Freeze Dryer??

KDM

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Anybody in the peanut gallery have one or have any experience with using one? Doing a bit of investigating on the possibility of getting one as a new toy. Thanks!!
 


Maddog

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How big are your looking to get? Or a different way, what are you trying to freeze dry?

I have a bunch of friends who are taxidermists and some have their own freeze dryers.
I can try to get information for you.
[MENTION=314]KDM[/MENTION]
 

snow1

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Does my 3 season porch count? this recent sub zero freeze box we're in I've been flash freezing everything at my house.
 

KDM

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How big are your looking to get? Or a different way, what are you trying to freeze dry?

I have a bunch of friends who are taxidermists and some have their own freeze dryers.
I can try to get information for you.
@KDM

The ones I've looked at are either 110 or 220. I'm looking to get the largest 110 I can. So far I've seen home versions that will do 10-12 lbs of whatever per run. We've used dehydrators for some stuff, but it would be nice to do meats and full meals. Unfortunately it takes 24-36 hours per run. I'm looking for practical experience with one. Youtube will only go so far with information. Thanks Maddog!!
 

Wirehair

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Have a bud that purchased a HarvestRight freeze dryer a while back. Think it set him back about $2500. I believe that it does about 10 lbs or so. He has freeze dried some salmon for us and it actually turned out great. I think that he used a process that involved dry ice before springing for the freezer. The process that he uses takes about 30 hours or so as stated above.
 


BP338

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We got one just before Christmas. A mid-sized Harvest Right. My wife is usually the one that does it (she wants to sell freeze dried candy. It's a whole different experience...) Rule of thumb, the wetter the food is, the longer it takes. Essentially, it freezes then sucks all the moisture out. We did some fruit the other day and it took about a day or so. If you get serious about it, you can pre-freeze what you are drying. This cuts down the time a lot.

I can say that it has been fun experimenting. We did Famous Dave's pickle, just cuz they were in the fridge, and they were awesome! Different, but amazing! I'll be adding those do my jerky and meat sticks on my hunts! We have some pickled Jalapenos coming up soon, those are going to be awesome on just about everything! Salads, sammiches...

Another pro tip, use was paper. The pickles stuck to the trays and the exploded into dust when I tried to pry them off. Same with the fruit.
 

KDM

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Sounds like there is a learning curve BP338. Thanks for the info.
 

LBrandt

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We got one just before Christmas. A mid-sized Harvest Right. My wife is usually the one that does it (she wants to sell freeze dried candy. It's a whole different experience...) Rule of thumb, the wetter the food is, the longer it takes. Essentially, it freezes then sucks all the moisture out. We did some fruit the other day and it took about a day or so. If you get serious about it, you can pre-freeze what you are drying. This cuts down the time a lot.

I can say that it has been fun experimenting. We did Famous Dave's pickle, just cuz they were in the fridge, and they were awesome! Different, but amazing! I'll be adding those do my jerky and meat sticks on my hunts! We have some pickled Jalapenos coming up soon, those are going to be awesome on just about everything! Salads, sammiches...

Another pro tip, use was paper. The pickles stuck to the trays and the exploded into dust when I tried to pry them off. Same with the fruit.
Pickel dust===you might be on to something. LB
 

Maddog

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[MENTION=314]KDM[/MENTION]

Two of my taxi friends use a freeze dryer to do turkey heads for their mounts and also to sell heads to other taxidermists.

Both use the smallest home freeze dryer from Harvest Right.
 

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