Hi!
Welcome to our channel. On it we will be posting mostly freeze drying, some hikes, 3D printing, science videos, and any special projects.
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So the 500 pounds you’re going for, is it 500 pounds of finished freeze dried food or 500 pounds pre dried?
It was 500 lbs before drying. (And of course 500 lbs if rehydrated, too) Until I started making the "First 50 Batch" series, we had never even given much thought to having any plan or goal for our freeze drying. That was one big reason I started making the series to tell other people to start with a plan or goal. Any plan or goal!
I've done this but I grow my own tasty tomatoes.. home grown taste better than store bought. Store bought are designed to make them look good but not tasty. Store bought is induce ripening with ethylene gas, which kind of gets them ripe but at the cost of a lot of flavour.
Agreed 100%! I used to work in the food/produce industry. I did a video a while back where I talked a bit about controlled atmosphere storage (CA) of apples, pears, and other foods. It's at the beginning of this video - kzread.info/dash/bejne/jGmHz8uqk9LQj5c.htmlsi=SKU9EKMoIEieULfE I was really surprised that these tomatoes were actually quite good. I haven't been able to grow my own garden for a few years due to several reasons, including that the deer would eat it all. I do miss my garden.
Got every fruit tree I could grow in zone 6 ohio before retirement & a few dwarfs that I have to bring in. I'm old school canning. No deer problem but got Alfred Hitchcocks Birds that got every berry I had.. Now retired switching over to freeze dry. 1.5 years into retirement growing everything I can while I can..Keep up the videos, Im learning.
Thank you
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Hmm wonder if chicken feet will freeze dry....if so might make deboning them raw easier...could then in theory rehydrate mix with lean meats to make sausage mix and then freeze dry...
That should work just fine.
The actually sell tomato powder to sprinkle on food to get the flavor. I’m made my own before.
LMAO, liking tomatoes or not, LOL
Freeze dried cherry tomatoes from my garden are yummy. I cut them in half before processing and eat them as crunchy little snacks.
Those sound great for on top of a salad. Tomato croutons.
Thank you 👍
Oh now I'm intrigued. I dispise fresh tomato because of the texture but enjoy them in every other form. Can't wait to try a blt this way.
Please let us know what you think of them!
Thanks for showing the tomatoes again. Just wondering if your bacon is freeze dried also. I've wondered if FDing bacon works.
Our bacon was not freeze dried, but you certainly can freeze dry it. We haven't done any yet because we tend to go through our bacon pretty fast. Maybe it's time for me to do some to take camping.
My husbands favourite snack , it works well :)
Just watched Phil @4800 do bacon and open up two year old bacon which was fine. After 30 years in restaurant industry, managing and owning, I can say the health regulations are overkill. They prevent people without deep enough pockets from participating and warped the public perception of what should be required. Dishes are a great example and no health official has been able to answer when I ask about needing three sinks; wash, rinse, sanitize or a high temp dishwasher for a restaurant. They are public health officials and advise the public for their homes, as well. So, it is ok to put your family and friends at risk or is their dish washing system simply overkill? Or consider we overdid our cleaning and after two years removed the fountain pop machine and ice machine from our restaurant. I opened the machine up one day and there was so much mold growth. When I asked the rep he said the only day he will ever drink from one is the day he installs it. So, we switched to cans and bottles. Why are so many companies allowed to use this piece of gross equipment? As always, no doubt, many officials have gotten paid well to script regulations to sell product; be it dishwashers, overhead exhaust fans and fire suppression. They sell home deep fryers but do not require people to have these systems installed. Again are they ok with you burning your house and maybe your neighbors houses down?
😁 Most of my life has been involved in the food industry (Decades at one gourmet fruit & bakery company) and I still keep in touch with what's going on there. I couldn't agree with you more! So much of the regulations are just for show.
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someone recently posted a warning that some wallaby zipper mylar pouches were leaking right at the edge of the pouch (it was heat sealed above the zipper). The pouches were leaking at the edge of the zipper at the edge of the pouch. Bad design/manufacture where the zippers extend all the way to the edge of the mylar pouch and were not properly heat sealed along the edges during manufacture.
Thanks for sharing that. Do you know if it was just a one time manufacturing issue or their normal design? Bags with zippers going to the edge seem bound to fail. (I've never seen any of that brand in person)
Glad to see you are still pumping these videos out! My HR machine broke down about 2 months before the end of the first year, so I shipped it off to Utah to be fixed. Two months later they shipped it back, fixed but broken in a new way. HR wouldn't even acknowledge the issue, until I threatened legal action, at which point they said it was out of warranty, so I'd have to pay for shipping and troubleshooting. I'm now considering a StayFresh freeze dryer as a replacement - I won't give HR another dime of my money. Love the packaging process for the tomatoes. What variety are you working with in your video? They look like Big Boy or Early Girl... All of our tomatoes ended up being FD'd and then powdered, because we could never figure out how to rehydrate them without them disintegrating. You can store a LOT of tomatoes as powder!
