Want to support the channel? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm If you are thinking of buying a freeze dryer, please consider supporting us by purchasing through our affiliate link. It helps us and costs you nothing! affiliates.harvestright.com/995.html Before buying a freeze dryer perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; like with any big machine, some people say they have had problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
Thanks. I will be pulling out a bag of these to check at the end of the next tomato video, batch 610. They have only been in for 2 1/2 months, but I'll see how they are doing.
I always watch your video before freezedrying anything. Now that I've watched this, I will be starting my first batch of tomato rounds from grandpas garden!
60! That's not a garden, that's a small farm. Awesome! One quick, great way we've used a lot of tomatoes fast, is to cook them down and make our favorite sauce and freeze dry that.
@@SchoolReports oh, I’ve already been doing that. Taking previously canned tomatoes and freeze drying them. Our garden is an acre. 🤷♀️ We’ve been doing it for almost 50 years, I wouldn’t know what to do if it were smaller. Lol A lot of peppers, raspberries, pumpkins, squash, eggplant, etc. Keep doing what you do! I appreciate you very much.
@@robingirven4570 That would be great. At our current house the deer would just eat the garden if we tried to grow one. I'd have to put in a very tall, double fence. 😁 Most of my life I've had a garden, but not here. My last garden, a couple years ago, had to be at my in-laws house.
@@robingirven4570 Our deer only know how to get in. 🤣I've had them get into the back yard where our fruit trees are (not where we would put a garden) eat the new cherry tree, most of the apples, and not get back out, so I had to open the gate to get them out!
I love your channel. It’s such a wealth of helpful information. I feel like anything I want to freeze dry I can come here first and see how you did I it. So thank you! For all your hard work.
On the cusp of getting my Freezer Dryer and so glad I started watching your videos. I love the way you have labeled, organized and noted content. You must be an engineer at heart! LOL. ALSO, the your tee. I just realized you are an Oregonian. My son lives in Astoria now but was stationed in Reed's Port and Astoria before retiring from the USCG. It's a beautiful coastline.
I had to think of something quick (and I've done similar things before) so that I wouldn't make embarrassingly uneven slices! It worked great and I didn't have to buy another kitchen gadget. I don't mind my slices being a bit uneven on my sandwich, but not on video.The shame.🤣
I saw somebody who just used a spray bottle and lightly sprayed the tomato slices, and then just until they rehydrated enough to be used. I think they were using them on a sandwich. Also might consider trying that see if you like it.
Thanks! I have tried rehydrating them a number of ways. Once tomatoes are frozen and thawed they don't tend to do well in my opinion. Freeze dried tomatoes come out about the same. I find I like them best on sandwiches when left dry.
Decided to reach out to you with this question in case the older video didn't pop up. I have been freeze drying a ton of pineapple. I have vacuum sealed them in jars with no o2 absorbs and in mylar bags with o2 absorbers. I noticed something very interesting. The Pineapple in the mason jars are holding strong, no issues with rehydration.. But my mylar bags well I placed the o2 absorber at the top or some bags and at the bottom of other bags. And the fruit that was touching the o2 absorbers quickly got soft after only 1 day, but the whole bags was not ruined. It was just the fruit next to the absorbers. Sooooo when I put the absorbers at the bottom, the bottom Pineapple was only rehydrated. And on the bags where I put the absorbers at the top, the top pineapple was soft but the bottom layer was undisturbed. Very very odd. I'm not sure if it's just pineapple. Or maybe it the absorbers. I haven't used these before. So I don't know if this is a bad batch. But would love to know what your thoughts are. If you have run into this issue. A Thanks for your videos!
I hate having extra kitchen gadgets I don’t need, but I use my mandolin slicer almost daily! I slice cucumbers, carrots, and sometimes apples for my kids and husband. It’s normal for me to do 5 lbs of carrots at a time just for snacking:)
Wow! I can't believe it's been 17 months since I freeze dried those. I'll make a note to get a bag out for a sandwich. I mean for testing:) Thanks for reminding me about this.
@@ChristinesBackyardGarden Hi Christine! I just finished trying a couple slices from this batch and they are still perfect! I made a short video (about 8 1/2 minutes) of them which will be posted very soon. Thanks again for asking about them. I still highly recommend freeze dried slices of tomatoes!
@@eileenniehaus5368 🤣 I thought by now everyone who has ever been on the internet had seen people say that Australia doesn't exist. (or that people have never been to the moon, etc)
@@SchoolReports the moon I’ve heard, but I guess I’ve met enough people from Australia to have not paid attention if I ever heard it. Didn’t Crocodile Dundee prove it?😜
Your seal needs to be against the machine to assure that the seal is complete. If for some reason the vacuum does not pull the seal all the way back you could have vacuum issues. We have never had a seal vacuum issue if the seal makes contact over 50% of the circle. The only time we have had an issue is if the seal was away from the machine. Same for several of my customers. One thing we have found with seeded product: The machine does not have a clue if it is done. The moisture is readily retained by the seeds. Even weighing is not enough to detect the moisture. I know from experience. Why not just make the extra dry time long enough to keep the food warm until the morning. That also gives the seeds more time to expel the moisture.
I guess we've had different experiences. (Along with a number of other people) The only time we've had a vacuum issue has been if there is not a complete ring showing on the plexiglass door. If it shows a ring it always works. The machine has no way of *_ever_* knowing if the food is done drying regardless of what's in it. Period. I have mentioned that fact many times; and it's not just due to seeds or other hard to dry items like unpunctured blueberries or citrus, etc. Even if weighing is not perfect, I haven't found any other method that's even close to as good. In our experience, it's never failed in the 7+ year and 800+ batches we've done; so much better than the guessing that some people are doing. I agree that I should often add a bit more extra time than I have been when I'm not sure when I'll be back to check it, and I have started to do that if it's a reasonable time. I could just let it run constantly until I'm ready for it, but sometimes that could be a day or even two. That much extra time does use a significant amount of electricity with no benefit. I need to end up in the middle zone.
I should have mentioned the silver stuff around the seal too. The silver stuff is metalized film bubble stuff that is used for shipping cold stuff. We got our bubble stuff when it arrived wrapped around some frozen food, (a cake, I think) with frozen cold packs, from Harry & David. I saved it knowing that a use for it would show up. And Voilà! (Viewers have told me that it can be found on Amazon and local building stores as bubble foil insulation wrap) I put this on to better insulate the seal area because the seal would freeze and end up with ice and frost on it. Then, when the freeze dryer was defrosted, the ice would melt and water would run down the front of the freeze dryer. I measured the space between the door and the front of the freeze dryer and cut strips of the insulation material that wide. Next, I cut enough to wrap around the seal 3 or 4 time, taped them together end to end, and finally, wrapped it around the seal and taped the end. This has to be done a differently on the newer machines, I'm working on it (and a video - coming soon) for my sister's newer machine. It's working great on my sister's machine. Adding Front Seal Insulation To A Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ua-cam.com/video/LA1sHVUqKts/v-deo.html
Instead of using parchment paper that gets quite costly you can use the flexible cutting just cut the cutting boards to the size of the and the food comes right off . And yes they are washable
Flexible cutting mats or silicone mats are viable alternatives. I've been on the fence about this for years. I keep doing the math on this, and for me, I find the parchment a good deal. The way I make them they are very inexpensive, about 2 cents per sheet. When factoring costs, people sometimes forget to factor in the cost of hot water and soap for cleaning the reusable mats. Two cents doesn't buy a lot of hot water. For some foods that don't leave anything on the mats, it might make sense even for me.
Someone may have asked you this already, but do you have a PDF or a rough draft of your ledger paper that you use to tabulate the weights? And would you be willing to share it? Or even just a screenshot?
Thanks for watching and for commenting! I'm happy to share everything I use. 😁 These are the freeze drying batch worksheets we've been using: (we use the 4 tray one because our machine has 4 trays) They were made using OpenOffice. If they look useful you can download them and change them in any why you want to suit your needs. Freeze Drying batch worksheet - 4 tray - 2 per sheet (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14_1KDR7-eEv_h9EdwJcHb2Dex5MuhnxlDV24qPR7H6c/edit?usp=sharing Freeze Drying batch worksheet - 5 tray - 2 per sheet (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tgNrGRD3BICKsokLxuClAbQAYvHfDTmbXu6XvA089nc/edit?usp=sharing
I’ve actually tried to think how I would package fragile items like slices and here is what I would do (haven’t done yet): cut a piece of card board about 2”x10-11” (depending on larger rounds) the staple the cardboard creating a loop (overlapping a little to staple the two ends). Then stack as many tomatoes, onions, or other thin sliced foods within the 2” space. Put into Mylar with oxygen absorber the heat seal. Since I haven’t done this yet, I’m hoping the cardboard hasn’t collapsed (which I don’t think it would). If you used a vacuum device, it might be strong to collapse the cardboard to its side or sides. What does that air thing do? Does it take out moisture? If not, I would add moisture packet.
