Harvest Right freeze driers? Worthy purchase?

[Jesse Jaymes]

Other than a handful of YT videos, are there any 'Sliders with experience freeze drying food? These units are stupid expensive, but it's something my wife and I have been contemplating for many years. And we are about ready to make that investment and gamble on Society....lol

I am concerned that I've heard Meats are one of the WORST foods to FD. My personal mindset for wanting the machine is long term storage of Meat and Fruit. The fruit is a non brainer. But my real desire if to store meat in freeze dried form, not in an actual freezer, which is obviously dependent on both the Freezer and running electricity. And the freezer life of 1-2 years. To really put up food and prep for a No Shitter, I would like to store meat.

In calling on a few used models, one from a guy who owns 4 units, informed me that the Premium pump which runs on oil, is the best bang for the buck, as the really stupid spendy oil-less pump is not as smurfy as it's billed.

Any real world user input would be great in assisting me into making this rather large investment.

Seems like with such dinky trays of a Medium and the 24 hour run cycle it would take a shit ton of both time and power to put up real amounts of food. Thoughts?

 

[BBob]

In calling on a few used models, one from a guy who owns 4 units, informed me that the Premium pump which runs on oil, is the best bang for the buck, as the really stupid spendy oil-less pump is not as smurfy as it's billed.

I have no experience with freeze dryers (lyophilyzer in the scientific world) for home use but do for use in scientific research. The oil-less pumps are great as far as minimal maintenance but they do break and parts do wear out and aren't cheap to fix. Sometimes it's cheaper and easier to toss them and replace. Oil pumps can very well last a lifetime if you take care of it by simply changing the oil regularly and often. Motors can fail and seals can leak but if you change the oil the pump internals have a good chance of lasting a very long time if not forever.

 

[Sam Colt]

Capacity is based on water weight of the food, not volume. Water has to sublimate and stick to the relatively small refrigerated surface area of the drum. Medium dryer can do *up to* 2 lbs of food per tray - less if it's a high-liquid food like soup, fruit, or sauce.

Run times are NOT 24 hours. More like 40-50 hours.

You cannot freeze dry fats. Recipes need to be adjusted to accommodate that hard fact. It's why ground meat is boiled and drained before freeze drying, and why soups and stews must be skimmed.

Cuts of lean meat freeze dry ok, but reconstituting it is harder than fixing up a Mountain House entree. Moisture takes almost as long to go in as it does to come out. Up to 24 hours for thin, trimmed pork chops or venison steaks.;

The premium pump is a good upgrade. Less maintenance. Fewer oil changes. You still have to mess with the oil, just not as often.

Never pull a vacuum without the drum being frozen; if you do, you'll very likely pull humid air into the pump and foul the oil. That, as they say, is a wicked pissah.

Would I buy again? Yes. I had 3 years of Augason on the racks before health problems forced me to rethink the sodium content. We're systematically replacing that food storage with healthier options. The mylar, sealer, and oxygen scrubbers work for preserving freeze dried as well as shelf-stable options.

Best results so far: Chicken curry with rice, Venison stew, Venison chili with beans, strawberries, guacamole (epic,) eggs (farm or fresh,) ice cream sandwiches, pasta dishes, and of course Skittles.

 

[BBob]

Never pull a vacuum without the drum being frozen; if you do, you'll very likely pull humid air into the pump and foul the oil.

Very good point. If you foul the oil the vacuum level goes to crap and your stuff either doesn't dry or it takes much much longer.

 

[303TrophyHusband]

We bought one this last fall, one thing about it, there's zero instant gratification We used it a bunch after we first got it and it's kind of just sat for most of the winter but it'll get fired up again shortly as I start meal prepping for summer backpack trips and fall hunts. Main reason we bought one was because I've always felt I could do better tasting and healthier meals than many of the big brand freeze dry meal folks. Some have been real good, some have not. In the long run I don't know if I'd buy again but it's still early and my feeling will probably change once I get some good options dialed in.

 

[Sam Colt]

We're seriously up to our nipples in $1/dz eggs, $.97/lb strawberries, 5/$1 avacado guacamole, and cheap dinner entrees. All healthy, all delicious. This summer we'll work this b!t@h like a desperate intern.

