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[Review] Sats4Snacks Freeze Dried Fruit

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Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Ownership (2 Years In)

Good question. I never really thought about it before. ChatGPT gave a pretty good explanation: 
Candy expands in a freeze dryer because of pressure and trapped gases:

- Air + moisture trapped inside: Candy often has microscopic air pockets and dissolved gases.

- Vacuum effect: When the freeze dryer pulls a deep vacuum, the external pressure drops dramatically. Any trapped gases expand (like a balloon in space).

- Moisture turning to vapor: Even small amounts of water or sugar syrups in the candy sublimate/flash into vapor under vacuum, pushing outward from inside.

- Structure softening: Sugar matrices (taffy, Skittles, marshmallows) soften slightly as ice or bound water leaves, so they puff up instead of collapsing.

That’s why candies like Skittles or marshmallows “puff” dramatically in a freeze dryer.

@permanerd's bio

Thanks for reading. I have though about a chamber sealer as well. Perhaps someday.

It has been requested of me to write a review of a Harvest Right freeze dryer (FD) which I purchased July 5, 2023 from a company called Juicerville in Canada (sounds legit, right...right?). It has been over 2 years and we have run dozens of loads of food through it. Although the experience was rocky in the beginning, it has been pretty painless since. At a price of roughly $4,500 CAD it was a difficult purchase decision to make. It didn't take long to regret the choice to purchase. It took an equally short amount of time after that to appreciate it again.

The rocky start was due to an issue with computer module of the system. Let's slow down a bit though, we don't want to get over the tips of our skis. The freeze dryer, the medium home version, came a couple weeks after ordering. It was well packaged on a small pallet. Even though it was a very small pallet it was still a pretty significant piece of equipment. Most people who see it for the first time comment on how big it is. This is just to say make sure you have the space for the machine and the vacuum pump that accompanies it. The unit also needs to be plugged in of course. It probably wouldn't be a great idea to use an extension cord to power it, so make sure the space is close enough to a power receptacle. We chose a spot in our basement suite that was housing an old microwave. We chose the medium dryer because any size larger would require a dedicated 20 amp circuit. This means that the wall socket used to power the machine needs to be the only thing on a circuit with a 20 amp circuit breaker. I wasn't sure how I would get such power to the spot I wanted to utilize so therefor chose the medium size. After the order had been shipped I went about preparing the intended space. After removing the microwave and shelf it was on, an outlet which had the appearance of the 20 amp variety was revealed. After some investigation it turned out that it was a dedicated 20 amp circuit in the exact location I wanted to put the freeze dryer. The microwave wasn't even plugged into it. This is just a long winded way of saying make sure check any possible locations for power possibilities. Although the medium size is good, a large would have been better for our situation. 

Once the machine arrived and the location had been prepped it was time to sort out the installation process. After unpacking I managed to haul it into place. I'm no superhero so it was a bit of a struggle to manhandle it into place. I think anything larger than a medium would most likely require 2 people to move. It may have been a good idea with the medium as well, but I am not very bright. Strong back, weak mind. The next step was to connect the vacuum pump. It is quite simple. I don't believe it even required a wrench. There are two options for pumps: regular and maintenance free. It was a bit of a dilemma trying to decide which one to order. In the end we decided that the maintenance free version wouldn't be worth the extra $1,000 price tag. After over 2 years I think this is was the right decision for us. The maintenance has been very simple for the "regular" pump. The only requirements has to change the oil every 20 cycles. The dryer will remind you when it is time. One of the accessories that came with the freeze dryer was what looked like a rebranded Brita water filter. This is used to filter and clean the oil. There is a valve on the pump which when opened lets out the oil. I drain it directly into the Brita and let it sit overnight. The next day it gets poured back into the pump and Bob's your uncle. Simple enough even an ETH maxi could do it (I jest, kinda). Due to the simplicity, I am happy we went with the normal pump. 

