Freeze Drier.

[SavedByGrace3]

We finally bit the bullet and purchased a Harvest Right Freeze Drier. They have been on sale and we got 500 bucks off the medium drier.
It was still a pretty good sized investment, but at just under 3K, I think we can recoup our investment in about a year and a half. We do not anticipate using it more than once or twice a week. That plan may change if we decide to begin to convert our dehydrated and other preps into freeze dried meals. Beans, rice, oats, potatoes, all veggies, etc. can be cooked, freeze dried into meals. and packed into mylar with an O2 packet. They claim such meals can last up to 25 years. The big benefit is all you have to do is add hot water and let the food reconstitute. These are all pre-cooked meals ready to go. When the day comes, it may not be easy or even safe to be cooking full meals from your preps. We have 700 pounds of rice, at least that much in dried beans, and lots of oats and the like. These could easily be converted to freeze dried meals. This may be a good summer project. We recently bought an instant pot pressure cooker which would aid us greatly in preparing massive amounts of food for meals. The processing time can take from 20 - 28 hours. I hear if you freeze the food in your freezer it will shorten this process. The freeze drier first freezes the food to (I think) -20 degrees, and then the vacuum removes the H2O. I need to read up on that.
So we have an exciting new avenue for our prepping. In for a dime, in for a dollar.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

We received the Freeze Drier on Friday. Had to leave it in the driveway on the pallet. It was too heavy to move by myself. Wrapped it up with A couple tarps. My oldest son came by today and helped me unbox it and bring it in the house. We have it set up and ready to do the first batch.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

This is the best YouTube video I found to walk you through the unboxing and set up. We were fortunate enough to get the new upgrade from 4 to 5 trays. Woooo - Hooooo!

 

[tturt]

Wondering about your freezer drier. What have been the pros and cons? In their ad, it states food is 1/3 store costs.

 

[bèlla]

Wondering about your freezer drier. What have been the pros and cons? In their ad, it states food is 1/3 store costs.

I’ve had a freeze dryer for several years and purchased it during the pandemic. The most important concern for prospective owners is utilization. Why do you need it and what are your plans for the food you’re processing? Is the goal to produce long-term storage at a lower rate than commercial options? Are you overflowing with produce and seeking a way to put away a larger volume than a dehydrator would hold? What do you need to preserve that the other can’t accommodate? It’s quite an investment.

To get the biggest bang for your buck you’d have to run it every week. Are you prepared to do that? Consider the impact on your electric bill and constant drawing of wattage. I haven’t noticed much difference but we have a cold room and the modest increase is probably that and not the other. Overall, it’s best to have a plan beforehand. Most preppers and homesteaders don’t own the device. The proliferation online can be misleading. The company gives units away now but that wasn’t so before and many were holdouts.

As for the savings, that may apply to comparable products in the store. Which begs the question. What percentage of your purchases are along those lines? Many assume they’ll use it more than they do. The Purposeful Pantry has a lot of ideas for the dehydrator. I’d look through her resources before taking the plunge.

~bella

 

[SavedByGrace3]

We love our freeze dryer, especially for long-term storage. Some preparation may take several hours, and a normal run in the FD takes about 24 hours or more. Then there is packaging and storing to boot. It is a lot of work for the short term. If you plan to consume the product within the next few months, then freeze it. We have 8 or 10 large storage totes full of many kinds of freeze-dried foods. I think the best feature is that you can FD and store meat products. My wife cans veggies. I like to cook a large pressure cooker full of dry beans and then FD the whole batch. I put them in 2-quart jars with an O2 absorber. We have pulled out FD beans and FD rice, and you cannot tell they were stored long-term—beans and rice stored for up to 13 years in Mylar Bags with the O2 Absorber. I do add a teaspoon of baking soda to the beans during soaking to soften the skins. I add a squirt of lemon juice to the rice to ward off any decade-old metallic taste. It is all a matter of cost-effectiveness. Does it make sense to do a 30-hour freeze-dry run on items that you can buy canned or that have very little food value? The Lord recently told me to stop with some of the prepping. We have enough. But the other night, I had a dream where I was significantly increasing our stock of canned goods. I think He may intend us to distribute these items to family and church friends. They are easy to handle and, despite what the label says, these items will last for years if stored in a cool place and the cans are undented.
At this point, we are still buying some canned goods from Sam's Club and using and replacing stored food that is over 10 years old.
But a freeze dryer is definitely a good investment if you can afford one. Harvest Right has improved its machines in the last few years. Ours was buggy when we first got it. A few software bugs were patched, and we have had no issues since. Keep it clean. We do not use it much in the summer because of the heat in SC. We are now getting ready to fire it up again for some fall and winter batches.
Watch for the occasional $500 off sale.