Dehydrating your own foods...

[WGregMiller]

Ok folks, the freeze dryer is running with its first load of tomatoes. It says it's freezing for another 8 hours or so.

Danil54grl - I'm impressed with these people. They called today to make sure it got here ok. And it did. We read the instructions (no matter that I never do that) and it did its test run fine.

Seems to be well built.

 

[Danil54grl]

Ok folks, the freeze dryer is running with its first load of tomatoes. It says it's freezing for another 8 hours or so.

Danil54grl - I'm impressed with these people. They called today to make sure it got here ok. And it did. We read the instructions (no matter that I never do that) and it did its test run fine.

Seems to be well built.

Glad to hear cause you to know I've been waiting for results. Keep me updated especially maintance issues cause that is what I have heard the negatives on. I would really love one in the future.

 

[WGregMiller]

Glad to hear cause you to know I've been waiting for results. Keep me updated especially maintance issues cause that is what I have heard the negatives on. I would really love one in the future.

Okay. The first real test just finished.

We did 3 trays of tomato halves. It took pretty much 24 hours.

They turned out great. I pitched one into water for a minute and it tastes just like a tomato. Looks like a tomato and had the texture of a tomato.

From reading the instructions, the vacuum pump oil needs to be drained after each use, filtered and refilled. I'll do that tomorrow.

So far, so good!

 

[Brent S]

What kind of power is required on the label? Also, how much tray surface is there?

 

[WGregMiller]

I ran the thing through a kil-a-watt thing to get usage. It cost about a dollar for it to run a cycle.

For size, we have a small one. It has 3 7x14 trays.

 

[Brent S]

I ran the thing through a kil-a-watt thing to get usage. It cost about a dollar for it to run a cycle.

For size, we have a small one. It has 3 7x14 trays.

Is it just a 120v plug or 240? Also, with your tomato slices, did you prep them in any way or can you just preserve them as is?

 

[Brent S]

There is no doubt that freeze drying is the best way to preserve food. Both for flavor and longevity. I am wondering if it came with a good chart or directions for lots of different kinds of foods?

 

[WGregMiller]

Is it just a 120v plug or 240? Also, with your tomato slices, did you prep them in any way or can you just preserve them as is?

120. There are 2 parts, the dryer and a vacuum pump. The dryer controls the pump, so it plugs into an outlet on the back of the dryer.

The tomatoes were cut in half and put in the dryer trays. Nothing else.

 

[WGregMiller]

They included a book with it. It has a ton of info in it.

 

[Brent S]

120. There are 2 parts, the dryer and a vacuum pump. The dryer controls the pump, so it plugs into an outlet on the back of the dryer.

The tomatoes were cut in half and put in the dryer trays. Nothing else.

Have you looked at meat preparation yet?

 

[WGregMiller]

Not much. Give me a couple minutes and check your email.

 

[WGregMiller]

Never mind. I'll get the electronic version to you. Don't have it in my phone.

 

[WGregMiller]

Okay - look at

https://harvestright.com/video-gallery/

Lots of information.

 

[Brent S]

Great site. I can see why you dropped that much cash for it. I'd really like to learn more about how the unit works. I have spent my budget and more recently, but could see one of these being a good investment. We will see what next year brings.

 

[WGregMiller]

Great site. I can see why you dropped that much cash for it. I'd really like to learn more about how the unit works. I have spent my budget and more recently, but could see one of these being a good investment. We will see what next year brings.

Right now you can get one for $18something. Hey - you can drive your budget! We'll do more this weekend. It's a toy that I didn't spend my money on... somebody else did, lol.

 

[Brent S]

https://harvestright.com/faqs/
I guess this is the same site, just more mechanics.

 

[WGregMiller]

https://harvestright.com/faqs/
I guess this is the same site, just more mechanics.

Yep. Somewhere in my email is a recipe book that has detail on what can be freeze dried. I'll look for it.

 

[Brent S]

Yep. Somewhere in my email is a recipe book that has detail on what can be freeze dried. I'll look for it.

Wow, that little unit gets temperature down to -50degs. That's one tough little a/c unit in there. It looks like the oil needs to be filtered as it absorbs the moisture when it evaporates off as a gas. Is it very involved to filter the oil?
The reason I'm so intrigued by this is it compares to canning about as much as a modern Ferrari does to a model T.
In canning the heat breaks down flavor and nutrients, and texture. Also three years is average for canned goods to be dumped. You also don't have the portability with the heavy and fragile glass jars. Don't get me wrong here, I love canning. It also can be done without electricity. I just feel the freeze drying is light years ahead of it.

 

[WGregMiller]

No. Filtering took me 5 minutes, and the filter 15 minutes. I did order more oil for it, but I don't see this running every day for a week either.

Also, the filter they sent with it soaked up some of the oil, so I'd have been short. Amazon comes through again.

 

[WGregMiller]

Okay folks, here is an update on freeze drying.

We have run the machine through several cycles. The thing is smart, so it freezes everything for 9 hours, then starts the dry cycle. It sets the dry time, based on moisture it detects inside the machine. What I find odd is how it works. The trays fit in a rack inside a tube. When the dry cycle starts, it pulls a vacuum on the chamber, then heats the trays (not the chamber) to about 115 or 120 degrees. This forces remaining moisture out of the food, and ice forms on the inside of the chamber. And it does this until it thinks it is finished.

Maintenance: so far, none. I filter the vacuum pump oil each cycle as it gets moisture in it. I've lost very little oil, other than what the filter soaked up on the first run.

Results: so far, great. We have run tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms and a lot of other stuff through it and had no problems at all. We even ran sour cream through it. Came out as powder. Pretty cool.

Of course, a week after we got ours they had a sale and we could've gotten the next size up for the same price. That's my normal luck....