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Offline HuskerTrev

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Freeze drier
« on: March 29, 2017, 07:53:51 AM »
Not sure if any one else has invested in a  freeze drier or not. Wife and I decided last summer that one would be a good investment after we crunched the numbers on it. Thus far we have been able to freeze dry around 300 pounds of food, many of which are complete meals. We don't throw away leftovers anymore, they go into the freeze drier and get packaged for easy meals on busy weeknights. We can take advantage of sales on perishable items and turn them into long term storage. And to top it off, when comparing costs between commercially and home prepared freeze dried foods, the savings is 75 to 80 percent. 

Does anyone else have any experience with freeze drying?

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« Last Edit: March 29, 2017, 07:56:47 AM by HuskerTrev »
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Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2017, 08:01:25 AM »
I want to but they are so expensave.

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Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2017, 08:54:32 AM »
I know they seem like a big investment right from the onset, but once you break down the numbers, they become so much more reasonable. For example:

The average American family of four throws away $2275 worth of food each year. The freeze drier costs around $2800 (depending on what sale Harvest Right is having) plus shipping ($300). To run a batch in the freeze drier, we use around $1.20 in electricity. We run our drier 4 to 5 times a week.

So if you amortize the freeze drier over the course of 2 years, it costs per month:

Machine: $129.16
Electricity: $36.00
For a total of: $165.16

The average per month of dollars wasted in food: $189.58

If you look at it this way, over the course of two years, the purchase of a freeze drier actually saves you $24.42 each month.

I know a lot of people who spend more than $165 on satellite or cable TV. Eliminate the garbage on the boob tube and your freeze drier is paid for.

And here is the best part of the thing, all those leftovers that get shoved to the back of the fridge, they now become your own homemade Mountain House meals, just way tastier and with less processed crap in them. I usually grab one of the individual serving meals that we put together when I go on a day hike. Both my wife and I will take them to work for lunch on occasion as well. She can attest, when you are rehydrating turkey and noodles with mashed potatoes that where made at Thanksgiving, while others are unwrapping McDonald's burgers, they give you some jealous looks!


Now I understand that a freeze drier is only worth having while the grid is up, but during this time of luxury, we are doing everything we can to make sure that we are as fully prepared as we can be. 
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2017, 11:21:39 AM »
I've been looking. Please share details and photos of how it operates and your successes.


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Offline wyorunner

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2017, 12:50:22 PM »
I'm with TRN. Please share more info.  I have looked at them before, and I buy freeze dried goods monthly, and I am also a freeze dried foods (ThriveLife) consultant.

But, a freeze drier, a garden, and meat animals could be a wonderful thing and could add huge amounts of good food to the pantry.


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Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2017, 01:09:29 PM »
I will document the next batch we run. I have 3 dozen eggs coming tomorrow from a local farmer to turn into breakfast burrito filling. I will photo document that for everyone tomorrow night.

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Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2017, 01:10:53 PM »
Leftovers don't last long in our house. I would have to make stuff special to freeze dry. Once in a while when we do have a few leftovers that start to get old it goes to the animals.

I would use it more for freeze drying fresh vegetables out of my garden. I can a lot now but that only last a couple years. 

How do you package freze dried foods. Just vacuum seal them?

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Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2017, 01:14:53 PM »
Leftovers don't last long in our house. I would have to make stuff special to freeze dry. Once in a while when we do have a few leftovers that start to get old it goes to the animals.

I would use it more for freeze drying fresh vegetables out of my garden. I can a lot now but that only last a couple years. 

How do you package freze dried foods. Just vacuum seal them?

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We usually make four extra servings we were are cooking dinner and reserve them for freeze drying. It only takes a few additional ingredients and minute or two longer to make 4 or 8 servings. To pack them for long term storage, an oxygen absorber is vacuum packed in with the food and then they are sealed in 7 mil mylar bags, the labeled and stored. For items we rotate through like eggs and cheese, we pack them with o2 absorbers in pint jars. Once we open the jars, we re-vacuum seal the jars and keep them in the kitchen. Everything else is stored in our pantry. I will get some pics soon.

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« Last Edit: March 29, 2017, 02:46:01 PM by HuskerTrev »
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Offline Bear9350

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2017, 01:27:18 PM »
I would also be interested for the fresh veggies and fruits.  My wife and I do make extra servings of some items, but just freeze them for short term and plan another meal around them in a couple of weeks.  Works well to have some of those types of meals available on busy evenings.  Our only issue with this is occasionally freezer space.  After picking up the hog and half beef a couple weeks ago there isn't much space left for other stuff.

Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2017, 01:27:56 PM »
Oh yea make a little extra. Thats a good idea.

