We got one about five years ago. It sits in the basement.
I'm not regretting the purchase, indeed it was SO MUCH FUN the first six months or so. Then the excitement wore off. It's in the basement doing nothing, but I'm glad it's there. Explain that.
I *think* this is what happened with my machine:
Of
course we freeze dried ice cream. 'Oooooh, just like what the ASTRONAUTS eat!!' The kids liked it too, duh. But! I don't think it was *better* then fresh ice cream straight from the container, where you can reach in with your
spoon and grab the good stuff within the swirly ribbon before anyone else could. Immediate satisfaction, yum.
Next, we did cherries. Yum. Strawberries, Blueberries, Peaches. Yum. It was fun to make, and certainly fun to eat. But! Fresh stuff was better. I would rather have a fresh bowl of fruit than freeze dried fruit. When we bought berries specifically to freeze dry, we ended up eating them fresh. Because they're wonderful. I think 'wonderful' trumps 'fun'.
We freeze dried onions. Avocados. Tomatoes. Meh, now what are we supposed to do with them? Storage for long term? When SHTF (which was supposedly going to happen every year or two, starting approx Y2K), we'll have berries and ice cream? And avocado slices? Is that the purpose of freeze drying? I have many pounds of rice, flour, pasta, and beans for that situation. And I do not see myself whining after a week without electricity, 'Awww, I wish I had some freeze dried berries and ice cream for dessert!'. I'd be too worried about my cows getting stolen in a SHTF situation.
I keep asking myself, what is the purpose of that freeze dryer? And I don't know!
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