Thanks for watching and for the comment. I have no idea what the tomato variety was. They were just a box of commercially grow tomatoes. (And they were surprisingly good. Or, it was a surprise that they were actually very good:) kzread.info/dash/bejne/eGZnl5NqZpmwirA.htmlsi=AoY8Fl16J8VhjwEn&t=185 Sorry to hear you're having problems with your machine. My machine is almost 7 years old now (over 660 batches), and my sister has had hers for over 1 1/2 years (over 160 batches) So far very little problems and easy to take care of. (I can list every issue if you'd like) I do think my machine may need to have the refrigerant level checked sometime in the future, it seems like it's not cooling quite as well as it did 7 years ago. It's a tough decision to buy one of these. It would be nice if all machines that arrived to your house worked first time every time. I'm actually surprised there are not more issues, considering the issues of shipping it and the 130 degree temperature swings and the multiple vacuum cycles for each batch. (The fact that that's not a thing is one of the reasons we like to buy from Costco or sold by Amazon - easy returns!) Over the years we have received a number of things that didn't work right out of the box or were missing parts, including our Mickey Mouse slow cooker, which took 3 tries before we received one that both worked AND had all the components. I don't know if Harvest Right has a higher then "normal" rate of issues with their freeze dryers. I do know that if anyone receives a 150 to 300 pound paperweight that's supposed to be a freeze dryer, they're going to be chapped! - and rightfully so! We only have 2 data points; one freeze dryer that's 7 years old (mine), and one (my sister's) that she got about 1 1/2 years ago. Both have had minor issues that we could handle with ease, but other people may have been completely overwhelmed by the same issues. I'm used to working on things; I void the warranty on almost everything I own within a very short time anyway! I just have to tear it apart. Shipping one of these big heavy things back for repairs sound like it would be a heck of a challenge. (understatement)😇 Here is the list of Freeze dryers I've heard of - listed in the order I first heard of them: (If anyone knows of any others, please add to the list) (Last update - June 2024) harvestright.com/ (The only one I've used. We been very happy with ours) All the others might be great, I've just never tried them. p4lfood.com/ "The Cube" Same machine as the 4Patriots one? (Facebook page only a few months old?) 4patriots.com/products/4patriots-home-freeze-drying-system - Maybe built by Prep4 Life? (now brings up 404 Page Not Found) stayfreshfreezedry.com/ - One person start-up import business? (Judging by the corporation papers listing a home as the Registered Address) www.cuddonfreezedry.com/products/ - Big - Probably not really a home unit. At least 20 times bigger than medium HR wmmachinery.com/products/freeze-dryer-for-home-use - Lower priced. Shipped direct from China? www.labrotovap.com/portfolio-item/large-home-freeze-dryer-lyophilizer-for-sale/ - Knockoff? Even used some of Harvest Right web page photos. www.usalab.com/freeze-dryers/ - 2 or 3 models? Do they make or rebrand. freezedryco.com/equipment/food-cannabis/ Freeze Dry Company - more commercial www.hudsonvalleylyomac.com/stratus-mp3-series-floor-model.html Hudson Valley Lyomac - not really home size units d-freeze.com/ D-Freeze - Not out yet, being built in Canada www.freezedryfood.de/en/ FreezeDry German bluealpinefreezedryers.com/ Blue Alpine Freeze Dryers - Idaho - New/Start-up - Looks very interesting 😁 Bottom line is I (personally) would only be considering two machines if I were looking to buy a freeze dryer today. (for my batch size needs) Harvest Right or Blue Alpine. - HR is still the only one I've touched.
@@SchoolReports The majority of reports I've seen are "as long as you don't need to deal with HR and your machine works fine, you'll love the freeze dryer." Which was pretty much my experience. Once our machine broke, everything went down hill because HR wouldn't honor their warranty. Up to that point, I loved the machine and freeze dried everything! (Just be sure to wrap any cooked bacon trays you put in the freeze dryer with paper towels - the vacuum pump will aerosolize the grease and it'll coat everything on the inside.) Keep making the high quality videos - I'll keep watching them!
@@anthonyw5188 Thanks! Product designers should be required to use, clean, and live with their products. And customer "service" people should be required to be using the product that they are being called about so they know about them in the real world. 😁 Yes, we found out very early on that paper towels are our friend when we freeze dry anything that might release any fats. Cuts way down on clean-up.
