Harvest Right Freeze dryer

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friendsofthe
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Location: Payson, Utah
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Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by friendsofthe »

I heard a commercial about this company on KSL radio a while back and thought it was very interesting. What do you think? Is it worth it? Made in Utah. :)

http://harvestright.com/store/freeze-dryer-black.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

karend77
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by karend77 »

Many folks on a different forum have purchased this and gave a positive review of it. They have freeze-dried pretty much everything you can think of with great results- veggies, fruits, meats, sauces. They say bread doesnt do well.

Too expensive for me to even consider though.

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light-one
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by light-one »

There is a blog post that might save you a couple grand at: http://www.instructables.com/id/Freeze-Dry-At-Home/

Read the comments here, also: http://www.instructables.com/answers/Ho ... t-be-done/

It seems to me that you would have to dry a very large amount of food to justify a $4,000 machine. Although 300 gallon cans at $20 a gallon could pay for itself in a year, not counting the cost of the food and hopefully there isn't any maintenance.

JohnnyL
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by JohnnyL »

I'd rather buy a whole bunch someone else did for those prices.
Better yet, can! :)

Ezra
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by Ezra »

It seems to me you could build your own. All it does is create a vacuum.

Water boils at 212 under earths natural pressure at sea level. Boils at a lower temp at higher altitudes. Lower pressure.

lower the pressure into the negitives and walla boiling water at 32 degrees. Freeze dryed foods.

Teancum
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by Teancum »

Ezra wrote:It seems to me you could build your own. All it does is create a vacuum.

Water boils at 212 under earths natural pressure at sea level. Boils at a lower temp at higher altitudes. Lower pressure.

lower the pressure into the negitives and walla boiling water at 32 degrees. Freeze dryed foods.
Yep! it takes just a little bit more than that though. I built my own version a few years ago. I started by having an empty freezer a friend gave to me. I took an old pressure cooker, and removed the pressure guage (so as to not damage it) and plugged its port, and also removed the regulator stem, and attached a vacuum line instead. I had a 2 burner electric hot plate that I put under the pressure cooker, and put both inside the freezer.

It worked, up to a point. The main issue that I had was the pressure cooker's outlet vacuum line was not big enough and spent too much time (length) inside the freezer so that it clogged up with ice condensation before the vacuum pump could pull the water vapor out of the freezer. To make this setup sucessful, I came to the conclusion that I would need a much bigger vacuum port on the pressure cooker all the way to the vacuum pump - say around an inch or larger to accomodate for ice crystal formation. There was also the issue of processing time. I had done all this before talking to the MFG at the preparedness expo, so I didn't realize that the hot plate needed to be dynamicly operated according to the condition of the process material. If I had run it much longer at a lower heat setting, it might have worked out better.

Oh, I should mention I tried this at 6000 ft elevation. It would work much better and withmuch less energy expended at 12,000 ft and higher.

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g_luv_style
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Location: Ohio

Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by g_luv_style »

My folks picked up one. They are very pricey, but work great. They have freeze dried just about everything. The only drawbacks I see other than price is the small payload and the time invested in processing. If I recall it takes about 24-36 hours to run a batch. Because of this, it wouldn't be a great way to build bulk quickly. They use it as supplemental food prep. The other bonus is having custom meals that you can control all of the ingredients. If you have everything else in order and can swing it...more power to you if you want it.

deb
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by deb »

I have been using a 'Harvest Right' freeze dryer for the past 9 months. I was concerned that my food storage was getting old and I was having a hard time rotating it since my children are now married and my husband and I do not eat very much. I think good quality food storage is important. I also want to have extra storage on hand for my family.

We have a very large garden and we produce more than we need. Freeze drying has become a fun hobby for me and the freeze dry industry say that freeze dried food can last for 25 years and it retains 97% of all the vitamins. I don't have to worry about rotating it! I do need to store more water, however. I also take advantage of freeze drying fruits that are in season, but are not grown in our climate. I have dried fresh manderine oranges, pineapple, mango, bananas and lemon slices. From my own garden I have dried, asparagus, spinach, kale, peas, pumpkin, beets, carrots, squash, apples, apricots and onions. This harvest I hope to freeze dry green beans, corn, herbs, zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, blueberries and elderberries. I have dried cream cheese and cheddar cheese as well.

I have also bought meats from Zaycon in bulk and have freeze dried hamburger, ham, salmon, chicken, pork and cooked pinto beans. I cook the meat before freeze drying it. I tried freeze drying some raw pork chops. After wards I reconstituted it, fried it up and was surprised how good it tasted.

If you have to buy the food and then freeze dry it, you may consider just purchasing freeze dried food in cans. You can purchase a lot of cans for the price of one freeze dryer. I like the option of freeze drying my own food and being able to control what goes into the can. I plan on combining some of the items and make up mixes for different dishes like beef stew, chicken vegetable soup, sweet and sour pork, taco soup, etc.

