One thing to consider is how you value your time. I don't know how much time is involved in FD something, but when you buy it ready-made in cans, it's READY. No time suck.

If it's fairly time intensive, what else could you do with that time? All sorts of options come to mind, from a part-time job to doing something that maintains your mental health and positive outlook on life.

In your position--and I'm similar in terms of the amount of calories stored--I'd think to add whatever amount of FD food I'd want to add and look to spend the rest of the money on other needed preps.

Now, just to offer another side of the coin (there are several sides, don'cha know?), what is going to happen with inflation? Might the savings you see now be much greater should the price of food increase greatly?

Finally, are you confident you can produce FD food of a quality and storage life as good as what you can buy?

Good luck, and let us know what you decide, and why.

 

Cost of the LTS stuff itself isn't the only consideration.

Freeze dried food is light, compact, and quickly and easily reconstituted. Being able to make your own MREs could be a huge advantage.

 

Somewhere around 1995 Bread Machines became the rage.
After MUCH thought and figuring I would break even at "X" number of loaves, broke down & bought one.

It was fun. Hot bread is yummy.
Never hit my break even point.

Glad it was only $100

 

Now you can find them at every other yard sale for $5.

 

Been debating this myself.

1) Prep time is almost the same as it is for dehydrating.

2) Dry time is similar to dehydrating

3) End product retains almost 100% of the nutrients with a 20 plus year shelf life.

4) The type of foods you can process is far greater than dehydrated foods.

4) I have read about the cost of running the unit. Is it really that more expensive than the power cost to canning foods, which are in breakable containers?

The only draw back I can think of is the initial cost. BTW: I'm a backpacker and routinely purchase freeze dried food.

 

If I had one the only gifts people would get from me is processed food I bought on sale.

 

I have put up way way more than $3000 worth of food. But then I garden.

Used to be we would can my annual produce. LOTS of labor. And then 5-7 years later throw about half of it away. Glass jars are heavy and bulky and should be stored in a good environment. I throw my FD packages in a tote that holds GOBS of food. Even at that, after a few years with a drier I am running out of room for my compact food because I am not throwing old food away every year.

 

Always thought a freeze dryer was the way to go for LTS. After putting up 1M calories of the basic essentials for the two of us (rice, beans, potatoes, pasta, flour, tomato power, dehydrated milk, rotated canned meats, etc) I am seriously considering more FD fruits and meats (more of a luxury). However, a quick cost analysis on a few things makes me question that.
Fresh strawberries @ $2.50/# with a 90% water content, batch of 5#, elect cost of $1.50 = $14/ half pound ($28/#) freeze dried. Buying 20# ($689) @ North Bay is $34.50/# saving $6.50/ FD#. In general, most fruit appears to be of similar economics.

93% lean ground beef ($5.35/#) appears to be 70% moisture so 3.33# of fresh ground beef yields 1# freeze dried. Batch size through freeze dryer of maybe 6.66# for $35.65 + $1.50 electric cost to FD is $37.15 for 2# FD ground beef or $18.58/ # FD ground beef. From what i have found in #10 cans, around $60/ 1.75# FD cooked and seasoned ground beef, or $34.20/FD# saving $15.62/#FD ground beef.

Would seem to take a lot of fruit and meats to recoup the $3,000 cost of a freeze dryer. Now maybe for a hobby or in place of home canning, or for a large family group it might work. However, the preparation of fruits and cooking of meats is additive effort vs. buying already freeze dried. Since most of our canned LTS proteins (chicken, turkey, corned beef, ham) can be rotated over a 4-5 year basis, there is no need for it to be freeze dried.

Seems if i added $1,000 of freeze dried fruit (could save maybe $200-300 if I FDed it myself) and another $500 of freeze dried ground beef (could save another $250), I would be much further ahead. Unless I was retired and had a family of 10 to prep for, I can't rationalize getting a machine. The down side is most of the FD ground beef is 'seasoned', which i don't like.

Sure I can find fresh fruits and meats on sale and save a bit more, but would have to quickly process them.

Where am i wrong or what assumptions am I missing?

