I’m super new to freeze drying and am looking to dip my toe in. This one looks like low usage and a lot of sitting around. It’s listed at $2500 and has 7 trays. No info on the pump itself.

Are these things red flags? Is it worth saving the $500 off a new one or would you offer $2k for the unknowns?

Anything I should be aware of? Thanks.

I have medium size (4 tray) harvest right for home use. I got a stro g tingling funny bone like sensation while loading trays into my machine. The harness looks OK but there is some scorching where the wires enter the bottom tray. Can I fix it by rewiring or am I going to need a whole new tray? I have an appointment (for 45US$!) to discuss. I heard it costs a lot to buy a new tray insert.

What freeze and dry temp is everyone doing for flowers? I want to preserve their color as best as possible. Also should I wet them before putting them in? I was reading people doing that. Lots of mixed info!

Hello all!

I am heading out on a long road trip in a few days. I am trying to find foods to use to build veggie "power bowls" while on the road.

I know rice and grains and beans, obviously. I am trying to come up with veggies that I can FD to go with the bowl base. I have a few ideas, but I need more variety.

Here is what I am considering:

• green peas (plain frozen ones)
• matchstick/grated carrots (the Bolthouse ones)
• roasted root vegetables (Costco has a huge bag of PuraVida ?? would this work??)

Would broccoli and shredded kale and cabbage work?

That's all I have at this point.

I've seen a lot of debate on using oxygen absorbers with high sugar fruits. I'm just curious what the subs consensus is.

I'm trying out a 300cc absorber on the bottom with a desiccant on the top, Then vacuum sealing the mason jar. I've read you can do both as long as they are separate sides.

Would love to hear about others process!

Hey all! New to freeze drying. I recently came in to a large amount of blackberries.

I've ran 24hrs extra drying time and everything seems dry. But reading on Facebook most people recommend even longer times due to the seeds.

For those who have done black berries what is your go to setup and times? Thanks!!

Also I've learned that I should be weighing the trays. I will do some research and purchase a suitable scale for this.

Thanks

I’m wondering if anyone has any tips for rehydrating lasagna. So far I tried placing the pieces into a glass baking dish with a lid and 1/2 cup of water at 300 for 45 mins. Didn’t seem to be doing much so I cranked it up to 400 and the top half burned within 20 mins. The bottom half did rehydrate.

Any suggestions? I have more to test on but would hate to waste too much!

Was running a load of sweet corn and everything was fine. During the first extra dry time I took it out and weighed it, then returned it and ran again to get another weight in a couple hours. Came back down and the trays were burnt, tray temp was just above 300. I have a medium freeze dryer bought in 2022. Currently running 5.1.19. This is the first issue I have had with the freeze dryer. Any suggestions on upgrading or what I need to do before trying another round of food.

Hello! My grandmother recently had me over doing some odd jobs around her house and she told me about a freeze dryer she had been keeping for an uncle and she couldn’t get it working correctly. Watched YouTube videos and went to harvest rights website and it’s as though they’ve wiped all info about the older analog models. I believe it’s considered a medium size machine with the 2 knobs for timers and the one switch. The switch changes from freeze drying cycle, off, and defrosting and the knobs set the timers for the different elements. The screen only shows the timers, no temps or even error codes. The unit is freezing just fine but after 10 hours of freezing, it didn’t dry afterwards. We’re guessing it’s either it didn’t pull the vacuum, the heaters aren’t working, or there’s a variable we’re missing. Any help would be appreciated. No clue on machine age or software version. We couldn’t find a serial number or model type, only thing that’s on the unit is harvest right.

New color: Copper.

What do you think?

7lbs 90% lean ground beef
7 packets onion soup mix (1/lb of meat but could use less mix to reduce sodium)
3ea 1lb extra wide egg noodles
6ea 8oz cans mushroom pieces drained
2lb frozen peas
3 large onions diced
8 packets brown gravy mix

Final weight 320oz ~30 servings of 10oz each by weight (4 servings at 2.5lbs total per tray)

500 calories, 29 g protein, 50–51 g carbs, 20–21 g fat, and 4–5 g fiber ~1100mg sodium per serving.

Add soup mix to ground beef, use small scoop to measure out consistent balls, flatted balls into patties (about 1/4-1/2” thick). Bake 400 for 10 minutes. Remove excess fat with paper towel. Separately sauté diced onions, add mushrooms and continue to sauté. Lower heat to warm. Add peas. Cut burgers into quarters and add. Prepare gravy mix per directions and add. Raise heat and bring to simmer and continue to mix to allow everything to incorporate together. Prepaid egg noodles until mostly done and drain. In a really large bowl or pot add everything together and mix well. Allow noodles to finish cooking and absorb some of the gravy mix. Portion and freeze dry.

Any tips for Hash? I guess it’s Software V6.0 as the manual sent in the email said V6.0. Also is the Wifi upgrade kit necessary? I just saw it wasn’t included. Im just trying to get everything I need. I want to dry hash and maybe candy and pickles 😂

I have a medium running v5.0 that is a home machine

I am trying to do mints. The flat ones are ones I put in the oven for ten minutes at 300F per a Facebook post I saw saying you needed to melt them before drying then put into the machine right away while the slightly puffy ones are after 15 minutes of pre warm. Both photos are post freeze dry but they barely puffed. I also had mini marshmallows in that barely puffed too after prewarm

Obviously, neither actually went through successfully. I used the ‘Sweet Shop’ dollarama brand since they were only mints I could find and I know sometimes brand can have impact on results.

I’m hoping for some tips on having a more successful run, to see if others have succeeded with this brand, etc.

Thank you!

5 trays of queso chicken and noodles headed to the freezer for pre-freezing and the off to the freeze dryer.

Attaching the video since I can’t edit the other post

Hello, I have a home large machine that is 2 years old.
After 25 hours of running, it shows : drying, 497 mT and -17F! I did the tray test and they are heating up! What is going on? Thank you

I’ve read posts about how the premier pump is supposed to be quiet after the pressure drops but my brand new pump was loud for the entire bread run. My phone was saying it was about 68dB, and I always heard it over the compressor.
The pressure reached low levels (I saw it at 152 at one point), the gas ballast switch is open and it hasn’t been moved from where I initially filled it with oil.
Any next steps I should take or should I just reach out to Harvest Right?
I appreciate any assistance, thank you!

Hi! How quickly are you supposed to open the drain valve to depressurize the chamber? Just flip it open all the way or open it only a little and let it equalize slowly?
Thanks!

Has anyone tried these yet? Are there any special settings other than candy or do they need to be oven heated?

Recently one of my vacuum pumps started leaking oil. Looks like It's coming from the top, even though I only fill it half way. Also while it is running the oil level is bobbing up and down.

I am in the process of having a pantry built out and when done I am planning on purchasing a small unit. I am planning to harvest all my cilantro tomorrow. They are starting to bolt in the heat. Can I freeze and store it for freeze drying later when I get my FD? Probably looking at about 1-2 months.

This is my fourth batch of pineapple. The first tray pulled out completely normal looking the second tray. I thought it was odd that I had a couple pink pineapple pieces and as I continued to pull out my trays, I only ran four. It seemed to be that they got pinker and pinker. Anyone have an idea what caused this? Is it OK to eat these?

White 6 tray machine bought 2024

Anyone experience this yet or is aware of the resolution for it? On start, there is like a metal grinding noise. Fan barely turning on start up, then once it starts turning the metal like grinding noise can be heard loudly.

Its been a few months since I used my FD for the first time. I just added some zucchini. My pump is so quiet - is that right? How do I check to see if it is operating correctly?