# Freeze Drying Food!



## Murby (May 24, 2016)

Anyone own a Harvest Right freeze dryer? 

I just tried freeze dried food for the first time tonight.. had my wife purchase a few small baggies of apples, strawberries and blue berries.

Wow, the sugar really gets concentrated.. there's a potato chip like crunch, then an explosion of flavor.. almost too much flavor. 

I thought about building my own Freeze Dryer, but after cobbling together an expense sheet, I'm at around 70% of the price of a Harvest Right unit so it doesn't really make a lot of sense. 

I understand they suck up a lot of power.. to the tune of 20+ kW per batch.. Thing is, we are on solar power and have a lot of extra juice we're not using. 

So I'm thinking of purchasing one and running it until the wheels fall off for long term storage of food. Any opinions?


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

I'm very seriously considering getting one, after reading about them they look good. I feel like it would pay for itself pretty fast and the length of time the food is viable makes it worth it.


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## HeavyHauler (Dec 21, 2017)

Been considering getting one and "renting" it out. Meaning people can bring their food over and I'll do the work for them, for exchange in food or money.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

no really said:


> I'm very seriously considering getting one, after reading about them they look good. I feel like it would pay for itself pretty fast and the length of time the food is viable makes it worth it.


I wish I could figure out a way to taste test more foods. I mean, I liked the 3 baggies of fruit we got.. but what about other stuff? How good are other foods? If I make a batch of beef stew and freeze dry it, will it still be good? Would I still want to brag about it? or would it just be edible enough for long term survival? I mean, I really liked the apples.. in fact, I liked the freeze dried apples better than a regular apple. (how's that for strange?) The potato chip crunch is awesome but if I freeze dried a stew, I'd want to reconstitute it as stew, not crunch it like a snack.

I think I need more samples....


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

I'm going to order some different entrees from Mountain House's freeze dried foods for taste tests. Like you said need some confirmation on taste and texture.

https://www.mountainhouse.com/M/product/beef-stew.html?variant_id=210


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

no really said:


> I'm going to order some different entrees from Mountain House's freeze dried foods for taste tests. Like you said need some confirmation on taste and texture.
> 
> https://www.mountainhouse.com/M/product/beef-stew.html?variant_id=210


I just told my wife.. she's going to go through walmart for free in-store pickup.

I told her to order something with meat in it.. some kind of stew or meal.. we'll see how this works out.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Murby said:


> I just told my wife.. she's going to go through walmart for free in-store pickup.
> 
> I told her to order something with meat in it.. some kind of stew or meal.. we'll see how this works out.


Please give a review when you try it!!


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Just looked at the walmart site, they have Mountain house product.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

I got to considering something else that a freeze dryer could do that I've never been able to accomplish.. 

When we harvest tomatoes, we like to make tomato paste or some kind of thick tomato sauce for canning... the problem is that the only way to do that is to literally boil all the water out.. and that causes the tomato sauce to darken and form a bitter(ish) taste. 
The darkening, as I understand it, is the result of some enzyme being destroyed by the heat..

Well, I got to thinking, what would happen if a freeze dry cycle was cut short? Thick tomato sauce that has never seen any heat?? Oh my!


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Murby said:


> I got to considering something else that a freeze dryer could do that I've never been able to accomplish..
> 
> When we harvest tomatoes, we like to make tomato paste or some kind of thick tomato sauce for canning... the problem is that the only way to do that is to literally boil all the water out.. and that causes the tomato sauce to darken and form a bitter(ish) taste.
> The darkening, as I understand it, is the result of some enzyme being destroyed by the heat..
> ...


My grandmother makes some great tomato sauce, but it is quite the process. She roughly chops the tomatoes (usually an assortment of different varieties) cooks them til just soft than puts them through a food mill. After that into rimmed sheet pans and into the oven low cooked until till brick colored. 

