Tips for first time freeze dryers that will make life easier!
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- čas přidán 8. 12. 2022
- Some of these tips have been game changers for us! We love our harvest right freeze dryer and sometimes have a big back log on the food wee need to get run through and with some of the things we go through in this video we are able to drastically reduce the amount of time the machine runs and the down time between loads. The tips I go over in the video are excellent tips for the first time freeze dryer and the well seasoned freeze dryer!
Harvest Right Freeze Driers:
affiliates.harvestright.com/i...
Camera:
amzn.to/3NUFTSM
Vacuum pump Oil:
amzn.to/3vgGBDf
Silicone Mats:
affiliates.harvestright.com/i...
Trays:
affiliates.harvestright.com/i...
Small fan for in the freeze dryer(only for thawing purposes)
a.co/d/g8d8ftE
Duct fan for exhausting outside:
a.co/d/hSzUNUJ
Salsa recipe:
1 lb of tomatoes
4 oz of onions
4 oz of peppers
1 oz jalapeño
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 TBSP of salt
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of vinegar
Mix and let sit for a couple days in the fridge for the flavors to blend together and then freeze dry!
#harvestright #prepper #freezedryer #homesteading #homesteader #harvestrightfreedryer - Jak na to + styl
Check out harvest right freeze dryers!
affiliates.harvestright.com/2573.html
I LOVE your outside-the-box tips. These are all great tips and I will be implementing all of them. The Camera tip is the GOAT!
Thanks!!
Those are excellent tips! Thanks Andy!
Thank you!
Awesome tips! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the comment! Please don’t forget to hit that subscribe button!
Good video, always good to see other people's experiences with their machines.
Thank you!
Thank you for the great tips.
No problem!
Setting up the camera is a great idea. We have our FD in the basement, so being able to bring it up on my phone at any time is definitely a nice luxury.
👍🏻
Great tips, thank you
Thanks for the comment!
You really packed this video with a lot of good tips!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing these tips. Very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!!
Very good thanks!
No problem! Glad it was helpful!
Great tips, thanks.
Thanks!
Great tips!! Appreciate it.
Thanks!!
Good tips. I look forward to using my dryer.
👍🏻
Thank you, the tips are very helpful. The camera is what I was thinking as well! TYFS🦋
Happy to help!
Thank you for the tips. It’s a wonderful product. There isn’t anything like it anywhere.
It really is! We use it a ton!!
thankyou for the tips ! I was trying to figure out how to vent my pump - you solved that problem for me !
Glad to help!
Extra set of trays is the best thing I've done with my freeze dryer.
Appreciate the other tips as well.
You bet!
WOW! What timing. Just about to set up my new freeze dryer. Very helpful! Will subscribe.
Thanks! Glad it was helpful!
Excellent tips for freezer drying.
Ten thumbs up.
I had not considered the smell coming out of the vacuum during the freeze drying process.
I have not yet started using my medium freeze dryer as of yet and now I can gather the vacuum pump exhaust air items now to avoid unwanted future basement and house fragrances.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome video great tips
Thanks!
Love your tips! I make meals in jars with mine. The Freeze Dried Foodie channel has some really delicious recipes, she uses commercial freeze dried food but I make her recipes with HR ingredients. I had food sitting on my shelf for a year without eating much of it now I come home tired from work grab a jar and add some water : )
Thanks! I’ll have to check their channel out! It is gratifying opening our food pantry in the basement and seeing all sorts of of different foods on the shelf!
You are the second person in the last week who has mentioned having an onion smell in the house when freeze drying onions . . . (the other person also said garlic too) we have been freeze drying for over 5 years now and have never had the smell of anything stink up our house. Not onions, nor garlic, not even fish nor shrimp when we've freeze dried those.
We don't use the silicone mats. We like using parchment paper. We calculated it out a couple of years ago and we can get 1,650 pan sized pieces of parchment paper for the cost of the silicone mats. We buy most things in bulk and when they are on sale.
We also pre-freeze everything using the square Dollar Tree cake pans. That way we can measure 2 cups (or about 500 grams) per pan so we know how much we are freeze drying. When they are frozen we take them out of the pans and put them in zipper freezer bags and back into the freezer.
We many times have 10 to 15 FD loads of frozen foods waiting in the freezer for their turn to get freeze dried.
Have fun.
Oh, you're right, applesauce is great, both store bought or homemade.
We let it freeze partially and then score it to the sizes we want to have.
I am surprised your house doesn't get overwhelmed with the aroma from the food in your FD. Have you don't onions before? If so, were they from your garden or the store? We have found the that onions we grow tend to be a lot more potent than any onions we have bought at the store in past years.
