Anyone freeze drying at home?

Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
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Luddite said:
I have a friend that bought one. They're too busy to get its full potential.

One complaint they had was the frequency and cost of oil replacement in the vacuum pump.

I think that a "dry pump" would be needed regardless of extra cost.

Maybe they use a dry pump now exclusively, not sure. Fwiw.
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People are building a little filter system to reclaim the oil.

Haven't looked into it to see the particulars tho.


I used one these from HoboFreight, 60ish bux.

It's a bit light, a little heavier cart is warranted.

It does ok with a piece of plywood cut to fit in the top shelf. Just drilled a hole through for the drain to go straight down.


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Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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Millwright said:
People are building a little filter system to reclaim the oil.

Haven't looked into it to see the particulars tho.
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Ours came with a filter pitcher. ROFL. I thought they'd thrown in a filtered water pitcher because I tell you I already have the exact same model for that. Put gross oil in top of the gravity filter and it dribbles through to the pitcher below. Makes for easy pour of the now-clean oil back into the pump.

We have the upgraded oil pump rather than the oil-less for the reason someone mentioned above ... the yearly rebuild issue.
 
wvstuck

wvstuck

Only worry about what you can control!
Kathy in FL said:
Word o' warning ... those machines are heavy as heck and can be awkward to find a good place to put them. For me, personally, I wound up putting it on a rolling tool rack/table that I got on sale from Harbor Freight because it also has space for extra parts, etc. You could maybe also find a stainless-steel restaurant kitchen table kind of thing.

It makes maneuvering the freeze drier a lot easier if you need to move it around. I started out with mine in my garage but then had to take it in the house when the weather got hot so it wouldn't take so long to finish a cycle. Then we moved it a couple of doors down to our former home where my parents now live, and she has it in a spare bedroom where she can shut the door when it is running but still be in an air-conditioned space.

When I have more time, and my mother is finished with her stuff, it will probably come back here and go in the garage again (cooler weather, shorter freeze cycles).
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I’ll probably build a rolling table for it once I have it in hand, add some drawers for storing accessories and such. The weight does seem to be an issue.
 
E

ejagno

Veteran Member
Babs said:
Oh, I would like to add, that this thing puts out a LOT of heat. At least our oil free pump does. I would locate it somewhere with this in mind. You wouldn't want to place it in a pantry. I will be placing it in an accessory kitchen building that has an air conditioning unit. A basement would be great, or perhaps even in a garage. Additionally, it is quite loud when running.
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I am counting down the days until this heat breaks so that I can use my freeze dryer again. I have a freezer full of trays ready to go in. It has simply been too hot during the day to maintain the temperature inside my portable building to run the freeze dryer, even with a window unit and portable floor unit running. It was nice in the mid 60's this morning but mid 90's expected later today. Heat is definitely an issue when using these units. They will not perform efficiently in a hot room.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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herbgarden said:
How do you freeze dry eggs? I may get to use someones soon
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Simple instructions ...

www.farmhouseonboone.com

How To Freeze Dry Eggs

Learn how to make freeze dried eggs for short and long-term storage. This is the best way to preserve eggs for long periods of time. This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a
www.farmhouseonboone.com www.farmhouseonboone.com

There are also some vids on Youtube.
 
turtlegent

turtlegent

Contributing Member
Toosh said:
#1 is your purpose to empty your freezer this one time or will you continue to use it in the future?
#2 is your purpose to build up a food storage pantry?
#3 how you will be using the food when it's time to eat. Some preservation methods are better than others based on how you use it.
#4 consider the cost of buying FD food if it's just the two of you - you can buy a whole lot of #10 cans before you've prorated the cost of a FD unit.

A friend loaned me his for several weeks. I was interested in preserving alot of garden harvest in a hurry. I can say that it takes several batches to do enough food to equal one #10 can. I figured running the unit 24 hours a day, considering downtime between batches I could maybe FD enough food to be equivalent to 3 #10 cans worth of food. I also found the large unit requires a dedicated 220 line - another expense.

