Freeze Drying Your First 500 lbs of Food - Batch 11 - Pasta, Cooked
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- Опубліковано 18 тра 2022
- Freeze dryer batch #11- 10 lbs of cooked pasta. Started freeze drying this batch May 14th.
Here is a link to the spreadsheet I'm filling out as I complete items: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
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Cost of the what: about $8.60 for 10 lbs (after cooking)
Total batch time: 34 hours 30 minutes
Weight before drying: 10 lbs Weight after drying: 1730 grams (about 3.8 lb)
Power use: 25.55 kWh
Bagged into: 8, one quart & 9, two quart 7 mil Mylar bags with 300cc oxygen absorbers.
This list is about getting started on a 500 lb mixed pantry of freeze dried foods in 100 days.
(This may be a bit optimistic and perhaps it'll only be 400 lbs)
Goal of about 85 lbs per category. (100 lbs per category if we don't do the Meals/Dishes)
1) Meats:
2) Vegetables:
3) Fruits:
4) Dairy:
5) Grain / Starch:
6) Meals / Dishes:
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PackFreshUSA
We have been buying oxygen absorbers and 7 mil Mylar bags from PackFreshUSA since early 2018. During all that time (1000's of bag and oxygen absorbers, and about 6 year before before we added this affiliate link) we have been happy with the products and service we have received from them.
I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. - packfreshusa.com/?rfsn=787757...
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Before buying a freeze dryer, perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; some people have problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
When trying to decide what to freeze dry you can start by asking why.
Start by asking yourself this question. Why are you freeze drying food? Knowing this should help you decide what you should freeze dry first.
I'm freeze drying because:
Just to freeze dry leftovers?
You want to make your own food for camping/backpacking?
For if/when the SHTF?
For a short term emergency?
You have your own garden and want to freeze dry the food?
You love Costco but don't have a family of 6?
You are good at finding the food sales but only have 1 freezer?
When you cook homemade chili just for yourself you make 10 gallons? Because you have 3 full freezers and are worried about power outages?
If I knew then what I know now, I would have freeze dried things in a different order. Or maybe not, because I started freeze drying because we had 3 full freezers, I was thinking of getting another one, and I decided I should buy a walk-in freezer instead. I started looking into walk-ins and realized they were expensive to buy (even used ones) AND expensive to own and operate. Then I found out Harvest Right was making home sized freeze dryers. One of my first thoughts was "I like Mountain House!" I have used their food for backpacking almost 45 years and we even kept some in our travel trailer, for just in case.
Freeze dried food will stay fresh for many years and be ready and waiting when you need it.
We do videos showing how we are using our Harvest Right Freeze Dryer to freeze dry food for long term storage. (We have the medium size machine that we got in August of 2017) We talk about how to load and unload the freeze dryer, how to know if the food is dry, is it better to freeze dry raw food or cooked food, and do a few taste tests. Freeze dried food is also great for prepping or just for camping and snacking! - Навчання та стиль
First 500 lbs data spreadsheet link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ieekdk5aH_2OWLUealeOLurU9_zl03BfFEg_qhAgcaA/edit?usp=sharing
Batch worksheet link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13DCB2hXo9_ZYrhIUicLk2IrEaQGszwbaJTcEH8wJxk4/edit?usp=sharing
Want to support this work? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm
Great video series! Definitely the most precise of the ones I've watched so far in my research prior to purchasing a unit.
Thanks for watching.
I’m a new subscriber and I just wanted to thank you for putting your videos out. They are very helpful!!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I hadn't thought of weighing but will in the future. I had some tomatoes that felt and I was sure were done and when I took them out of the package to use they were definitely spoiled. I will do your trick from now on!
Bummer on the tomato loss.
Close to 4,000 subscribers. Congrats.
Thanks! It just showed up on the analytics.
I really appreciate your videos!
Thanks for watching.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Terrific info! Thank you so very much.
You are so welcome and thanks for watching!
They looked really good. Cheese and pasta...comfort food 🙂
They are good and fast to use. ABC - Already Been Cooked
Thanks for another great video! I'm learning so much, I can't wait for my FD to be delivered in a few weeks
Weeks. 😊 I had to wait less than a week, and I was so impatient I almost drove there to pick it up.