I have one of the first models. I can do about 2 to 3 batches a week. They have improved and enlarged the models they have available now.

I have preserved the finished product by vacuum packing freeze dried items in 1 or 2 quart mason jars and also in mylar bags with oxygen packets. A mylar bag sealing press comes with the Harvest Right. Hope this post helped.

griz326
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by griz326 »

I am new to this forum and found it as part of my research into home freeze drying.

Freeze drying is costly, but my friend and I harvest 500+ lbs of deer/antelope/other game in a good hunting season. I don't care much for canned meat and would lIke to find an alternative. The long shelf-life and reduced space requirements are gravy, but while eating freezer-burned meat is better than wasting it, I really don't like it. Thankfully, the dogs don't complain when eating the trimmings.

My opinion of freeze-dried food for hiking and camping is good. One knock I've heard though is that meat and fish lose the natural texture we expect iN a steak or fillet. To get a knowledgeable and unbiased opinion discrediting or confirming that negative comment would be greatly appreciated.

ALSO, has anyone found/used a consumer-grade freeze dryer other than Harvest Right?

TIA :)

Older/wiser?
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Posts: 538

Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by Older/wiser? »

Hey griz I have a harvest right freeze drier...I have only had it about 5 months..so I am still
Experimenting..I bought an extra chicken at Sam's deboned it shredded it sliced it and dried
It it was great ..the meats I dry I always cook first, reason if your needing this who wants to try to cook ...maybe no power I think it is safer to..it all reconstitutes really nice...I buy the cheese ends from gossners pepper jack($1.50 pd..) grate it dry it , perfect..today I put strawberry Yogurt in a frosting bag squirted it into drops and am drying that the other 3 trays
I bought Black Forest ham ends from the outlet store($1.50 pd) this drys amazing and reconstitutes just like real ham the good stuff, ..I dried frozen corn great ..so ya this is what
I am doing all winter I did my own eggs...amazing there are several of us up here who have
Machines ..they sometimes have flaws, but the guys down there are good to work with...I would recommend you do two things semi freeze some roasts if you were here I would let
You use my commercial meat slicer..I had a pizza restaurant...hence the slicer..slice your
Roasts and I have some great jerky marinades..marinate or use rubs..and get a good dehydrator do lots of jerky...again if you were here you could use my #10 electric canner I
Bought this at an estate sale..or use the church canner and buy the cans fill those with jerky. I have uses Mylar bags but prefer the rodent proof and stackable cans. Second thing
If you buy a harvest right freezer, they are not cheap $4,000. I would cook your meat then
Slice thick to dry...I used to pressure can my meats,,chicken when on sale..also ground beef
And beef chunks this worked well also..I have never done fish.. My dryer has worked fine my
Friends had some problems ..but they fixed it,,,you have to change the oil and not over fill
The trays..with the amount of meat that your doing , I would definitely do pressure canning
Chunks by the quart..or small family pints..good luck let me know if I can help..

Older/wiser?
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Posts: 538

Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by Older/wiser? »

Griz just a thought, my brother-in-law is an avid fisherman he smokes his fish which is amazingly awesome..do you grind your own burger? If so there are jerky recipes, using a jerky gun to make ground jerky strips ..cabelas has some good grinders..I love gadgets
If or when things get harder I like to have the tools to make my job easier..

OCDMOM
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by OCDMOM »

If you could find 40 people who all pay $100. then take turns using it.

kristellamb
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Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by kristellamb »

I have a freeze dryer. I like it for food prepping. But It's very pricey and pretty big. And it's a pain to filter oil. I purchased the flush kit and it helped a lot. Super easy to use and mess free. Here's the link. https://www.freezedryeraccessories.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
if your going to purchase a freeze dryer it's Great to have for preparedness but you will need a flush kit for sure!

brianj
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Posts: 4066
Location: Vineyard, Utah

Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by brianj »

If I could comfortably afford one, I would buy it. But since I'm not in that position, the $2,600 for a small freeze dryer could buy a lot of commercially freeze dried foods.

Juliet
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Posts: 3701

Re: Harvest Right Freeze dryer

Post by Juliet »

light-one wrote:There is a blog post that might save you a couple grand at: http://www.instructables.com/id/Freeze-Dry-At-Home/

Read the comments here, also: http://www.instructables.com/answers/Ho ... t-be-done/

It seems to me that you would have to dry a very large amount of food to justify a $4,000 machine. Although 300 gallon cans at $20 a gallon could pay for itself in a year, not counting the cost of the food and hopefully there isn't any maintenance.
It will pay itself off. Can you imagine how much ice cream will go for during the apocalypse?

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