I think cardboard ring sounds like a great idea for protecting tomato slices, _but_ in nitrogen flushed/filled bags, not vacuumed bags. I will definitely be trying this when I get my nitrogen tank. I agree with you, I don't believe it would hold up if vacuumed, the pressure pushing in would be tremendous! Assuming a bag that is about the size I used in this video, about 6 x 8 inches, that works out to about 6x8x2x14.7=1411 lbs of pressure pushing in on the bag. That's about like putting one bag under each tire of a minivan. The cardboard is unlikely to hold. I was just adding dry air. If properly dried, a desiccant pack should never be _needed_ in a freeze dried food bag, it certainly shouldn't hurt, but it shouldn't do anything either. And, if the food wasn't completely, properly dried, it probably won't help either.
I almost always have problems with my door seal if I don't first remove it just after putting the food in , then lightly put it back on prior to closing the door. I've only had my freeze drier for about 6 months and already had to make several adjustments to the door hinge. Also my oil less pump already failed and sent in twice now for rebuild. I regret purchasing it, should've purchasing the premier pump.
When I got my machine there were no options as far as vacuum pumps. I am certainly glad I don't have the oil-free pump! One viewer said they had gone through 7 of them!
All food loses nutrition over time. Freeze dried food loses the least over time. Freeze-dried food retains nearly 100% of its nutrition value, dehydrated contains roughly 60%, and canned food 40%. Even so-called fresh food in the produce section of the store *can* be significantly lower than freeze dried food. There is a lot of research about this. I would say, for "fresh" fruits and vegetables that I'm going to freeze dry, I will almost always take frozen over fresh because, assuming a quality brand, the items tend to be picked and processed faster. Not sitting in a cold storage warehouse, then in the store's back room, and finally in a store's produce section for who knows how long. I love to go to the u-pick places and pick items myself. (or grow it myself) Did you know that the apples at the store can be over a year old? CA storage is an impressive thing. In order of my personal preference, fresh that I harvest, next frozen, produce from the store, and last by a large margin canned. This is one of the benefits of using frozen foods; they usually go from field - to processing plant - to flash freezer in just a few hours. The "fresh" food you find at stores is not fresh. ( getdailyelements.com/blogs/articles/the-facts-on-freeze-drying ) . . . nutrient profiles of fresh fruits and vegetables begin to degrade the moment they’re picked-and continue degrading the longer they sit in your fridge. In fact, one study1 showed that spinach lost roughly 50% of its folate after eight days of refrigeration. Not to mention, produce from the grocery store can range from weeks to months old, some even spending upwards of a year in cold storage before you see them on the shelf. . . . freeze-dried food retains nearly 100% of its nutrition value, dehydrated contains roughly 60%, and canned a slim 40% Vitamin C Content of Freeze-Dried Tropical Fruits (Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil) Luanda G. Marquesa, Manoel M. Pradoa; José T. Freireb "CONCLUSION The vitamin C content of both fresh and freeze-dried guava, mango, papaya and pineapple was determined. Although losses have occurred during the process, the ascorbic acid content retained in the freeze-dried guava, mango, papaya and pineapple characterizes these products as a valuable source of vitamin C. Concerning to papaya, the use of conventional freezing led to higher vitamin C loss when compared with the cryogenic freezing." Effect of Freeze-Drying on the Antioxidant Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Selected Tropical Fruits (International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2011, 12, 4678-4692) Norshahida Mohamad Shofian 1, Azizah Abdul Hamid 1,2,*, Azizah Osman 1, Nazamid Saari 1, Farooq Anwar 1,3, Mohd Sabri Pak Dek 1 and Muhammad Redzuan Hairuddin 1 "Conclusions The results of the present study reveal that freeze-drying can be explored as a viable method for processing tropical fruits retaining the maximum amount of their naturally occurring ascorbic acid."
@@SchoolReports Really appreciate the time to give such a detailed answer, 1 year old apples u cant be serious? That's crazy, I've started to grow my own potatoes and basil, i'm going to add pot by pot till I can be semi-self-sufficient, I've noticed the $10 chickens at my grocery also taste so bad, don't know what they feed them, anyway thanks for spreading valuable information that may just prolong someone's life :D
@@normantaffefiny8227 Thanks. It's so great when you can grow at least some of your own food! And, it is surprising to find out out some of the storage things that happen with our "fresh" food if you aren't in the industry. (I was in that industry a long time ago) Here are a few interesting articles to consider: This first one is a different technology than the CA storage. I'm trying out some pears that were stored with these, they are different. Hazel for Apples www.hazeltechnologies.com/crops/apples Storing apples Published on April 19, 2016 apal.org.au/storing-apples/ Maintaining harvest fresh apples www.vaisala.com/sites/default/files/documents/vn175_Maintaining_harvest_fresh_apples.pdf Apple storage van-amerongen.com/en/apple-storage A Technical Information Bulletin of the Northwest Horticultural Council nwhort.org/controlled-atmosphere-storage/
I use a moisture meter so that way I know there’s no moisture in it. They’re cheap. Something to think about. Cause I have one of the older machines too.
We have one machine from 2017 (mine) and one (my sister's) from late 2022. Is your moisture meter an AQUALAB 4TE? I would love to try one. As far as I know there are no moisture meters up to the job at regular consumer prices. (And maybe not at _any_ price) I've never heard of one that would do what I need it to do, and I've look a lot. A thermal imaging camera can't tell if it's dry, only if it's warm. A lumber moisture meter works okay (not great) for lumber, but it's not designed for freeze dried food and won't work for that. Water activity (aw) meters are designed to test the moisture and water activity levels, but cost a lot and only test small samples. Even with the type of meter that I would consider using, ( AQUALAB 4TE Water Activity Meter aqualab.com/en/products/aqualab-4te-water-activity-meter ) I still wouldn't use it for this job, because if the food is only spot checked, you still have to hope and trust that you've found the wettest pieces every time. The guess method. The slowest pieces are not always the biggest, and the food does not dry evenly across the entire tray I don't know of a better way to test _every_ piece of food for dryness. Doing the _Dry Check_ 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. I'm using the fact that the weight of the trays of food should stop dropping when all of the water has been removed. I've been told more than a few times that I'm wasting my time - that the machine "knows" when it's done! Or that they have a moisture meter that actually works. I've also have heard from too many people who have found out, after - between days and months - that their food was not all the way dry and has now gone bad. Surprise! Each person needs to do what they think is best, and in a way they believe/understand will keep them and their food safe. If you've found a way that you believe works, I am not here to convince you otherwise. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, I'm just trying to show what I do and why, and show resources when I can.
Like you, I like to weigh my food in grams but it's become too difficult because it fluctuates so much. You seem to be OK with your scale, do you recommend it and where I can purchase it? Thanks.
I don't know if these are the best ones, but it's what we've been using and have worked for us. We use this scale for weighing the trays.(Resolution of 1 gram) - Escali Primo Kitchen Scale amzn.to/3r8VqRe And, we use this scale for bagging. (Resolution of 0.1 gram) - Etekcity Kitchen Scale11lb/5kg amzn.to/3K3ajhY
Here's an idea for the nitrogen solution. Find a small nitrogen tank from a welding shop and fit it with a pressure regulator. Then you could have the hose and blower attachment to do the same thing you did to fill the bags. Much cheaper than the pricey gas purge systems.
That is my plan, I've just been slow/lazy about getting it done! This video shows one persons setup of the nitrogen tank, regulator and nozzle set-up that they got at their welding shop. Sovereign Spirit Nitrogen Food Packing: Tank & Regulator Basics ua-cam.com/video/yCj2JSX2pUY/v-deo.html
Interesting that it wouldn't work again. Someone else had the same issue last week, I don't know why. I keep testing it and it keeps working for me. Try searching for this at Amazon - Corrugated Plastic Sheets 17in x 13in 10 Pack Coroplast So far this is the best price I've found, 28.74 for the 10 pack
I assume you are referring to the shirt at the beginning of the video and not at the end, though I got them both from Amazon:) (Did you see the comment just before yours? - They said "Some good info, but you lost me with the shirt") Interesting.🤔 This is an Amazon affiliate link to the first shirt- amzn.to/3vfpf9I
Depending on the humidity of the air you injected into the bags will tell the tale. I've found tomatoes really absorb the moisture in the air. I'd certainly be interested to see what those tomatoes look like in about a week.
