Freeze Drying Adventures

[bpurtz]

Thank you! I think I may need to try that! Hope we get some clam tides soon

I'm too lazy to make it happen, but in a couple months, a real Oregonian would use a fresh caught Springer, some fresh caught Dungeness Crabs, and fresh dug Razors for the recipe. I bought the wild caught Sockeye, Pacific Seafood shelled Crab, and canned clams from Costco. Oh well - at 7 miles in next November, I'll have the best meal in camp! Lol.

 

[Dirtscoots]

Hahaha for sure. I have been raised very spoiled I do not do store bought seafood. The resources here are definitely awesome

 

[Western_hunter87]

first run today after i downloaded the new software. i did skittles, nerds cluster (friend requested) and caramel M&Ms im afraid the chocolate wont work at the same settings as skittles and gummie stuff but we will see. i have the pharma shelving inside so its tight spacing between shelving and trays i discussed this with harvest right and we decided parchment paper on top will reduce cleaning and keep candies from blowing up to much. we will see.

 

[taskswap]

I wish we had "makerspace" like setups but with these. They're way too expensive to justify at the usage I'd put on them, but I'd definitely pay to be able to use one 2-3x a year (post hunt, post garden harvest, and maybe in spring to make backpacking/hunting meals...)

 

[Western_hunter87]

I wish we had "makerspace" like setups but with these. They're way too expensive to justify at the usage I'd put on them, but I'd definitely pay to be able to use one 2-3x a year (post hunt, post garden harvest, and maybe in spring to make backpacking/hunting meals...)

maybe we can set up a custom freeze dried schedule for you. your recipes or something. i have been thinking about doing some type of custom meals for people at a minimum of units for the casual hunter that only eats 10-20ish freeze dried meals a year. but also with how expensive fast food is it make sense to have home cooked freeze dried meals for half the price and twice as healthy or half as nasty lol.

 

[taskswap]

maybe we can set up a custom freeze dried schedule for you. your recipes or something. i have been thinking about doing some type of custom meals for people at a minimum of units for the casual hunter that only eats 10-20ish freeze dried meals a year. but also with how expensive fast food is it make sense to have home cooked freeze dried meals for half the price and twice as healthy or half as nasty lol.

I would pay for it, if the price was right. Typically I eat Peak Refuel these days because Mountain House gives me the lower-gut-shivers. I tend to buy 12-packs when GGG or others have them on sale so they run about $12 a meal. At 15 or so meals a year that's $180. I'd happily pay $150-$220 to replace those with my own food, especially elk and rabbit stews. If it went more than that, though, I'd be convincing myself about the "value" of doing this with my own food, which works to a point but not forever.

The biggest issue IMO is that this kind of thing would work best if it was local. I mean, I'd drive an hour from Denver to the Springs for something like this. But shipping 20lbs of perishable stew to another state would drive the cost up a lot and kill the idea for me.

I think that's why there's been an explosion of these boutique meal companies: Yumbini, Alpen Fuel, Peak Refuel, Packit, Heather's Choice, Good To-Go. Nomad's Choice, and so many more. I wouldn't be surprised if most of these are just folks realizing that dropping $5k-$10k for a freeze-drier puts them in a donut hole that's hard to compete with by a normal consumer, but that giants like MH don't care about. Whang out a few 5-gallon pots of chili, freeze-dry and package it, an you've got a business...

 

[Dirtscoots]

If you were closer I would say bring meals over and toss them in. Financially I didn’t get into freeze drying for gain. I spend a couple months a year outside whether im cutting firewood or back country hunting. Keeping a tote with a jet boil and some meals in my trucks are an easy hop in and go. It has been a way better way of eating on our back country trips. I made tacos for dinner the other night and added water to freeze dried guacamole. It was great and you can make just what you need since it turns so quick in the fridge. After having one I would do it all again for my kids. I never dreamed when I got that machine for my hunting trips my kids would get into it. They are always begging my wife to get fruits and candy from the store they can freeze dry.

 

[Western_hunter87]

skittles turned out good of course i also did nerd clusters and m&M caramel. gonna do chocolate and gummies seperate due to cool down time a the end

 

[Western_hunter87]

it wont let me post the other two pics for some reason

 

[Gone4Days]

Honeycrisp apples on sale for $0.88 /lb. Just tossed 12 lbs of them in the freeze dryer. The day before yesterday I freeze dried 36 fresh eggs from our chickens

 

[Dirtscoots]

how did you do the eggs? I haven’t done egg yet I was going to try scrambled

 

[Gone4Days]

These are raw eggs. I put them in a big bowl and whisked them together and poured the eggs raw onto the freeze dryer trays. That’s it. when they were done I put them in a food processor and turned into powder. to rehydrate, 2 tbsp equals 1 egg. Mix equal ratio egg/water. for example a 3 egg omelette would be 6 tbsp of egg and 6 tbsp water mixed together in a bowl. You would never guess they are freeze dried.

 

[Dirtscoots]

Awesome I’m going to try this next week! Thank you