After a lot of research over the past year, We decided that it made great sense to own one. We tried to convince a couple of relatives to go in and split the cost and usage of a standard unit. They did not take us up on our plan, not having any vision or foresight. They believe that the government will take care of them in a emergency. If anything, Katrina proved that to be a fantasy. We are very happy now that my husband and I decided to make it our Christmas present even though we are on a fixed income. It just made too much sense in these uncertain times. And now as a bonus, there are no more wasted leftovers!



We ordered our Harvest Right Freeze Dryer on December 3rd. When it arrived,

We were happy to find out that we had the latest upgrades including the new software.

A smaller diameter hose, and the new pump model were provided. The overall new look is smoother and pleasing without the fasteners on the side. We set it up to Harvest Rights excellent instructions and did the first dry run.



Everything went OK and we started our first batch. After 19 hours, everything was perfectly processed. I do an oil change after each run. The longest batch so far was 22 hours and that was drying sliced peaches. We switched to diced Peaches and we were back at a 19 hour run time. The new upgrades and software are doing a fantastic job! The new pump is surprisingly quiet,

not a bit of interference with our daily routines. Sometimes, I go to the basement just to check if it's still running.



I have not as yet found any water contamination in the drained oil! This was a concern after watching many YouTube videos about the importance of water contamination in the drained oil.



I cannot express how happy we are with our new Harvest Right freeze dryer!

We love the peace of mind it gives us.



Joyce (Stitch)

That's awesome! We have been considering one for awhile.
What kind of batch size can they do?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

Which model did you buy and how much was shipping?

 

We do about 10 lbs. at a time in our standard (medium) size unit.
Running Carrots, Broccoli and Bananas right now. We can everything with our Ives way #200 can sealer in #2.5 cans. I put a 200 size O2 absorber in each dry can.

 

We bought the standard model, shipping was around $200

 

Thanks for the review. I'm currently saving up for one, so good to hear from someone who has "real world" experience.

What type of oil does it use, and do you HAVE to change it every time you use it, or can you do more than one "run" between oil changes?

 

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Gotta link? Was it on special or is that about the normal price? The ones I usually come across are well north of $1K.

.

 

Curious if you are seeing a notable increase in your electric bill?

I might have to ask around here. I believe some friends of ours may have one we could borrow.

 

Hi guys,
We use Robinair premium vacuum oil. We run the used oil through a goldenrod water/oil separator to re use it. It seems elementary since the oil comes out crystal clear after each run. However, an ounce of prevention....

I put a Kill-a-watt meter on the machine and a 19 hour run shows around $2.10 to operate it. We pay $.16 per KWH. We bought ours on a black Friday sale which is the same sale they are running right now.

As far as the initial cost goes, we did the math and after seeing what freeze dried food costs and how much food gets wasted every year, we could easily afford it. It will pay for itself pretty fast.
I can run 48 hamburger patties on a 19 hour run. Compare that to buying a #10 can of freeze dried ones. It cost's me $30 for those 48 patties. 80/20 meat works for me to keep the fat/oil down for easier freeze drying. Some people use 90/10

We use Mylar 7mil bags with O2 absorbers for short term (1-10 years) shelf life food and Use a #200 Ives-Way can seamer with #2.5 cans and O2 packs for long term food. It is really nice! We bought it from Berlin Packaging and buy our cans from them also. It comes in handy for matches and other non food items also.

I hope this helps..

I would post pictures if I knew how..

 

After 5 posts you get some additional privileges. Click on User CP button, scroll down to pictures and albums. You can load your pics there and then past them in your post.

If your posts are online already and they let you link them that will work too. I think all the free photo places no longer let you link for free like photobucket did.

Thanks for review, FD is on my list of considerations. I like pressure canning as I only need to protect the jars from freezing vs running a freezer off grid.

 

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Still like to know where you got a freeze dryer, especially a Harvest Right for $200. Cheapest I can find one is ~$1,900.

 

Shipping was $200.

 

We have had one for a couple of years now and I am convinced that it is a great investment. We have the mid size and, for two of us, it seems to fill our needs just fine.

Al

 

I bought one for my wife in 2016. She loves it.

However she has not used it for the last year, because our home is powered by solar power, and each batch takes too long.

 

Welcome to here, Stitch! I just wanted to tell you how much we appreciate your informative posts. Thank you.

I am looking forward to learning more from your posts on our board!

Edited to add: I took the liberty of mentioning your review in this thread: https://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=559769&page=12

 

We were early adopters and we love it. Have not run it as we moved and that takes far longer than thought, but getting it set up. We did after the move go through all product and found some mushy ones, made notes will dry those items longer or cut up smaller next time they were all trashed.

Those items were from 2016, age wasn't the issue it was dry time, cabbage should have been dry but wasn't. Strawberries were another I tossed them all. We ate some beef patties from 2016, I was surprised that it took nearly an hour to re hydrate, other about 15 min???

Was a hard core canner, now can very little FD most all.