People say (type) LOL all the time, but I think they rarely mean it literally. Your comment actually made me laugh out loud! The Devil's Spread! Thank you. 🤣😇 When our #1 child hit those teen rebellion years she went to the dark side. First Mayo instead of the awesome Miracle Whip, Coke instead of Pepsi and then an Apple phone! Out of control. I thought we had raised her right. We failed as parents and we live in shame!😁
We have been getting our Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers from PackFreshUSA.com for years now and have been happy with the products and service we have received from them. - They are not a sponsor, we just like their stuff. We get the 7mil bags, mostly the gusset bottom, seal top ones. These are the ones we get the most: The pint bag with OA's - packfreshusa.com/pint-7-mil-seal-top-premium-gusset-mylar-and-oxygen-absorbers/ Pint bags - packfreshusa.com/mylar-gusset-bags-pint-wholesale/ Quart bags - packfreshusa.com/mylar-gusset-bags-quart-wholesale/ And these are the 2 quart ones packfreshusa.com/two-quart-7-mil-seal-top-gusset-mylar-bags-500-wholesale/ And the oxygen absorbers we use the most -300cc Oxygen Absorbers in 10-Packs (1000) - packfreshusa.com/oxygen-absorbers-10-packs-wholesale/
Actually they don't have white _on_ them, they, like a lot of foods when freeze dried, have temporally lost their brightness until they are rehydrated. Pizza Sauce ua-cam.com/video/d81YkhcRMC8/v-deo.htmlsi=8vl-MKg3tTEz1IXi&t=31 Mixed Vegetables ua-cam.com/video/NM-APeA1b7c/v-deo.htmlsi=UFajANoxV8c2rlkS&t=241 Kiwifruit ua-cam.com/video/RdQVlS-6lLI/v-deo.htmlsi=bLEZzBd_lVZDz1BW&t=97 and again a minute later.
Oooh, I can’t wait to see how these test out over time! But, friend, EWWW…store-bought “tomatoes”? 🤮 Your t-shirts make me feel like a child again opening a package of Wacky Packies and affixing the stickers all over my parents’ deep freezer in the basement! LoL
Ha! 🤣Here, at the end of January when I bought these, there is not a lot of home garden-fresh tomatoes. (None) I will be pulling out a bag of these to have a look at the end of the next tomato video, batch 610. It's only 2 1/2 months, but I want to check. That video should be ready within a week or so, maybe less.
🤣 My first thought was - 11 months?! It couldn't have been that long! Maybe 5 or 6. Then I looked at the video. I put those tomato slices into the freeze dryer Feb. 4th - almost 14 months ago! Time flies. You are right, it's time to check a bag. Post-it-note reminder written.
Had you ever considered using air popped popcorn as a cushion and filler for that space you wanted to keep? That might turn out to be a twofer. Tomato slices for you and stale popcorn for the birds.
No, I hadn't, thanks for the idea. 👍 Using popped corn could be a useful idea to protect some foods, and would be an interesting experiment. However, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't help the tomato slices. As the oxygen is absorbed, the fact that the "empty" spaces in the bags would be filled with solid objects (the popcorn) which would push against, and break the tomato slices they are trying to protect. The dried tomato slices are _way more_ fragile than popped corn and are going to lose that battle. The popcorn shouldn't get stale if dry, and bagged that same as other freeze dried food. The popped popcorn would need to be run through the freeze dryer to remove the moisture it contains. (There is not much; It could a very short dry time using just the Final Dry process) Finally, I'm not sharing with the birds, I'm going to heat it and add butter and popcorn salt and keep it for myself. They can go find their own!
Wow! It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since I did this. No, I haven't got off my butt and worked on this yet. (In my defense, I am lazy. (and only active a few hours a day)) I swear, I will get it done. I just wrote it down on my list.
🤣 Because you think socialism is a good thing? Or you don't like the Mandalorian? Oh well, I can't please everyone.😁 Thanks for checking out the video.
I've done this but I grow my own tasty tomatoes.. home grown taste better than store bought. Store bought are designed to make them look good but not tasty. Store bought is induce ripening with ethylene gas, which kind of gets them ripe but at the cost of a lot of flavour.
Agreed 100%! I used to work in the food/produce industry. I did a video a while back where I talked a bit about controlled atmosphere storage (CA) of apples, pears, and other foods. It's at the beginning of this video - ua-cam.com/video/Z5Smiqcoj_4/v-deo.htmlsi=SKU9EKMoIEieULfE I was really surprised that these tomatoes were actually quite good. I haven't been able to grow my own garden for a few years due to several reasons, including that the deer would eat it all. I do miss my garden.
Got every fruit tree I could grow in zone 6 ohio before retirement & a few dwarfs that I have to bring in. I'm old school canning. No deer problem but got Alfred Hitchcocks Birds that got every berry I had.. Now retired switching over to freeze dry. 1.5 years into retirement growing everything I can while I can..Keep up the videos, Im learning.
@@DavidDavid-uh8ry Nice! We're in zone 8, bordering on 7 some years, so a little easier growing, except the deer and turkeys. We do have a couple of fruit trees and 2 walnut trees. We have to fight the squirrel for the walnuts and the birds for the cherries.😁 Bird pie?
@@SchoolReports LOL, I was prepared for ground attacks but didn't prepay for air attacks.. I was looking at the medium Freeze dryer.4 tray, buy the time I saved the money it became a 5 tray, Grand kids love the icecream sandwich. still testing & watching the videos. Today will be Zucchini. Retirement means more time working, less money.
@@DavidDavid-uh8ry Ice cream sandwiches are great! Did you happen to see my zucchini tip on how I would cook zucchini? 🤣😇 ua-cam.com/video/pZ2I1JtB6k4/v-deo.htmlsi=jUTgN0Hl0_DNEBgx&t=1870 And in this video I freeze dry the zucchini for my sister. ua-cam.com/video/OWX6o82wR7w/v-deo.htmlsi=SxayeREPx27rDzl8
Like you, I don't have a N2 purge system but am actively trying to figure out what I need. Below are a couple of sites I've come across that you might be interested in viewing. peakmoment Bag It! Packaging Bulk Food With Nitrogen bible prepper Preparedness: Nitrogen Packing Grains in Buckets and Barrels ua-cam.com/video/M8E5kDcbOGE/v-deo.html Sovereign Spirit Nitrogen Food Packing: Tank & Regulator Basics ua-cam.com/video/yCj2JSX2pUY/v-deo.html WITTGAS Modified Atmosphere Food Packaging (MAP) - how it works, benefits, gases, requirements ua-cam.com/video/CquXUa7ZPjA/v-deo.html
For short term use, like a family picnics, car camping, or road trips, anything that doesn't require long term storage, I think jars could be a great idea! (and you never have to worry about crushing) It would sure make it easy to pull out the slices and use. One of the important functions of the Mylar bag is to block light. Personally, I don't use jars for long term storage because of the weight and need to keep them in the dark, and most importantly for me, they break when dropped. 😁 For short term use I could definitely see using a jar to keep some items handy and ready to use.
That would make it easy to pull out the slices and use. For short term use, like a family picnic, car camping, or road trips, anything that doesn't require long term storage, that would be a GREAT idea! One of the important functions of the Mylar bag is to block light. Personally, I don't use jars for long term storage because of the weight and need to keep them in the dark, and most importantly for me, they break when dropped. (Oops, I broke another one!) 😁 For short term use I could definitely see using a jar to keep some of them handy and ready to use.
