Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer Owners Tips & Tricks

69 Comments

1. I continuously go though the cost vs benefit of this device. Would I be better off just buying 300 Mountain House freeze dried meals from Wally World at $9 each or purchase a machine that can freeze dry my favorite Chinese, Mexican, Italian food at a cost greater than $9 a meal after the time spent, materials and maintenance on the machine?

   1. That’s why I believe a motivator really has more to do with the hobby/fun aspect. Which I get it… we all have our splurges and justifications for the things we like to do or buy ;)

      1. Ken, I can’t remember ever thinking you were wrong on anything, but for me you are wrong in this being a hobby/fun thing. Hobbies for me are sewing, pottery, leather working and flower gardening, ( the vegetable gardening is a necessity ). I am not a great cook, in fact I dread cooking. We have very boring taste and the freeze dried meals out there had many of the things we just don’t like. For the past 10 years we were stocking away $1500. – $2000. worth of the basic meats, poultry, vegetables, fruits and dairy each year. So in that time 15-20 thousand spent. In the last 8 months I have spent maybe $2,000. on the same items and have put up as much as 8 years of the purchased foods and I know exactly what is in it. For me it isn’t all that fun and is work in the preparation and packaging it correctly. As I said earlier it’s that piece of mind it gives me for the lack of ability to raise livestock or canning.

         1. Well, the “fun thing / hobby” was just one of several thoughts. Thanks for your input.

         2. Ok Ken, I took a deep breath. One thing to mention, if you are going to rely on freeze dried foods you need to have plenty of water available. It’s not a problem where we are, but if a meteor hits the Great Lakes, resulting in a tsunami, I hope our hill is high enough.

         3. Ken I kinda think it’s a fun thing. Just like canning, it’s a lot of work and in the middle of the job you’re waiting for it to be done. But it’s still fun. And in the end, when your looking at your end result, bags of Mylar food or jars of home canned goodies on the shelf, it is very satisfying and puts a smile on your face!

   2. That 300 meals will last about 3 months (assuming they actually have enough calories for a serving to count as a meal), during which time you could have saved another 1000 meals. At that point the machine will have paid for itself several times over, and the $ will be meaningless when you need food.

      If I can make my favorite Italian, Chinese or Mexican food for maybe $.50 per serving, does the same calculation apply? I don’t know how much these things cost to run.

      1. Serving size is a major consideration when purchasing FD food. Mountain House is usually a cup, but many are 1/2 cup. I gauge my servings on a cup per person per meal as an average.

   3. It would take awhile to pay for itself and you could purchase a pallet of FD food. So a person has to figure the numbers logical to them. 300 meals won’t get you to far. The cans would be cheaper. See my Rice a Roni specs above. :-)

2. Well ya all know me, I have a question for those that Freeze Dry AND Home Can.
   As far a taste, what would you recommend?
   As a person that Cans a LOT of Home Grown veggies I’m just wondering about flavor over the years and of course nutrition value.
   I do keep Home Caned foods a very long time, some stuff up to 7-8 years depending on how good of a Harvest I get that year and what I’m canning.
   Also Home Frozen Foods are about the same, if Vac Sealed and frozen it seems I can get at least 6-8 years.
   With that in mind I do wonder about the investment in the Freeze Dryer as I would bet most do.
   I also do a lot of Dehydrating and vac seal it in Jars or Mylar Bags

   So I’m really concerned on cost?

   From their website…. Cost = 2,695.00

   Like I said, just wondering. Although as Ken said, Hobbies are a GREAT thing and can be expensive. Heck that last Rifle Scope cost me that much HAHAHAHA Now if I only had a Rifle to put it on ughhhhhhh

   1. NRP & Blue,
      I buy in bulk and I also can lots of stuff. I have home canned Chicken breast but am not a fan. I think it tastes dried out and has a weird texture that I just don’t like. I’ve eaten it and would eat it if that’s all there was. I also tend to eat canned (store and home canned) items a few years old or more, not the typical 12-18 mos that is advertised.
      I have my stash of home canned items and now I have a stash of FD items. Continuously working on both aspects. A deeper pantry, with multiple layers makes me happy!!🙂