D Red,

Rather than rationalize, work up a business plan and a related budget.

What are your objectives and time line ?

Do add to your budget, maintenance and related suppory systems for machine.

Only after doing above, can you rationalize.

"Whatever you do you will regret it." Soren Kirkegaard

 

Have you considered building your own? I don't know if that is a option for you.

I think a personal freeze dryer will "pay for itself" quicker if you hint, fish, garden and harvest from the wild. And even then you would have to consider it a hobby, otherwise your time would have more value than the finished food.

If you buy a machine that will hold up can you offer drying services to other like minded people?

 

I looked into this awhile ago. Apparently there is a lot of maintenance costs on top of the initial purchase. I don't know if they improved on that, but it was a no-go for me when I saw that.

 

not really any maintenance costs if you get oilless pump. A case of premium oil will last a long time if you change and filter before it gets too dirty. I've got 2 medium free driers because I produce most of my food and there is only so much room for canned goods and meat and vegetables only last a couple years in the freezer before they get freezer burn despite your best efforts. Expenses add up when you start buying mylar bags( don't get cheap 4-5 mm thickness) oxygen absorbers and totes to store the food in.

 

I would think the cost of meat and potential losses due to loss of power, as well as storage space for canned, might make the freeze dryer more attractive than just using the fruit numbers.
Being able to buy cheap on sale, or grind your own from cheaper cuts, would GREATLY impact your cost per unit compared to commercial products.
Then, the fruit would just be a bonus.

 

I dehydrate food and vacuum seal it. It will last a long time in the chest freezer. When I was a kid at home I did a lot of long camping/hiking trips 30 to 40 miles long. My mother would dehydrate lasagna, stew, veggies, jerky and other foods. She would vacuumed seal it for my long camping trips. It was light and easy to carry in my pack. All I needed was a little water to reconstitute the food. Dehydrated food will last a long time if stored properly. I did an experiment in 2012 where I dehydrated veggies and jerky and vacuum sealed it. I stored it a 5 gallon bucket with a screw top lid with a seal. I recently unscrewed the lid to look at the food, I don’t think I would eat the meat but the veggies look fine. The bucket was full to the top, I can’t find any mold on the food. It was stored in a cool dark room in my basement.

 

I really been wanting a freeze dryer myself,I think it would pay off for us,we garden,hunt,fish and raise beef.

 

Yup when you are producing your own food is when it really pays off. It changes the way you garden. Instead of a little of this and a little of that, you can grow a bunch of one or two things at a time and when it's dry not worry about it for a LOONG time. Grow something different the next year.

 

I only know one guy who owns one. I've never picked his brain to much, but he brought up one issue. The vacuum pump oil. He said it uses it pretty quickly and it's quite expensive.

 

Oil isn't that expensive, so even replacing it rather than filtering doesn't amount to much. The Harvest Right Premier Pump gets at least 20 batches per oil change.

 

There's a big difference in a oil filter and strainer. The first piece of crap strainer harvest right sent out was almost worthless. quilt battening and 2 plastic containers cobbled together. Get a brita and it will extend the life of the oil ten fold compared that that junk harvest right passed off as a filter.

 

Meat is the biggest bang for the buck. On average you can do your own freeze drying for about 20-25% of the cost of buying commercial. Plus you obviously have way more flexibility in deciding what you want to store.

As far as time investment goes, it's not that bad. I find it more like a hobby.

I'm at the point where I want to start coming up with more full meals to freeze dry. Basically trying to replicate some of the Mountain House selections.

 

Backwoods Home did a good informative article on pros and cons. I decided against one for now. The cost is steep. I need to utilize the dehydrator more. I think for my purposes it will be more effecient.

 

OP you also have to add in the packaging costs to storing your own FD stuff.

You can buy a whole lot of canned FD food for $3k and do nothing more than send the check in. Then you will have the time to focus on more sustainable food sources.

 

$3k won't buy as much as you might think. Maybe 4-6 months worth for one person. And you're going to have very limited selections.

Packaging is a fraction of the cost of the food. IOW, it's almost negligible.