Hummm, I didn't understand or know that you have to add OX absorbers according to the bag size, I have been adding a 400cc to all my bags regardless of the bag size. The larger bag is my 2-gallon bags as a holding place for the meat loaf till I get the sides ready to repackage it all, that's only 800cc (2x400cc) for a 2000cc bag????. To tell you the truth none of my bags suck down like when you vacuumed seal something. being concerned about that fact, I looked it up online and it said that oxygen absorbers don't absorb the AIR it absorbs the oxygen content in the air (approx. 21% of air is oxygen), therefor it won't collapse the bag like vacuumed sealing does. I have run this machine every day less defrost time, (expedited of course) since I got it. And just decided each batch will get 2 days of dry time. That way I will know that the food is dry. I weigh it daily then at the end 3 times in 2-4 hour spaces to make sure the weight doesn't change. This way I get some rest from it all. Basically, set it and forget it aside from checking and adding time. It's so hot here right now that I have to add ice bottles in front of my fans to keep the room cooled down enough that the machine doesn't give me a hot room notification. However, I didn't read the fine print I guess because I never consider the weight going into the machine. I load my trays with frozen food one level thick as much as I can without stacking or overlapping and it's worked out just fine so far. I am concerned about the oxygen absorber issue. I think I did over kill for the most part, I think. everything seems to still be crispy inside the bags, I keep checking. I now have 4 bins full of stuff, mostly meat, cooked and raw, eggs, raw and chicken bone broth. A few other things but I packaged most everything in quart bags or smaller. Do you think I'm fine with the 400cc absorbers? I already use tons of bags and I double seal them all, right up to the zipper. I just don't know now. Oh, by the way I'm so glad you did this video, if you can't rehydrate tomatoes to their original selves then I will only make tomato concentrate that way I can use it for sauces or tomato paste, having to try and get the skin out of freeze-dried tomatoes after the fact would be horrible. :)
Yes, it's true that not all bags will look like they have been vacuum packed. Almost all of mine do because of the way I bag them. One quart is about 0.95 of a liter. A liter has about 210 cc of oxygen and a quart has about 199 cc of oxygen. We use 300 cc absorbers for our quart bags. A 200cc absorber is sized pretty close to exactly the "correct" minimum size for a one liter/quart bag. (Assuming everything is perfect) A 400 cc absorber is just big enough for a 2 quart bag. (Again, assuming everything is perfect) We would use a 500 cc or two 300's for a total of 600 cc. Two gallons of air is about 7570 cc and has about 1600 cc of oxygen. (a 2 gallon bag with freeze dried food will have something less than 2 gallons of air in it. How much less depends on the food and how much extra air was squished out) I would probably use 2000 cc oxygen absorbers for 2 gallon bags. (Because we don't assume everything is perfect) The bags should all get about 21% smaller, but it isn't always very noticeable unless the food was kind of _filling_ the bag to begin with, than it should be very noticeable and look sucked in. I have a number of videos about the oxygen absorbers that we use. Here's one - Oxygen Absorber Testing (For our freeze dried food) - ua-cam.com/video/x30h6lxfcHc/v-deo.htmlsi=a9y3Qr1g3nyoGHcB The long term problem is permeability - Oxygen is going to be going through the bags, slowly, forever. The better the bag the slower it happens. Of course if you have oxygen absorbers in the bags they keep absorbing any oxygen that comes through. The dry tomato slices are great in a sandwich! And sauce is great, too. We did freeze dry a lot of tomato sauce earlier when I had a garden with an abundance of fresh tomatoes. Gardening has not been a realistic option for me for a few years now. I miss it.
@@SchoolReports I will have to re-bag those meatloaf slices and add several more ox absorbers. Right now, they are still crunchy/brittle. Man, I wonder if I should put them back into the machine before re-bagging them to make sure there still fully dry. I have them in plastic bins inside where it's cool and dry. IDK would that help, or add problems?
@@SchoolReports Ok, so I weighed them, and they are fine, but I added 3 new oxygen absorbers and re-sealed the bags. I need to get the potatoes, gravy and vegies done now so I can re-bag the meals and I will add the appropriate absorbers. I think all my other bags should be fine as I put 400cc in one-pint bags. Fingers crossed. lol Lord have mercy!!!
@@SchoolReports Ok so this is what happened. I was concerned because after I opened the bags and put new ox-absorbers in the weights were consistently 10g greater than before opening. SO, I totally re-bagged the entire thing. It is now consistent with the new weights. I felt all the pieces and though it was a tinny, tinny bit greasy it was all totally dry. I'm hoping that re-bagging it will give me a true weight that I can check prior to consolidating into meals. I worked really fast as I always do so I'm pretty sure things are fine. I had added a moisture absorber to each bag when I first package the items and they had no reaction so that's good. I did notice that one of my bags had tinny (Push) marks where the sharp meat dented the bag, I put electrical tape on it just to be sure. The contents won't be in these bags for more than another 2 weeks, so I think I'm ok. Pray for me. lol Oh and the bags were actually 1gallon not 2 gallons. they now have like 2000cc worth of ox. absorbers in them. That ought to do it.
@@dianavestal850 You type so much faster than I do! :) And you work fast! If I saw a consistent 10g gain across a number of bags, I'd look for issues not related to actual weight gain, something added to them all or an issue with the scale. One gallon has about 800 cc of oxygen. I'd probably use 1000+ cc absorbers for 1 gallon bags. Storing in a cool dry place is always best. I do want to clear up something. (if it's being misunderstood by anyone) The "staying crunchy/brittle" (free of moisture) is a separate issue from oxygen absorbers. That's good to know that water vapor is not getting through and therefore the food is staying crunchy and not gaining weight. Water is an _almost_ completely separate issue from oxygen. The main mechanisms for food to go rancid involve water and/or oxygen, (and can be triggered by light) and we must remove them all. Chemists define roughly two ways a product can turn rancid: (Super simplified) 1. Oxidative rancidity: Reaction involves oxygen 2. Hydrolytic rancidity: Reaction involves water All this to say that it can stay 100% dry and still go bad due to oxygen, or it can be 100% oxygen free and still go bad due to moisture that we didn't remove. It can also be both 100% dry and oxygen free and still degrade due to light hitting the food. (For those who like to store in clear jars) The good quality 7mil bags can take a pretty good amount of abuse; they are pretty tough. If/when I'm concerned about sharp, pokey foods, I wrap it in a layer of paper towels to cushion the points.
Examples of socialism in the US: * Police * Firefighters * Public education (K-12) * Social Security * Medicare/Medicaid * Public utilities * Public libraries * Parks * The VA * Public transit * Public housing * Federal student aid But that message was so important to send that you wore your shirt multiple days in a row to make sure it got delivered. 😂
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Want to support the channel? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm
If you are thinking of buying a freeze dryer, please consider supporting us by purchasing through our affiliate link. It helps us and costs you nothing! affiliates.harvestright.com/995.html
Before buying a freeze dryer perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; like with any big machine, some people say they have had problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
Rule of thumb: There is no wrong way to do an experiment! Awesome. You are the leading edge of freeze drying and food storage,
Thanks. I will be pulling out a bag of these to check at the end of the next tomato video, batch 610. They have only been in for 2 1/2 months, but I'll see how they are doing.
I always watch your video before freezedrying anything. Now that I've watched this, I will be starting my first batch of tomato rounds from grandpas garden!
Clearly the best YT channel for A L L things freeze drying. Thank you!!! AND I WANT THAT T SHIRT!!!
Thanks so much!
Careful, or you'll end up with 200 shirts like me! 🤣 I do have some shirt links (including that one) on my Amazon store page.
I’ve got about 60 tomato plants started. I’ll be using this method for FD and storing! Thank you for doing the work.
60! That's not a garden, that's a small farm. Awesome!
One quick, great way we've used a lot of tomatoes fast, is to cook them down and make our favorite sauce and freeze dry that.
@@SchoolReports oh, I’ve already been doing that. Taking previously canned tomatoes and freeze drying them. Our garden is an acre. 🤷♀️ We’ve been doing it for almost 50 years, I wouldn’t know what to do if it were smaller. Lol A lot of peppers, raspberries, pumpkins, squash, eggplant, etc. Keep doing what you do! I appreciate you very much.
@@robingirven4570 That would be great. At our current house the deer would just eat the garden if we tried to grow one. I'd have to put in a very tall, double fence. 😁 Most of my life I've had a garden, but not here. My last garden, a couple years ago, had to be at my in-laws house.
@@SchoolReports we have a 7’ tall fence and deer walk around and around it, trying to figure out how to get in! 😂
@@robingirven4570 Our deer only know how to get in. 🤣I've had them get into the back yard where our fruit trees are (not where we would put a garden) eat the new cherry tree, most of the apples, and not get back out, so I had to open the gate to get them out!