I'm wondering if after that the paste could go into the freeze dryer, shouldn't take long as most of the liquid is cooked out. Just a thought.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

no really said:


> My grandmother makes some great tomato sauce, but it is quite the process. She roughly chops the tomatoes (usually an assortment of different varieties) cooks them til just soft than puts them through a food mill. After that into rimmed sheet pans and into the oven low cooked until till brick colored.
> 
> I'm wondering if after that the paste could go into the freeze dryer, shouldn't take long as most of the liquid is cooked out. Just a thought.


Its that "brick color" that I want to avoid! When tomatoes darken due to cooking with heat, they undergo an undesirable reaction.. I read about this in depth about a 10 years ago and don't remember all the details, but the gist of it was that the darkening was the result of an oxidation process that not only tainted the taste of the tomatoes, but created some chain reaction of enzymes that are somewhat carcinogenic in nature.... 

This is why commercially canned tomato paste is usually bright red in color.. they only apply heat to it for a matter of a minute or two and spray the tomatoes into a vacuum chamber which boils off all the water near instantly.

The heat, like in so many other areas, is the enemy.. it kills the fresh taste, kills the bright color, and degrades the nutritional value.

I think a freeze dryer would prevent all that.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Murby said:


> Its that "brick color" that I want to avoid! When tomatoes darken due to cooking with heat, they undergo an undesirable reaction.. I read about this in depth about a 10 years ago and don't remember all the details, but the gist of it was that the darkening was the result of an oxidation process that not only tainted the taste of the tomatoes, but created some chain reaction of enzymes that are somewhat carcinogenic in nature....
> 
> This is why commercially canned tomato paste is usually bright red in color.. they only apply heat to it for a matter of a minute or two and spray the tomatoes into a vacuum chamber which boils off all the water near instantly.
> 
> ...


Interesting hers are come out very tomato flavored without the bitterness. It's a very old recipe she brought from Mexico.


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## Kiamichi Kid (Apr 9, 2009)

I have a friend that owns one and she sent me several food items to try to see if I like them.... she freeze dries a lot of food every year!


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Kiamichi Kid said:


> I have a friend that owns one and she sent me several food items to try to see if I like them.... she freeze dries a lot of food every year!


Think I'm going to get one, the more I read about them the more I like them. Do a lot of canning and dehydrating, this sounds like something to add to the mix.


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## Kiamichi Kid (Apr 9, 2009)

no really said:


> Think I'm going to get one, the more I read about them the more I like them. Do a lot of canning and dehydrating, this sounds like something to add to the mix.


If I could afford one.. I'd have one


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Kiamichi Kid said:


> If I could afford one.. I'd have one


Well this may be my only purchase for awhile LOL.. Hoping it pays for itself.


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## Sourdough (Dec 28, 2011)

Have you, or has anyone found a "Best Price" place to purchase this........???




no really said:


> Well this may be my only purchase for awhile LOL.. Hoping it pays for itself.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Sourdough said:


> Have you, or has anyone found a "Best Price" place to purchase this........???


I haven't yet still looking.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

no really said:


> Well this may be my only purchase for awhile LOL.. Hoping it pays for itself.


Hold your horses there lassie.. you might want to consider a few things before dumping three grand out the window....

If you're just interested in putting away your garden extras for the winter, that freeze dryer is going to cost you a small fortune in both its price and the energy to run it. They suck down power like crazy.

Each batch in that thing uses up almost 30kW of energy so you need to reference your power bill, see what you're paying, and then add that to the cost of each batch. Just storing food for the winter isn't going to make it economical.

As for me, I'm a prepper and working toward enough food storage for 5 or 6 people for three to five years, and I have an excess of solar power on top of that.

In fact, after doing a financial analysis, I can't see how that that machine would be a benefit unless one was a prepper.

My math starts out with "How much does the freeze dried food I need cost to purchase", and then goes to the cost of the energy and the machine itself. Then beyond those considerations, I also consider the benefits of having that freeze dryer should the grid go down for a long time since I'll have the ability to run it.

If I was just considering the cost based upon a desire to store some extra garden stuff in case we have a bad growing year, or so they don't go to waste, I don't think it would add up as being a good investment.

