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29 Comments

    1. A cotton sock as suggested by Harvest right seems to trap all the mist coming from mine.
      Never planned on using this in a grid down situation, only as a method of saving money NOW, in food storage, and not paying the freeze dried food stores. I also want to save meats that we have in a deep freeze that approaches the end of the time we want to store it frozen, but cannot consume. Looking forward to freeze drying the garden produce, and our fruit this fall. One of the most expensive things to buy is meats or cheeses, and we are well pleased.

  2. Hugh,
    Your article is definitely the Gold Standard for product reviews by fully describing both the good and the ugly. I especially liked how you differentiated between the two food storage approaches (vault vs. pantry) and clearly showed who will benefit from a food dehydrator. One question, in the event of long-term grid down scenario (EMP, CME, etc.) what do you recommend for a back-up plan if there is no grid power for your dehydrator?
    Thanks,
    SG in Virginia

    1. @SGnVA,
      Most will probably use a combination of storage systems, but I broke them out separately for the description.
      In a grid down, the HR Freeze Dryer is probably not going to get used. It is a power hog and your cost would go up tremendously if you had to run it off of a generator. It would also take a huge solar system to run it. Wind would not give you the uninterrupted power you need. Even a combination of the above listed power systems would stress the normal house.
      I personally think the only reliable alt-power that would make this viable in a long-term grid down would be hydro. That shouldn’t keep you from obtaining one if you truly want it. It is viable right now and can produce a large amount of food.

  3. I enjoyed this article, but really want to know more about cost. You mentioned needing to do maintenance on the pump and recommended keep in the following on hand. But you didn’t mention them in your yearly costs.PR-1 Sight Glass
    PR-311 Cover Seal
    PR-315 Intake Trap O-Ring
    PR-40 Splash Guard & Screw (baffle)
    RT201B NYLOG BLUE Gasket/Thread Sealant.
    How much do you spend per year on these part?

    Also, I’m interested in time. How much time is spent on maintenance?
    How much time is spent on actually running the machine? Prepping the foods, putting them into the machine? Setting the controls? Removing and cleaning for the next batch? Putting the food in the Mason jars and sealing them? How does that compare with canning or freezing? (the time questions can be answered as one lump sum. I broke it down simply to include all the steps) Of course I realize the labor for growing remains the same whether eating fresh or processing.

    1. This is some of the information that will end up in another article in the near future. In the mean time, these costs are pretty insignificant compared to the purchase price of the unit.
      Also, if you are going to have a garden and process food, you will have a considerable amount of time invested in processing it one way or the other (canning, dehydrating, weeding, watering, et cetera).

  4. I mentioned this is my comment yesterday. Is this unit very expensive? Yes, for most average Joes who handle their modest incomes responsibly and who do not abuse consumer credit to feed there instant gratification impulse. Howevet, if obtaining a long-term self sufficient food storage source is a priority, it is certainly doable with some sacrifice. In my case, 2 surplus firearms that I acquired not from need but from love of the sport were sold to provide a substantial down payment, and the companies lay-away program took care of the rest over several months. Look around your home/shop. Do you need that 2nd TV in your bedroom? Or as in my case, is there a real reason to own the Remington 770 in BOTH .308 and 30-06? You get the idea.
    I agree with the statement that this is NOT a kitchen appliance. It’s a big, bulky, loud, and quite frankly ugly piece of machinery. My wife won’t allow it in her beautiful bastion of stainless steel and granite, so it runs in a corner of my shop, next to the welding station and the coffee pot. It is a fine product, and IMO, worth sacrificing to afford, but not worth going into debt for.

  5. Have you tried a dry vacuum pump? I’ve worked in the semi conductor industry for 30 years and we use dry pumps. I don’t know how they would work with something contaminated with food, but maybe you could put a filter between the chamber and the pump. Dry pumps as the name implies don’t use any oil, they have one part that needs to be replaced when it wears out and then a new gasket when you put it back together.
    You can find them on ebay, there are two Edwards dry pumps listed now for $675 used.
    Since the only issues appear to be related to the vacuum pump, I wonder if the company would sell the unit minus the vacuum pump?

  6. Just wondering if you could exhaust the oil mist through a water bath and alleviate the problem? run the exhaust into a quart jar, a 5 gallon bucket, you may need to experiment to get the best results. Maybe not use a water bath, but attach the exhaust hose into a 5 gallon bucket and cover the bucket with a damp cotton towel to remove the oil mist. You might need a couple of layers?