@@portercreek Yes, we have freeze dried onions, many times in the last 5 plus years. Red onions and yellow onions. Both home grown and store bought. (Mostly store bought because we have only had small gardens.) Some onions have been quite strong - makes us tear up immediately upon starting to cut them up.
We usually process between 10 to 25 pounds at a time. We cut them up, freeze them on large baking sheets and then when they are frozen, usually overnight, we pour them into large zipper bags to wait until their turn in the freeze dryer. . . . Maybe a week to a month depending on what else is waiting to be FD. Then we pour them out of the zipper bags (still very frozen) on to the FD trays and within a couple of minutes out of the freezer into the very cold freeze dryer (we like the FD to start out below 20F and dropping)
So far we have had no problems with anything stinking up the house. 😀
Have a Great New Year.
Keep on having Fun Freeze Drying.
I think pre-freezing helps prevent smells. I've never had an odor of anything I've freeze dried. I pre-freeze everything except eggs.
I think (but can't verify) that both the smell issue and the oil fog are related to the type of vacuum pump you have. Everyone talks about the advantages of the premier pump and it's certainly nice not to have to filter your oil so frequently. But the way the premier pump keeps water from building up is by letting the water evaporate and releasing the vapor in the air. That can carry odors and some of the oil with it. We have the standard pump and have never noticed either odor or oil vapor during drying. However, when changing the oil, I've noticed a mild smell of the preceding food (onion, peaches, etc.) in the oil. Perhaps that's an advantage of the standard pump.
To preserve the standard pump, we filter the oil with every batch (not every four batches as recommended). When drying peaches I notice 2-3 tablespoons of water come out with the oil. Other foods have more or less. The newer oil filter that HarvestRight offers works great. (It looks like a Brita knockoff. The original that used coffee filters was a total mess.)
Glad you are enjoying the freeze dryer! There is truly a huge difference between the quality of dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. I don't have the budget or the space, unfortunately. But I have been happy with the bulk foods I have purchased. I am using more freeze dried foods versus GMO produce that has very low nutrition. And am converting all my camping meals to home-packed freeze dried versus the expensive $10 to $15 store-bought junk! Thanks The Great Out There
We grow almost everything we freeze dry so it’s nice knowing where it all comes from and how it was grown!
Convection works to transfer heat via molecule movement from one location to another. There's a reason that really cold freezers are called blast freezers. There's an integral fan in them to keep the air in the freezer constantly moving. It's the exact same principle, just in reverse, that makes a convection oven more efficient than a conventional radiant heat oven.
👍🏻
Did garlic once. My garage was almost un-enterable. Had to wash the freeze dryer with vinegar water. Made some great garlic powder!
Oh wow, I can only imagine!
I stoped using the vinegar and water because one user said it will coroid the barrel and parts so he recommended a mild bleach and water then wipe down with rinse cloth.
You can add old slices of bread on a tray and it differently picks up the oder....of course the cost of bread these days I will put up with the odor! What ever happened to day old stores for a dollar a loaf?
Thanks for all the great information for us newbies out here. Had a question that I can't seen to find answered elsewhere - Could you tell me what is the process if I want to leave the food in the dryer, to package later . . . do I need to release the drain OR do I just leave the trays in and smart technology takes over? Thanks in advance.
You would need to keep the unit running while it is in there, I wouldn’t recommend waiting. Always try to plan ahead so you know you’ll be able unload it when it’s done.
@@portercreek but of say something came up during a cycle or say u fell asleep does it just automatically stay on keeping the batch good or when the cycle is done does it just shut down?
1) I have 3 sets and seriously thinking about a 4th set for all the reasons you spoke to.
2)Also, I use a heated fan, and I can get my FD'r defrosted and ready to start the next load in about 30 minutes vs if you use the DEFROST mode which takes about 2.0 hrs.
3) Silicone tray liners are an absolute must! I have my FD'r set with 12 extra drying hours! I have several instances that when the normal/standard factory set dry time has completed.. THE FOOD IS NOT COMPLETELY DRY.
4) I use the weigh out method and HIGHLY RECCOMEND YOU DO THIS also. This was a method put out there by the channel SCHOOL REPORTS. I take my trays out when 2 extra dry hours have completed... I weigh and record each tray. Place the trays back in and run for 2 more hours, take them back out and weigh it again. If the weight has dropped 1 gram or less, then they are done..If the tray has dropped more than 1 gram.. then they are back in for at least another 2 hours. If each tray has dropped more than 3 grams each... then put them back in for 3 to 4 hours.