I love your channel. It’s such a wealth of helpful information. I feel like anything I want to freeze dry I can come here first and see how you did I it. So thank you! For all your hard work.
Thanks so much! I glad to hear you've found it useful.
On the cusp of getting my Freezer Dryer and so glad I started watching your videos. I love the way you have labeled, organized and noted content. You must be an engineer at heart! LOL. ALSO, the your tee. I just realized you are an Oregonian. My son lives in Astoria now but was stationed in Reed's Port and Astoria before retiring from the USCG. It's a beautiful coastline.
Thanks for watching and commenting! There are a lot of shirts to see here. 😁
Great T-shirt!
Great idea for consistent tomato slicing.
Thanks. They sell tomato slicing machines that might be great if you're doing a lot of tomatoes, but I'm cheap and this works.
@@SchoolReports "cheap and works" ... it also looks easy. The three key ingredients for any task.
@@papasmurf9146 Yep! If I had hundreds to cut per day/week or even month, I'd buy the machine.
What a great idea to use the top to slice!
I had to think of something quick (and I've done similar things before) so that I wouldn't make embarrassingly uneven slices! It worked great and I didn't have to buy another kitchen gadget. I don't mind my slices being a bit uneven on my sandwich, but not on video.The shame.🤣
Love your t-shirts!!
I saw somebody who just used a spray bottle and lightly sprayed the tomato slices, and then just until they rehydrated enough to be used. I think they were using them on a sandwich. Also might consider trying that see if you like it.
Thanks!
I have tried rehydrating them a number of ways.
Once tomatoes are frozen and thawed they don't tend to do well in my opinion. Freeze dried tomatoes come out about the same. I find I like them best on sandwiches when left dry.
Decided to reach out to you with this question in case the older video didn't pop up.
I have been freeze drying a ton of pineapple. I have vacuum sealed them in jars with no o2 absorbs and in mylar bags with o2 absorbers.
I noticed something very interesting. The Pineapple in the mason jars are holding strong, no issues with rehydration..
But my mylar bags well I placed the o2 absorber at the top or some bags and at the bottom of other bags. And the fruit that was touching the o2 absorbers quickly got soft after only 1 day, but the whole bags was not ruined. It was just the fruit next to the absorbers.
Sooooo when I put the absorbers at the bottom, the bottom Pineapple was only rehydrated. And on the bags where I put the absorbers at the top, the top pineapple was soft but the bottom layer was undisturbed.
Very very odd. I'm not sure if it's just pineapple. Or maybe it the absorbers.
I haven't used these before. So I don't know if this is a bad batch. But would love to know what your thoughts are. If you have run into this issue. A
Thanks for your videos!
I look forward to doing some testing about this.
I'm so jealous of your grocery store 😏. You made me hungry with that sammich.
Love the video but really love the shirt 🤣
😇😁
I freeze dried diced tomatoes last year. I sprinkle them on my salad (kind of like croutons).
They are good that way!
I hate having extra kitchen gadgets I don’t need, but I use my mandolin slicer almost daily! I slice cucumbers, carrots, and sometimes apples for my kids and husband. It’s normal for me to do 5 lbs of carrots at a time just for snacking:)
Which mandolin do you have? We sure didn't care for the one we had, but it was a long time ago.
I freaking love your shirt
Thanks!
Its a year later and I'm curious to know if the experiment with bagging the tomatoes with air worked.
Wow! I can't believe it's been 17 months since I freeze dried those. I'll make a note to get a bag out for a sandwich. I mean for testing:) Thanks for reminding me about this.
@SchoolReports Great! I can't wait to see how they turned out. I have some homegrown sliced tomatoes in the freezer waiting to be freeze-dried.
@@ChristinesBackyardGarden Hi Christine! I just finished trying a couple slices from this batch and they are still perfect! I made a short video (about 8 1/2 minutes) of them which will be posted very soon. Thanks again for asking about them.
I still highly recommend freeze dried slices of tomatoes!
Awesome shirt and cute towel.
Thanks! The towel was a present from a friend in Australia. (Of course, I've seen on the internet where people say that Australia doesn't exist.😂)
@@SchoolReports ok I’ve heard a lot of wacky things, but Australia doesn’t exist!?!? What kind of sites are you surfing to find something like that?🤔😂
@@eileenniehaus5368 🤣 I thought by now everyone who has ever been on the internet had seen people say that Australia doesn't exist. (or that people have never been to the moon, etc)
@@SchoolReports the moon I’ve heard, but I guess I’ve met enough people from Australia to have not paid attention if I ever heard it. Didn’t Crocodile Dundee prove it?😜
Your seal needs to be against the machine to assure that the seal is complete. If for some reason the vacuum does not pull the seal all the way back you could have vacuum issues.
We have never had a seal vacuum issue if the seal makes contact over 50% of the circle. The only time we have had an issue is if the seal was away from the machine. Same for several of my customers.
One thing we have found with seeded product: The machine does not have a clue if it is done. The moisture is readily retained by the seeds. Even weighing is not enough to detect the moisture. I know from experience.
Why not just make the extra dry time long enough to keep the food warm until the morning. That also gives the seeds more time to expel the moisture.
I guess we've had different experiences. (Along with a number of other people) The only time we've had a vacuum issue has been if there is not a complete ring showing on the plexiglass door. If it shows a ring it always works.
The machine has no way of *_ever_* knowing if the food is done drying regardless of what's in it. Period.
I have mentioned that fact many times; and it's not just due to seeds or other hard to dry items like unpunctured blueberries or citrus, etc.
Even if weighing is not perfect, I haven't found any other method that's even close to as good. In our experience, it's never failed in the 7+ year and 800+ batches we've done; so much better than the guessing that some people are doing.
I agree that I should often add a bit more extra time than I have been when I'm not sure when I'll be back to check it, and I have started to do that if it's a reasonable time. I could just let it run constantly until I'm ready for it, but sometimes that could be a day or even two. That much extra time does use a significant amount of electricity with no benefit. I need to end up in the middle zone.
Where did you get the round plastic thing you put in before you close your door, I would love to purchase one.😊
I should have mentioned the silver stuff around the seal too.
The silver stuff is metalized film bubble stuff that is used for shipping cold stuff. We got our bubble stuff when it arrived wrapped around some frozen food, (a cake, I think) with frozen cold packs, from Harry & David. I saved it knowing that a use for it would show up. And Voilà! (Viewers have told me that it can be found on Amazon and local building stores as bubble foil insulation wrap)
I put this on to better insulate the seal area because the seal would freeze and end up with ice and frost on it. Then, when the freeze dryer was defrosted, the ice would melt and water would run down the front of the freeze dryer. I measured the space between the door and the front of the freeze dryer and cut strips of the insulation material that wide. Next, I cut enough to wrap around the seal 3 or 4 time, taped them together end to end, and finally, wrapped it around the seal and taped the end. This has to be done a differently on the newer machines, I'm working on it (and a video - coming soon) for my sister's newer machine. It's working great on my sister's machine.
Adding Front Seal Insulation To A Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ua-cam.com/video/LA1sHVUqKts/v-deo.html
Instead of using parchment paper that gets quite costly you can use the flexible cutting just cut the cutting boards to the size of the and the food comes right off . And yes they are washable
Flexible cutting mats or silicone mats are viable alternatives.
I've been on the fence about this for years. I keep doing the math on this, and for me, I find the parchment a good deal. The way I make them they are very inexpensive, about 2 cents per sheet.
When factoring costs, people sometimes forget to factor in the cost of hot water and soap for cleaning the reusable mats. Two cents doesn't buy a lot of hot water. For some foods that don't leave anything on the mats, it might make sense even for me.
Thank you for the information! And I love the t shirt!
Thanks! 😁
Someone may have asked you this already, but do you have a PDF or a rough draft of your ledger paper that you use to tabulate the weights? And would you be willing to share it? Or even just a screenshot?
Thanks for watching and for commenting! I'm happy to share everything I use. 😁
These are the freeze drying batch worksheets we've been using: (we use the 4 tray one because our machine has 4 trays) They were made using OpenOffice. If they look useful you can download them and change them in any why you want to suit your needs.
