Freeze Dryer

Hey everyone,

I have been thinking about getting into making my own freeze dried meals! I was wondering if any of you have any recommendations for a freeze dryer and what you do? I have made my meals for a while now but have bought the items that I wanted freeze dried. I think it would be great to be able to get a freeze dryer so that I would be able to make basically anything that I wanted for a better price. I’m open to all recommendations and tips!

Comments

  • Naomibro
    Naomibro Member Posts: 92

    HI!

    Great idea regarding freeze drying! Although commercial meals are tasty, there is the expense, sodium and other stuff most of us cannot consume. The commercial meals do in a real emergency however!

    We have a Harvest Right freeze dryer. It's pricey! The Harvest right has a web site. Sometimes you can buy reconditioned and "on-sale" driers. There are also pro and con you tubes to watch before.

    We only crank our freeze drier up in winter. Less humid. If ANY moisture gets in your carefully freeze dried meals, it's spoiled.

    You will need to also consider the following expenses:

    1. Special sealable packets (not baggies)
    2. Dehydrating packets per packet
    3. Heat sealer.
    4. Time: yours
    5. Electricity costs
    6. You can get all items at wal mart or target on sale after x mas

    You have to carefully prep all foods and be careful about sanitation. In the long term, it's very worth it; in the short, it's a lotta cash.

    Having a freeze drier is great for a community, or sharing with others, as freeze drying is simple, prepping individual food is time consuming.

  • sashaswashut
    sashaswashut Member Posts: 41

    My husband and I have a Harvest Right- same as the person above my comment. We did quite a bit of research before we purchased. Honestly, we didn’t really find a whole lot of companies that sold home freeze dryers- a lot of them were for commercial use.

    We love ours! They are pricey, and yes you have to purchase the bags + oil which are additional costs along the way…but I feel like in the long run we will save money on not having to buy store freeze dried meals. My husband hunts and we do backpacking trips, so we eat a lot of meals throughout the year. We also love to do fruit and eat them as snacks during the week while at home.

    So far our favorite meals are chicken tortilla soup, chili and teriyaki chicken! So many options, honestly!!

  • AustinHager
    AustinHager Member Posts: 34

    Hey! Not sure about your budget and whether or not you are ready to jump right in, but a somewhat easier place to start is with a dehydrator.

    I started dehydrating meals about a year and a half ago and made 100% of our meals for my thru-hike of the GDT with my partner. You can get a decent dehydrator for around $200 and can also use it to make jerky and dried fruit (unsure about this with a freeze dryer.

    I have food that I made over a year ago and it's still perfectly fine, so the shelf life is great.

    If you want any recipes let me know!

  • quiggleryan
    quiggleryan Member Posts: 45

    Thanks so much man! I’ll have to look into that! Christmas is coming up and maybe I’ll have to get myself a gift haha.

  • quiggleryan
    quiggleryan Member Posts: 45

    Thanks for the rundown! I love that you went into some great detail about the expenses. I think that is always important to look into as well.

  • Naomibro
    Naomibro Member Posts: 92

    PS: because food is really light, only carry dehydrated or freeze- dried grub when i pack. So must cook a lot. Invest in really good quality cooking stuff. It will save you a huge case of “the don’t -s”.