nice, one of my nieces has a FD but only uses it for "candy" and a local store/shop. I had thought about getting one, not sure I would use it enough to justify the purchase price. Still want one though LOL
We have an old one, not even sure of the brand, but we use it constantly, from Jerky to Fruit, it handles it all with ease! I LOVE my freeze dried fruits, and we have perfected the process, so I can make my little food packs to take along with me when I go flying or hunting/fishing, or just to snack on. They make excellent road trip snacks too!
I'd love one.....but a few thousand $$, for a WANT (instead of a NEED) isn't in the budget, these days!
I bought mine in 2020 and had to wait till Aug for delivery of two , They closed the border and there my boxes sat till 2022 your Thanksgiving , I was invited to share a meal with a Friend and picked up one , the other came in Jan 2023. Been at it since .. Need to lighten the amount of freezers working this summer while I can harvest solar, and then in winter im not charging batteries over the gray days. Sloth
We got a medium HR last fall. HR had a promotion with $5-600 off and our local Tractor Supply offered a 15% military discount on Veterans Day so it was about a third off. We had talked about getting one for several years so it was a no brainer. My wife has been afraid of canning for years; not confident of getting it right and then contracting botulism. Also not confident of storage duration and how to know it is too old. Zero risk of botulism with FD and with a 7-10 year shelf life for mylar bags, the storage concern was mitigated also. We like it a lot. Finishing up 6 doz eggs a friend gave us tonight. Will bag and seal tomorrow and they’ll be good for years. There are several brands out there now. Each seems to have its own pros and cons. The Cube is expensive but uses an oil free pump which is good.
You can get an oil free Vac pump for the HR also. We've had one for several years. Got tired of straining the oil for every load and having to clean out the pump.
Yes, you can. I should have mentioned that, thanks for noting it. The oil free pumps are rather expensive. A HR with the oil free pump option is in the price ballpark of the Cube. HR now sells their units with their “premier” model pump standard. We have that and it can go a couple dozen loads before needing to do anything with the oil.
We just got a HR.. Looking for any good ideas of what to freeze dry - not for preps, got that covered. More for two week camping/hiking/canoe trips, meals or ingredients that are better than Mountain House or Peak, or things those companies don't make.
I ended up getting one last year, for the first 3 months it ran almost non-stop. Short list of FD items Veggies - like sweet corn, green beans, asparagus, etc. Makes for a great snack. For corn, I just get a bag of frozen sweet corn from the store, load up the trays and run. Fresh veggies need to be blanched. In addition to my canned tomato sauce I FD'd 2 batches (Medium Harvest right, 5 trays each tray holds 4 cups of liquid, but I keep it to 3.5 max) to give us some tomato powder. Also made zucchini 'flower" by FD zucchini and blending it up. FD my sweet and spicy peppers (separately), onions, celery, etc. Fruits - My wife's favorite (and I can't keep them in the house) is pineapple. I get the 'wedges' from Sams club. Basically pinapple that's been cored, peeled and sliced into wedges. Slice the wedges into about 1/8" thick slices, layer on the trays and go to town. Be careful with fruits, some "pre-frozen" and "pre-cut" from the store don't FD well. We tried pre-cut/frozen mangos - they never finished and were chewy. Fresh mangos came out perfect! Citrus - slice lemons and limes and FD, peel and all, then put in a blender/food processor and make a power. Meat (my preference is to FD only cooked meat, but you can FD raw). Ground beef - plain and taco seasoned Sausage patties - pre-cooked from walmart, can fit the entire bag in one batch. Eggs - raw and cooked Raw - about 18 eggs per tray - crack into a bowl and blend well, then transfer to FD. Makes an egg powder. Mix with equal parts water to re-hydrate for adding to mixes or making scrambled eggs or an omelet . Cooked - I make an 'egg casserole' a few time a month and FD part of it. Basically cooked meat (ground beef and/or sausage), seasoning, onion, bell pepper and 2 dozen eggs. Baked until set then cut into bite sized pieces and FD. Can be eaten dry or re-hydrate with hot water. Gotta be careful if you add cheese as the cheese takes a long time to rehydrate compared to eggs/meat. Speaking of cheese - yes cheese. Cheddar, swiss, muenster, gouda. I'll get a package of presliced cheese (like a deli platter) for crackers from sams or walmart. Make sure to put paper towels down below and above the cheese to absorb the oil. This will make a "cheese-it" style cracker - another family favorite!. I've done lots more, this is all I can think of off the top of my head. I have the Harvest Right medium FD with the wifi dongle and latest firmware. Wifi is really more of a novelty, but I do like looking up the settings in the app and hitting "start" without having to fiddle with the settings.