With all that said, I'm still having a hard time justifying it.. I can purchase a lot of rice, beans, and other "30 year storage" foods for the cost of that machine, and its a lot less work and hassle to process it into Mylar.. 

Here in Michigan, if you ran that machine continuously (20 batches per month), it would suck up about $75 in electricity.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Actually I am off grid and have the energy surplus to run it, I have already researched price, easily within budget. I am also a prepper for as are all that live and work on my ranch, not something I broadcast about though.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

no really said:


> Actually I am off grid and have the energy surplus to run it, I have already researched price, easily within budget. I am also a prepper for as are all that live and work on my ranch, not something I broadcast about though.


You're in the same boat as me.. and I'm still wrestling with it.. We're not off grid though, just grid tied.

Remember that machine has to run for 24 to 48 hours without shutting down so you're going to need an extra 10kW of energy during the night, pure battery juice. You have batteries big enough to spare an extra 10kW at night? That's impressive if you do..


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Murby said:


> You're in the same boat as me.. and I'm still wrestling with it.. We're not off grid though, just grid tied.
> 
> Remember that machine has to run for 24 to 48 hours without shutting down so you're going to need an extra 10kW of energy during the night, pure battery juice. You have batteries big enough to spare an extra 10kW at night? That's impressive if you do..


I can thank my brother for my solar set up, actually he's pretty impressive when it comes to solar. He doesn't think it will be a big problem battery wise. He has plans for wind power for the assorted households in the family to add to the mix. Living in this area we have lots of sun and wind all the time.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

no really said:


> I can thank my brother for my solar set up, actually he's pretty impressive when it comes to solar. He doesn't think it will be a big problem battery wise. He has plans for wind power for the assorted households in the family to add to the mix. Living in this area we have lots of sun and wind all the time.


I was going to build a 5kw turbine but scrapped the idea after surveying my property.. The tower alone would cost me a small fortune.
I live on the side of a hill and we have mature trees all around us.. I'd have to get at least 20ft above them which means just my tower would cost about the same as a decent solar array. Might be worth it in a windy area but we don't get that kind of wind.

My main concern, being in Michigan and now having some experience with PV Panels in the winter, is just December mostly.. There's a window of 30 to 45 days around December where our solar output was just horrible and would not support even half the house. 

So if SHTF happened, my alternate plan is to power a home generator with a wood gasification reactor. We have lots of wood and wood-gas can power both a generator, cooking stove, and even a water heater. 
Use the combination of the poor December solar activity and fire up the generator every three days to keep batteries charged. 

Best I can do.. Turbine is not practical here..


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Can see where wind power would not work for your area. I bought this valley I'm in now several years ago for the way the wind funneled through it, helps with the heat in summer, which is our problem time. It gets hot here but dry. Not much in the way of snow here and when it does it's melted in very soon. 

Not much available wood here for a wood gasification set up. Would be a problem for us LOL.. Wood for cooking and what heat we need in winter.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

no really said:


> Can see where wind power would not work for your area. I bought this valley I'm in now several years ago for the way the wind funneled through it, helps with the heat in summer, which is our problem time. It gets hot here but dry. Not much in the way of snow here and when it does it's melted in very soon.
> 
> Not much available wood here for a wood gasification set up. Would be a problem for us LOL.. Wood for cooking and what heat we need in winter.


I would go huge on solar to power air conditioner(s).. most of the summer heat is the daytime sunshine and that means solar would be at near full power (minus the thermal de-ratings). So just when you need the most air conditioning, you also get the most sunshine to generate energy for it.

Where I'm at, the wind turbine would only do well in the winter.. seems we always have at least a 10 to 15 mph wind blowing snow around in the winter time. But its just not enough to justify it. 

If you're really that dry in the hot summer, I would strongly suggest trying out some evaporative cooling.. It doesn't work as well as folks claim in most areas, but where the air is really dry, it does quite well.. and its energy efficient so long as you have some water available. 