*DONT TAKE CHANCES WITH YOUR FOOD THAT YOU EXPECT TO BE GOOD IN AN EMERGENCY DOWN THE ROAD!*
5) Definitely I run a couple of those cheap fans next to the pump..and this definitely helps when it's warmer.
6) Absolutely pre freeze almost everything it will expedite the FD'ing process considerably.
Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for sharing, would you share your salsa recipe and how you FD it. I just got my FD and have so much to learn.
Also curious about your fermented salsa recipe
Sorry it took so long!
1 lb of tomatoes
4 oz of onions
4 oz of peppers
1 oz jalapeño
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 TBSP of salt
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of vinegar
Sorry it took so long!
1 lb of tomatoes
4 oz of onions
4 oz of peppers
1 oz jalapeño
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 TBSP of salt
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of vinegar
Sorry it took so long!
1 lb of tomatoes
4 oz of onions
4 oz of peppers
1 oz jalapeño
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 TBSP of salt
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of vinegar
Praise the LORD for creating cool machines!
Thanks for commenting!
@@portercreek Welcome! Do you believe in JESUS? I believe in JESUS!
@@jesusdiedforyouproofjohn3.16 James 2:19, believing alone isn’t enough
@@portercreek ❤️🙏
Acts 2:38
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” King James Version (KJV)
James 2:19
King James Version
“19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
Ephesians 6:12
King James Version
“12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
How are you?
What camera do you use?
Do u have a link?
For most videos i use my iPhone, but I also use a go pro too.
amzn.to/3GW8nYW
Great Video!! I would love to know what camera you use? I'm assuming it"s bluetooth? Thanks!
Thank you! I use my Phone!
@@portercreekwhat camera are you using to watch the freeze dryer?
@@SawyerRidgeFarm amzn.to/3Kf6Min
They work great! Also have them around the property as well!
@@portercreek thank you! I have a camera set up on mine now, but with the backlight display being so bright, I see nothing but a white screen at night (not very helpful at all, for what I’m wanting it for). Does this one show a good image even at night? Or can you at least make out the screen in low light/no light conditions?
Yes! It works really well in a pitch black room as well as low light
Does the silicone have any chemicals that could leach into foods during process?
Not that i am aware of, we very rarely use plastic containers for food, mostly just glass. We do have some silicone bowls as well so I am assuming my wife hasn’t found anything bad about them…
What do you do when you didn’t get the trays out and they have frost on them?
Never had that happen!
I'm very close to making a purchase for a fd but have a few nagging questions....I'm an empty nester...Wondering if it's necessary for just one or two people .Wouldn't it be expensive to run the dehydrator for just one tray of leftovers that I see people doing? (I was thinking I could eliminate the cost of a freezer running...but think I need to prefreeze now.) Does Harvest Right run annual sales? What do you guys think about the oil-less motor???? I'm all ears for singles or empty-nesters advice. Lastly, what size would you buy if you were me? (All sizes need special wiring?) Thank you all for all and any input! Love reading the comments and really, really liked the venting! Hmmmmm....I have a LOT to learn! Might need to get into morter cutting to install that. The camera idea is excellent as well!!!
Its most cost effective to run full loads. You can buy frozen fruit and keep it in the freezer for when you need something to fill trays to get you to a full load. Fruit that we like to do is blueberries(great for muffins) cherries(great for lettuce salads and cold noodle salads) apples, pineapples and mango. The great part about these is that they are pre frozen ready to FD! The size you get is totally dependent on you. If you are a prepper or a gardener, then you might want to get the bigger one. I believe only the large needs a dedicated 20amp outlet.
I have never seen them run any sales in the past few years.
@@portercreek Get wisdom! Thanks for all you tips and insight.
We are empty nesters of two people, and we LOVE our freeze dryer! You don't have to do a ton of one thing. You do smaller amounts of many things. Meat, veggies, fruits, spaghetti dinners, chili, breakfast cereal bars with milk, coffee drinks, candy, treats, ice cream, gelatin, snack cakes (Twinkies, etc.), condiments, salsa, and the list is endless. Make your own garlic powder, onion powder, herb blends, croutons, smoothie powders, camping meals, or whatever. Make blueberry or strawberry powder to put in pancakes or cake frostings. You can make green spinach and kale powder to add to cornbread, soups, and stews, or smoothies. Kids don't even know it's in there. You can even freeze dry flowers. I would only run it with full trays. Freeze your single tray of leftovers, and run it with your next batch of many other things, like listed above. Even with only two people snacking, you can go through several bags of FD fruit or veggie chips rather quickly. You can also make birthday and Christmas gifts for family and friends. It's still a great investment for only two people.
