I Bought a Freeze Dryer - Harvest Right

[Michael]

After several months of contemplation, I finally pulled the trigger on a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer (affiliate link)




Although I initially got sticker shock when I first saw the price, I started working through some calculations and felt like the ROI could potentially be realized fairly quickly, based on my intended usage. (I actually found a really good deal on a used one (normally hard to come by) which will help even more!)

I’ll post more specifics (and some YouTube vids) as I go, but here are some of the reasons I decided to buy a FD (in no particular order):

• Homemade Hunting/Hiking/Camping/Kayaking Meals
• Food Preservation - add another option to freezing, canning, dehydrating, etc. meats, yard eggs, garden fruits and vegetables. FD retains significantly more nutrients than canning and dehydrating.
• Inflation Protection/ Food Shortages
• Reduce Food Waste - we’ve always been good about eating leftovers, but we still throw away too much unused food.
• Emergency Preparedness - for short term disasters (natural or man made), power outages, job disruption, food donations, etc.
• TEOTWAWKI or SHTF - I’ve never considered myself a “doomsday prepper”, but there sure are a lot of red flags!
• Potential Revenue (or Barter) Stream
  

I’ve run 4 full batches so far (we left for Cabo a few days after I got it and it’s taking 24-30 hours to complete a batch). I did a couple of sample batches of fruits/veggies and ice cream/candies for our trip, and have done a couple of batches of various meats the last couple of days!



Venison Backstrap (and Eye of Round) Sous Vide @ 131 deg for 6 hours, then FD


I haven’t reconstituted any of the meats yet, but I’ll report back with results - good and bad!

Harvest Right Freeze Dryer (affiliate link)


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[Gumbo Man]

Tuned in for results.

[Joe H]

I have been looking at them also. Keep us updated.

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[diamond10x]

I’m waiting for the rehydrated results!

I’ve thought about possibly building or buying one as I dehydrate my own meals a lot. From my experience freeze dried holds flavor better than dehydrated. Not sure how those steaks will go though

[SaltwaterSlick]

The meat "looks" delicious! If it tastes like it looks, you got yourself a real winner there...
The bagged fruits look nice too.

[Pedernal]

The strawberries look awesome… in for the report on the rehydration… how much fruit/veggies can you do in each batch??

[Michael]

I have been looking at them also. Keep us updated.

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I’m waiting for the rehydrated results!

I’ve thought about possibly building or buying one as I dehydrate my own meals a lot. From my experience freeze dried holds flavor better than dehydrated. Not sure how those steaks will go though

I've done a couple of videos for my YouTube channel putting together dehydrated backpacking meals. Freeze drying offers several advantages over dehydrating. One of the biggest is that DH foods lose about 35-40% of their nutrients, while FD retain 97%. FD also retains same form factor and look, due to the sublimation process. The meals I made with dehydrated worked best when I DH individual ingredients and combined in the package, where with FD you can FD the entire meal at once to better "marry" the flavors. There are still some things that can't be FD (namely fats), of course, but they are less limited than with DH.

I've watched a few vids of reconstituting steaks (raw and cooked). I haven't really seen any that Sous Vide the steaks first, though. I've also seen people that cooked steaks to 130-135, but then had FD final dry temp set to 145. I adjusted mine down to 125 for the meats.

The meat "looks" delicious! If it tastes like it looks, you got yourself a real winner there...
The bagged fruits look nice too.

I've also made a couple of batches of 48 hour bone stock that I'm going to use to rehydrate the meat, instead of water. That should REALLY soak the flavor into the meat, much more so than you can get with traditional marinade or brine!

Bananas, strawberries, sweet potato chips, avocado chips were all fantastic. Pineapple apparently takes a REALLY long time to FD. It was good, but not fully dry. Apple chips were good. The ice cream (mini IC , BB Cookies and Cream and HCF Neapolitan worked remarkably well, based on some of the horror stories I've seen on the net.

[Michael]

The strawberries look awesome… in for the report on the rehydration… how much fruit/veggies can you do in each batch??

I separated all my fruit on the trays, so I didn't get a very high yield. I've learned that you can stack most fruits on the trays and can do 7-10 lbs in the medium FD (there are three sizes).

[Uncle Saggy]

That’s awesome, congrats

My friend’s sister has one, and you’ll be impressed with the rehydrated results


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[Dusty Britches]

Very cool! I love freeze dried bananas!

Um... can I rent it from you sometime?

[Michael]

Very cool! I love freeze dried bananas!

Um... can I rent it from you sometime?

See last bullet point!

[scotty]

I never considered myself a "prepper", until a few months ago...
I don't have a freeze dryer, but I do dehydrate some.
The pressure canning is another story. I'm up to three canners now and have them all going on the weekends when I'm home.

[flywise]

I have been trying to talk my wife into getting one. If I just dried out eggs we could have enough saved up to survive a year when the big one hits
I really like the idea of tossing leftovers in there and packing for hunts and such.
Really a great investment as far as I’m concerned

[Michael]

I have been trying to talk my wife into getting one. If I just dried out eggs we could have enough saved up to survive a year when the big one hits
I really like the idea of tossing leftovers in there and packing for hunts and such.
Really a great investment as far as I’m concerned

My final justification was the increased demand for these machines (which also created a 2-3 month backlog on new shipments) post Covid. I think the current environment of inflation, supply chain issues and worldwide food shortages will continue to increase demand for machines. I feel like, worst case, I could use the machine for as long as needed and then turn around and sell it for near what they cost new. (Over the last couple of months of watching, I’ve actually seen multiple used machines listed (and sold) above MSRP. )


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[scotty]

I have been trying to talk my wife into getting one. If I just dried out eggs we could have enough saved up to survive a year when the big one hits
I really like the idea of tossing leftovers in there and packing for hunts and such.
Really a great investment as far as I’m concerned

You can dehydrate eggs in a regular dehydrator. You just need to get the silicon trays with a lip that fits. Let them dry, run them through a food processor until they are powder and dry them again for another hour. I store mine in Mason jars with an oxygen absorber. Keeps for a long time.