Funny how everyone has very different problems with energy.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Yeah, we are doing evaporative cooling now and fan, that's all we used when I was a kid. Nights here are very comfortable, once the sun is down it cools quickly. It is plenty for us and very comfortable, the moisture put back in the air helps, humidity is usually below 20%, most of the time around 15%. 

We all have to work within our enviroment. I've seen people come to this area and not last a year, they just don't adapt, even with help from locals.


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## JRB (Apr 6, 2021)

Murby said:


> Hold your horses there lassie.. you might want to consider a few things before dumping three grand out the window....
> 
> If you're just interested in putting away your garden extras for the winter, that freeze dryer is going to cost you a small fortune in both its price and the energy to run it. They suck down power like crazy.
> 
> ...


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## JRB (Apr 6, 2021)

Murby said:


> Hold your horses there lassie.. you might want to consider a few things before dumping three grand out the window....
> 
> If you're just interested in putting away your garden extras for the winter, that freeze dryer is going to cost you a small fortune in both its price and the energy to run it. They suck down power like crazy.
> 
> ...


The Cost to run this machine is not that much if you put a Kilowatt Meter on it you will find the cost around to be around $2 to $2.50 each batch.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

I like the idea that most things that are freeze dried can be stored for years if done properly. Also when comparing the cost of store bought freeze dried foods compared to the cost of doing it your self in a Harvest Right there is no contest. The cost of doing it your self is much lower even when you factor in the cost of the unit, power and the ingredients. There is also the added benefit of being able to store food you eat and not having to adjust your diet to something that Mountain House or some other company provides.


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## cajuninoregon (Apr 7, 2021)

no really said:


> I'm very seriously considering getting one, after reading about them they look good. I feel like it would pay for itself pretty fast and the length of time the food is viable makes it worth it.


Have one for sale in Oregon.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

cajuninoregon said:


> Have one for sale in Oregon.


Thanks but already got mine, harvest time it goes nonstop.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

no really said:


> Thanks but already got mine, harvest time it goes nonstop.


Which one did you go with, no?


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

cajuninoregon said:


> Have one for sale in Oregon.


Details?


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> Which one did you go with, no?


I got the Vivohome, it's got 10 trays.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

no really said:


> I got the Vivohome, it's got 10 trays.


Is that a freeze dryer? They haven’t shown up in any of my digging.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> Is that a freeze dryer? They haven’t shown up in any of my digging.


Sorry that's the dehydrator, brain fart going on here.. 😝 I got mine at an estate sale, paid $600 for it, dang didn't realize the bargain.

Harvest Right™ | Home Freeze Dryers | Freeze Dried Food Storage Home Freeze Dryers


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## 407243 (May 7, 2021)

TroyT said:


> I like the idea that most things that are freeze dried can be stored for years if done properly. Also when comparing the cost of store bought freeze dried foods compared to the cost of doing it your self in a Harvest Right there is no contest. The cost of doing it your self is much lower even when you factor in the cost of the unit, power and the ingredients. There is also the added benefit of being able to store food you eat and not having to adjust your diet to something that Mountain House or some other company provides.


above is very true
ALSO you know what went into the food AND you store what you like to eat. also don't forget drinks! i've read you can freeze dry coffee and tea. i just got mine so it's on my list to try.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

407243 said:


> above is very true
> ALSO you know what went into the food AND you store what you like to eat. also don't forget drinks! i've read you can freeze dry coffee and tea. i just got mine so it's on my list to try.


I don't know that freeze drying coffee and tea is worth the effort, they store pretty well in their dry form if vacuum packed. The issues with freeze drying are it doesn't work with fatty foods, and some things don't re-hydrate well, like bread products for example. For fatty foods, traditional canning or perhaps vacuum packing in retort bags would do the trick. The retort bags would be cool, it would be like DIY MREs (Meals Rarely Eaten ).