I don’t currently own one but am thinking about it. One of things I am concerned about is food going bad after all the work. I do notice that commercial products are laden with salt. Can I do the freeze dry process without salt. 🤷♀️
Salt is _not_ part of the process. We only add salt to the things we want salt in/on. Freeze dry your own recipes/ingredients. Commercial freeze dried is not much different than most commercially made food; tons of salt because a lot of consumers want salty food. Salt is a cheap way for companies to make bland food more flavorful. I do really like some of the commercially freeze dried foods, like Mountain House, but as I show in my beef stew comparison video it's not the same as our own home cooked recipes. It's great to be able to bring our own freeze dried food camping. (In case you haven't already seen it) Rehydrating Freeze Dried Beef Stew - Homemade vs Mountain House - kzread.info/dash/bejne/qZOkl8xun9y-ZbA.htmlsi=JnZXMk-aSmGEqp5n
I forgot to ask in “today’s” video about the shelving in your basement, but seeing it in this video reminded me. The bins on the next to bottom shelf don’t have lids. Is there a concern about this, whether pests getting in or moisture? After taste tests or partial usage do you re-weigh the bags and reconfigure the amount of water needed to rehydrate if you have that listed on the bags? I can only imagine “pain” of doing this on garlic bags where you’re not going to necessarily use a full cup (or do you?) in cooking. You noted the KWH’s used and said for us to figure out the cost of electricity in our areas. This would change in other areas too would it not? Those in higher humidity areas or higher/lower elevations would experience more/less dry time from their FD’ers much the same as these affect cooking with ovens. The amount of “juice” used would be different as a result it seems to me. I could be wrong, I’m not a scientist.
The bins without lids are that way just to fit the height of the shelving. We don't worry about the ones without lids. 1) We've never had any pests where we're at; if we did many will still make it through the plastic bins. (And I would go to Shawn Woods channel:) 2) The lids are not sealed so will do nothing to slow moisture. If we reseal bags after using part of it for testing we do put new gross weight and water needed numbers on the bag. If we're opening a bag for kitchen use, like a bag of garlic to be used in recipes by the tablespoon or 1/4 cup, we don't re-weigh/re-label it. It'll just get used over a few months just like any dry spice we may have bought before we dried our own. Yes, you are correct, and all of the those variables plus others are why I used to tell everyone that the numbers that they would _insist_ that I needed to share (prefreeze time, freeze time, dry time, total machine time, pressure readings, weight loss, water needed to rehydrate, power cost, etc. . . ), would be almost worthless for anyone. I've considered telling people, when asked "how long did that batch take?" that it was 32 hours. And then explain that if you adjust the conditions just right, that every batch COULD be run in 32 hours. Otherwise it's kind of like asking how long does it take to go from point A to point B. The only good answer is: That depends... I didn't used to track the total time because it's almost worthless, just a ballpark number, except the freeze time and final dry which depend mostly on food type. It's done when it's done. 99% will somewhere between 18 hours and 70 hours. Even if I load the freeze dryer the same way, with the same amount of the same food, for two consecutive batches, the total time can still be a quite a few hours different. All I can do is generalize about total freeze dry time because there are so many variables to the dry times; Which machine you have, which firmware it's running, type of food, water content, sugar content, temperature of the food, ambient temperature in the room, room humidity, how much food in a batch, more than one kind of food in a batch, food volume, how tight it's packed, thickness on the tray, how well it contacts the tray, how porous the food is, how the food was sliced (this made a huge difference with citrus and pineapple), how clean the vacuum oil is (if it's an oil pump), and I'm sure there are more
Brilliant thanks for sharing , i see you leave the seeds in , thats great , ive been deseeding mine .
The thought never crossed my mind. Is there any reason I should take out the seeds?
@SchoolReports nope , I was told that the seeds won’t dry properly so I usually take the out and dehydrate them and cut the tomato flesh into cubes but I will try the slices again
@@kerry1963qld 🤣 No seed will dry properly unless they are given enough time. Seeds by nature are designed to hold on to their moisture so they can grow. (I'm sure you know all this, but a lot of people might read this) This is probably why some people have had issues with fresh green beans, thinking they are completely dry only to find out later they have gone bad. They didn't give them enough time for the seeds to dry all the way to the center. Dry is dry, seeds or no seeds.
