On that point, I was first introduced to home freeze dryers while overseeing the guard force at the Embassy in Baghdad.
Let's do a simple math exercise. Non Frozen food put in freeze dryer at an ambient temp of 70F needs to be at -40F before the dry cycle begins. things go linear, each hour the temps would drop the food by 12.
My husband has been contemplating cost effective alternative ways to get oil-less vacuum happening... what would the specs needed be, since I don't have a pump to look at. Hopefully I asked that in a way that makes sense.
That also goes for dense foods like mashed potatoes. Liquids or soft foods can be put in silicone molds and frozen. Then pop them out of the molds, put them on the freeze dry trays, and put them in the machine when it’s ready.
I removed the side covers and found the water dripping from the chamber insulation. I called up HarvestRight to ask for ideas on how to avoid this in the future.
It takes slightly extended to dry than our other picks, and it lacks a speed-dry option, but it surely gets the job accomplished and fees various hundred dollars under very similar dryers.
I think a community-built troubleshooting manual is a great idea. These machines are simple in some ways, and more complex in others, and having a lot of eyes on the problem is always good.
Once we got into the groove of freeze-drying food, we have been extremely pleased with the purchase. But know this going in if you’re thinking this is an “easy button.” It’s not. In fact, in many ways it has changed our lifestyle. For example, we now often cook for a family of 8 even though it’s just us and the two kids.
14 Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) On 7/31/2015 at 11:12 PM, TonyC said: Somehow this post got posted twice so I'll edit the second one with Shop Now some more useful information. I remember reading somewhere in this thread where somebody was asking how long you run the freeze cycle with pre-frozen food. I have my chest freezer set to -12F, and I usually let the freeze dryer cool for an hour before I put the frozen food in. After I load the food in I wait another half hour to start the drying process. I've had a lot of cycles that the Perfeito time between pulling one batch out and starting the drying cycle on the next is around 2 hours. I'm running mine in a cold garage, so it cools down pretty quickly. If you have yours in a warm room it would probably take a little longer.
Without an pump isolation valve I would expect some air to flow back into the chamber through the pump resulting in the steady rise you witnessed. I saw the same phenomenon before I installed an isolation valve on my pump.
If you don’t have the time or money, or if you believe the food crisis will hit hard very soon, then it makes more sense to buy freeze-dried food instead.
Shortly after getting the freeze dryer, Lance's wife began shipping over boxes of dehydrated food. We get the food, rehydrate it, and make some incredible Harvest Right Home Small Pro Freeze Dryer meals. My favorite was the pizza Lance would whip up!
For me, a prepper, a freeze dryer is 100% worth it because I can freeze dry whatever I want/need to fill my pantry with food that will nourish our family for years, pelo matter what might come our way.
Howdy! My name is Morgan I’ve been prepping for over 10 years and teach others to be prepared for emergencies and disasters. Learn more!