@@SchoolReports Yeah I'm from the UK so I've had to wait almost 3 months :(
@@KC-nb3mm That would make it a bit harder to drive there!
We use a two-pronged wood moisture meter and check many places on each tray before bagging... we always continue drying if it shows ANY moisture above 0.0% . You have inspired us to put dried wt on our bags 😊
Interesting. Someone else had mentioned using that type of moisture meter for their food.
I'm probably a bit neurotic when it comes to water activity levels in the food for storage. I wouldn't be able use a wood moisture meter on my food, due to trust issues. They don't really check for water the same way. They seem to check for moisture levels instead of water activity levels. Plus, it would act differently with each type/texture of food.
Even with the type of meter that I would consider using, ( www.weberscientific.com/water-activity-meters-novasina ) I STILL wouldn't trust it, because it's still only checking a small sample size/location on the tray. By using the extra drying time method, I'm essentially able to test the entire load at once.
@@SchoolReports makes good sense 😎
@@SchoolReportsThank you for the helpful interactions... I just tried weighing our trays at end of cycle,weighed them and put them back in for a little over an hour. 1 came out within a gram but the other three were 3 to 10 grams heavier. Now I am confused - did they reabsorb water from the chamber... or?
@@MM-oc3sb Well now you have me intrigued! I don't know what to think about that. That's a ton of water! (well technically it's grams of water, but you know what I mean)
Out of hundreds of tray weightings, the only time we've had any go up is after they have sit in the still running and cold freeze dryer overnight and then weighed them before we re-warm them. Even then I don't think we've ever had any go up more then a gram or two, and it goes right back down when it's re-warmed. In our experience, the hour plus should have plenty to mitigate any of that. I'd love to recreate that! Any idea what temp the trays got to?
What food was it?
@@MM-oc3sb I forgot to say; Pease keep me updated if you figure out the issue, or any of the variables that might help me recreate it.
My first bash was egg noodles mixed with potato soup two and a half pans worth egg noodles with beef barley soup two and a half pans worth
Thank you for your very informative videos, very helpful. We're patiently waiting for our medium HR to ship. In the meantime I've been gathering info and buying things we feel will be useful. Thank you for the list and links for some of those items you listed below. One item I am interested in is the pan divider you used in this video. I didn't see it listed below and am wondering where I might find them.
The divider is something I designed and 3D printed to fit our pans. Here is the design and print video if you are interested; ua-cam.com/video/3KLblPCTpHk/v-deo.html They were printed with ABS then vapor/acetone smoothed to seal them. It would probably be pretty easy to make dividers using foamcore or cardboard and then covering it with plastic wrap, for those without a printer. The pans are just some pans we bought at a local Dollar store. They were called 8x8" pans, but the bottoms are about 7x7", a perfect fit for our freeze dryer trays.
Another viewer used a laser cutter to make their dividers.
@@SchoolReports Thank you for the link and great idea.
Hey, friend!!! Have you ever tried freeze drying TORTELLINI?!?!
We make everything from scratch and I’m LOVE to make huge batches and freeze dry them either alone or in marinara sauce. Hmm…want to try it?
I have not done _homemade_ tortellini, but we have done a trial of commercially made them. Seemed fine. They would be well worth doing in quantity. (My opinion - I could be wrong. But I'm not:)
We've also tried a test of gnocchi and a test of some pierogies. (Again not homemade) They did well, but need to work on the rehydration method.
Great video. Do you have a sample spreadsheet on how you organized your food before this series? I use both jar and mylar bags. Thank you.
At the end of this video, ua-cam.com/video/mpdV-JejMq0/v-deo.html I show a brief explanation of how we organize and store our bags. (we only use Mylar bags for our storage)
i am def gonna start doing the weigh and restart method from now on
Also do you have an affiliate link to where you get your bags?