@@SchoolReports Yes so true , it has been a long time since ive done slices but i will try again :) thankyou
164 views as of typing this in (originally watched at 149 views) and nobody has pointed out the error. In your thumbnail you state “batch 609” but the bag in the video was from several days later; batch 611! I know it’s from at least a couple days later because I went and checked on batch 609 where you stated it was February 4, 2023.. and batch 610 you state the date as February 6th. Batch 611 isn’t shown anywhere that I could see. Though you used the same taste testing video from 609 in 2 consecutively posted videos: First the thumbnail stating “Quick Test/Check After About 12 weeks” followed by the posting of “Batch 610… & … Testing a Bag..609.” The next time a Batch is mentioned in the thumbnail is about Batch 617 posted 2 videos later. In that video your sheet states 2-27-23 as the date. So while the main point of it being 17 months later is correct, stating which batch you’re taste testing if false. Save face with others by changing it please ☺️. It will of course make my pointing all this out seem silly but it will stop others from meticulously looking this stuff up🤣
Thanks! At least now I know why they weren't the ones with the inner plastic bags. I was so surprised by that that I even went back and looked at the original 609 video to see if I had bagged some without the inner plastic bags in that batch, but never noticed the extremely obvious different batch number. I bagged the ones in batch 611 without the inner bags to have a worst-case comparison for the possibility of the slices sticking together. I did 3 consecutive batches of tomato slices, batches 609, 610, and 611. The ones in this video were from (duh) batch 611, the only batch I didn't make a video of. Well, that's what I get for not checking my own videos before referencing a video that I never made!
Nice.. always good to check on some things from time to time.
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We just found you! Great content and is giving us some great ideas.
Thanks for watching and for commenting! 🤣 I have to apologize for many of my older videos. In my focus to keep my older videos very short, most of my older, shorter videos are almost devoid of information! I tried hard to keep the videos down to less then 10 or 15 minutes, no matter what I had to cut out! (Like information!) Once people have done a bunch of freeze drying, the older videos do make a bit more sense. Remember, I'm just another idiot on the internet. The #1 joke at our house is "But, I saw it on the internet!" I look at what commercial companies are doing. If they can do it, we probably can too. (with method adjustments) "If you read it on the Internet, it's absolutely true!" - Abraham Lincoln
Excellent, so helpful. Thank you.
I recently tried to do a dry check on my machine. I've been going by mTorrs/temperature, but due to a major FAIL on ham and beans, I wanted to stop the machine and do a dry check. To my surprise, I couldn't get the machine to release vacuum. Twice I've tried this and it goes between 10-20 minutes and never releases. The drain is wide open. What I noticed the last time is that the pump is still running after I've run the time down to "0". I don't remember the pump being on during the dry check before and two friends said that it should NOT be running. Should it be on or off? If it's supposed to be off, would the problem be with the computer or the pump. Someone said that water was frozen in the drain, but I've checked and that doesn't appear to be the case. Any ideas would be appreciated! Linda McHam
The vacuum pump should NOT be running after the time gets to 0 and during the _Dry Check_ process. If it's still running with the screen showing 0 (and it should also be saying "Process Complete" ) something is not right. You could use the power switch on the vacuum pump to turn off the vacuum pump. (You could also turn off the vacuum pump for the _Dry Check_ process and never even stop the process countdown, but that's a separate issue) Using the pressure/temperature is never good enough to tell if the food is completely dry or not. It can only tell you if it may be worth starting the Dry Check_ process. Never trust the machine to know if it's dry. - It can't know.
Thank you for your reply. I thought there was something wrong with the pump running. I’ll check with Harvest Right and see if they have a suggestion. Thank you again. Your videos are wonderful!
@@lindamcham428 Yes, if your vacuum pump is not shutting off when it get to the "Process Complete" screen, you may have a bad relay or firmware glitch or something.
Someone on a FB group said to check my Setup Configuration. It was set to ON when it should have been set to OFF. I assumed (bad idea) that it was set the same way my previous circuit board was last summer. I’m doing another run now and hopefully this will release the vacuum. I will let you know! Thanks again for your help!
@@lindamcham428 I hope that solves your problem! Is it the functional testing screen? (Like at this spot? - kzread.info/dash/bejne/fH6lpaqSn9zSdKg.htmlsi=GyncIJogN1X8HPgj&t=111 ) That screen is really for manual testing of the components and they are right - it should be set to off. (All 4 things on that screen should be set to off) It's so obvious now that you say it and yet I would not have thought to look there because it's supposed to be off.
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I hope to use mine also as a panty, maybe up to a year. For camping or hunting.
We love ours as the pantry and we've used ours for camping in the past. Right now I'm working on getting our van fixed up to use for traveling/camping. We used to bring our freeze dried food camping when we had a travel trailer. Works great. When I was much younger I used to bring Mountain House freeze dried food on back packing trips, and being able to make and bring your own is better!
I do not use hand lotions or finger nail polish. I use gloves for the protection of my hands and not get stuff underneath my fingernails.
So how do you get so much water? What is that thing you put in your freeze dryer and the fans?? How do I pre cool it?