   2. I grow a big garden and pressure can and freeze veggies every year. The freeze dryer hasn’t replaced canning for me. I typically freeze dry things that I wouldn’t normally can: mushrooms, apples, bananas, cheese, peppers, fresh eggs, etc. Sometimes I freeze dry meals but usually I prefer to freeze dry individual ingredients. I use my freeze dried mushrooms and peppers regularly in my cooking. I enjoy snacking on the freeze dried fruit. Items like freeze dried cheese, fresh eggs, and meals are more for long term storage rather than regular use. The freeze dryer just give you more options, which I appreciate. I still use my dehydrator–I prefer using it for onions and hot peppers.

3. I buy Qt & 1/2 sized mylar bags (Amazon). It allows me to put 2 servings (i like bigger serving rather than smaller) & it fits nicely. I usually package 2 serving sizes because that’s a good go to for me & I can take out more bags as needed for more family.I also label my bags with how many servings, date & whether it’s cooked or raw, if made elsewhere (ie costco rotisserie chicken) & any instructions that may be important for others if your not around, example egg powder to water. The raw vs cooked may be helpful in the future because freeze dried & raw may tend to look the same in the end (only seen comparisons on online videos, haven’t FD any raw meat yet that I can think of.) Costco chix is an easy purchase to bring home & cut up & toss in the FD. We’ve done it a few times. I use 10 ea sq baking pans I purchased at dollar tree. You can fit 2 1/2 pans on 1 med tray. Most items you can scoop 2 C (stew for example) into the pan & then freeze in your chest freezer. Then when ready run warm water on bottom of pans, pop out onto the HR trays. Schoolreports is on Rumble&YouTube & is where I found this idea

4. I have had my freeze dryer for about six years. Pretty much every second morning I pack up a load, prepare the next load and load it in about two hours later.

   i haven’t been cooking the meat first. Any suggestions on the best way to cook it.

   i have tried different ways to do bread. Sometimes it will crack. Rehydrating hasn’t been very satisfactory.

   berries have to have their skin broken in order to release the water content.

   I make thin omelettes and steam them to rehydrate them.
   Today I am drying coffee grounds. DH doesn’t like the store bought freeze dried coffee and I want some long term storage coffee. Hope this will work. This type of experiment makes freeze drying a hobby.

   1. Skeezix, I bake or cook meat in skillet. For instance sirloin steak, slice thin, season and cook in a little butter to get a nice crust so to speak. FD’s real nice, rehydrates ok. Would be a real treat shtf. I find pork rehydrates the best. The small sliced hams in the meat dept. do real well and are cooked already. There are vacuumed packed tenderized turkey breast that cook quickly and FD well to. I’m sure raw is ok but will of course need fuel to cook.

      1. On the sliced cooked ham, I layer in 2 slices and cut in smaller sections. FD’s pretty quick, lower in moisture.

5. Oranges have been a problem for me. I cut them up quite small because of their high water content. When they are finished, they have lots of crystallized sugar protruding from them. Unfortunately these crystals are sharp and will make pin prick holes in the Mylar. I now double bag them.
   I may try rinsing them first and hope they don’t lose their sweetness.

   Stay frosty.

6. Oh I also wanted to mention, that the current harvest right dryers that have the (new) standard oil pump do not need to be changed after every batch now. It is now every 5 batches. That is way better than the old style ones. And the computer screen tells you when to do it as well. I also keep a running journal of how many batches I’ve ran, of what food, etc, and when I changed the oil along with what brand (I’ve used harvest right oil, robinaire oil and will soon try Dairyland oil). Anyway wanted to clarify the new units vs the old units, and the oil changing schedule.