No affiliate link, but we have been getting our bags from packfreshusa.com/ for a few years; we get the 7mil bags. It seems like they have been having a hard time keeping the bags in stock lately. (luckily we just got our shipment of 1000 quart bags, 1000 pint bags, and oxygen absorbers) These are the ones we get the most: packfreshusa.com/quart-7x-9x3-7-mil-seal-top-gusset-mylar-bags-1000-wholesale/
Your videos are fantastic! I've really been resisting doing all the weighing and calculating how much water to rehydrate but I'm going to have to give this a go. Have you tried to fd fresh homemade pasta?.. . Would you cook that first before putting in the fd?? Thank you.
Resistance is futile. 😁 We have freeze dried a small amount of fresh homemade pasta. It's hard to freeze dry fresh pasta. . . . because we eat it all! (We extrude spaghetti directly into the pot of boiling water. We make 7" x 7" sheets of pasta for lasagna made in 7 x 7 pans (The same ones we use for prefreezing.))
I would definitely cook it before freeze drying. Slightly under cooked.
What is the item that you're putting in before you close the main door? I know they used to have an insulated pillow that they're not sending any more. I have a FD ordered but I haven't gotten it yet. I was just wondering if that was something that helped and where you got it.
It's a tight fitting disc I cut out of Acrylic. (I used 0.075" thick acrylic (1.9mm thick) I would probably use 1/8" (3mm +) next time) The disc seems to work better than the pad that came with the freeze dryer for lowering heat transfer. I'm basing this on the fact that the front of the door does not get as cold with the plastic disc in place as it did with pad. I love how good of a job it has done and have not experienced any downside yet. And it's better for monitoring the freeze drying items too. Making an Acrylic Disc Front for a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ua-cam.com/video/erH1VDqNi80/v-deo.html
Did you rinse the par cooked noodles to remove any starch to avoid them from sticking together?
Yes I did. I knew I forgot to mention something in the video!
😃Hey everyone, rinse the pasta to help avoid sticking.😃
Did you make the dividers for your cake pans? If not, where could I get them?
The divider is something I designed and 3D printed to fit our pans. ua-cam.com/video/3KLblPCTpHk/v-deo.html They were printed with ABS then vapor/acetone smoothed to seal them. It would probably be pretty easy to make dividers using foamcore or cardboard and then covering it with plastic wrap, for those without a printer. The pans are just some pans we bought at a local Dollar store. They were called 8x8" pans, but the bottoms are about 7x7", a perfect fit for our freeze dryer trays.
Another viewer used a laser cutter to make their dividers.
A question... is there an advantage to cooking the pasta vice just storing uncooked pasta? Still learning. Thank you.
Storing pasta that hasn't been cooked will take more time and heat energy to get it ready to eat than precooked and freeze dried pasta. So, if we don't have power, fire, or time to cook, we will still be able to use it. In fact, you could eat the freeze dried pasta while still dry and it's quite good.
What are you using to divide your 7x7 pand? Thank you
Thanks for watching and commenting!
The dividers are just something I made. The dividers are designed to fit the pans we got at a Dollar Tree store. The pans are a near perfect fit ** for our medium freeze dryer trays. (Turns out they have them online too www.dollartree.com/cooking-concepts-square-cake-pans-75-in/10065 ) The file is on Thingiverse. www.thingiverse.com/thing:3848619 (Some people feel that it's wrong to have food touch plastic - it's low on my personal risk list) I've updated the Thingiverse listing to include a new version of the divider that is slightly narrower at the bottom to fit more of the pans.
** Clarification on the 2 1/2 pans per tray; it only works IF the divider is the thickness I use. (or thicker) The freeze dryer trays actually fits about 1/2" less than 2 1/2 pans; that's one reason I made the dividers that thick, that and to fit the magnets.
For those without a 3D printer, here's my best ideas for getting some 3D printed dividers. Lots of areas have Maker's places with people that would love to do it for you. Or, better yet, some schools have 3D printing labs. Check with a the local charter school that has junior high or high school age students. I taught 3D Design and Printing for 3+ years at a local 6th - 8th grade charter school. We loved it when we could find/were given a real-world project with a real need.
I did make a couple of the dividers without using the 3D printer a short time ago. It turns out it's an easy craft project and my sister says they are working well. (I will be making more non 3D printed ones, they're easy, cheap, and work!)