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Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2017, 02:45:28 PM »
We have always pressure and hot water bath canned, but after getting the freeze drier I don't foresee us doing either until the grid goes down. You don't loose the taste or texture of your food when freeze drying like you do when you can. I had a bowl of chili yesterday that we freeze dried in December and topped it with sour cream and cheddar cheese that we had freeze dried in January. Nicest thing was I could add boiling water to it and let it sit on my tool box while I worked. 15 minutes later lunch was ready. Now imagine in a grid down scenario. How much fuel is it going to take to cook a pot of chili? Think your neighbors will smell it cooking? Now how much energy does it take to boil water. You can actually rehydrate the food with cold water, it just takes longer. Cold chili may sound horrific right now, but when the pinch happens it will be a luxury. I will copy and paste my list of what we have freeze dried so far below:
Blueberries/mango
Ham
Turkey
Ham and Bean soup
Chili, Meatloaf, Taco Filling
Mozzarella Cheese
Cheddar/Mexican Blend Cheese
Mexican Blend Cheese
Granny Smith Apples, Pumpkin
Whole Eggs
Sour Cream
Bananas
Greek Yogurt
Sourdough Bread Starter
Milk
Scrambled eggs
Bacon crumbles
Almond milk
Kale
Lettuce
Ham, Turkey, roast beef lunch slices
Roasted chicken, veggie melody, rice
Pepperoni
Carrot slices and diced
Celery slicers
Okra
Green and red bell peppers
Sweet corn
Peas
Green beans

Not to mention all of the single serve meals we have made with leftovers.





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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2017, 05:13:33 PM »
When I looked I thought the harvestnright freeze driers were closer to $7k. What's the best source for a deal?


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Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #12 on: March 29, 2017, 06:47:41 PM »
We bought ours last fall when they were on sale and paid $2795.00. They are on sale right now:


They now have a larger and a smaller size, but the standard size suits our needs just fine!

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Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2017, 08:16:06 AM »
Are you in Nebraska? Maybe I could trade you some canned goods or some home raised chickens (dressed and frozen) for some freeze dried goods. I'd like to try them. I showed my wife this thread and she is the same way I am. Sticker shock on the price. In case you did t know there is a freeze drying group on Facebook. A lot of information on there.

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Offline wyorunner

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2017, 11:36:02 AM »
Have you made pumpkin pie out of your freeze dried pumpkins? We always have left over pumpkins that end up being fed to animals because we haven't really figured out a safe way to properly can them, well according to our canning books.


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Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #15 on: March 30, 2017, 02:58:28 PM »
We haven't made pie yet but my wife did make a pumpkin custard with some of it. It was literally the same as if she had made it fresh.

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Offline Wilbur

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2017, 04:40:23 PM »
This is really interesting....my wife buys organic dried blueberries that she puts in her cereal when she cant find organic blueberries. They're ridiculously expensive. She asked me the other day about getting a "freeze drying" machine. She was thinking she could buy stuff in bulk in the summer and preserve them. But I was thinking she was referring to a drier like a jerky drier that Cabelas sells. Dang this machine is lots better (but also more) than that.  And I get why, freeze drying definitely seems better. And I get that used appropriately this could pay for itself very quickly (especially if you garden, have fruit etc.). Very cool.   

So when you run a tray of whatever you're drying, afterwards do you just grab them and put them in a canning jar and add the O2 absorber? Do you need to do anything special for the jars or bags for LT storage?

« Last Edit: March 30, 2017, 04:42:56 PM by Wilbur »

Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #17 on: March 30, 2017, 04:58:36 PM »
When we are storing things for long term storage, we always handle the food with gloved hands to prevent contamination, we weigh the food into certain portions (1 serving, 4 servings, ounces etc) vacuum seal the portion in a bag with and o2 absorber and then package it in a heavy mil mylar bag which we then push as much of the air out of and then sealer with an induction sealer. We always write on the outside the contents, the date dried and stored and always how much water to rehydrate the meal with.

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Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #18 on: March 30, 2017, 10:05:58 PM »
Have you made pumpkin pie out of your freeze dried pumpkins? We always have left over pumpkins that end up being fed to animals because we haven't really figured out a safe way to properly can them, well according to our canning books.


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Pumpkin would be hard to can. Because canning uses heat. You would end up with a jar full of cooked pumpkin.

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Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #19 on: March 30, 2017, 11:26:35 PM »
Actually you can't safely can pumpkin. It is so dense that you can't achieve the necessary temperature to insure that all the bacteria are killed off throughout the jar.

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Offline wyorunner

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Freeze drier
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2017, 11:15:44 AM »
Actually you can't safely can pumpkin. It is so dense that you can't achieve the necessary temperature to insure that all the bacteria are killed off throughout the jar.

 

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This is the reason we've never attempted it, even in the pressure canner. Wife wants to but I think the freeze drier will be the way to go.

Have you made pumpkin pie out of your freeze dried pumpkins? We always have left over pumpkins that end up being fed to animals because we haven't really figured out a safe way to properly can them, well according to our canning books.


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Pumpkin would be hard to can. Because canning uses heat. You would end up with a jar full of cooked pumpkin.

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This is it what happens to everything in canning.... which is why i love canning chicken, makes for readily available chicken with the pop of a top!

Offline HuskerTrev

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #21 on: April 01, 2017, 11:06:05 AM »
Just a quick update, I have a potential employee making the trip from the big city out here today, so the likelihood of getting the breakfast burrito mix made up this afternoon is slim. I should have time tomorrow after church to get it going though, so look for a photo update tomorrow evening!
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Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #22 on: April 02, 2017, 02:59:41 PM »
When you store for long term how long should it last?

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Offline wyorunner

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Re: Freeze drier
« Reply #23 on: April 02, 2017, 05:47:08 PM »
When you store for long term how long should it last?

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Basing my info off of other products, upwards of 25 years. Every freeze dried food producer states it will last 20-25 years. Meats typically have a 10 year life. So, You could say 5 years and know your perfectly fine. I have eaten freeze dried foods older than that with no adverse taste or reactions for what it's worth.


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