Freeze Drying batch worksheet - 4 tray - 2 per sheet (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14_1KDR7-eEv_h9EdwJcHb2Dex5MuhnxlDV24qPR7H6c/edit?usp=sharing
Freeze Drying batch worksheet - 5 tray - 2 per sheet (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tgNrGRD3BICKsokLxuClAbQAYvHfDTmbXu6XvA089nc/edit?usp=sharing
I’ve actually tried to think how I would package fragile items like slices and here is what I would do (haven’t done yet): cut a piece of card board about 2”x10-11” (depending on larger rounds) the staple the cardboard creating a loop (overlapping a little to staple the two ends). Then stack as many tomatoes, onions, or other thin sliced foods within the 2” space. Put into Mylar with oxygen absorber the heat seal. Since I haven’t done this yet, I’m hoping the cardboard hasn’t collapsed (which I don’t think it would). If you used a vacuum device, it might be strong to collapse the cardboard to its side or sides. What does that air thing do? Does it take out moisture? If not, I would add moisture packet.
I think cardboard ring sounds like a great idea for protecting tomato slices, _but_ in nitrogen flushed/filled bags, not vacuumed bags. I will definitely be trying this when I get my nitrogen tank.
I agree with you, I don't believe it would hold up if vacuumed, the pressure pushing in would be tremendous! Assuming a bag that is about the size I used in this video, about 6 x 8 inches, that works out to about 6x8x2x14.7=1411 lbs of pressure pushing in on the bag. That's about like putting one bag under each tire of a minivan. The cardboard is unlikely to hold.
I was just adding dry air.
If properly dried, a desiccant pack should never be _needed_ in a freeze dried food bag, it certainly shouldn't hurt, but it shouldn't do anything either. And, if the food wasn't completely, properly dried, it probably won't help either.
@@angelataeschner1596 use a mason jar
I almost always have problems with my door seal if I don't first remove it just after putting the food in , then lightly put it back on prior to closing the door. I've only had my freeze drier for about 6 months and already had to make several adjustments to the door hinge. Also my oil less pump already failed and sent in twice now for rebuild. I regret purchasing it, should've purchasing the premier pump.
When I got my machine there were no options as far as vacuum pumps. I am certainly glad I don't have the oil-free pump! One viewer said they had gone through 7 of them!
I have the premier pump with my 5 tray freeze dryer. I have changed the oil twice in three years. It will flash a notice when you need to change oil.
does anyone know if you freeze dry something does the nutritional value change and/if over time?
All food loses nutrition over time. Freeze dried food loses the least over time.
Freeze-dried food retains nearly 100% of its nutrition value, dehydrated contains roughly 60%, and canned food 40%. Even so-called fresh food in the produce section of the store *can* be significantly lower than freeze dried food.
There is a lot of research about this. I would say, for "fresh" fruits and vegetables that I'm going to freeze dry, I will almost always take frozen over fresh because, assuming a quality brand, the items tend to be picked and processed faster. Not sitting in a cold storage warehouse, then in the store's back room, and finally in a store's produce section for who knows how long. I love to go to the u-pick places and pick items myself. (or grow it myself) Did you know that the apples at the store can be over a year old? CA storage is an impressive thing. In order of my personal preference, fresh that I harvest, next frozen, produce from the store, and last by a large margin canned. This is one of the benefits of using frozen foods; they usually go from field - to processing plant - to flash freezer in just a few hours.
The "fresh" food you find at stores is not fresh. ( getdailyelements.com/blogs/articles/the-facts-on-freeze-drying ) . . . nutrient profiles of fresh fruits and vegetables begin to degrade the moment they’re picked-and continue degrading the longer they sit in your fridge. In fact, one study1 showed that spinach lost roughly 50% of its folate after eight days of refrigeration. Not to mention, produce from the grocery store can range from weeks to months old, some even spending upwards of a year in cold storage before you see them on the shelf. . . . freeze-dried food retains nearly 100% of its nutrition value, dehydrated contains roughly 60%, and canned a slim 40%
Vitamin C Content of Freeze-Dried Tropical Fruits (Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil) Luanda G. Marquesa, Manoel M. Pradoa; José T. Freireb "CONCLUSION The vitamin C content of both fresh and freeze-dried guava, mango, papaya and pineapple was determined. Although losses have occurred during the process, the ascorbic acid content retained in the freeze-dried guava, mango, papaya and pineapple characterizes these products as a valuable source of vitamin C. Concerning to papaya, the use of conventional freezing led to higher vitamin C loss when compared with the cryogenic freezing." Effect of Freeze-Drying on the Antioxidant Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Selected Tropical Fruits (International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2011, 12, 4678-4692) Norshahida Mohamad Shofian 1, Azizah Abdul Hamid 1,2,*, Azizah Osman 1, Nazamid Saari 1, Farooq Anwar 1,3, Mohd Sabri Pak Dek 1 and Muhammad Redzuan Hairuddin 1 "Conclusions The results of the present study reveal that freeze-drying can be explored as a viable method for processing tropical fruits retaining the maximum amount of their naturally occurring ascorbic acid."
@@SchoolReports Really appreciate the time to give such a detailed answer, 1 year old apples u cant be serious? That's crazy, I've started to grow my own potatoes and basil, i'm going to add pot by pot till I can be semi-self-sufficient, I've noticed the $10 chickens at my grocery also taste so bad, don't know what they feed them, anyway thanks for spreading valuable information that may just prolong someone's life :D
@@normantaffefiny8227 Thanks.
It's so great when you can grow at least some of your own food!
And, it is surprising to find out out some of the storage things that happen with our "fresh" food if you aren't in the industry. (I was in that industry a long time ago)
Here are a few interesting articles to consider: This first one is a different technology than the CA storage. I'm trying out some pears that were stored with these, they are different.
Hazel for Apples www.hazeltechnologies.com/crops/apples
Storing apples Published on April 19, 2016 apal.org.au/storing-apples/
Maintaining harvest fresh apples www.vaisala.com/sites/default/files/documents/vn175_Maintaining_harvest_fresh_apples.pdf
Apple storage van-amerongen.com/en/apple-storage
A Technical Information Bulletin of the Northwest Horticultural Council nwhort.org/controlled-atmosphere-storage/
I use a moisture meter so that way I know there’s no moisture in it. They’re cheap. Something to think about. Cause I have one of the older machines too.
We have one machine from 2017 (mine) and one (my sister's) from late 2022.
Is your moisture meter an AQUALAB 4TE? I would love to try one.
As far as I know there are no moisture meters up to the job at regular consumer prices. (And maybe not at _any_ price) I've never heard of one that would do what I need it to do, and I've look a lot.
A thermal imaging camera can't tell if it's dry, only if it's warm.
A lumber moisture meter works okay (not great) for lumber, but it's not designed for freeze dried food and won't work for that.
Water activity (aw) meters are designed to test the moisture and water activity levels, but cost a lot and only test small samples. Even with the type of meter that I would consider using, ( AQUALAB 4TE Water Activity Meter aqualab.com/en/products/aqualab-4te-water-activity-meter ) I still wouldn't use it for this job, because if the food is only spot checked, you still have to hope and trust that you've found the wettest pieces every time. The guess method. The slowest pieces are not always the biggest, and the food does not dry evenly across the entire tray
I don't know of a better way to test _every_ piece of food for dryness. Doing the _Dry Check_ 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. I'm using the fact that the weight of the trays of food should stop dropping when all of the water has been removed.
I've been told more than a few times that I'm wasting my time - that the machine "knows" when it's done! Or that they have a moisture meter that actually works. I've also have heard from too many people who have found out, after - between days and months - that their food was not all the way dry and has now gone bad. Surprise!
Each person needs to do what they think is best, and in a way they believe/understand will keep them and their food safe. If you've found a way that you believe works, I am not here to convince you otherwise. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, I'm just trying to show what I do and why, and show resources when I can.
Like you, I like to weigh my food in grams but it's become too difficult because it fluctuates so much. You seem to be OK with your scale, do you recommend it and where I can purchase it? Thanks.
I don't know if these are the best ones, but it's what we've been using and have worked for us.
We use this scale for weighing the trays.(Resolution of 1 gram) - Escali Primo Kitchen Scale amzn.to/3r8VqRe
And, we use this scale for bagging. (Resolution of 0.1 gram) - Etekcity Kitchen Scale11lb/5kg amzn.to/3K3ajhY
@@SchoolReports Thank you for getting back to me. I will check into it.
Here's an idea for the nitrogen solution. Find a small nitrogen tank from a welding shop and fit it with a pressure regulator. Then you could have the hose and blower attachment to do the same thing you did to fill the bags. Much cheaper than the pricey gas purge systems.