Making Dividers for My Pre-freeze Pans Without Using a 3D Printer (For Our Medium Freeze Dryer) ua-cam.com/video/XNsbWn29xdE/v-deo.html
Stay tuned. 😁 I'm going to show another way using 1/2 thick cutting board. (For people with more tools and/or skills)
Did you do something to modify your tray scoop? I ordered the one that you had listed, and it's about an inch too large for my medium trays. I'm trying to figure out how to make it fit!
Yikes! I'm sorry, I "adjusted" the scoop I got from Amazon ua-cam.com/video/trs26E42Zho/v-deo.html
It can be done without a 3D printer by heating up the cut off pieces with a heat gun (could be done over a toaster or in an oven) and I was able to easily flatten them. It would then be very easy to sand them to fit the side of the scoop and glue them on.
@@SchoolReports Awesome, thank you so much!! This is similar to what I was thinking, so I'm glad I'm on the right track!
I really appreciate your videos! I would like to know where you got the blue divider for the pans/trays. Thank you!
He "cheats" 😉... he uses a 3D printer to make things 😄I'm always envious!
@@MM-oc3sb 😊
The pans are just some pans we bought at a local Dollar store. We have 30+ of them; some are 10+ years old. The divider is something I designed and 3D printed to fit our pans. They were printed with ABS then vapor/acetone smoothed to seal them. It would probably be pretty easy to make dividers using foamcore or cardboard and then covering it with plastic wrap, for those without a printer.
Another viewer designed their own and used a laser cutter to make some.
And here is the design and print video ua-cam.com/video/3KLblPCTpHk/v-deo.html The printing starts at about 4 :15 ua-cam.com/video/3KLblPCTpHk/v-deo.html
@@SchoolReports Ah ha! I wish I had a 3-D printer for those "cool" items. Perhaps you might consider selling the dividers. I would buy one!
@@janecantrell7155 Sorry, not currently. (mostly time issues)
Are you zeroing out your trays before weighing the pasta? or at least know how much your trays weigh and subtract it from the total weight?
Great question. I do have the tare weights of each tray (with and without a sheet of parchment) listed on my batch worksheet and I subtract them.
Oh. My. Gosh.... I've had my dryer for a few months and knew NONE OF THIS. I have to wonder HOW MUCH FOOD I've stored that may still have water in it. I had NO IDEA this was something we're supposed to do. I'm just not this technical....
Sorry about that. Yours might all be fine.
I don't know about "supposed to do" but I don't know of a better way to test EVERY piece of food for dryness. By weighing it all, I'm essentially testing every piece of food to make sure the water has been removed. I'm probably a bit neurotic when it comes to water activity levels in the food for storage. I won't store any food that even MIGHT have water in it.
You might consider taking a few bags of your freeze dried food, weighing it, re-drying it, weighing it again, to find out if it was 100% dry. We did this when we got some bad bags. Re-dried hundreds of bags. The Freeze Dry Video I Never Wanted to Make ua-cam.com/video/B0KUfoHuCk4/v-deo.html
Even if I load the freeze dryer the same way, with the same amount of the same food, for two consecutive batches, the total time can still be quite a few hours different. All I can do is generalize about total freeze dry time because there are so many variables to the dry times; type of food, water content, sugar content, temperature of the food, ambient temperature, how much food in a batch, more than one kind of food in a batch, food volume, how tight it's packed, thickness on the tray, how well it contacts the tray, how porous the food is, how the food was sliced (this made a huge difference with citrus and pineapple), how clean the vacuum oil is (if it's an oil pump), and I'm sure there are more.
This is my personal guideline:
#1 Never trust the machine to tell you if the food is dry! Do a dry check using a scale to make sure it's dry before bagging and storing.
#2 Don't overload the machine. I would try to keep the medium machine to a maximum of 6 or 7 pounds of Water Weight per batch. (I have done 11 lbs. It took a long time and I won't do that again.
#3 Don't make the food on the trays too thick (height, not viscosity) If you do, you may have to run the batch twice.
#4 When in doubt about dryness, add extra final dry time
#5 Never trust the machine to tell you if the food is dry! Do a dry check using a scale to make SURE it's dry.