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

I finally bit the bullet and put my order in today. The wife and I looked at them a few times in the past, but then spent the month since I saw this thread researching them further. They’re running a “sale” (I’ve found that they’re pretty much always on sale), but also free shipping which is supposedly only done periodically. Being that it comes LTL on a pallet, from UT to NC is probably not a cheap shipping charge.

They say 10-12 weeks, but the sales rep told me they’re generally much quicker than that. I figure it will still be at least July or August before it gets here. It’s pretty telling about our times that a company that makes a $4k food preservation machine currently has a 2-3 month backlog.


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## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> I finally bit the bullet and put my order in today. The wife and I looked at them a few times in the past, but then spent the month since I saw this thread researching them further. They’re running a “sale” (I’ve found that they’re pretty much always on sale), but also free shipping which is supposedly only done periodically. Being that it comes LTL on a pallet, from UT to NC is probably not a cheap shipping charge.
> 
> They say 10-12 weeks, but the sales rep told me they’re generally much quicker than that. I figure it will still be at least July or August before it gets here. It’s pretty telling about our times that a company that makes a $4k food preservation machine currently has a 2-3 month backlog.


They could have a difficult time getting parts. We are slow at work because of the microchip shortage, and we don't do anything with chips.......


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Riverdale said:


> They could have a difficult time getting parts. We are slow at work because of the microchip shortage, and we don't do anything with chips.......


They seem to be getting them out. I’ve been following a couple freeze drying groups, building my knowledge base before it gets here, and people seem to be getting them anywhere between 2 and 12 weeks. It appears to depend on the configuration you ordered. They build in batches, and you get yours when the next run of that configuration is done.

Unfortunately, I adhered to the “buy once; cry once” philosophy, and ordered the top-end consumer model, so the runs are probably less frequent.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

The machine has arrived. After running the post-assembly function checks, and a sacrificial batch of vinegar-soaked bread to get the new-car smell out of it, we have our first batch going. I think I have a pretty good handle on it after reading as much as I could, but we still wanted to experiment and get a first-hand feel for it, so we put in a mixed batch of as many different things as we could think of. It’s got about a pound each of apples, oranges, peaches, blueberries, tomatoes, corn, peas, zucchini and butternut squash in it. It should be done sometime tomorrow evening or Tuesday morning.

Next up, I have 40# of ground beef that I bought specifically to freeze dry, and a couple gallons of different broths that have been taking up room in the freezer. That should keep it going for about a week.

I had recently installed a power-metering kit on my breaker box that allows me to individually monitor up to 16 different circuits at a time. At the $0.11/kWh we pay, this machine will cost about $1.80 per 24 hrs, with most batches of 12-15# of food taking about 20-40hr to process.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> I finally bit the bullet and put my order in today. The wife and I looked at them a few times in the past, but then spent the month since I saw this thread researching them further. They’re running a “sale” (I’ve found that they’re pretty much always on sale), but also free shipping which is supposedly only done periodically. Being that it comes LTL on a pallet, from UT to NC is probably not a cheap shipping charge.
> 
> They say 10-12 weeks, but the sales rep told me they’re generally much quicker than that. I figure it will still be at least July or August before it gets here. It’s pretty telling about our times that a company that makes a $4k food preservation machine currently has a 2-3 month backlog.


They cost ?$4000.00


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

I've been following this thread with interest....

$4000.00??

I'd be dead before it paid off - forgedaboutit.


 But true...


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Forcast said:


> They cost ?$4000.00


They can. The two biggest up charges are for capacity and the type of vacuum pump you get. The full-spectrum price range is $2,400 - 5,100, depending on which options you get. I researched it for a year or so before I purchased and ended up going with almost the top-end model, but not quite (for a mechanical reason I’d decided against).

No matter how you cut it, it’s a big investment when you consider that a pressure canner can be bought for $50, and a dehydrator can be made for $0- both of which are already in our arsenal for putting food by. It is a fairly unique capability, though. The food can last 10-20 times as long, retains significantly more of the nutrition and calories than either method, and, in most cases, doesn’t lose as much of the fresh texture as canning or dehydrating.