7. Harvest Right recommends 7 mil bags that is all I use. Some FD food can have sharp points when dried so thicker is better. I buy one size bag, 7mil one quart. Personally found it easier to have one size on hand and just work with that. I seal my bags in three places and use desiccants along with the oxygen absorber. Another food for the freeze dryer is expired food that is still good. We purchased some Betty Crocker Helping Hand pasta meals back before 2015. There were 12 boxes, so get out the pans, cook it up, add more meat or some veggies and FD. Dried and ready to use for long term. Thing about cooked FD is it can be eaten dry if you have Water. No fuel needed.

8. Bought my FD in 2017. Not sure how much the electric is. I have not noticed any big difference in the bill. Electric goes up all of the time anyway.
   They recommend a 20 amp plug for the dryer as the dryer will sometimes fluctuate up to 16 amps. I had to buy an extension cord to reach the 20amp plug in the laundry room and purchased a commercial type with a higher amp rating. Lately I bought Tripp Lite surge protector for the FD and the washer. These expensive computer boards need some protection.

9. Mrs. U,
   what do you mean by, “I seal my bags in three places.” ?

   1. I seal my bags across the top three times. Use the flat 7mil quart bags. I usually have room to heat seal 3 times.

   2. I double seal mine and use 7 mil bags too but gusseted not flat.

10. Have you tried the manual vacuum seal using 1/4 inch poly tubing?
    Stick the poly tubing inside the mylar bag, up against the edge side of the mouth of the bag. Seal the bag with heat (iron) except for the portion where the tubing exits the bag. Using manual lung power, draw all the air out of the bag, though the poly tubing. Let the bag collapse over the contents as you kneed the air with your hands, pushing the air out of the bag, into the tube. Carefully pull the poly tubing out of the bag, letting your fingers trace the path of the tube out of the bag and you maintaining a manual vacuum. As you get to the top seal, use your fingers to collapse the bag seal where the tube exits the bag. Use the heat (iron) to seal the mylar bag completely, where the hose previously exited the bag.

    1. I haven’t done it precisely that way, but I do use lung power to get air out. It works. Only a small area for air to get back in before the bag is sealed, but a little does get back in. You have to seal fast! : )

       1. Wondering if some moisture from your breath gets in the bag?

          1. Mrs. U I suspect unless you blow into the bag no. As I read it they are sucking out the last bit of atmosphere out of the bag. But then again I don’t have a freeze drier, just a sealer unit.

11. So Ken- as the person that asked the question and went ahead and pulled the trigger on the purchase this morning, here are my reasons. I have thought about it off and on for three years, but never really had the money The stimulus money was the deciding factor, if the gov is going to try to buy me off then I’ll spend it on one more way to disengage from the system. I’ve been reading a LOT in the last 24 hours and I read that if you run your machine continuously then it pays for itself in 30 days, but if you do only one batch a week it takes about 9 months, I didn’t think that was too bad a ROI. I want to specifically do things that cost a lot if you want to buy store bought FD foods, meat being primary (I have three freezers that I wouldn’t mind freeing up some space and risk losing with no power for an extended period of time).

    1. I also want to do the things that I would miss the most or enhance my beans and rice, like cheese and fruit. I also read an article that had something that hadn’t occurred to me, in a SHTF when cooking smells could be a give away, rehydrating FD food has little odor and takes less energy to cook, then say dry beans. Lastly, we do a lot of hiking/backpacking and making my own, way better meals is a real plus.

       1. I have FD’d some cooked dried beans. They get very crunchy and could then be mashed into a refried consistency.

    2. Very cool Montana. You can thaw the meats, cook and FD. Meat has less water and will FD quicker than say veggies or pastas. Don’t have to cook, but I personally would prefer to know that the meat would be free of bacteria and such. When you are ready will give you some info on timing foods. Keeping a log is very helpful.

       1. Thanks Mrs U- I’d appreciate an estimate on timing foods. Now that I made the decision, 10 weeks out seems sooo long.

12. I’ve owned a FD for years the only problem I’ve had is with the vac. pump went first with a oil less it lasted about 2 years. Now i have the premium oil pump which works great. AS ken has said you want to have food for your pets. i don’t think there is any better way to put up food for them than freeze drying. We buy chx. at the restaurant supply store 40lb case. Regular dog food has a lot of oil in it and goes rancid in about a year or so. Eggs are great freeze dried and my point is the wife and I went thru our supplies and had to throw out thousands of dollars of old cans 2012 13 14 the freeze dried food lasts for 20 years or more.