#6 NEVER trust the machine to tell you if the food is dry! IT CAN'T KNOW! Do a dry check using a scale to make SURE it's dry before bagging and storing.
I've considered telling people, when asked "how long did that batch take?" that it was 32 hours. And then explain that if you adjust the conditions just right, that every batch COULD be run in 32 hours. Otherwise it's kind of like asking how long does it take to go from point A to point B. The only good answer is: That depends...
@@SchoolReports THANK YOU SO MUCH for this thorough, informative reply. I am watching you with anticipation of learning so much more and I am grateful for your "neurotic" tendencies 😉that help to teach us so very much.
How many pounds of dry pasta did it take to make 10 lbs of cooked pasta?
I think it was a little less than 4 lbs.
Could you tell me where you purchased the thermometers?? I have not be able to find them… Thank You
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Yes, we use the Taylor 6091N. These are the ones we've been using: (Amazon affiliate link) -40 to 120 F 1-Inch Taylor 6091N amzn.to/3NElaja and we also have some of these: Thermometer -40 to 160 F 1-Inch Supco ST01 amzn.to/3pvAfIm
@@SchoolReports Thank you so much. I’m learning a lot from your videos…
Why do you freeze dry the pasta after you cook it? Have you freeze dried raw pasta? Would that work too?
Storing freeze dried pasta that hasn't been cooked would work, but will take more time and heat energy to get it ready to eat than precooked and freeze dried pasta. So, if we don't have power, fire, or time to cook it, we will still be able to use it. In fact, you could eat the freeze dried cooked pasta while still dry and it's quite good.
@@SchoolReports that makes total sense. Thank you!
I bought 4 Dollar Store 8" pans and they ended up being 1/4" too wide. I wish there was a standard part we could order
That's odd. We've been using these pans for many years, and bought them a number of times over the years, and never had a problem with them. I did notice that the pan in the Dollar Tree photo has a different UPC on its label than ours. (we have a couple with the labels still on them) It might be just a old photo they are using in their listing or it could be that they have changed. Ours say Cooking Concepts 639277890894 and the one in the online photo says 639277152794. Maybe it means something maybe not. My sister bought a bunch of the recently (within the year or two)and the last ones we got were only a few months ago and they were still the same. I'll have to go see what our local store has now, and see if they changed ours; I'd be bummed, I like those pans!
@@SchoolReports I found them today... Dollar TREE versus Dollar General where I first went. Bought 13 pans and 4 brownie pans that also fit. Now I'm off to the divider video in the 3D print section... 😊
@@mlydick Good to hear! (I never been to a Dollar General, there are none near me)
Where can we get a copy of the worksheet for an individual batch?
If I did it right, it will be here: Batch worksheet link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13DCB2hXo9_ZYrhIUicLk2IrEaQGszwbaJTcEH8wJxk4/edit?usp=sharing
Hopefully this work; I'm very new at this. Please let me know.
@@SchoolReports It works. Thankyou.
What do you used for a divider?
Thanks for watching and commenting!
The dividers are designed to fit the pans we got at a Dollar Tree store. They were called 8x8" but the bottoms are about 7x7", 2 1/2 pans are a perfect fit ** for our medium freeze dryer trays. (Turns out they have them online too www.dollartree.com/cooking-concepts-square-cake-pans-75-in/10065 ) The different batches of pans that we have bought (over the past 20 years) have had slightly different side slopes, which would require a slight change in the divider shape. That's why some of our pans have an "X" on them. I've updated the Thingiverse listing to include a new version of the divider that is slightly narrower at the bottom to fit more of the pans. (I hope!)
The divider is just something I designed and 3D printed to fit our pans. Here is the design and print video if you are interested; ua-cam.com/video/3KLblPCTpHk/v-deo.html They were printed with ABS then vapor/acetone smoothed to seal them. The file is on Thingiverse. www.thingiverse.com/thing:3848619 (Some people feel that it's wrong to have food touch plastic - it's low on my personal risk list)
For those without a 3D printer, here's my best ideas for getting some 3D printed dividers. Lots of areas have Maker's places with people that would love to do it for you. Or, better yet, some schools have 3D printing labs. Check with a the local charter school that has junior high or high school age students. I taught 3D Design and Printing for 3+ years at a local 6th - 8th grade charter school. We loved it when we could find/were given a real-world project with a real need.
