sheets for Food Dehydrator & Freeze Dryer, 14x14 in" Cut them to fit your trays. They're about $14.00 for 10 sheets. Which was enought to have a sheet for all 9 of my small trays. Well worth the investment! So, Are Freeze Dryers a good investment? YES! I have one..A small unit, with just the 3 tray shelf. I run it non stop during the months the temp in my garage is below 85F. I'm able to run loads back to back with about a 50 minute window between loads to defrost, wipe down, and cool it back down so I can stick the next pre frozen load in. I can coordinate the runs for most food items, so I know how long certian foods will take and they do vary! Things like herbs, Veggie shreds will dry for me in under 24 hours. I do employ the extra 2 hour weight out/in/out method TO INSURE MY FOODS ARE COMPLETELY DRY. The last thing you want is to open a bag of food in an emergency and have it spoiled because it wasnt completely frozen when you put it into your mylar bag with oxy absorber, or vaccum sealed it.