Good questions. (Please let me know if my answers are not clear) The water I show at the beginning of this video is from the previous batch, batch 589, an 8 lb batch of apples. - kzread.info/dash/bejne/la2TsMiwaLvHZLw.htmlsi=gb-Q7x3NbE9fxRoZ&t=778 That's more or less the amount of water (6.5 lbs) from that many apples of this variety. I assume that you have a newer machine. (Like my sister's) The defrost baffle thing I made for my sister's machine is better and simpler than mine. It's just cut from a piece of plastic corrugate I haven't yet made a video about it, but I show it a bit in a few videos kzread.info/dash/bejne/dXWbmrCtnNeej7Q.htmlsi=zXZHjUF0zlO-c0cu&t=1488 Here is one showing it's use in my older machine. - How We Defrost and Dry our Harvest Right Freeze Dryer - kzread.info/dash/bejne/loeaq7mkp6aTlZc.htmlsi=U4f6MV4GNxuEkTdV As far as precooling the machine after starting it, we just let run until the temperature of the rack is lower than the temperature of our trays of prefrozen food before loading the machine. We don't put frozen food into a machine that's warmer than the food. (We prefreeze almost everything we freeze dry)
Thanks!
Thank you! And thanks for watching and for commenting!
Don’t like beer or wine. Whiskey? 😂 I have that cookbook! I’ll look it up! Looks great. Glad daughter #1 can have home cooked meals at her disposal. Yet another benefit!
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Never occurred to me. Since the date and time don’t show up anywhere useful, I didn’t think to “set time.” I immediately saw the time of day was wrong (it doesn’t adjust for daylight saving) and made that change as well. Naturally the beeping helps alert a person walking by the room know the “process is complete” without having to walk into the room, but for you and I, we check our machines regularly and use the “extra dry time” frequently. When I first got the machine I would listen for the beep (I sleep one room away), but now add so many hours on that it’s easier just to check it, bring down the extra time to check/weigh, and restart it… I also sleep better :)
🤣 The beep pretty much has no value for me. The big reason I forgot to turn off the beep on my sister's machine after the power outage is because, unless I'm within a couple feet of the machine, I can't hear the beep! Thanks to how things work out if you work with loud equipment for many years without hearing protection, I'm missing most of the high frequencies. Even with hearing aids I can only hear the beep when I'm right next to the machine. Without them, there is no beep for me:)
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Looks great , family and friends got a little addicted to the Gay Time bites so i ended up doing 5 trays of them ( cut in 1/2 ) :) my husbands machines runs almost every week now .
Great to hear his is running. Did you get your machine running again?
@@SchoolReports No not yet :( Hubby works away a lot then when he does get home its a mad dash to get things done , he's only home for 3 days then away for 2 or 3 weeks and i really don't want to nag him about it but on the upside he said to use his till he gets mine looked at , im happy with that as his has 5 tray mine has 4 . It would be nice tho .
where do you buy your blue cake pan dividers? Can you add a link so we can order them ? TIA
Thanks for watching and commenting! Sorry, I didn't buy them, I made them. The dividers are just something I made. The dividers are designed to fit the pans we got at a Dollar Tree store. The pans are a near perfect fit ** for our medium freeze dryer trays. (Turns out they have them online too www.dollartree.com/cooking-concepts-square-cake-pans-75-in/10065 ) The file is on Thingiverse. www.thingiverse.com/thing:3848619 (Some people feel that it's wrong to have food touch plastic - it's low on my personal risk list) I've updated the Thingiverse listing to include a new version of the divider that is slightly narrower at the bottom to fit more of the pans. ** Clarification on the 2 1/2 pans per tray; it only works IF the divider is the thickness I use. (or thicker) The freeze dryer trays actually fits about 1/2" less than 2 1/2 pans; that's one reason I made the dividers that thick, that and to fit the magnets. For those without a 3D printer, here's my best ideas for getting some 3D printed dividers. Lots of areas have Maker's places with people that would love to do it for you. Or, better yet, some schools have 3D printing labs. Check with a the local charter school that has junior high or high school age students. I taught 3D Design and Printing for 3+ years at a local 6th - 8th grade charter school. We loved it when we could find/were given a real-world project with a real need. I did make a couple of the dividers without using the 3D printer a short time ago. It turns out it's an easy craft project and my sister says they are working well. (I will be making more non 3D printed ones, they're easy, cheap, and work!) Making Dividers for My Pre-freeze Pans Without Using a 3D Printer (For Our Medium Freeze Dryer) kzread.info/dash/bejne/ioKnxLmnYpzelKg.html Stay tuned. 😁 I'm going to show another way using 1/2 thick cutting board. (For people with more tools and/or skills)
When I do sauces and stews, I use a fork or ice pick to make a perforation down the middle of the dried product so I get a nice clean / even break of the larger size pans so they fit nicely in the mylar bags instead of breaking up coursly. I like nice flat mylar bags instead of a bulge to fit more in my storage containers. Those rods you use before the thermometer would probably work well. Also a guy on the web says not to put a fan on your vac pump...It works better warmer...IDK if he's right or not.
