Does anyone freeze dry?

Chris Quillen wrote:Just got our HR freeze dryer and in the process of learning all sorts of new stuff - I absolutely love it! Only had it a month and so far I’ve done . . . rotisserie chicken and bone broth. . .

Chris Quillen wrote:Kaarina Mason jar vacuum sealed for short term storage or in Mylar bags, with oxygen absorbers for long term /quote]
Thank you Chris ❤
I was considering a freeze drier and this is the answer I needed. So the product lasts, but needs to be vacuum sealed for long term storage. Unlike  conventionally dried food, which keeps in airtight containers.

Thank you. I just love this forum ❤❤❤

Rick Deckard wrote:We have the large. We got it primarily for selling FD candy at Farmers Markets and events. After an Escape from WA this year, we're going to start producing our own stuff and also maybe for neighbors/church. We also had a glitch off the bat with needing to replace the motherboard but they sent it to us and an easy swap. The horror story we missed out that some have experienced was the system arriving looking like it was air dropped. Great community online with recipes, suggestions and *Don't Do This* (the photos are quite amusing). There a couple 'new kids on the block' trying to get in on the action which happens. Some have improvements and others clearly show they were rushed out the door. Always fun at events hearing people saying "I have a freezer and a dehydrator. I can do that too." Ok... good luck with that.
Best of success!

Chris Quillen wrote:My first batch... tomatoes fire roasted in oven fresh with black garlic and adobo (no oil for freeze drying) then frozen, then freeze dried & jarred - SO delicious and will last up to 25yrs on the shelf - along with maintaining 97% of nutrients and flavor... I’m completely hooked!!

Rick Deckard wrote:We have the large. We got it primarily for selling FD candy at Farmers Markets and events. After an Escape from WA this year, we're going to start producing our own stuff and also maybe for neighbors/church. We also had a glitch off the bat with needing to replace the motherboard but they sent it to us and an easy swap. The horror story we missed out that some have experienced was the system arriving looking like it was air dropped. Great community online with recipes, suggestions and *Don't Do This* (the photos are quite amusing). There a couple 'new kids on the block' trying to get in on the action which happens. Some have improvements and others clearly show they were rushed out the door. Always fun at events hearing people saying "I have a freezer and a dehydrator. I can do that too." Ok... good luck with that.
Best of success!

Glenn Littman wrote:Can any of you that have a freeze drying system comment on power consumption? I am fairly certain that for those of us who live off-grid it's not an option unless you have humongous battery storage capacity. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think the process is on the order of 24 or more hours and pretty power hungry through the night. If someone knows the wattage demand of their machine and running time that would be helpful to know.

Kim Arnold wrote:I’ll admit I’m envious of those of you with freeze driers, and very impressed by all the things you’ve preserved! I don’t have the space or $$$ right now, so I’ll keep waiting. But I do have a question - why isn’t freeze-dried pasta a thing?

I like to use freeze dried foods to make quick mixes for soups and simple meals. I would love to include pasta that would rehydrate and be perfectly cooked, but I can’t find anything like that!

I have to carry my drinking/cooking water up three flights of steps - I’m not willing to use it to boil pasta and pour it out. (Yes, I know there are ways to use that water, but I have other ways I like to use it.)

Is freeze-dried pasta a possibility? Has anyone tried it?

Kelly Craig wrote:Re " [I] am wondering if I should pick up a small freeze dryer when I move. . . .

          NO

You will use it and outgrow it immediately. Get a medium.


How much do we like our freeze dryer? I bought a chest freezer just to stream line the processes. I dedicated a lot of basement space to racks and tubs to store all the food I get free from local farms (field and orchard), the local asparagus packing plant . . . .

All those pumpkins you could have got a killer deal on, those big bags of carrots and so on, they make great powder that will store twenty-five years for that super soup.

Eggs come out ALL scrambled, but you won't be able to tell them from fresh. So too it goes with milk. This isn't the dried milk garbage you grew up with. Shrimp turns into Styrofoam and would be gone in a MILD gust of wind, but it re-hydrates in minutes and if you cool it, you'll think you just brought it back from Safeway.

And on and on it goes.

Kaarina Kreus wrote:So you can freeze dry, but to get them last a long time you still need to vacuum pack the products?
Can someone please advise.

Kim Arnold wrote:I’ll admit I’m envious of those of you with freeze driers, and very impressed by all the things you’ve preserved! I don’t have the space or $$$ right now, so I’ll keep waiting. But I do have a question - why isn’t freeze-dried pasta a thing?

I like to use freeze dried foods to make quick mixes for soups and simple meals. I would love to include pasta that would rehydrate and be perfectly cooked, but I can’t find anything like that!

I have to carry my drinking/cooking water up three flights of steps - I’m not willing to use it to boil pasta and pour it out. (Yes, I know there are ways to use that water, but I have other ways I like to use it.)

Is freeze-dried pasta a possibility? Has anyone tried it?

Vickey McDonald wrote:

Kaarina Kreus wrote:So you can freeze dry, but to get them last a long time you still need to vacuum pack the products?
Can someone please advise.

Kim Arnold wrote:. . .  Amanda how good would pickle dust be on all kinds of things?

Kim Arnold wrote:I had a thought today, based on recent observations, and it may apply here.

I think dill pickles are having a moment right now. I’ve seen recipes for dill pickle popcorn, the store where I work just introduced its version of dill pickle pizza, and I personally made a chocolate chip cookie stuffed with dill pickle slices be ause I saw it on the Internet. (Definitely worth a little dough! I liked the combo very much!)

I’m wondering if anyone has ever freeze dried a dill pickle. Do they keep that intense flavor? How much fun are they to eat when they are crunchy? Amanda how good would pickle dust be on all kinds of things?

Eric Jaymes wrote:

Rick Deckard wrote:We have the large. We got it primarily for selling FD candy at Farmers Markets and events. After an Escape from WA this year, we're going to start producing our own stuff and also maybe for neighbors/church. We also had a glitch off the bat with needing to replace the motherboard but they sent it to us and an easy swap. The horror story we missed out that some have experienced was the system arriving looking like it was air dropped. Great community online with recipes, suggestions and *Don't Do This* (the photos are quite amusing). There a couple 'new kids on the block' trying to get in on the action which happens. Some have improvements and others clearly show they were rushed out the door. Always fun at events hearing people saying "I have a freezer and a dehydrator. I can do that too." Ok... good luck with that.
Best of success!

If you don't mind, how is the Farmers Market candy biz doing for you? Is it doing well enough to recoup the cost or is it more of an add-on, supplemental income thing? My friend has the smaller version and recommended going with a large; I'm just not sure I have enough growing to gain the benefit.

Dennis Barrow wrote:

Glenn Littman wrote:Can any of you that have a freeze drying system comment on power consumption? I am fairly certain that for those of us who live off-grid it's not an option unless you have humongous battery storage capacity. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think the process is on the order of 24 or more hours and pretty power hungry through the night. If someone knows the wattage demand of their machine and running time that would be helpful to know.

They are power hungry for off grid.  I just saw a post about that a couple days ago on a facebook forum.  The people said that they had to run a generator whenever the sun wasn't shining.  And they had a battery bank that would run their freezer.

Here in Montana where I am it costs me about $3.00 a day to run it, that's for 24 hours, and each batch usually averages 32 hours or so.