The oiless pump doesn’t last as long as the oil pump.
Do you have a video showing how to set up the venting duct situation?
I do not, I just took the green cover off the pump and slid the 4” dryer vent over the top and then plumbed in the fan and vented it outside.
@@portercreek How do you get the fan to come on with the pump?
@@JP1AO I put a heavy duty T in the compressor plug and then I plugged both the pump and the fan in the T
Do you put oxygen absorbers in your jars? If so what size.
I do not, we have a vacuum chamber sealer which sucks out all the air from the jars
I have never had fog from my premiere pump. I use the fan on low and direct it at the pump, keeps my pump from getting really hot.
Thanks for commenting!
Exactly, I put a fan blowing on my premium pump, it runs a LOT cooler and better for the pump. I have never seen a fog either and we have done lots of Onions and they do not smell the room up like onions. I think his pump is over heating to create the misty fog and the high onion smell.
How much time does pre freezing shave off?
I would say a good 12 hrs maybe more
When you reconstitute your eggs and milk What is the ratio of water to eggs and water to milk that you use. To get the eggs back or you can scramble them and to get the milk back to where you can drink it.
Eggs we do 1:1 ratio but the great part about them is that if you do too much liquid, when you are making scrambled eggs, it doesn’t matter because it just cooks off. We like to reconstitute eggs with milk, gives them a richer flavor! We haven’t done milk in quite some time so I don’t remember the ratio. With our large freeze dryer we can get a half gallon of milk per tray so when you pull it out of the FD measure how much powder you get from one tray and the mat will give you the ratio. Then when you reconstitute it go a little light on the water at first and then add more water to taste.
Should I turn my freeze dryer off when I am not using it?
I don’t, I always forget, though mine hasn’t been off for more than a few hrs at a time in the past several months!
I just received my fan that you recommended and I'm so disappointed that it doesn't fit the medium Harvest Right, not even close. At least not the latest model. Also the front piece of this fan is part of the entire outside structure so there's no way to remove that either, hoping it might make a difference. Sad :( It was such a great idea to speed things up.
Bummer the cage doesn’t come up. What I have been doing lately is just propping it up in the front and leaving the door open without the heating elements on.
@@portercreek thanks for the reply. I did send for 3 additional fans on Amazon that were tiny, they all fit, and I've settled on the one with the most power. Thanks again for the tip!
Apple what in the first jar?
Apple sauce! If you haven’t tried it you should!
Thanks for commenting, please don’t forget to hit that subscribe button!
Would you please be kind enough to share the salsa recipe.
Sorry it took so long!
1 lb of tomatoes
4 oz of onions
4 oz of peppers
1 oz jalapeño
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 TBSP of salt
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of vinegar
How do you cut those applesauce squares so precisely like that after they've been dried? Dont they just crumble?
We use a metal spatula to cut it and then scrape it off the pan.
You really really need to clean that thing.
Yup! When I shot this vid, I am not sure it was fully defrosted at this point! I clean it before I load it!
I actually have one that works, however, HR will not do what's right for this $4000 one that is DEFECTIVE. They lie and keep saying...we will call you tomorrow...we will refund your money...we will let you ship it back to us.....I want people to know it is a gamble if you deal with a company who does not care about their reputation or doing what is right! Hopefully I can save one person from losing money to them.
It is frustrating when a. Impact does stand behind their product!
We’ve had problems throughout the past with our FD and we’ve had fantastic success getting help from Harvest Right every time. The company has been very nice to help us get out any kinks, even calling us back days later to make sure it was still working right.
The first one you showed in the jars is Apple what?
Applesauce!
I have all the same tips, except #1 I don't use any protectors on my trays - I feel its easier to just scrub them up after a load. Do you use high vacuum on your bottles - I use a chamber vac sealer to suck the lids on so tight it takes a special tool to release them LOL
Great minds think a like! We do a lot of fruit and the pads make it a lot easier to get them off without breaking them. I use a vacmaster sealer to seal all the jars! It sucks 99% of the oxygen out so I don’t have to use the oxygen absorber packets and the best part is that the jars are reusable! What is your favorite thing to freeze dry?
@@portercreek I would consider still using the OA's since even 99% vacuum would leave .21% free Oxygen, the product can release small amounts of Oxygen over time and they are CHEAP.