IMHO, FD food is best for camping and/or traveling - where weight is an issue. For home use, it takes too much time to get a large volume of food. Considering my time, it's faster to purchase #10 cans from a commercial supplier. When I want FD food I buy it on sale.

The person who mentioned using a multi-prong approach to food storage has it right. Canning is my go-to method because I can get a lot of food prep done in short time. I can throw fresh produce in the freezer until I'm ready to make a morning of canning. Mice never eat through glass. The supplies are re-usable - no need to purchase more mylar bags.

Dehydrating is cheap to do but is limited. I'm not going to sit down to eat a plate of dehydrated shrimp but I can dehydrate 6 dozen eggs and they will store in a pint jar. They won't last as long as FD'ed but I m pretty good at rotating.
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Sorry to say that 6 dozen eggs freeze dried will fill a 2 quart jar.
 
Donna_in_OK

Donna_in_OK

Veteran Member
Once you get lots of protein stored up (meats, eggs, and some cheese), look into things like fried rice or your favorite oriental meal. Leave out the soy sauce to add later. The seasonings you add during cooking seam to compound, so start with some smaller batches before you do like a 4 tray of fried rice. I know that all of a sudden a ton of medicinal herbs have popped up in my face, and I am NOT going to ignore. I'll freeze dry till the cows come home.
 
Donna_in_OK

Donna_in_OK

Veteran Member
Oh... if you are in/around OKC and can get to Winco -- pick up some of their OA. They seem fresh (from my exprience), and seem fresher than the ones I purchased from Harvest Right. The hardware store in Jones OK use to get some supplies (ordered for the candy F/Der in the area), so you might be able to get some mylar bags without having to make that online purchase. I wouldn't trust the ones from Winco for more than anything I was going to grind.

Have fun, enjoy, and keep that thing turned on. :D
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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Rice-a-roni, Hamburger Helper, Chicken Helper, Tuna Helper ... yeah, I know most people consider that junkie food but it really does well in the FD and makes for really easy camp type meals. Some of the Campbell's chunky soups also do well, or you can make your own.
 
Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams

Has No Life - Lives on TB

Anyone freeze drying at home?​

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​


How I wish, but….no.

Back up in the nineties today and next couple.

All sweat radio, out here….

S’posed to be a low of 39 in the ten-day, though.

Something look forward to.

:chg:
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
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Finally got the new USB board, Display and Relay board installed.

It didn't have any firmware installed, they probably just grabbed it out of the box of stuff headed for assembly.

She sent a download to install...no joy.

After a coupla emails with unit and CPU particulars, 2nd download did the trick.

Got the firmware installed this morning, did a coupla basic function checks, seems to be working properly.

Will have to download the manual for a new machine, there's a big difference in functions and control options.

Hopefully, I can run a batch of something this weekend.


I have nothing but good to say about HR's tech support.
 
W

Walrus

Veteran Member
I just stuck in 5 trays of rabbit meat that was harvested recently. I think this is the first batch of rabbit we've freeze-dried; we've always canned it before. I think the Miz is going to make up a bunch of veggie stew with the bunny broth and can that, though.
 
A

AGreyMan

Contributing Member
Millwright said:
Finally got the new USB board, Display and Relay board installed.

It didn't have any firmware installed, they probably just grabbed it out of the box of stuff headed for assembly.

She sent a download to install...no joy.

After a coupla emails with unit and CPU particulars, 2nd download did the trick.

Got the firmware installed this morning, did a coupla basic function checks, seems to be working properly.

Will have to download the manual for a new machine, there's a big difference in functions and control options.

Hopefully, I can run a batch of something this weekend.


I have nothing but good to say about HR's tech support.
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Tech support's almost TOO good. I work 10-12 hour shifts, and I would get daily or twice daily calls about how it's going, when I hadn't had a chance to mess with the machine yet. But yes, helpful and interested in helping me get the machine back up and running ASAP.
 
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