And therein lies the cons to buying a freeze dryer. It takes time to make them cost effective. Depending on humidity in your area, a single run can take up to two days to complete.

Pieces of food taken from the drying trays are not always uniformly dry. To condition, place cooled dried fruit loosely in large plastic or glass containers, about two-thirds full.

It’s always best to buy directly from the manufacturer, and many companies list their products online to view, although not all list prices online.

Commercial freeze dryers are much easier to find than industrial or laboratory freeze dryers as they’re made for the service industry and some manufacturing sectors.

Granted, most of that time is the freeze dryer doing all the work, but the process is not without effort. Once the food is ready it must be put into appropriate containers with oxygen absorbers and sealed properly so they can last.

4) I made a plastic shield to protect the main circuit board of the FDer. it simply slides into place and protects the top and both sides of the board from condensation.

1) I installed a 3/4" wide high density closed cell foam in the gap between the front of the chamber and the back of the front panel - just what Harvest Right suggested except all the way around (the first picture shows the gap). Use your fingers to push it into place. It needs to be tight against the inside panel. I then installed a vapor barrier around the entire FDer chamber. I used 7mil plastic and clear packing tape.

Hey there, fellow self-reliant folks! If you're all about preparedness and want to take your food preservation game to the next level, you've probably considered getting yourself a freeze dryer. But let's be honest – freeze dryers aren't exactly known for being wallet-friendly.

You can determine when the product is dry by feel or by calculation of the amount of water remaining in the product.

Over night the FDer warmed up and the next morning we had a massive puddle under it - running off the counter onto the floor. I cleaned up the mess, but the next day the puddle was even bigger. On the 3rd day it was back again just as large even though I left a large towel under the FDer.

To protect packaged foods and organic compounds against spoiling, mold growth, color change, and loss of nutrition, use oxygen absorbers to get the residual oxygen Shop Now inside the packaging to below 0.

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Obviously things like ice cream and marshmallows you would want to let the freeze cycle run longer. When I'm ready to start the drying cycle, I open the door, remove the insulator, and check the temperature of the food on the trays with an infrared thermometer. As long as it's below -10F I start the dry cycle. A side note for TonyC, have you ever thought about attaching a mirror to each side of the tray rack to reflect the radiant heat back in to the trays? I've looked at some mirror finish stainless on ebay, and it looks like you could do it for about $40. Not sure if it's worth a try or not. I would think it would let you get more water out in a cycle because the radiant heat wouldn't be warming the ice on the chamber walls. Just a thought.... Edited December 16, 2015 by Pipsqueak duplicate post (log)

Canning salsa is a great way to use your tomatoes. Learn how to correctly and safely can salsa with this approved recipe.