I suppose where the real cost justification comes in is if you’re already buying or planning to buy freeze dried food as part of your preparedness plan. You could easily come out net-positive on putting up just a 3-4 month food supply for two people, and have much better quality food than you’re going to buy pre-packaged. Price out an actual 3-month supply of freeze dried food for one person and you’ll see that the appliance is the cheap part.

ETA: and, if coming out truly $$-positive is a requirement, look into what it does to store-bought candy. It is not at all something I’d thought about or planned in, but there are folks who have paid off their appliances by selling processed Skittles, salt water taffy, and Milk Duds at the farmers or flea market in just a couple months. I’ve met a few people on the web who’ve put in a half-dozen machines, and keep a commercial kitchen license, and freeze-drying is now their job. It’s crazy.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

These are freeze dried Skittles, if you’re curious (I was)









They come out completely dry, and the consistency and texture of a Cocoa Puff or Captain Crunch Berry. All the flavor is there, but they don’t stick to your teeth at all. Apparently Milk Duds blow up to the size of a marshmallow, but I haven’t tried those yet. The process is such that candy can be thrown in at the end of a proper batch, and come out like this 4-5 hours later.

People will put a $5 bag of Skittles in their machine, spend about $0.75 in electricity and another $5.00 in packaging, and sell them for $50.

I’m not planning to go that route, but someone with an existing produce stand could clean up doing candy.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Seriously, people go crazy for the candy. This is, by my calculation, $11.34 worth of Skittles, $0.38 worth of electricity (half a batch), and an $0.18 ziplock bag, so $11.90 in COGS, for an $85.00 sack of candy (and that’s the “bulk” price; most people who sell them sell in 2-3 oz bags).





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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

We have a freeze dryer. We've not done candy yet but we are going to do some Ice cream sandwiches pretty soon. So far we've done eggs (lot's of eggs), chicken, ham, asparagus, blue berries (which didn't work very well), cherries (which also didn't work all that well), strawberries, onions, potatoes and zucchini. The cherries and blue berries didn't work out well I think because of the skin, but that's something we still working on. Everything else has done just fine. Next on the list is more complex food like stews and things like that, complete meals. I have to admit that it's pretty cool to put 18 eggs into a quart bag having it weight about 4 oz.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

TroyT said:


> We have a freeze dryer. We've not done candy yet but we are going to do some Ice cream sandwiches pretty soon. So far we've done eggs (lot's of eggs), chicken, ham, asparagus, blue berries (which didn't work very well), cherries (which also didn't work all that well), strawberries, onions, potatoes and zucchini. The cherries and blue berries didn't work out well I think because of the skin, but that's something we still working on. Everything else has done just fine. Next on the list is more complex food like stews and things like that, complete meals. I have to admit that it's pretty cool to put 18 eggs into a quart bag having it weight about 4 oz.


We’re going to try eggs soon. That’s one of the things we were most excited by when we made the decision to buy one. I’d had freeze dried scrambled eggs before and was never much impressed, but I gather that the commercial companies pre-cook them (for regulation?) and that makes them reconstitute rubbery. Supposedly freeze drying them raw, and powdering them (and labeling them as such!), makes them indistinguishable from fresh.

Have you tried broth yet? It seems silly to go to the trouble, but it was one of the first things that we needed to do, to free up space in the freezer. Two gallons FD and powder down to a pint. Our broth now sits in the cabinet with our spices, and 1 tbsp out of a Ball jar makes a cup of broth. We keep a Food Saver with a jar attachment on our counter, so we just reseal the jar after we use some out of it.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> We’re going to try eggs soon. That’s one of the things we were most excited by when we made the decision to buy one. I’d had freeze dried scrambled eggs before and was never much impressed, but I gather that the commercial companies pre-cook them (for regulation?) and that makes them reconstitute rubbery. Supposedly freeze drying them raw, and powdering them (and labeling them as such!), makes them indistinguishable from fresh.
> 
> Have you tried broth yet? It seems silly to go to the trouble, but it was one of the first things that we needed to do, to free up space in the freezer. Two gallons FD and powder down to a pint. Our broth now sits in the cabinet with our spices, and 1 tbsp out of a Ball jar makes a cup of broth. We keep a Food Saver with a jar attachment on our counter, so we just reseal the jar after we use some out of it.