** Clarification on the 2 1/2 pans per tray; it only works IF the divider is the thickness I use. (or thicker) The freeze dryer trays actually fits about 1/2" less than 2 1/2 pans; that's one reason I made the dividers that thick, that and to fit the magnets.
@@SchoolReports a very heart felt thank you for the wealth of information. I bought some pans that were supposed to fit but the bottoms are a bit wide. I need to get spacers made so I can freeze milk, etc without making a huge mess in the freezer because my pans shift and spill. I have a medium sized harvest right about 3 months old and I really wish I had gotten the X-Large. Oh well, better one than none! Love your videos btw
Are you in Oregon?
Oregon? I think I'd prefer to think of our part as Jefferson or Greater Idaho! 😊
@@SchoolReports 🤣 I'm in Yamhill county. My wife found your channel. We just got are harvest right about a month ago. We are on batch 19. Looks like you have freeze drying down. Thanks for the good videos.
@@DT-ww4gv Ooh! Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum!
pasta lasts for years anyway and is easy to cycle through the back of a large store of it. I've been freeze drying for years, but never bothered doing rice or pasta. Seems crazy to waste the time and energy on that to me. I have 200 x 500g packs of pasta and whenever i finish a 50 box I replace it and stick it the new one at the back of the store. :/
Yep, 100 people, 100 ways of storing!
Storing freeze dried pasta that hasn't been cooked would work, but will take more time and heat energy to get it ready to eat than precooked and freeze dried pasta. So, if we don't have power, fire, or time to cook it, we will still be able to use it. In fact, you could eat the freeze dried cooked pasta while still dry and it's quite good.
If I were going to store uncooked pasta, personally I would still dry it (most "dry" foods still have a lot of water) and add oxygen absorbers to prevent oxidation. But that's just me.
"Dry" Rice ua-cam.com/video/lbJRIpulhD0/v-deo.htmlsi=btpmHRxuBPhTOjV-&t=2915
@@SchoolReports Normal dry pasta has a best before of 2-3 years and is actually still fine to eat for 5-10 years (depending on humidity that gets into it). I can always heat things because I have a 3 acre woodland, so I guess heating water never crossed my mind as an issue (we process all our own wood for heating anyway). Still, seems like the limited time and energy would be better used for cooked minced meat, eggs or cheese or something that really requires Fd'ing and contains a good amount of precious nutrition imo. Rice and pasta are just cheap empty calories. Each to their own ofc, but I wouldn't do much of it if I were you. I have 4x25kg rice sacks in my stores. I use about 1 one every 6 months and then replace. It is in perfect condition at 2 years old and we're always eating 2 year old rice /shrug. We always have 2 years' worth of rice and pasta on hand and use the FD for meat, eggs, fish, cheese, milk and fruit exclusively. I'm pretty sure that's a more efficient way to store 2+ years of food. If you might not be able to heat water then I guess you have different issues to consider where you are. I had never even considered that. No heating where I am would be a death sentence on its own during winter.
@@ashmash1934 All great points.
When someones comments about there being no need for this or that, I try to find reasons that might fit _someones_ circumstance. Someone else might find the reasoning fits them. Heating water/food could quickly become hard for us under some conditions and that might be true for some others. That's why I have a mix of raw and precooked foods, leaning very heavily to the precooked. If I were to cut down every tree we have, it would probably only last a few weeks at the most, and I'd be cutting down future food. (Nuts and fruits)
I won't even say that my "justifications" are good for very many people, but usually it will at least make them think about their own circumstances and see something they may not have considered. It also makes me think about my own justification and methods almost every time. I know I could be wrong. BTW, I only have probably only about 20 lbs of freeze dried pasta. People ask if something can be freeze dried, I try to make a video. I try to not judge their food choice. 🤣 (unless it has any mint in it, then yuck!)