My Favorite product to FD is Trader Joe's organic mixed vegetables in the 16 oz frozen pack - They are so handy to have in the pantry and quick to re-hydrate.
How do you figure out how to program your freeze dryer?
Not get much of any details from anyone about programming. Really frustrating.
What are you trying to change
@@portercreek I’m trying to figure out “what” to change. How long and what settings to freeze dry ham for example.
@@Saltshaker2016 it’s all automatic, just stick it in and start it. I don’t mess with any settings. Sometimes I will need to do extra dry time
I believe from your last response to me (thank you very much for getting back to me) and further experimenting with our machine we were just over thinking it.
what's your hot sauce recipe?
1 lb of tomatoes
4 oz of onions
4 oz of peppers
1 oz jalapeño
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 TBSP of salt
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of vinegar
FACTORY DEFAULT for Final Dry is 2 hours. So, The FD touch screen unit when done, will come up and say PROCESS COMPLETE and it beeps.. HOW LONG does it beep/stay in the PROCESS COMPLETE mode before it auto goes to the default EXTENED DRY TIME? ?
Mine does not go bro a extended dry time automatically, you have to push a button to get it to do so
I was told by harvest right that fog is water vapor not oil are they misleading me?
The fog is not water vapor if it makes your house foggy. To my experience, I have never had fog come out that was water vapor. We would wake up in the morning to a cloudy house.
@@portercreek oh, yea thats what happened to me as well, and they said its water vapor, told me to put a tiny piece of paper towel in that little valve with the small ball bearing as a solution, i did and it hasn't happened again so far anyway, i figured they weren't telling me the whole story, plus what am oddball fix, why would they just design this "fix" in the 1st place
@@TheRealBatCave the nice thing about venting it out side is you don’t get any smells in the house from what you are freeze drying. Especially when doing onions!
Not wax paper
Some people have had luck with it but we really like the mats!
If you are not getting frozen food over night you have a freezer problem.
What version of the software are you using? Must be ancient. Just set it to 24 hours and walk away.
Fuzzies do NOT cause vacuum errors.
DO NOT modify the operation of your equipment while it is under warranty... even the vacuum pump.
Freezer temp is at 0, you put 5 large trays in a chest freezer over night and they will not be frozen.
I recently updated to the latest software, this video was shot a year ago.
Yes, if you have fuzzies from a cloth on the seal it will cause a vacuum error, I know first hand.
There were no modifications done to this machine or vacuum pump. Everything I did would not void a warranty.
Thank you for sharing your opinions!
@@portercreek You must have some HUGE fuzzies then.
@@stevenfeil7079 oh they are massive, probably the biggest fuzzies you have ever seen.
With older machines like mine, the firmware had very strict vacuum parameters so if you looked at the machine wrong they would throw a vacuum error. They addressed that with the firmware update so it is not finicky.
You're just asking for an electrical fire putting an electric fan next to melting ice.
Thanks for commenting
Derp...
chances of that is closer to zero than it is to slim for many reasons
Good point
He does it at the end of he defrost cycle so I guess it is already mostly dry. I just watched it again.
great tips thank you!
I am wishing to place my freeze dryer in a space on the floor under a counter.
With that the top of the FDer has no room above the machine to vent. There IS room on both sides so fans can be placed there to keep air circulating. There is also room on the floor beside the FD'er to place the pump and a defrost drain hose/container.
Can you tell me if the 4" clothes dryer hose going outside helps keep the vacuum pump cooler? as the pump runs pretty hot just sitting beside the FD'er out in the open. I am interested what you or your viewers think about this as i am trying to use space efficiently. thanks again!
@brucemattes5015 (I see your comments below)
The 4" clothes dryer hose is for any oil vapor that comes off the pump and also to vent the smells, from the foods that are being freeze dried, to the outside of the house. The cooling that it would provide would be negligible.
The cooling of the unit is(when looking at the front of it) sucking air in from the middle lower left side of the machine and exhausts it on the lower middle right side of the machine. The freeze dryers have a pretty weak fan for keeping them cool, I moulding put it in a small enclosed space like that unless you had a pretty good ventilation system in that cubby. I would put a vent in the cabinet on the lower left side that blows air in and then a vent on the upper right side(if space allows) for the heat to escape. If you can't put a vent on the right side, you could do one on the access door too.
@portercreek it's all inside a mobile home trailer so a vent hole in the floor coming from outside might help keep the cooler moving. will let you know how it goes if I do that
what's your hot sauce recipe?
1 lb of tomatoes
4 oz of onions
4 oz of peppers
1 oz jalapeño
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 TBSP of salt
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of vinegar