13. This article just caused my internal debate on whether to get a freeze dryer to kick off again, lol!

    Right now, I’m stuck on which size…medium or large? Looks like most folks here have the medium, and I’m wondering if anyone regrets not getting the larger one?

    My use would mostly be for excess garden produce (canned and/or dehydrated in the past). I’m thinking prep work would be about the same, but nutritional content much improved by freeze drying (3% FD loss vs 40% canning loss if you believe the ads). I also maintain a decent inventory of commercially canned foods that usually get donated when rotation time comes around. I think those could also be freeze dried at rotation time for longer storage life.

    Unfortunately, the best place for me to put one would be in the garage, which would entail a complete rearrangement of all the mess that’s there right now. Ugh. If lead time is 10 weeks, guess that would sure set my priorities for the next 2 months!

    1. FinallyOuttaCA, I have managed well with the medium size. I would suggest getting a 2nd set of trays, that has helped me a lot. I don’t enjoy cooking all that much so when I do, I make alot. For instance I just unloaded and packaged four trays of Lasagna, when I loaded the trays I found I had Lasagna left over and it would have filled a fifth tray. By having a second set of trays I was able to fill a fifth tray and stick it in the freezer to go in with my next batch. I will cook enough ground beef to fill the remaining 3 trays and all is well. DH made room in his temperature controlled wood shop for ours, but we made sure it is in an area that won’t be affected by dust or anything else flying around in there. You do have to keep an eye on heat and humidity, freeze dryers don’t like either of those in excess. Hope you win that internal debate.

    2. FinallyOutta CA,
       I also do not regret my medium size. As mentioned earlier comments I utilize the square pans from dollar tree and that helps without having extra pans, as I can deep freeze stuff in there (mind you only as deep of about 3/4 to 1”or so or about the depth of the FD trays itself) then transfer to my freeze dryer trays when ready to FD that food. I have thought about extra sets of trays but right now this is working for me. I have my FD in an unused bedroom. I can shut the door when using. I have closed off my furnace register and it is pretty cool (60ish degrees) in there in the winter (Michigan). Having said that I have had the unit put a screen notice that it may take longer to dry due to warm room temperatures” or something like that. So I now just open a window when I’m freeze drying. I also purchased a stainless steel prep table to set it on. I made sure to have usable space besides just having the FD sit on it. That helps when dealing with the food/trays before and after,

       1. FinallyOutaCA, Mitten Mom is spot on about the table.

    3. MW Mitten & Mitten Mom,

       Thanks for the additional input. Went ahead and ordered one with the oil-less pump (my splurge). Placed the order online since all their sales phone lines were busy. I suspect they will be doing a LOT of business with Spring arriving. Delivery is still 10 weeks out, so that will give me time to reorganize the garage, get an appropriate table (existing workbenches are too high), and hopefully be ready when it arrives about the same time my garden starts producing. Also ordered an extra set of trays & the silicone mats (tho’ may switch to parchment paper?). Found a guy on YouTube (Retired at 40), who has some neat looking tray stacking clips and an anti-siphon kit to help prevent backflow from the drain bucket.
       A big deciding factor for me was expected cost increases of everything. Already seeing it in many areas, so don’t want to lose a bit of my garden production given high replacement cost from the store.
       Thanks again!

       1. FinallyOuttaCA- Retired at 40 has some great hacks and I did go ahead and order from him the anti-siphon and tray stackers. I could pick up the anti-siphon thing much cheaper, but I have appreciated his tips and video so much I am happy to support him. I have been hearing that HR is telling people 10 weeks, but some are getting them much sooner, so fingers crossed that is true.