 

[MTPipeliner]

We have one but don’t do much food in it.

They are stupid expensive and they do use a significant amount of electricity, our bill went up over $100/month. Food with a high water content takes forever to finish, I did a batch of apple sauce and it took around 3 days if I remember correctly.

I don’t think it makes financial sense to get one for backpacking meals, or similar uses unless you’ve got special diet restrictions or spend huge amounts of time backpacking every year and even then it might take several years for it to pay off.

For stockpiling food for emergency use, I think you’d have to be using garden produce and have access to inexpensive meat (or at least lots of game meat) to come out ahead. If you’re paying for fresh produce at the grocery store, I think you’d be better off buying canned or bulk prepackaged FD food.

For storing meat, you could also pressure can or dehydrate it. Obviously you’re not going to do it and rehydrate it as a steak, but you can successfully rehydrate it in soups, stews, curries, etc. Similarly, fruit stores well when dehydrated either as whole/cut fruit or as fruit leather, you can either eat as is or incorporate into cooked meals, fruit leather can be rehydrated into apple sauce type consistency by soaking it for a little bit.

 

[Cameron.25]

We went in on one with my in laws, recieved it in December. We got the large home model and opted not to get any kind of upgraded pump for it. No issues there far as i know. They have a farm so the main goal was to have an easier way to preserve the fruits and veggies we harvest with a side benefit of being able to freeze dry meals. So far my mother in law seems like she uses it damn near every day and she loves it, i haven't personally used it yet. So far she has mostly done single items or ingredients, but we just recently started experimenting with meals and its going great. I made a gluten free pasta with vodka sauce and it rehydrated and tasted great. If we didn't have the farm it probably wouldn't really pencil out in my opinion

 

[Tod osier]

Other than a handful of YT videos, are there any 'Sliders with experience freeze drying food? These units are stupid expensive, but it's something my wife and I have been contemplating for many years. And we are about ready to make that investment and gamble on Society....lol

I am concerned that I've heard Meats are one of the WORST foods to FD. My personal mindset for wanting the machine is long term storage of Meat and Fruit. The fruit is a non brainer. But my real desire if to store meat in freeze dried form, not in an actual freezer, which is obviously dependent on both the Freezer and running electricity. And the freezer life of 1-2 years. To really put up food and prep for a No Shitter, I would like to store meat.

In calling on a few used models, one from a guy who owns 4 units, informed me that the Premium pump which runs on oil, is the best bang for the buck, as the really stupid spendy oil-less pump is not as smurfy as it's billed.

Any real world user input would be great in assisting me into making this rather large investment.

Seems like with such dinky trays of a Medium and the 24 hour run cycle it would take a shit ton of both time and power to put up real amounts of food. Thoughts?

If it is worth it, that is an individual question.

I have a lot of experience with freeze dryers in a lab setting, some up to the size of the large Harvest Right dryers. What I will say is that age is not kind to dryers and they can be a pain to troubleshoot once they get a little wear into them. The tiniest leak, or vacuum pump problem can have huge effects on performance. I just know I've spent too much time chasing problems on them and I'd be wary of their longterm lifespan. I'm expecting some pretty rinky dink components behind the stainless and plexi on those, but I'd be happy if I was wrong.

 

[lab-roamer]

I kicked around getting one for three years. Seeing the run on stores during Covid made me finally pull the trigger. When myself and the Fed Ex guy were unloading it he told me he's been delivering a lot of them and some folks were getting their 2 or 3. He also said most people were either hunters or gardeners that were buying them. We garden, hunt, have egg layers, raise animals, forage and barter so it won't take long to pay for itself. We have also learned not to overload the trays and cycles are usually 12 to 24 hours. We have had zero issues so far. My oil is staying clear and I think that is due to not overloading the trays. Oh yeah, the food is excellent. Looks like real food when you bring it back to life and actually tastes like real food and not salt. I may add a second one to the fleet later this summer. After paying $130 for 3 bags of groceries yesterday, watching the young mom put her bill on 3 different credit cards, and with our politicruptions making wonderful decisions in the Swamp, I don't think it will take long for the second one to pay for itself.