That is my plan, I've just been slow/lazy about getting it done!
This video shows one persons setup of the nitrogen tank, regulator and nozzle set-up that they got at their welding shop. Sovereign Spirit Nitrogen Food Packing: Tank & Regulator Basics ua-cam.com/video/yCj2JSX2pUY/v-deo.html
Thanks for the video. Just fyi: I don't think the corrugated plastic sheets you use are still available on Amazon; the link doesn't work.
Interesting that it wouldn't work again. Someone else had the same issue last week, I don't know why. I keep testing it and it keeps working for me.
Try searching for this at Amazon - Corrugated Plastic Sheets 17in x 13in 10 Pack Coroplast
So far this is the best price I've found, 28.74 for the 10 pack
@@SchoolReports Thank you, I will.
Freeze dried tomatoes are great for tomato pie.
Where can I find that shirt!
I assume you are referring to the shirt at the beginning of the video and not at the end, though I got them both from Amazon:)
(Did you see the comment just before yours? - They said "Some good info, but you lost me with the shirt") Interesting.🤔
This is an Amazon affiliate link to the first shirt- amzn.to/3vfpf9I
Depending on the humidity of the air you injected into the bags will tell the tale. I've found tomatoes really absorb the moisture in the air. I'd certainly be interested to see what those tomatoes look like in about a week.
I didn't check at the 1 week mark. How about after 12 weeks?
Checking/Testing a Bag ua-cam.com/video/T_mB7oTKL8o/v-deo.htmlsi=GAA3sC_hWKuC4qTS&t=2111
I see that you correctly used Miracle Whip instead of the devil's spread (mayo) for a proper blt!
People say (type) LOL all the time, but I think they rarely mean it literally. Your comment actually made me laugh out loud! The Devil's Spread! Thank you.
🤣😇 When our #1 child hit those teen rebellion years she went to the dark side. First Mayo instead of the awesome Miracle Whip, Coke instead of Pepsi and then an Apple phone! Out of control. I thought we had raised her right. We failed as parents and we live in shame!😁
I appreciate your videos. Where do you buy your bags?
We have been getting our Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers from PackFreshUSA.com for years now and have been happy with the products and service we have received from them. - They are not a sponsor, we just like their stuff.
We get the 7mil bags, mostly the gusset bottom, seal top ones. These are the ones we get the most: The pint bag with OA's - packfreshusa.com/pint-7-mil-seal-top-premium-gusset-mylar-and-oxygen-absorbers/ Pint bags - packfreshusa.com/mylar-gusset-bags-pint-wholesale/ Quart bags - packfreshusa.com/mylar-gusset-bags-quart-wholesale/ And these are the 2 quart ones packfreshusa.com/two-quart-7-mil-seal-top-gusset-mylar-bags-500-wholesale/ And the oxygen absorbers we use the most -300cc Oxygen Absorbers in 10-Packs (1000) - packfreshusa.com/oxygen-absorbers-10-packs-wholesale/
Why do tomato slices have a white colour on these?
Actually they don't have white _on_ them, they, like a lot of foods when freeze dried, have temporally lost their brightness until they are rehydrated.
Pizza Sauce ua-cam.com/video/d81YkhcRMC8/v-deo.htmlsi=8vl-MKg3tTEz1IXi&t=31
Mixed Vegetables ua-cam.com/video/NM-APeA1b7c/v-deo.htmlsi=UFajANoxV8c2rlkS&t=241
Kiwifruit ua-cam.com/video/RdQVlS-6lLI/v-deo.htmlsi=bLEZzBd_lVZDz1BW&t=97 and again a minute later.
Oooh, I can’t wait to see how these test out over time! But, friend, EWWW…store-bought “tomatoes”? 🤮
Your t-shirts make me feel like a child again opening a package of Wacky Packies and affixing the stickers all over my parents’ deep freezer in the basement! LoL
Ha! 🤣Here, at the end of January when I bought these, there is not a lot of home garden-fresh tomatoes. (None)
I will be pulling out a bag of these to have a look at the end of the next tomato video, batch 610. It's only 2 1/2 months, but I want to check. That video should be ready within a week or so, maybe less.
Take a few of them out and let us know how it went? It has been 11 months.
🤣 My first thought was - 11 months?! It couldn't have been that long! Maybe 5 or 6.
Then I looked at the video. I put those tomato slices into the freeze dryer Feb. 4th - almost 14 months ago! Time flies.
You are right, it's time to check a bag. Post-it-note reminder written.
Had you ever considered using air popped popcorn as a cushion and filler for that space you wanted to keep? That might turn out to be a twofer. Tomato slices for you and stale popcorn for the birds.
No, I hadn't, thanks for the idea. 👍
Using popped corn could be a useful idea to protect some foods, and would be an interesting experiment.
However, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't help the tomato slices. As the oxygen is absorbed, the fact that the "empty" spaces in the bags would be filled with solid objects (the popcorn) which would push against, and break the tomato slices they are trying to protect. The dried tomato slices are _way more_ fragile than popped corn and are going to lose that battle.
The popcorn shouldn't get stale if dry, and bagged that same as other freeze dried food. The popped popcorn would need to be run through the freeze dryer to remove the moisture it contains. (There is not much; It could a very short dry time using just the Final Dry process) Finally, I'm not sharing with the birds, I'm going to heat it and add butter and popcorn salt and keep it for myself. They can go find their own!
Have you look into nitrogen any since this video was made?
Wow! It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since I did this. No, I haven't got off my butt and worked on this yet. (In my defense, I am lazy. (and only active a few hours a day)) I swear, I will get it done. I just wrote it down on my list.
Some good info, but you lost me with the shirt
🤣 Because you think socialism is a good thing? Or you don't like the Mandalorian? Oh well, I can't please everyone.😁 Thanks for checking out the video.
I've done this but I grow my own tasty tomatoes.. home grown taste better than store bought. Store bought are designed to make them look good but not tasty. Store bought is induce ripening with ethylene gas, which kind of gets them ripe but at the cost of a lot of flavour.
Agreed 100%!
I used to work in the food/produce industry. I did a video a while back where I talked a bit about controlled atmosphere storage (CA) of apples, pears, and other foods. It's at the beginning of this video - ua-cam.com/video/Z5Smiqcoj_4/v-deo.htmlsi=SKU9EKMoIEieULfE
I was really surprised that these tomatoes were actually quite good. I haven't been able to grow my own garden for a few years due to several reasons, including that the deer would eat it all. I do miss my garden.
Got every fruit tree I could grow in zone 6 ohio before retirement & a few dwarfs that I have to bring in. I'm old school canning. No deer problem but got Alfred Hitchcocks Birds that got every berry I had.. Now retired switching over to freeze dry. 1.5 years into retirement growing everything I can while I can..Keep up the videos, Im learning.
@@DavidDavid-uh8ry Nice!
We're in zone 8, bordering on 7 some years, so a little easier growing, except the deer and turkeys. We do have a couple of fruit trees and 2 walnut trees. We have to fight the squirrel for the walnuts and the birds for the cherries.😁 Bird pie?
@@SchoolReports LOL, I was prepared for ground attacks but didn't prepay for air attacks.. I was looking at the medium Freeze dryer.4 tray, buy the time I saved the money it became a 5 tray, Grand kids love the icecream sandwich. still testing & watching the videos.
Today will be Zucchini. Retirement means more time working, less money.
@@DavidDavid-uh8ry Ice cream sandwiches are great!
Did you happen to see my zucchini tip on how I would cook zucchini? 🤣😇 ua-cam.com/video/pZ2I1JtB6k4/v-deo.htmlsi=jUTgN0Hl0_DNEBgx&t=1870
And in this video I freeze dry the zucchini for my sister. ua-cam.com/video/OWX6o82wR7w/v-deo.htmlsi=SxayeREPx27rDzl8
I was expecting alot of pitchforks and torches with the plastic use😂😂😂
Oh! Me too!
And then blowing up the bags. . . . with AIR!? 🤣 Bring out the thumb screws. ("Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!")