We have used the thermometers to make a perforated line for breaking the blocks a few times. When we want the whole blocks in a bag, and have the block stay whole, we use a larger flat bag. Works great and we can/do just put them back in the same pans for rehydrating. Rehydrating Freeze Dried Scalloped Potatoes - kzread.info/dash/bejne/i4itm5WdmJWnoaQ.htmlsi=hs8kQTIxoSd7V_r5 We do run fans on our vacuum pumps. I understand the reasoning for having the pumps run hot (to help make sure the water vapor doesn't condense in the oil - but it's never been an issue for us), but most electric motors run more efficiently and last longer when kept well under 160ºf. (My pump runs hot) Very high temperatures also degrade the oil faster, leading to less effective vacuum and the need to change the oil more frequently. After 7 years with fans, we're still happy with the results. Remember, I'm just another idiot on the internet. The #1 joke at our house is "But, I saw it on the internet!" I look at what commercial companies are doing. If they can do it, we probably can too. (with method adjustments)
I find it interesting how YT will say 7 views of a 47 minute video only 2 minutes after posting. Does it count the views when started, because there’s no way 7 viewers could have seen an entire 47 minute video in only 2 minutes. I noticed the steel rods laid on a plastic piece before freezing (to keep them from sinking into the liquid), I was going to ask regarding the removal of it, but I see my question was already answered while loading your sister’s machine (that’s what I get for pausing the video to type questions at the same time, so as not to forget my train of thought 🤣). Knowing when your sister got her machine was very helpful, thank you! It’s the last of the “old” machine setup. In August 2023 Harvest Right came out with the latest model and with the 4 tray levels becoming 5 levels I can only imagine you hating it, because 5 levels in the same amount of space (the drum is the exact same size), means that a person is more constrained to the height of the food going in (there’s less clearance). It doesn’t affect those who can keep the food under the top of the tray sides. You would still hate it because instead of 2 1/2 pounds per tray you might be limited to 2 pounds per tray in order to achieve the same 10 pounds in the drum…and create the same amount of ice in said drum. I think I would like your machine better as well, especially because yours was the last time ordering a Red one was possible. Also, the thermometer wouldn’t fit on top of the food like it is shown in your sister’s machine, there isn’t that much room. I noticed your sister’s vacuum pump is close to the dryer. Mine is one to two feet away from the dryer (and on a completely different shelf unit) at about the same height. Is there a “plus” in having it so close to the machine I haven’t considered (“plus” is the closest word I can conceive of right now to the word I would rather use, but can’t think of)? How do you get the machine to Not give off the incessant beeping when the process is done (while you weigh and reload)? I know your machine probably had this beeping as ‘John In Bibs’ has the same exact machine as yours and I can hear the beeping of his in the background after he pulls his product out (he received and has a 6 or 7 year old unboxing video from when he received his “big red” as he calls it). You even mention not turning off your sister’s beeping.. and still don’t… how is it done? I liked your comment at the end about taking a trip (to texas) and that it would be long done and gone before seeing this video 🤣! How prophetic 🤔
This will take me a couple of replies to cover everything. 😁 I won't pretend to understand half of what YT does. (And things seem to change on a whim) I think that YT counts "views" after a short time after beginning to watch. Turning off the beep on (2022) Harvest Right - kzread.info/dash/bejne/fqRm18VslbPMg9Y.htmlsi=XoxXZxXxxzNjV0iF It has to be done again after power outages, which is what happened here.
The 5 trays vs 4 trays - I think I would like the 5 tray machine. I could spread the food over 5 trays instead of 4, and therefore it should dry faster. I love the idea, I'm just too cheap to get it at this stage when we really don't need faster times. (And I'm sure I could convert mine myself if I wanted to, plus I have access to a second machine. Faster drying doesn't really matter to me with the amount I already have on the shelf) I can adjust the hole for the thermometer to allow the thermometers to hang just over the front of the trays, between the tray and the door. The red machine is the best color:)
@MisterEMystery Vacuum pump location - Our vacuum pumps really just ended up where they are was mostly just a function of the cart they are on. Mine is at the far edge so it would be above my oil filter system and I wanted to leave an empty space in the middle to put trays when needed. My freeze dryer blows the air from right to left through the machine. My sister's pump is right next to her machine because we wanted to leave the bagging and sealing space on the right. It's on the raised stand to get it out of the stream of hot air coming off the refrigeration condenser. Her machine blows the air through it from left to right. I will share a _long_ video of the Texas trip soon-ish. Mostly hyperlapse of the drive with some sound track. I didn't know it would take me this long to get things edited, including this Beef Stew Mexican-Style video, which I started shooting at the end of May.