Three months ago I had a viewer ask "why would anyone want 500lbs of FREEZE DRIED food?"
To which I answered "Was this a rhetorical question, or are you wanting a list of types/groups of people that might have need for having 500lbs of freeze dried food?"
They responded with "id love a list. But it tastes soo bad? Correct? Or people actualy think its good?"
I gave them a list of 24 possible people, groups of people, or circumstances they might find themselves in where having freeze dried food might be a good thing.
The point is that here was someone who couldn't even conceive of a need for ANY freeze dried food.
@@SchoolReports Yes, you're quite right. Given most people live in cities, pre cooked pasta actually makes a lot of sense for them. I was just so lost in my own circumstances and having been fixated on the situation for my family for so long it seemed like a waste of time and resources. Fuel and water are two things I just don't have to consider because of where I am. I'm lucky enough to be able to grow all the fruit and veg we need here too, so I don't really consider carbs for the FD. I do store a fair amount of rice and pasta because we'll get bored of eating potatoes and winter squash every day, but you're quite right, for people who are prepping to 'bug out' or to last for a few weeks after a tornado or w/e it does make a lot of sense. I forgot the most important rule of prepping being tailored to 'what you are prepping for'. Not everyone is prepping for very long term issues like war/rationing or power outages and societal breakdown like I am. In fact, most people are generally prepping for situations of 3 months or less because my prepping is a big step and very time consuming and expensive. Apologies if my tone sounded judgemental or dismissive, I didn't mean it to come across like that.
LOL at a viewer asking why anyone would prep 500lbs of food. That's such an utterly blind question it makes my comment look tame. How can people be so naive and have so much faith in the fragile system which supports them?! For their sake I hope they don't live to regret having that kind of trust in the system. :/
@@ashmash1934 Yep, funny stuff!
When we started looking at freeze dryers I wasn't thinking about prepping or anything like that. (Not even, I'm ashamed to say, the potential of emergencies) We did consider being able to make our own freeze dried food for camping, because I've used (and loved) Mountain House freeze dried food for almost 50 years.
Our freeze dried stock is mostly used as our pantry. (We've always kept necessary supplies and emergency supplies well stocked - I hate running out of things) For us, the big reason we (Okay, I) wanted a freeze dryer was because we had 3 large freezes full of meals and ingredients and lived in some fear of a power outage or mechanical failure. I started looking for a walk-in freezer, then realized that that wouldn't be an improvement, it would just be more costly to operate and maintain with the same problems. (And completely nuts because even used ones are not cheap) That's when we came upon Harvest Right. Now it's been over 6 1/2 years and we still have 3 freezers a little less full, and 50+ bins of freeze dried food, even though we've been eating (and sharing) our own freeze dried food for 6 years. Now with the freeze dried food, once it's finished and bagged, it can sit there for years without additional energy input and without fear of freezer failure or power outage.
I sometimes assume that people who don't think that having _any_ emergency/just-in-case supplies on hand are people that have never in their lives experienced any shortages, any emergency, any life issues of any kind, and assume, I guess, that nothing could _ever_ go wrong in their world. I live in this world. It doesn't mean that we (people freeze drying/"prepping") live in fear, it means that we work at minimizing risk. I wear a seat belt just in case, I have fire extinguishers just in case, I look both ways before crossing a one way street, just in case. Most responsible people do a lot of things "just in case." (But not the "why would anyone store any food" people!)
How about this comment from a viewer a couple months ago - "Lol, prepping is nothing but a rich white mans hobby" - @jacksaloman9513
Or this one from 10 months ago - "May I ask what you are prepping for? Nobody freeze dries food unless they are expecting to need it from some unknown event" - @girthy10incher23
To which I responded, in part - Let me introduce myself; Hi, I'm _Nobody!_
I also have 4 fire extinguishers in our house and we have no sources of flame. (No gas stove or fireplace)
I don't consider what I do "prepping."
I think people freeze dry for a lot of different reasons, and I think it's a good idea to know why you are doing it if you are.
Knowing this should help you decide what you should freeze dry first.
I'm freeze drying because:
(and I included a short list of why people might want to freeze dry food here)
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