Donna_in_OK
Veteran Member
Do any of you have a Harvest Right freeze dryer?
If so, what types of things do you freeze dry?
If so, what types of things do you freeze dry?
Just got ours a bit ago.Do any of you have a Harvest Right freeze dryer?
If so, what types of things do you freeze dry?
It's the oil in those products.We freeze dried strawberries, pineapple, apples, peaches, cherries, cooked steak, ham, breakfast omelets, onions, potatoes. Almost anything. Warning we had no luck at all with salad dressing/mayonnaise anything.
We purchased the Medium. Figured that would be more than enough for this household. Saying that, we are also thinking about a cottage industry possibly with it.I have looked at the Harvest Right freeze dryers. I see they have 3 different size units. What size did you purchase?
I was going to start a thread on this!
We've had ours going for a month or so. So far off the top of my head we've done eggs, mashed potatoes, venison steaks (A+), shredded cheddar, asparagus, tomato paste, clementines, garlic, and onions.
How are you storing your dried food? We've been vacuum sealing in canning jars but have been having a hard time getting jars to seal and stay sealed. We've tried used lids, new lids, and Tattlers. Also tried heating the lids with a heat gun.
I believe the issue with the salad dressings and mayonnaise is the oil as that doesn't seem to FD. Chocolate is another from what we have heard.We freeze dried strawberries, pineapple, apples, peaches, cherries, cooked steak, ham, breakfast omelets, onions, potatoes. Almost anything. Warning we had no luck at all with salad dressing/mayonnaise anything.
We have done the ham and the mock tenders in the bags that they included. Everything else we have done in mainly half gallon mason jars, and have a few quarts. As far as sealing our jars, we have the wide mouth jar attachment for our food saver, but actually use a brake bleeder (search for youtube videos on this), to seal the jars. They have been sealed real good, and we haven't had any fail. We got to 20lbs on the brake bleeder to duplicate what the food saver does. Our food saver doesn't suck much anymore, and the replacement doesn't have the correct hole for the hose for the jar sealer.
How did the asparagus go? I want to do some onions and garlic. Was the tomato paste good and did you powder it?
We have the large unit. I highly recommend getting the oil-free vacuum pump.I believe the issue with the salad dressings and mayonnaise is the oil as that doesn't seem to FD. Chocolate is another from what we have heard.
Jackpine - Be sure to buy a new brake bleeder. Hubby does that for me, as if I do that type of things with my hand, I will get trigger thumb. Had it a couple times, and it takes me about 18 months to get back to normal, so I try to not do things I KNOW will trigger it.
Kathy -My mother has trigger finger ... but it is her middle finger and not her thumb. My grandfather, her father, had it as well. So did his father, my mom's grandfather. A couple other people in the family from that line tend to get it as well. Makes me think it is a hereditary thing. All I know is that Mom says it hurts and that I don't want it.
I listened to a presentation day before yesterday in which the guy made an interesting comment about freeze-drying pasta. He pointed out that things such as pasta, rice, beans - what have you - will rehydrate much faster after having been FD than cooking the same from scratch and only require boiling water poured in. I hadn't thought about that. Also, the mylar pouches can be cut in half and used as bowls in a pinch.As a general rule, we avoid things that store well enough on the shelf, pasta easily available can goods and such.
I listened to a presentation day before yesterday in which the guy made an interesting comment about freeze-drying pasta. He pointed out that things such as pasta, rice, beans - what have you - will rehydrate much faster after having been FD than cooking the same from scratch and only require boiling water poured in. I hadn't thought about that. Also, the mylar pouches can be cut in half and used as bowls in a pinch.
After considering it for a bit, I concluded that it made sense in a couple of specific cases: 1. Where your fuel supply is precious or difficult to replace, and 2. If you're on the move and don't want to take as long to shut down and eat or otherwise expose your site by cooking smells which would give away your location.
I was all hung up on whether or not said pasta, etc. should first be cooked before FD - silly me, eh! Of course it should.
Am I missing something? Are there other good reasons to FD things which we would normally store as shelf staples?
I think you'd need to vacuum pack (or refrigerate/ freeze) meats for long term.We have the small size FD'er, and I run milk, both store and raw, veggies, including onions, garlic, potato's, and any canned veggies that are at their expiration date. I've also done left overs from dinners, and I intentionally make double batches of some things so I can FD them. Eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, regular cheese, fruit, bone broth into powder to drink one cup at a time, ice cream, grilled chicken, and chinese food. Some things do not store well for long term. I've found that meat products start to go rancid within about 6 months. High sugar, and high fat foods do not really do very well.
Ive put some in the freezer and it stays ok, but it can pick up moisture in there too. Its just a sad fact that meats with fat still on them dont last very long, even if you trim it really well, or in the case of hamburger, rinse it with hot water to get the grease off, it will go rancid.I think you'd need to vacuum pack (or refrigerate/ freeze) meats for long term.
Summerthyme
You can do tuna salad but instead of Mayo use cream cheeseI believe the issue with the salad dressings and mayonnaise is the oil as that doesn't seem to FD. Chocolate is another from what we have heard.
Wouldn't a regular food dehydrator work just as well for pasta and rice?I listened to a presentation day before yesterday in which the guy made an interesting comment about freeze-drying pasta. He pointed out that things such as pasta, rice, beans - what have you - will rehydrate much faster after having been FD than cooking the same from scratch and only require boiling water poured in. I hadn't thought about that. Also, the mylar pouches can be cut in half and used as bowls in a pinch.
After considering it for a bit, I concluded that it made sense in a couple of specific cases: 1. Where your fuel supply is precious or difficult to replace, and 2. If you're on the move and don't want to take as long to shut down and eat or otherwise expose your site by cooking smells which would give away your location.
I was all hung up on whether or not said pasta, etc. should first be cooked before FD - silly me, eh! Of course it should.
Am I missing something? Are there other good reasons to FD things which we would normally store as shelf staples?
No reason it wouldn't. I think that's a really good question and am glad you brought it up.Wouldn't a regular food dehydrator work just as well for pasta and rice?
You can do tuna salad but instead of Mayo use cream cheese
I like my FD, but I really don't use it as much as I thought I would. Guess I'm just old-school!!
Just out of the FD, it tastes great. I've only had my FD for a few months, so I don't know how long FD cream cheese will last.How does the cream cheese do? I would love to do some and powder, but was wondering how the fat would work in that. I suppose no different than other cheeses?
Jackpine - Be sure to buy a new brake bleeder. Hubby does that for me, as if I do that type of things with my hand, I will get trigger thumb. Had it a couple times, and it takes me about 18 months to get back to normal, so I try to not do things I KNOW will trigger it.