@SchoolReports Actually you have already done the Texas trip video. I think it was posted in On The Go. I agree red is the better color!! While I saw your videos first, the color never entered my mind. When I saw John’s unboxing video (going back through 330+ vids to almost the beginning), that’s when I realized there used to be a red available…and now I WANT ONE 😭 but can’t get anything other than Black, white, or (for more money) Stainless steel. I don’t understand since they’re all steel, why would it cost more to have one Not painted Black or white 😵💫
@@MisterEMystery 😁 I included a tiny bit of the trip video at the end of the recent Freeze Drying Mushrooms video. I've only posted 8 videos total since we got back (4 on each channel), and I'm pretty sure that's the only clip I've used so far. (I'd have to watch them to be sure:) I'm planning to do a long version video of the trip. Two to 6 hours, depending on how the edit goes. Our machines are not steel, they're aluminum. (at least both of ours are) Of course that doesn't change your point that they are painted and why not have more colors. Maybe it's like the old Fords - you could have any color you want, as long as you wanted black!
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It's not entirely obvious from the first video when you were cooking these on the stove top if you cook them through to the point where the potatoes were tender and then freeze dried them or you're baking them after you rehydrate it only combining the ingredients in the first video
In that video I should have said something like: I cooked it in the giant pot on the stove until the potatoes are nice and tender, but not until they are falling apart. We have also freeze dried batches of scalloped potatoes that we had cooked (baked) in the pans. I don't know which way is best (flavor/texture), but the baked-in-pan ones are a lot harder to get out of the pans. That's why I started cooking it on the stove top before panning it. The ones being rehydrated in this video may have been from a batch of baked ones.
@@SchoolReports I figured it out, having started with raw sliced potatoes like you. Takes 4+ hours for tender on low simmer. Higher than that and bottom burns.... Came out great though using your recipe.
@@mlydick I looked at that and thought "4 hours!?" 😁 Did mine take that long? So, I looked at the original video files. The video when I was putting the ingredients into the pot was started just over 4 hours before the video where I started to put the cooked/heated scalloped potatoes in the pans. 😁
Freeze dried tomatoes are one of the best thing we've freeze dried. The 3 year-old cannot get enough of them. She walks around eating them like cookies. Absolutely perfect on sandwiches. They give the otherwise boring sandwich a nice crunch.
I know! Aren't they great used dry? I've had some people say that if the slices can't be rehydrated, they don't want freeze dried slices. I say try them before you decide.
@@SchoolReports I almost have the opposite view as the rehydrators. I keep trying to find different uses for the freeze dried item (such as powder, paste, whatever) versus just rehydrate back to what you had before. The only real issue I have with eating the freeze dried items is you need to make sure that you have a glass of water on hand.
Hello making this recipe now and it's not entirely clear from your video if you're cooking the potatoes in the pot or just using the pot to combine the ingredients and then pouring them into the baking sheets to be later rehydrated and baked where the potatoes actually cook?
A forty seven minute video and I couldn't manage to include a few seconds to mention how much I cooked it before putting it in the pans. Wow! 🤣🤣 At about 5:30 in this video I should have said something like: I cooked it in the giant pot on the stove until the potatoes are nice and tender, but not until they are falling apart. We have also freeze dried batches of scalloped potatoes that we had cooked (baked) in the pans. I don't know which way is best (flavor/texture), but the baked-in-pan ones are a lot harder to get out of the pans. That's why I started cooking it on the stove top before panning it.
I have a question about storage. After you put the food in the mylar bags, is there a certain type of container that the mylar bags should be stored in?
Great question! We store ours on racks, in big plastic bins that we got at Costco. Other people use cardboard boxes or whatever containers work for their space. And, in general, cooler temperatures are better for longer storage. Freeze Dried Food Bins/Racks - kzread.info/dash/bejne/Y3qCpcelhNbNoso.htmlsi=dnERzcreYrEIckFA Here is what Mountain House has to say about storage: "Store Mountain House food under dry, sanitary conditions, without prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures and avoiding any environment that could cause damage to the packaging, such as punctures or dents. To maximize shelf life, store food unopened and avoid prolonged exposure to temperatures above 75°F (24°C)."
Do you blanch the potatoes whole or do you blanch after shredding?
Great question! The ones in this video were a bag of store-bought frozen hash browns and would have been blanched. If I were making my own from scratch, I would shred them before rinsing and blanching them.
Oooh, please see if you or your sis have any 3-year-old bags and test this out again!
I'll have to check with my sister when she gets back in town. It would sure be interesting! I don't know how much she did or if she has any of it left.