       2. I cannot believe I came home to an email from Harvest Right that my Freeze Dryer has been shipped! What happened to the 10+ weeks I was going to have to get the garage squared away? Yikes!
          Looks like FedEx will be contacting me for delivery in a few days…hopefully this will go more smoothly than the solar panel delivery they messed up several years ago……

14. Here is a tip that I’ll pass on. Leave the door open if you are not using for a period of time. Keep that air circulating in it rather than closing it up tight. Don’t ask me how I know… ☹️

15. Well, I pulled the trigger. Was able to sell 3oz of flour gold I had panned over the years for $1600oz, 2nd party, private sale, cash. Needed the money to spend on equipment.

    I bought a Harvestright freeze dryer. medium, on black Friday, with extra trays (4), oil, filters, suitcase door cover, fright and sale tax for $3100. 1/15/22 delivery.

    Also bought Avid Armor Ultra USV32 Chamber Vacuum sealer system. $560. I wanted to be able to vacuum and seal mylar bags at the same time. Will seal up to 11″by14″ gallon bags.

    I literally have tons of meat., and fowl. There is no way I could save most if I lose power for and extended time. I’ll run the freeze dryer 24/7.

    I’m real sure I’ll have a ton of questions.

    1. SMG, you won’t regret the HarvestRight. There is a learning curve, but once I got a system down preparing what got freeze dried, the packaging and storage, I am amazed at what has been accomplished. Enjoy!

    2. SMG
       NW Mitten is right! You will not regret it!! I know you’re one for thinking ahead but will also mention this. Make sure you have enough Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers on hand in case those too get hard to find due to supply chain issues. It’s always something isn’t it?
       Congrats on the new machine! Take care and stay free!!

    3. Stand,

       How has it been using the Avid Armor? I’ve been thinking about one and wanted an opinion from someone that’s using it. Do they like any particular Mylars? I like the 7mil Zippered quart gusseted bags. Obviously I’d have to seal it first, then zip it closed I believe. Any other info you could provide? Thanks!

       1. DoubleTap
          Avid Amour vacuum chamber. This is a very nice machine, simple to use. I don’t like mylar bags, don’t use them. Avid sells vacuum bags, they are smooth on both sides a a heavy weight.
          My vacuum time is 35 sec, and seal time is 5sec. I have had trouble with the 3 and 4 mil bags, the seal will burn through these light weight bags. Use Avid bags, they are worth the price.
          I only use this machine for wet product, meats, veggies, ect. It has made a big, easy difference in vacuum sealing my products. I really like it and highly recommend it.
          Their customer service is outstanding

    4. Forgot to ask how it works on some of the fragile items? Take some of the thin sirloin slices, would they get crushed and broken?

16. NW Mitten, Mitten Mom, Thank you. It can not get here fast enough,LOL. My friend owns a wrecker/salvage business, tows semis, well, a Sysco truck wrecked. Company policy is to throw away ALL damaged food. OMG there was a lot. About 20 of us Prepper/Patriots loaded up, big time.

    He called me (2am) and asked if I wanted some, OH HELL YES. There was food everywhere, I ended up with 100doz eggs (some broke), 200 stalks of celery, 72 heads of cabbage, 4 bushel boxes of sweet bell peppers, and 70lbs boneless pork loin.

    The pork is all fat trimmed and frozen. Cabbage is in my friends root cellar, celery is all dried now, peppers are next to dry. Eggs are washed and in storage until I can freeze dry them. A lot of work, but all free.

    1. Stand My Ground,
       That is one heck of a scrounge Ol’ Son! Congrats on your efforts.

17. Minerjim
    It was quite the night alright.! Sysco Rep was on site, sorting out what was good and what was salvage. I opted out on the dented cans because some other preppers was short on stuff, plus, they were covered in pickle juice. A lot of plastic 5gal ruptured. We built piles, then WSP allowed 1 PU at a time to load, I was 2nd in line, but got to go first because I didn’t take all that much. Good thing too, I was cold, wet, and wind blowing about 20mph. I threw in some foul weather gear and I’m glad I did, it was a 30mile one way trip for me, and I had help with me.
    The left lane was shut down for about 10hrs, took all of us, including the Sysco salvage crew about 4 hrs to accomplish the mission, all in the dark, Oh what a night, LOL.!!!

