Posted: 7/31/2016 3:47:15 PM EDT
| OK, educate me on buying a freeze drying machine. Which one is the best buy for your buck. Or is the expense up front not worth he investment, and just buy the stuff pre packaged and forget the labor. |
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http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/676522_bought_a_freeze_dry_machine_today.html
Have you read this already? |
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If I can just keep them from eating the stuff as fast as I make it. Quality long term is my goal. I'm surprised that no one has bought these and rented them out to guys short term. they are heavy, noisy and require a learning curve to use. it doesn't lend itself well to being a rental. |
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Looks like they are $600.00. off on the machine that I want. It brings the price to $3200 and some change. The wife loves dried apples, I guess the price break down would be $4,00 per chip when it's all said and done. I guess I'm at a loss here! For dried apples, why not just an easy to use dehydrator with a crank peeler/corer/slicer added to process the apples? We've done it that way for years with perfect results and low cost. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on them before dehydrating for a little extra taste. 
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Quoted:
I guess I'm at a loss here! For dried apples, why not just an easy to use dehydrator with a crank peeler/corer/slicer added to process the apples? We've done it that way for years with perfect results and low cost. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on them before dehydrating for a little extra taste.
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Quoted:
Looks like they are $600.00. off on the machine that I want. It brings the price to $3200 and some change. The wife loves dried apples, I guess the price break down would be $4,00 per chip when it's all said and done. I guess I'm at a loss here! For dried apples, why not just an easy to use dehydrator with a crank peeler/corer/slicer added to process the apples? We've done it that way for years with perfect results and low cost. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on them before dehydrating for a little extra taste.
this is nothing like a dehydrator. these will last 30+ years and lose zero nutritional value. try doing meats and vegetables you want to use in regular meals that way. 90% of stuff freeze dried returns to it's original state after rehydration. |
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My point was that the OP stated his interest was due to his wife's desire for dried apples.
I am well aware of the difference between freeze dried and dehydrated, as I've used both for over 40 years. I was offering a cheap alternative, if all that was desired was dried apples. No big explanation or lecture on the difference was needed beyond that or desired! 
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I also have one.
I think where it really shines is freeze drying meats. My family are pretty picky eaters. They (we) hate TVP, and have been looking at real meats for our food storage. Commercial freeze dried is awesome, but expensive. Frozen has a limited shelf life, and is power dependent. Home pressure canned is OK, but the ground beef takes on a peculiar taste, at least to me. Home dehydrated never seems to rehydrate back to normal. The Harvest Right does meats wonderfully well. And since we go in with another family on a steer, it's relatively cheap. I am still learning on the other stuff. I am paranoid about under-drying, so I double the cycle times. I am sure I am wasting power, but I want to be certain the food is DRY. And of course, the kids go bat$hit-crazy for freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches, as well as apples, strawberries, etc. from the garden. I have spent more money on less useful things. |
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Quoted:
I also have one. I think where it really shines is freeze drying meats. My family are pretty picky eaters. They (we) hate TVP, and have been looking at real meats for our food storage. Commercial freeze dried is awesome, but expensive. Frozen has a limited shelf life, and is power dependent. Home pressure canned is OK, but the ground beef takes on a peculiar taste, at least to me. Home dehydrated never seems to rehydrate back to normal. The Harvest Right does meats wonderfully well. And since we go in with another family on a steer, it's relatively cheap. I am still learning on the other stuff. I am paranoid about under-drying, so I double the cycle times. I am sure I am wasting power, but I want to be certain the food is DRY. And of course, the kids go bat$hit-crazy for freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches, as well as apples, strawberries, etc. from the garden. I have spent more money on less useful things. What is the consistency of the meat after rehydration? Is it normal or squishy? I've seen videos where people freeze dry raw steaks and they seemingly rehydrate into normal looking raw meat. How does the meat cook? If I rehydrate a steak for example can I throw it on the grill? |
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Quoted:
What is the consistency of the meat after rehydration? Is it normal or squishy? I've seen videos where people freeze dry raw steaks and they seemingly rehydrate into normal looking raw meat. How does the meat cook? If I rehydrate a steak for example can I throw it on the grill? Quoted:
Quoted:
I also have one. I think where it really shines is freeze drying meats. My family are pretty picky eaters. They (we) hate TVP, and have been looking at real meats for our food storage. Commercial freeze dried is awesome, but expensive. Frozen has a limited shelf life, and is power dependent. Home pressure canned is OK, but the ground beef takes on a peculiar taste, at least to me. Home dehydrated never seems to rehydrate back to normal. The Harvest Right does meats wonderfully well. And since we go in with another family on a steer, it's relatively cheap. I am still learning on the other stuff. I am paranoid about under-drying, so I double the cycle times. I am sure I am wasting power, but I want to be certain the food is DRY. And of course, the kids go bat$hit-crazy for freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches, as well as apples, strawberries, etc. from the garden. I have spent more money on less useful things. What is the consistency of the meat after rehydration? Is it normal or squishy? I've seen videos where people freeze dry raw steaks and they seemingly rehydrate into normal looking raw meat. How does the meat cook? If I rehydrate a steak for example can I throw it on the grill? I cook mine first... |
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I have done raw cube steak and browned hamburger, and turkey breast. They came out just fine. Consistency like fresh. The cube steak went on the grill just fine...for cube steak!
If you are going to FD steak, you have to do lean steak, and I'd try to get them cut fairly thin, maybe 1/3". Again, I am super paranoid about wanting it completely dry. The hamburger in particular is awesome. We use it in Sloppy Joes, spaghetti sauce, tacos, etc. Even my picky kids can't tell the difference between the FD stuff and freshly browned in those dishes. I have discovered that while the ground beef reconstitutes really fast (<5 min.) in a skillet with boiling water, if I add the taco seasoning to the water before I put the FD burger in to rehydrate, the FD burger stays a little crunchy. I don't know why. Heck, Harvest Right says you can do chunks of lasagna. I haven't gotten that bold yet! |