 

You could buy a lot of freeze dried food for the cost of the machine, the cost of the raw materials and the cost of labor/time.
A freeze dried machine, that only cost a few hundred dollars, would be more practice.

 

That is true, but as Dee mentioned, she was a hard-core canner but now freeze-dries her foods.

So, if a person can get the produce nearly free (out of their garden, hunting, etc.)... that would help offset the overall cost AND, knowing where the food comes from (organic or wild-harvested in my case) is a bonus.

I wish I had the $$$ to get one of these...

Freeze dried foods are so lightweight and much easier to fool with than heavy glass jars filled with food... This would be great for hiking, camping, etc. as well.

But at that price, I will have to hope that eventually it becomes more affordable.

It would be awesome if I could rent one of these things!

 

2 grand is almost 2 years of my food budget. Even with an INCH cart load of food I can't really justify the price of the machine, although I bet my FD would better than Mountain House and lots cheaper.

Jars at home are no issue for me.

Canning to me is just like reloading ammo. It takes some time and equipment but you are the quality control person. I'd bet FD is the same game.

 

We do both, Canning and F.D. There is a little learning curve. YouTube helps here. We found some things take a single extra drying cycle. And as stated above, you need to cut bigger foods into smaller pieces. I am today running leftover Ghoulash and sloppy Joe's. Our left over's have gone from the trash bin to long term storage to be enjoyed in the future. SHTF or not..... Quite a savings. If my husband wants a steak and I don't have one in the fridge, he can still have one right out of our storage. Ready to cook, or already made to his liking.

It takes vision, foresight and sacrifice to justify the cost. We are on a very fixed income but weighed all the options before buying ours. Of all the technology we have, This one is a true life saver. We could have bought a big screen TV or invested in mediocre tasting purchased freeze dried foods. I like the thought of no surprises or disappointments when you have to rely on your storage to survive. We will be eating all of our favorites. I know it's not for everyone, Just saying how it works for us.

 

Turns out some friends of ours do have one of these Freeze Dryers. I'd like to try some drying some ground Venison.

Any tips or tricks?

 

lots of tips in this thread https://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=559769

 

Deer fat can give stuff a nasty taste IMHO. Chile for example. Cook in a crock pot. When done place in refrigerator for several hours. The fat will congeal on the top - remove it. Then you can reheat it with out the nasty taste.

 

We use ours every few days. We bought the large model and the oil free pump, it’s amazing. I also placed this in the same room as my heat pump water heater, it circles the air and the heat pump water heater utilizes the heat to heat the water while the cold air is utilized for the freeze drying in the summer and gets put into a pantry in the winter. Our 5 person house uses maybe 180 dollars(if not on Solar per kWh)a year on hot water using the heat pump in unison with the freeze dryer. The freeze dryer we have done everything from Mac and cheese, to beef, chicken soup, sour cream, yogurt we make from a yogurt maker with real milk from a local, list goes on. Amazing unit, no problems except lifting it off the ground by myself and putting it on a cart to roll around on, I wouldn’t suggest this, it is only 140 lbs but regardless it is an awkward shape and not easily moved and should be on a cart.

I can’t recommend the freeze dryer enough.

We did 250 lbs of butternut squash from last years garden.

As mentioned before it does take energy, we do have an 18kw system but you need a lot of power to run this. Our kWh is very low cost, but it still costs money to run 13-15 lbs of food for 17-20 hours if you are on grid paying for energy if not you need a big system and backup.

 

After nearly 4 years of owning one we have found many uses for it and leftovers now have place, nice when tired. The biggest problem if this is a problem for others as well is storage of the product. It must be in mylar, many items are very dry and will crush to fine powder if not stored to not be, but things happen.

We have had to stop as there is no more room for food storage of this type.
Had pretty much stopped canning but I do like the quality of some items canned and not freeze dried. We will continue to do both but may have to opt for garage in Fl storage, not best but all I have.So that is a big issue of you are in a small home or downsized as we did. Electric use didn't change much at all 3 to 5 a month when running it often. We run oil through a filter and reuse, never had a problem. Best of luck in the decision to purchase or not.

 

Hi Dee- You stated that the finished product "must" be in mylar, yet on the HarvestRight website they show photos of food stored in glass canning jars. Could you clarify this for me?

Also, how long do the oil and the oil filter last? I checked the website and both of those items are a bit pricey if they have to be replaced frequently. understand that the oil can be filtered and reused, but how many times? Does it go bad and have to be completely replaced periodically? Or do you need to "top it off", like in a car engine?

Just trying to get a realistic idea of total operating costs. The electricity usage is not an issue for us, but if oil and filters and mylar bags need to be purchase frequently that could be a deal breaker for us.

Thanks for all of the great information, everyone! This thread has been enormously helpful.

 

I’m thoroughly jealous. I’ve been willing to spend the money, but I literally have no place to run it. No garage, no basement, no utility room... I’ve contemplated our stuffed shed, but the complete lack of climate control and difficult sanitation/tray transport doesn’t seem wise!