😀 😛 🐸 ❤️ 😋
Like you, I don't have a N2 purge system but am actively trying to figure out what I need. Below are a couple of sites I've come across that you might be interested in viewing.
peakmoment Bag It! Packaging Bulk Food With Nitrogen
bible prepper Preparedness: Nitrogen Packing Grains in Buckets and Barrels ua-cam.com/video/M8E5kDcbOGE/v-deo.html
Sovereign Spirit Nitrogen Food Packing: Tank & Regulator Basics ua-cam.com/video/yCj2JSX2pUY/v-deo.html
WITTGAS Modified Atmosphere Food Packaging (MAP) - how it works, benefits, gases, requirements ua-cam.com/video/CquXUa7ZPjA/v-deo.html
Try stacking the slices in a wide mouth jar with an oxygen absorber. It works pretty good for me.
For short term use, like a family picnics, car camping, or road trips, anything that doesn't require long term storage, I think jars could be a great idea! (and you never have to worry about crushing) It would sure make it easy to pull out the slices and use.
One of the important functions of the Mylar bag is to block light. Personally, I don't use jars for long term storage because of the weight and need to keep them in the dark, and most importantly for me, they break when dropped. 😁 For short term use I could definitely see using a jar to keep some items handy and ready to use.
🙏👍🏻❤️☮️!
I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just put them in a wide mouth pint or quart jar with an oxygen absorber and seal the top?
That would make it easy to pull out the slices and use. For short term use, like a family picnic, car camping, or road trips, anything that doesn't require long term storage, that would be a GREAT idea!
One of the important functions of the Mylar bag is to block light. Personally, I don't use jars for long term storage because of the weight and need to keep them in the dark, and most importantly for me, they break when dropped. (Oops, I broke another one!) 😁 For short term use I could definitely see using a jar to keep some of them handy and ready to use.
Rehydrate tomato slices by just misting them
Hummm, I didn't understand or know that you have to add OX absorbers according to the bag size, I have been adding a 400cc to all my bags regardless of the bag size. The larger bag is my 2-gallon bags as a holding place for the meat loaf till I get the sides ready to repackage it all, that's only 800cc (2x400cc) for a 2000cc bag????. To tell you the truth none of my bags suck down like when you vacuumed seal something. being concerned about that fact, I looked it up online and it said that oxygen absorbers don't absorb the AIR it absorbs the oxygen content in the air (approx. 21% of air is oxygen), therefor it won't collapse the bag like vacuumed sealing does. I have run this machine every day less defrost time, (expedited of course) since I got it. And just decided each batch will get 2 days of dry time. That way I will know that the food is dry. I weigh it daily then at the end 3 times in 2-4 hour spaces to make sure the weight doesn't change. This way I get some rest from it all. Basically, set it and forget it aside from checking and adding time. It's so hot here right now that I have to add ice bottles in front of my fans to keep the room cooled down enough that the machine doesn't give me a hot room notification. However, I didn't read the fine print I guess because I never consider the weight going into the machine. I load my trays with frozen food one level thick as much as I can without stacking or overlapping and it's worked out just fine so far. I am concerned about the oxygen absorber issue. I think I did over kill for the most part, I think. everything seems to still be crispy inside the bags, I keep checking. I now have 4 bins full of stuff, mostly meat, cooked and raw, eggs, raw and chicken bone broth. A few other things but I packaged most everything in quart bags or smaller. Do you think I'm fine with the 400cc absorbers? I already use tons of bags and I double seal them all, right up to the zipper. I just don't know now. Oh, by the way I'm so glad you did this video, if you can't rehydrate tomatoes to their original selves then I will only make tomato concentrate that way I can use it for sauces or tomato paste, having to try and get the skin out of freeze-dried tomatoes after the fact would be horrible. :)
Yes, it's true that not all bags will look like they have been vacuum packed. Almost all of mine do because of the way I bag them.
One quart is about 0.95 of a liter. A liter has about 210 cc of oxygen and a quart has about 199 cc of oxygen. We use 300 cc absorbers for our quart bags.
A 200cc absorber is sized pretty close to exactly the "correct" minimum size for a one liter/quart bag. (Assuming everything is perfect) A 400 cc absorber is just big enough for a 2 quart bag. (Again, assuming everything is perfect) We would use a 500 cc or two 300's for a total of 600 cc.
Two gallons of air is about 7570 cc and has about 1600 cc of oxygen. (a 2 gallon bag with freeze dried food will have something less than 2 gallons of air in it. How much less depends on the food and how much extra air was squished out)
I would probably use 2000 cc oxygen absorbers for 2 gallon bags. (Because we don't assume everything is perfect)
The bags should all get about 21% smaller, but it isn't always very noticeable unless the food was kind of _filling_ the bag to begin with, than it should be very noticeable and look sucked in.
I have a number of videos about the oxygen absorbers that we use. Here's one - Oxygen Absorber Testing (For our freeze dried food) - ua-cam.com/video/x30h6lxfcHc/v-deo.htmlsi=a9y3Qr1g3nyoGHcB
The long term problem is permeability - Oxygen is going to be going through the bags, slowly, forever. The better the bag the slower it happens. Of course if you have oxygen absorbers in the bags they keep absorbing any oxygen that comes through.
The dry tomato slices are great in a sandwich! And sauce is great, too. We did freeze dry a lot of tomato sauce earlier when I had a garden with an abundance of fresh tomatoes. Gardening has not been a realistic option for me for a few years now. I miss it.
@@SchoolReports I will have to re-bag those meatloaf slices and add several more ox absorbers. Right now, they are still crunchy/brittle. Man, I wonder if I should put them back into the machine before re-bagging them to make sure there still fully dry. I have them in plastic bins inside where it's cool and dry. IDK would that help, or add problems?
@@SchoolReports Ok, so I weighed them, and they are fine, but I added 3 new oxygen absorbers and re-sealed the bags. I need to get the potatoes, gravy and vegies done now so I can re-bag the meals and I will add the appropriate absorbers. I think all my other bags should be fine as I put 400cc in one-pint bags. Fingers crossed. lol Lord have mercy!!!
@@SchoolReports Ok so this is what happened. I was concerned because after I opened the bags and put new ox-absorbers in the weights were consistently 10g greater than before opening. SO, I totally re-bagged the entire thing. It is now consistent with the new weights. I felt all the pieces and though it was a tinny, tinny bit greasy it was all totally dry. I'm hoping that re-bagging it will give me a true weight that I can check prior to consolidating into meals. I worked really fast as I always do so I'm pretty sure things are fine. I had added a moisture absorber to each bag when I first package the items and they had no reaction so that's good. I did notice that one of my bags had tinny (Push) marks where the sharp meat dented the bag, I put electrical tape on it just to be sure. The contents won't be in these bags for more than another 2 weeks, so I think I'm ok. Pray for me. lol Oh and the bags were actually 1gallon not 2 gallons. they now have like 2000cc worth of ox. absorbers in them. That ought to do it.
@@dianavestal850 You type so much faster than I do! :) And you work fast!
If I saw a consistent 10g gain across a number of bags, I'd look for issues not related to actual weight gain, something added to them all or an issue with the scale.
One gallon has about 800 cc of oxygen. I'd probably use 1000+ cc absorbers for 1 gallon bags.
Storing in a cool dry place is always best.
I do want to clear up something. (if it's being misunderstood by anyone) The "staying crunchy/brittle" (free of moisture) is a separate issue from oxygen absorbers. That's good to know that water vapor is not getting through and therefore the food is staying crunchy and not gaining weight. Water is an _almost_ completely separate issue from oxygen.
The main mechanisms for food to go rancid involve water and/or oxygen, (and can be triggered by light) and we must remove them all.
Chemists define roughly two ways a product can turn rancid: (Super simplified)
1. Oxidative rancidity: Reaction involves oxygen
2. Hydrolytic rancidity: Reaction involves water
All this to say that it can stay 100% dry and still go bad due to oxygen, or it can be 100% oxygen free and still go bad due to moisture that we didn't remove. It can also be both 100% dry and oxygen free and still degrade due to light hitting the food. (For those who like to store in clear jars)
The good quality 7mil bags can take a pretty good amount of abuse; they are pretty tough. If/when I'm concerned about sharp, pokey foods, I wrap it in a layer of paper towels to cushion the points.
Examples of socialism in the US:
* Police
* Firefighters
* Public education (K-12)
* Social Security
* Medicare/Medicaid
* Public utilities
* Public libraries
* Parks
* The VA
* Public transit
* Public housing
* Federal student aid
But that message was so important to send that you wore your shirt multiple days in a row to make sure it got delivered. 😂
Thanks for commenting on the freeze dried tomato slices; I too thought the color of the slices after freeze drying was good!
@@SchoolReports they do look delicious!
First like lol