18. Ok, I need some advice on freeze drying steak. T-bone and rib. I de-boned them, trim fat severely, broiled till 125 degrees, wiped off all the grease I could, cooled them down and loaded dryer. Did I do this right? I know fat does not freeze dry, is cooking gonna break the fat down? These were well marbled, cooked to medium rare, not over 125, Is that hot enough to melt the marbling?

    Do I do the same with Pork, pork butts have a lot of internal fat, how do I melt that without over cooking it?

    Chicken breast, I’m gonna cut in 1/2in strips, lightly broil maybe 150 degrees, the freezr dry, is this the right way to do breasts?

19. I’d like to bring this topic to the forefront. With a 15% military discount and a 5% floor model discount at Tractor Supply, I’m about to pull the trigger on a Medium Harvest Right with the premiere pump and the other goodies. This being said, are there any new Tips/Tricks? I’m not sure what would make the best bang for the Buck. I’m thinking Ham Steaks, Pork loins, and maybe some beef. I’m also thinking about doing some candy, cheesecake bites, other treats etc, and selling them on the side to recoup costs and pay for my other items to be freeze dried.

    Any thoughts, recommendations? Thanks!

    DT

    1. DT
       IMHO if you want to stay grey, you may not want to advertise you have a Freeze Dryer. Selling stuff will let all of your neighbors know you have food. And after SHIFT everyone will know where to go. 🙁

       I agree with your choices of Freeze dryer size with premier pump. I would choose the same.

       I agree with Mrs U about cooking food before FD especially meat.

       I think vegetables are a good choice as well as the meat choices you have made. They make great snacks as well as meals.

       It may seam like a waist of time and energy but I recommend rehydrating some of each item you FD to see how well you like it.

       I have some data you ask for earlier but not all of what you wanted. It is probably not important since you have made your decision.
       Just plugged in:
       Volts. Amp. Watt. Hz kWh
       119.5 3.81 365 59.9 00.00

       kWh zeroed out 2258 Total kWh
       (15 min pre start cooling)
       2258 Cooling chamber 00:00
       ( 15 min freezing)
       2413 Freezing 0,09
       2428 0.17
       Was only able to get freezing data which is without the vacuum pump and heater running. Sorry I’m a day late and a dollar short.

       I think you will be happy with your decision and you are getting a real good price.

       1. PNW Sal, that 2413 should be 2313 and that 2428 should be 2328.
          OOPS 😬

          1. Great point Sal! Hard not to get excited..The crazier things get, the more OPSEC is becoming necessary.

             I’m doing my Jedi Hand wave to everyone here…. This is not the Freeze dryer you’re looking for :-)

             I am excited to try different things.

20. I’ve also found a u tub channel – “Retired at 40”, that has a lot of great info about what he’s done in his HR FD. Right off the bat I’m thinking about doing the following items:

    Breakfast skillet with Scrambled eggs, potatoes, peppers and onions.
    I also love Rice a Roni so will do that after adding a few other ingredients.
    Homemade Elbow pasta with sauce. hamburger, etc.
    Ham steaks.
    Pork loin cut into thick chops.
    Beef tenderloin cut into steaks.
    Store bought Frozen Fruits
    Avocados??

    I’m just so excited about getting as much put up as I can. Thanks for any info/advice!!

    DT

    1. Avocados work very well in the freeze dryer. Highly recommended.

21. Was just on the phone with FedEx arranging for delivery of my freeze dryer. Woman at other end said they are delivering thousands of these and wanted to know what’s up. Happy chance to spend a few moments explaining desire to have LTS food on the shelf in the face of coming shortages. Nice lady, interested in prepping. Preach!
    I believe the greater the number living a preparedness lifestyle the better for all of us.