 

I can FD 4.4 lbs of chicken breast strips for < $20 (not sure what the final weight is but it's near or at 2 pounds). A Mountain House #10 can of diced chicken holding only 17 ounces costs over $50. Beef price difference would be even greater from what I've seen.

 

Thanks, a lot of great input! Many of you agree meat is the best bang for the buck, and you get to season it as you like. Mentioned it to my 3 adult children and at least two would make use of it, particularly if dad's buying... That is what may drive me toward purchasing one, still contemplating it. All 3 see the need in preparing for SHTF during their lifetime and need to get them started. Otherwise, the 1M calories (for two) spreads very thin with 3 other families involved.

 

Thanks for asking this question. If you are part of a close group of folks, maybe you can go in together and buy it? You would have to be upfront about how the maintenance costs (oil) would be shared, and your expectations for keeping it clean. It would also be helpful to meet at the beginning of the month and make a calendar for who is going to use it. Actually, you might even be able to buy some things in bulk (making them cheaper) having a FD party to share the work, and enjoy the time while you are working. Just a thought....
I understand all too well the idea of a break even point. But in prepping, the idea that if you don't have some things at a certain time (because it did not meet your break even equation) you might die. Right now, you have options - buying FD, buying dried, buying canned, but after a SHTF event that affects the whole economy (which we might be seeing very, very soon) how are you going to preserve the food that you can produce yourself during that time? If you bag a 4 point, what will you do with the meat? Granted, if you don't have electricity for freezers, you may not have it to run a FD either.

DIY FD: diy freeze drier - Google Search

FWIW

 

after a SHTF event that affects the whole economy (which we might be seeing very, very soon) how are you going to preserve the food that you can produce yourself during that time? If you bag a 4 point, what will you do with the meat? Granted, if you don't have electricity for freezers, you may not have it to run a FD either.

DIY FD: diy freeze drier - Google Search

FWIW

Jerky and dehydration. Could also go wind, solar or generator or a combo of any of the above.

You need to spend more time doing research. How do you think it was done throughout history?

 

Ordered one today. They are on sale, will take 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.
Wasn’t sure about it, but decided to get the small unit because I want to freeze dry eggs in case my flock has to be destroyed. I watched some videos, freeze drying eggs is easy, and they reconstitute well. I’m sure I will do some meats and veggies as well. Might not be cost effective, but if I can’t have chickens and can’t get eggs then it will be worth it to me.

 

Ordered one today. They are on sale, will take 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.
Wasn’t sure about it, but decided to get the small unit because I want to freeze dry eggs in case my flock has to be destroyed. I watched some videos, freeze drying eggs is easy, and they reconstitute well. I’m sure I will do some meats and veggies as well. Might not be cost effective, but if I can’t have chickens and can’t get eggs then it will be worth it to me.

I’m not sure I can. I really think for most people buying dry already makes more sense. BUT i could be wrong. If you can get the shelf life even close on meats and dairy you could pay for it. Heck with a big enough family eggs and fruit/veg Could justify it I guess.

it could be very useful post shtf too I suppose. Or
You could dry 2 years of food and sell it.

 

I have a lot of fruit trees, thinking I will be freeze drying fruit as well.

 

A medium freeze dryer is on my shortlist.
I am a last minute tax filer this year but, my return should more than cover it.

This is only if my Son's cancer bills remain manageable.

 

Having the same dilemma with justifying the costs. I'm weak in a lot of other areas and could use the money elsewhere. Just bought a dehydrator and could hopefully plant every year. Looked into building one briefly but seems dry ice is needed. Maybe I didn't research long enough.

 

Got my medium last Wednesday & it's been running every day. So far everything we have tried has come out well. Best so far has been apple sauce and spaghetti. Apple cinnamon oatmeal was pretty good too. Ham and eggs are prefreezing now, chile tomorrow.

I very, very strongly suggest you at least get an extra set of trays. Prefreezing speeds up the dry time. When one batch goes in I wash the trays, refill immediately, and place them in my freezer. Also suggest silicone mats (working with wax paper is a pain), and a bag stand. I'm getting both next week.

Retired at 40 has great videos and sells accessories too. High quality stuff.