We do raw scrambled eggs, and they work great with about a 1 to 1 or 1 to 1.5 ratio of eggs to water. The cooked chicken reconstitutes almost instantly. We've not done any soups or broths yet, but that's going to happen. I bet it will take a bit of time to freeze dry due to the moisture level. We have a Food Saver also but I would really like to get a chamber vacuum sealer that will do mylar and retort bags. They are however kind of expensive.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

TroyT said:


> We do raw scrambled eggs, and they work great with about a 1 to 1 or 1 to 1.5 ratio of eggs to water. The cooked chicken reconstitutes almost instantly. We've not done any soups or broths yet, but that's going to happen. I bet it will take a bit of time to freeze dry due to the moisture level. We have a Food Saver also but I would really like to get a chamber vacuum sealer that will do mylar and retort bags. They are however kind of expensive.


Chili was a success. I wanted to try some before I put too much on the shelf so I ate one tonight.
This is what came out of one of my packets:










I weighed the chili before FDing it, weighed it after, and weighed it going into the bags. I did the math and it said 0.66# of water came out of the portion in each bag. That comes to almost exactly 1 1/4 cup of water.

I poured 1 1/4 cup of water in the bowl, let it sit for a minute, and gave it a stir. This is the result:









A quick trip through the microwave, and I don’t think I could have picked it out from chili I made yesterday, took out of the fridge and reheated.

That may end up being the best part of going through the trouble and expense of setting up to FD: it’s MY chili. I generally like chili, but I also like my chili the best. I could buy FD chili, but there’s no guarantee how much I’d like it. This makes my prep-food my comfort-food.


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## VBF (Apr 15, 2017)

That may end up being the best part of going through the trouble and expense of setting up to FD: it’s MY chili. I generally like chili, but I also like my chili the best. I could buy FD chili, but there’s no guarantee how much I’d like it. This makes my prep-food my comfort-food.[/QUOTE]


If nothing else had me convinced that I need a freeze dryer, it would be this right here.


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## Kelly Craig (Oct 10, 2021)

Just read a GREAT tip on another site. It was about using a steamer to cook hamburger or the equivalent, which left all the fat drained into water. 

The only thing that scares me was the suggestion of rinsing the remaining fat with hot water. Dumping ANY grease down a sink would make any plumber or savvy home owner cringe. Doing that is a. GUARANTEED, recipe for disaster.

That said, it made me think (I'll be over that soon enough, so bear with me):


_I'm thinking I need to build a small grease trap out of used or scrap irrigation circle pipe (12" plastic pipe). It would not have to go but eighteen inches in the ground, if that.

Of course, a person could have the pipe extend three feet or so out of the ground to make it easy to pour the drippings from Turkey day and so on into the natural filter system.

IF you had to rinse a lot of fat, you might want more capability.

For renters, it would not be difficult to come up with something to drain into and that could be tossed. Say, a five gallon bucket full of sawdust (which I have in plenty), dried grass or what have you.

The bucket could be lined with a plastic back for easy disposal._


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## Kelly Craig (Oct 10, 2021)

I have an 1,800 square foot shop. It has three dust collectors, two of which are three horse (15 amp actual draw). a cabinet saw, a couple bandsaws and so on. When a friend is over, we spin the meter. More so in the 100 plus summer days and the around zero days. Add the cost of running the shop to the cost of heating and cooling the house. For me, a big bill is. $120.00 in a month. The freeze dryer doesn't scare me anymore than that dust collector or the over-arm pin router.

Power consumption is not always a deal breaker.