Even though filtering the oil is simple, before the first oil change there was a problem. It was the computer, but you already knew that. The normal cycle of the FD is freeze contents to the temperature of your choosing (the default is -10°F), then the pump kicks on to create a vacuum inside the machine to freeze it further and finally it starts to slowly heat up the trays under the vacuum creating a sublimation process (the real power of a FD). When the FD senses that the moisture is out of the product inside it does an additional optional dry time (I have it set for 3 hours) and when finished it beeps incessantly. This works well unless it doesn't. From the very first load it failed to stop the process and alert of completion. Hoping that Harvest Right would make me whole, Juicerville was worthless and wouldn't even return emails, I reached out and was assigned a ticket number. At first they had me reflash the firmware using a USB thumb drive. When that failed to fix the issue they sent me a stick with the latest firmware. Surprise, that didn't work either. Eventually after more than a 2 weeks of failed attempts at fixing, it was determined that the entire computer module needed to be replaced. Fine, being a nerd this seemed like something I could pull off. I wasn't too upset with the process until they charged me $60 USD to ship the unit to my address. That is about 8 months wages in Canada and soured me on the situation. For a company to ship a faulty unit that costs as much as a decent used car and then not take care of a faulty unit was very frustrating. Plus the machine was offline for nearly 2 months. At that point I was very disappointed in Harvest Right and was wondering how many other issues I would end up having. I am pleased to report that after I swapped out the boards, which was fairly simple, I have had no major issues to report. 

From the time of the replacement we have done probably between 80-100 loads without issue caused by the FD. The only thing that has somewhat worn out is the large gasket that seals the door. Before every load it needs to be pulled out away for the freeze dryer. If  not it doesn't seal during the vacuum process and the FD will error out. It doesn't ruin the payload as you can sort the gasket out and continue the process, but it can be a nuisance. Overall I would say I have been happy with the way it has performed so far. 

What about items we have freeze dried? With a motto of, "If it fits inside, it get freeze dried", we have tried a lot. Most things come out tasting better than when they are fresh. That sounds like hyperbole, but most people have said it is true. My explanation is that when the water is removed it intensifies and condenses the flavor of the food. The water content actually dilutes the taste. This is my professional opinion as a lifelong eater. Most things freeze dry really well, some however do not. Some that are great are fruits (apples, bananas, pineapple, peaches, plums are a few). Some fruits we avoid are citrus (oranges, grapefruit, etc) and some berries (haven't had good luck with blueberries, but may have a solution to that). Meats generally work very well with the exception of really fatty ones. Fat generally doesn't dry well and can go rancid much quicker than other products. Another item that didn't turn out well was chocolate. It basically just melted and made a mess. Hard candy does really well though, if you are into that. We also like to make complete meals to store. Some favorites are chili and butter chicken. Most of the foods when reconstituted have the same texture and flavor as before the process. Taking a piece of freeze dried cooked steak and letting someone taste it is a fun experience. It has great flavor, but has the texture of Styrofoam. Let that same piece sit in a bit of water for a few minutes and it tastes like a freshly prepared piece of meat. Even if something hasn't worked in the FD it has been really fun experimenting with different foods. We haven't managed to do anything tragic, but there have been a few major cleanups required after a cycle has been run. Keep in mind that some food will expand greatly when run through a freeze dryer. Each cycle is generally between 24-42 hours, so it is not an instant process. You can make a lot of food, but it certainly takes time to do it. Also a pro tip is to make sure that you don't overload the trays and keep food pieces smaller than about an 3/4" squared. We also purchased 5 extra trays and liners pretty quickly as they allow the preparation of the next round while one was still still in the FD. Pre-freezing these trays is beneficial as well. It will shorten the overall process inside the machine. The silicone tray liners make for a much easier cleanup and are recommended. 

In summation, if you can afford a freeze dryer it is a very handy tool for food storage and a great way to make healthy snacks. Without having a catastrophic computer failure the learning curve is quite short and you will be making great food almost straight out of the gate. Experimentation is highly recommended and extremely fun. Having extra trays and using silicone mats makes the turnaround and cleaning times quicker. 

Full disclosure: I am certainly not a writer and haven't written anything in a long, long time. I was asked to put together some information and so it is. If you have made it this far I genuinely appreciate it. Please feel free to ask any questions and I would be happy to answer them. If you are interested in trading sats for freeze dried goods please check out my site: https://permanerd.com/.

Permaculture enthusiast. Running sats4snacks.com.