@@SchoolReports THANKS! Sure would be cool to test and see! ❤️
So is the vacuum just vaporizing the water in the food and for the most part it freezes on the chamber? I have used vacuum chambers for other projects in the past and would boil off ice cubes. I had thought that the vacuum was actually removing the water, but thinking on this - it appears that the goal is to pull it from the food, and freeze it to the chamber walls... Which would mean that defrosting between loads would improve efficiency during the batch for high water content foods - eggs, coffee, milk, fruit, etc...This also explains heating the food too...
Yes, that's more or less correct. I won't pretend to understand all the science of it, but one big reason for the cold chamber wall is to be a cold trap (when the water vaporizes, it's going to go somewhere) to keep all that water from going into the vacuum pump oil. (Also something about vapor pressure differences between the cold chamber walls and the heated trays of food helps the vapor move from the food to the cold walls - That's the part I don't really understand) With few exceptions, we always defrost between batches. The times we might not defrost between batches would be when we're doing super low moisture foods like multiple batches of candy.
Have you ever tried using duct tape to seal the edge instead of the pulse sealer? Just curious if that would hold, because it keeps the bag intact without sealing damage.
Duct tape instead of heat sealing? No I haven't, because duct tape will let oxygen go through.
@@SchoolReports Hmm too bad. I was more inclined to think the tape would only be there to “compress and hold” the two mylar sheets together allowing the mylar to do the “preventing oxygen’s entry”.
I appreciate everything you do to help us.
Thanks for watching and for commenting!
Yours looks a lot more appetizing.
Nice video. Where did you get the parchment paper that's already cut to the size of the trays?
Thanks. We cut our own parchment sheets from rolls we get at Costco. I've made a couple videos of cutting the paper - here is one of them: Cutting More Parchment Paper for our Freeze Dryer Trays - kzread.info/dash/bejne/pphtzrhvlte9mLQ.htmlsi=dkeEc2eyBJ7LlkKs
Jeez, why in the world would your door get that wet? I’ve never had that issue. It must be leaking around the door? Or maybe your room is substantially warmer than the door and condensation is forming in the same way as leaky windows can in winter?
It's not about "leaky," it's about temperature differential, relative humidity, and condensation. Windows don't get condensation on them because they are leaky, they get condensation because they are cold and have warm, moist air touching them. Of course the room is substantially warmer than the door, and condensation is forming. It's about 110ºf colder on the inside of the door than the room temperature. It's -40ºf (or colder) inside, making the door and seal very cold, and 70ºf in the room. Most people report condensation at least occasionally on their door and/or seal. HR even changed the placement of the electronics and display, in part, because of the condensation. (allowing water to drip on the electronics in the older machines with the screen below the door) Ice on Door Seal and Condensation on Door - kzread.info/dash/bejne/iYGC2Niaadi6lNY.htmlsi=ohe9i59mgQSdOePO
@@SchoolReports That’s interesting. My window remark in regard to double pane windows in winter was only meant in regard to appearance. As I’m sure you know, a double pained window is made with two pieces of glass with gas sealed in between. The cold is kept away from the warmer inside window, and thus condensation doesn’t form - unless the seal is broken and the gas barrier leaked out. That said, I don’t get moisture like you are. I should bite my tongue or that will be the next thing that becomes an issue, LOL. The only thing I can think that is different is I have numerous fans running near mine. I added two sets of computer fans to cool the system by blowing across the compressor and condenser. One set is on one side, on the outside. blowing through the vent holes into the FD and the other is on the opposite side, speed the air transfer quicker by pulling the air out. Since the small room gets warm, I also have a larger fan that blow the air out of the room. That must be enough to handle the issue. It could also be the difference between the age of your machine seal and mine. Your seal may be loosening or not as snug?
@@user-yk7vd4zg3r The seal is not an issue, nor the age of the machine. It has been like that since day one for both machines, and I knew it would be an issue even before I got the machine. I had seen many reports about the issue from virtually everyone who had one. Including from Harvest Right themselves. You're one of the very few people I've heard from saying it has _never_ happened to them. We do have 2 fans for each machine. One blowing through each machine to help move air past the compressor and condenser, and fans aimed at the vacuum pumps. You must live in a warmer climate. Even with our thermal windows, in the kitchen and bathroom, after it's been 10 below for a few weeks, we can still get a bit of condensation on those window under the right conditions. (True it's almost nothing and it clears up fast, unlike like the freeze dryer door, but the door is not a double pane, insulated door) The bigger difference, I suspect, is you. You're probably more dedicated! You probably stay on top of the process and don't leave your machine cooling, waiting for you for many, many hours like often happens with me. Try starting the refrigeration, shut the door, _don't_ go to the next cycle, and come back and check it the next day.
@@SchoolReports Huh, weird.
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