Murby said:


> Hold your horses there lassie.. you might want to consider a few things before dumping three grand out the window....
> 
> If you're just interested in putting away your garden extras for the winter, that freeze dryer is going to cost you a small fortune in both its price and the energy to run it. They suck down power like crazy.
> 
> ...


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## Kelly Craig (Oct 10, 2021)

I suspect getting a freeze dryer would inspire to change shopping habits and such. For example, I expect we'll be looking more at restaurant supply stores that have items in larger quantities and at notably cheaper prices.

Then there is the matter of being more observant about surroundings, like the folks down the road who have a plum tree they never harvest and so on.

We are surrounded by thousands of acres of cherry and apple orchards, vineyards, and fields, in which are raised corn, peas, onions, potatoes, beans, buckwheat. . . . Many farmers have no qualms about letting folks sift through the fields after harvesting onions and potatoes, where filling a hundred pound bag can be done quickly,

Down the road a few miles is an asparagus processing plant where we can buy twenty pound [or more] flats for ten bucks.

I've done a expensive favors for a couple farmers and that earned me access to their cherry and apple orchards, as well as fields described above.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

$2900 is alot. ?


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## Kelly Craig (Oct 10, 2021)

We had a nearly brand new chest freezer die, taking the content with it. That wasn't cheap. The experience makes considering a FD more desirable to look into.


Our cheap electric here aside, if I was back in in Olympia, Washington, where I was paying three to five hundred a month for electric, the cost of running a freezer or two, versus the electric to run a mylar bag, might be a worthwhile consideration, after the fact of the cost of getting the contents dried and into the bag. Keeping in mind that can mean up to, say, twenty years of storage.

Some things are in great abundance at certain times of the year. They may not keep well using usual canning methods or dehydrating, so the freeze drying unit cost and operation costs can be offset by that too.

Convenience, more often than not, may be found all in various aspects of our lives. That includes the home or in the car or truck. We spend much larger fortunes on whistles and bells for our homes and rigs. Things like rims, tires, bigger gas/diesel guzzling engines. Do we really need a couple hundred dollars a month in phone bills, a hundred or more in television costs and so on, all that are in addition to the few hundred to thousands for the equipment to use the plans? 

The convenience of being able to store food with top nutritional quality and taste seems less a frivolous investment than things many of us spend our money on (you should see the toys, uh, needed tools, in my shop.

Heck, we spend a lot of nickles on home and auto insurance. A freeze dryer [and the effort to run it] seems a pretty worthwhile insurance investment. Especially after being without power for weeks at a time, being blocked off from town because of fires and floods, and so on.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Forcast said:


> $2900 is alot. ?


Is it? With what people spend on cable TV or sportsball tickets, a few thousand dollars rolls up quickly. If one spends money on preparations other than savings in a bank, that same money would get them less than two ounces of gold. How much ammo do you get for $2900.

It’s all about assessing personal priorities. If it makes sense for you it does. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

The cost of a new freeze dry unit is a larger cash outlay initially, but there are ways to off-set the cost. @GunMonkeyIntl shared the story about the expensive Skittles, and that is surely a good avenue to explore.

Coupled with that, you could start a small business (my friend assures me that this is easy peasy to do), and write the equipment off in whatever fashion that is supposed to happen.

Since businesses don't have to show profit for a few years, friend said that he will just make a few sales a year, use whatever other write-offs he can, and that it will all be covered.

Perfectly legal.


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## Kelly Craig (Oct 10, 2021)

Pony said:


> The cost of a new freeze dry unit is a larger cash outlay initially, but there are ways to off-set the cost. @GunMonkeyIntl shared the story about the expensive Skittles, and that is surely a good avenue to explore.
> 
> Coupled with that, you could start a small business (my friend assures me that this is easy peasy to do), and write the equipment off in whatever fashion that is supposed to happen.
> 
> ...



As a CPA told me, when I started using one, about forty-five years ago, there is no law against being a bad businessman. If your business doesn't show profit in the rogue agents' expected time, shut it down and try again, because you aren't a quitter. 

WINK


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