topic anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine? in Kitchen

anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

kittyloo — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 16:33:56 GMT

we got ours a few days ago. yes, the machines are expensive, but your food stays fresh for between 25 and 30 years. no loss of nutrients and doesn't take up the space or have the weight of home canning. several other benefits as well. anyone?

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

On It — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 16:38:20 GMT

@kittyloo I am interested, too. I saw an episode of The Last Alaskans. The wife had a zip lock bag of tomatoes. She mentioned how many pounds of tomatoes were in that one bag. It was a staggering number. It seems like it would work on a large number of garden items.

I hope the learning curve is not too steep.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

kittyloo — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 16:46:10 GMT

@On It first try, we did red peppers, jalepenos, and homeade chili. peppers all came out good. chili after sealing etc. we realized the different density of the foods , all the moisture didn't come out of the chili. we already canned the bulk of our tomatoes. 10 week wait on the machine. delivery driver said he had delivered 30 already on his route alone.

so many things to try. if for any reason you have to pick up and go, everything is as light as a feather and easy to transport.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

millieshops — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 17:23:19 GMT

Interesting. Sounds like a good thing for those who have gardens and families to feed.

I remember well some years we couldn't give away all I didn't want to freeze or can.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

Icegoddess — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 17:28:28 GMT

I have wanted one for years, just can't justify the price.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

kittyloo — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 18:15:02 GMT

@Icegoddess wrote:
I have wanted one for years, just can't justify the price.

prices keep going up. you can buy in bulk, purchase ripe fruit, or one guy bought many chow mein dinners or something. next i'm trying bananas, pineapple, and chopped onions. got chicken on the stove now for shredded chicken, and then doing the broth for my own bullion.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

10sluvr — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 20:01:28 GMT

i'm clueless, is freeze drying the same as dehydrating? i have the dehydrating feature on my countertop oven. curious about this, for the tomatoes especially.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

fthunt — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 20:07:53 GMT

Another clueless here...............

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

Icegoddess — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 20:12:29 GMT

No, it is not the same as simply dehydrating.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

fthunt — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 20:41:37 GMT

@10sluvr WELL SO MUCH FOR ALL THAT INFORMATION .......LOL

SIGNED: still clueless

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

kittyloo — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 21:22:28 GMT

@10sluvr food life of dehydrated food is 6 to 12 months according to Google. Freeze drying shelf life is 25 to 30 years.

also preserves all of the nutrients, and vitamins.

i can freeze dry ice cream sandwiches, and cheesecake bites. woo-hoo.

if you look at backpacking food, its the same thing. upside is its your recipes, and seasoning, it was not processed commercially. you know exactly what is in it.

i can also make my own bullion from broth, freeze dry yougert and sour cream. just found out that today. also eggs. ideas are endless.

i can snack on freeze dried green beans, (ever priced those?) make banana chips. very excited.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

10sluvr — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 23:45:58 GMT

ok, thanks i googled some info, too. we have been buying some "prepper" foods, that have a 25yr shelf life. i need to check into it some more, as i can see a use for both methods.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

kittyloo — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 14:00:12 GMT

@10sluvr my guess is the "prepper" food you have been purchasing is freeze dried. this is what we are making. Have you tasted any of it? this is the up side to making ones own. home cooked by you.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

Sooner — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 14:21:19 GMT

How much are you paying for these? Never heard of it. You would have to be doing a lot of food to make it pay off I'd think. But I assume you aren't doing it to save money because it doesn't sound like something you'd choose to eat.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

kittyloo — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 20:59:50 GMT

@Sooner

@Sooner wrote:
How much are you paying for these? Never heard of it. You would have to be doing a lot of food to make it pay off I'd think. But I assume you aren't doing it to save money because it doesn't sound like something you'd choose to eat.

as far as cost, yes, they are on the high side. i believe only one company is making them right now. Harvest right out of utah. not really to save money, but right now, the USA is on a crazy train. things might be harder to get than one might think. food just keeps going up. we just tried a sample of the seasoned shredded chicken we finished making. poured hot water over it to reconstitute it, let it sit for about 15 minutes. i was shocked. i mean really shocked. if you didn't tell me, i would never have known it was not fresh off the stove. the list is long, of the things i want to try. probably next up is sliced bananas, pineapple, and apples. i can make my own bullion. freeze dried sour cream, yogert, and milk. waiting to try freeze dried ice cream sandwiches!!!!

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

Icegoddess — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 21:32:31 GMT

Sorry, I don't know the exact process the freeze drying takes, so I didn't explain more. I just know it is a different process and you can freeze dry a lot more things than what you can dehydrate. You can freeze dry soups, chili mac seems to be popular with the emergency meal folks.

If it were just me, I might consider it. But unless I can get my husband on board it's not going to happen here . I know he has an interest in it too, but not enough to spend a few thousand on even the smallest machine. I'm also not that much of a cook, so there aren't that many home cooked things I could freeze dry.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

vabreeze — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 00:00:08 GMT

A freeze dryer wouldn't be a practical investment for me as I am not on a homestead nor do I have any opportunities to acquire meats, fruits and veggies in large quantities at a steal of a deal. I have purchased, however, quite a supply of freeze-dried pantry containered foods from a company called Thrive which is located in Utah. The 25 year shelf life applies to unopened containers.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

depglass — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:54:28 GMT

We did this once years ago, just a novelty for us. Now my interest is piqued again with this thread . . . where is that machine? Its the one with all the round trays, so I guess that is for dehydrating.

Re: anyone taken the plunge into a home freeze drying machine?

HangingTen — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 03:16:21 GMT

I watch a YouTube channel and the gal uses hers quite often. Today she did shredded squash and cucumbers. It's a little expensive for one person