  8. I’ve been plodding along on an article about my solar system for SB, and I’ve done some research into freeze dryers using solar power. The bottom line is you could run the unit on solar power but only about 6 months a year, spring and summer when the days are long and clear. At todays lower prices that’s about a 12k investment in the solar system, but a 10 amp/hr draw is pretty easy to maintain.

  9. Oh, and I watched a YouTube video where the fella was completely draining the pump oil and running it through a filter to extend the oil life, have you tried that?

  10. We have two sets of trays. While one set is in the machine we prepare the next batch and place these trays in our chest freezer to pre-freeze before placing them in the machine. This does several things: by pre-freezing we can freeze/dry liquid items much easier, placing pre-frozen trays in the machine assists the machine in bringing the trays to the needed operating temperature, preparing the new batch while the first batch is processing allows a less frenzied start to the next batch.

    The oil in our machine used to look like the black oil in your picture. We used to drain, back flush and change our oil after each five batches. When we took the pump apart to clean it it was a real mess. Now we filter our oil after each batch and result in clean oil that we re-use. This is less costly and the pump does not get as dirty.

  11. The oily mist from the vacuum pump exhaust could be captured by placing a piece of cheesecloth, worn out towel, etc. loosely over the exhaust of the pump. You don”t want to restrict airflow. Just catch the oily mist. This should be good for several cycles. Once the cloth begins to get soaked, simply dispose of it properly if it can’t be cleaned. Proper disposal is necessary since oily cloths could lead to spontaneous combustion.

    The idea of having two sets of trays so one set can be prepared and frozen while the other set is processing is excellent.

    1. Already tried that one. The mist just blows right through the cloth. I’ve even tried socks loosely placed over the exhaust with the terry cloth side towards the pump. The issue is the sheer volume of air that is pumped in the first 30 seconds. It’s almost like an air compressor. The only way to capture it is to slow the velocity of the air down so that it can settle out. Lots of surface area helps too. The idea of pumping it into a 5 gallon bucket would work as long as there is some sort of loose filler in the bucket as well, but that takes up considerable room. Since a significant amount of sound comes from the exhaust port, it would also act like a sounding board and increase the noise level considerably.

  12. My father-in-law has a Harvest Right machine, and has to tinker with it and maintain it as the article points out. It is hardly a “set it and forget it” type of machine. Which makes me believe that the celebrities like Ron Paul and Glenn Beck pitching the machine on the radio may own the machine, but don’t actually use it. No way Glenn Beck or Ron Paul are doing the maintenance and repairs described in the two articles. My father-in-law? He is retired and has nothing better to do!

  13. I have a cup with a napkin at the exhaust port to prevent the oil problem.

    The vacuum pump is the only weak point. I love it otherwise – though it could use a few tweaks or more sensors for a one button cycle. If there were many people around me I could start a business to do the pump maintenance.

    Even to the point of swapping pumps (how do the Harbor Freight cheap pumps work?).

    But the results with various foods makes it worth it. I have some of those copper grill-toppers to try to deal with the ice that forms by putting them around the chamber – but I have to do the horrid pump maintenance first.

    Another detail is their big version is 220v.

    Apparently Nature’s abhorrence of a vacuum applies even here.

  15. I have been using one for 7 months now and love having the peace of mind to know that whatever happens food will not be a concern. It’s amazing how much food you can do and how fast you accumulate it. I did meats and main dish entrees during the winter and sides and vegetables in the summer. The bakery department at the grocery store saves the big icing buckets for me which gets picked up on a weekly basis. The main thing with the pump is to drain off the water as soon as you finish a batch. You can tell when you’ve gotten the water out by the change in consistency while draining.

  16. I read the original versions of these posts a year ago before I put a FD on layaway. Great stuff and I was thrilled to see you were updating them.

    After reading the two newest posts, I’m unsure if there is a third one to close it out in the wings or if you just decided to leave it with two. If there is a third installment in 2017, I can’t find it. Can you help a guy out with a link?

    1. There isn’t a third post this time – only two. However, we have a new weekly column called Freeze Dried Friday. Feel free to chime in on the comments with any questions or solutions you might have.

    1. @Debbie,

      It really sounds like the check valves on the vacuum cartridge have been damaged. They are not difficult to replace, but you’ll have to open the pump up to see if they are.

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