22. Ughhhh.. Rice a Roni…. Since I’m trying not to use any fats or oils in what I make for the FD I tried to brown the rice with a small bit of Beef broth. Took my eyes off for a minute while I was chopping up the Peppers & Broccoli and got that burning smell… 1st batch ruined :-) What do others use?

    I finally ended up using the about 1 Tsp of Olive oil. I used some beef bouillon added to the water instead of plain water, used a bit more than called for, and added chopped garlic, red peppers and broccoli, with some spices, (if anyone is interested, I use a somewhat local place that makes their own big variety of BBQ rubs that have caused me to stop making my own). I also added some beef sirloin, cooked and sliced I sourced from Costco. (Another item to FD just on it’s own. I just further cut into smaller pieces.

    6 boxes of RR, about 3 to 4 red peppers, couple of cloves of garlic and a couple of heads of broccoli. I ended up with right about 4 full trays that are now in the deep freeze, waiting their turn.

    1. DoubleTap
       The person to ask is Mrs. U about how to put rice a roni. As I remember her speaking about it a few times when we were discussing freeze drying.
       Hope that helps you on this project.

23. Just as I’ve liked to support Ken for the wealth of knowledge I’ve gained here at MSB, for those that don’t know, I’ve found a couple of resources on YT channels that I’ve already learned a bunch from.

    One is Retired at 40. He has a small website outside of YT that sells the trays stackers and the dividers which I’ve been using constantly, as well as some other things.

    Another is a YT channel called SchoolReports. He is definitely slower and more science based, going into great detail about wights, water, etc. He has a great series of FD’ing 500 lbs of Food. A great nugget I found was a video he did of taking the long rolls of parchment paper from Costco and making your own custom fit pieces for the trays, a heck of a lot cheaper than buying them that way, and a lot easier than cutting them by hand. Hint. Table saw and T-square…..

    1. was supposed to be weights and water……

24. Costco had some pre-made packages of Scalloped potatoes, 2 lbs. each. Perfect for 1 medium tray. Also picked up some packs of Irish Beef Stew. Will try those in the FD this week. Still love their Sous Vide sliced sirloin. 2 packages of those will give you roughly 2 full runs (8 medium trays).

25. I just bought a HR and waiting for it to be delivered. I have stored a couple years of rice,beans,wheat,herbs,oils,honey,etc…you know, the basics. I’ve also stored some freeze dried meats but I need a lot more and the price for that has soared recently, so I’m buying the freeze dryer. Other than the price of freeze dried meat, my motivation is to have high quality protein and to be able to FD my garden produce while maintaining the nutritional value. I love to cook good food and hope to be able to continue doing that when the grocery shelves are empty or the prices are ridiculous. FYI: I saw a video last week where a farmer said it was becoming so expensive to raise his cows that next year a pound of hamburger could cost between $40-$50. When you look at it that way, a freeze dryer is not an extravagance.

26. Question on vegetables as I have been concentrating on meats. I pre-freeze everything, have the trays setup and put into the deep freeze waiting their turn. Yesterday I grabbed a bunch of Asparagus at Costco, cut the ends, setup the trays and put in the freezer as usual. I’m wondering if I should have blanched them first? My thought was that I would re-hydrate then steam them for use. I’m aware of the energy now vs. later.I just wonder about the quality. Should I thaw them, blanch them then refreeze or would it be ok to stay the course? Thanks!

    1. Double Tap, when freeze drying vegetables there is no need to blanch. I just clean them up really well, pre freeze to cut some time down and stick them in the freeze dryer. I have found that squashes need extra time. I’m doing a batch of spinach and broccoli today.

       1. Double Tap, my asparagus came out beautiful. Easy Peasey.

          1. NWMitten,

             Very cool, thank you!! Wish I had started this years ago….

27. Freeze dried some small curd cottage cheese. About 4 lbs fit on a tray. Came out nice. Shrank a bit in volume. Crumbled it with my fingers. When rehydrated texture is about half-way between small curd and ricotta cheese. Tasted good. I think would do well in lasagna, cannoli, and baking recipes when you want to add some protein and don’t mind a tanginess.

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