Home Freeze Drying - Is it worth it? The pros, cons, ins, outs, business ideas, and much more!
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2023
- Non biased total overview of everything you wanted to know about home freeze drying (lyophilization). Is it actually worth it? What you should consider before buying a freeze dryer.
Costs, whet makes sense, noise, time, energy, type, size, pumps, commercial freeze dried food, Mylar, oxygen absorbers, compared to canning and dehydrating, other things to do first, and much more.
Dean has been freeze drying since 2015.
Like, Comment, Subscribe and follow Arkopia. We are experts in preparedness, homesteading, sustainability, high efficient construction, passive solar technology, deep winter greenhouses, freeze drying & other food preservation, economics, and small sustainable food production.
Our website is www.arkopia.ca We are the inventors of the Best Selling Smoothie on amazon: Arkopia Freeze Dried Smoothies. We are also a small, multifaceted farm located in Saskatchewan, Canada where we are striving to provide our hyper-local community with food (and flowers), direct to customers off our farm.
Looking for a freeze dryer? Nate (Canadian Prepper) sells them at canadianpreparedness.ca/colle...
No kickbacks, he's just a good dude. ✌️
Freeze dried actual vaccine article (before it was changed to whatever it is):
www.wsj.com/articles/pfizer-t...
Freeze Dried Blood for space blood transfusions: www.courier-journal.com/story...
Freeze drying and live cultures: www.newfoodmagazine.com/news/...
I finally broke down & bought one (2022) during their good Friday sale & for the med. Size plus extras it was $3000.US from Harvest Rt. I'm older and have a disability that keeps me from being able to be a "producer" so I had to come up with other options. The food is much lighter in weight, it lasts almost forever, you can store a large amount of food in a smaller space, its ready to eat without cooking & it's much easier for me than gardening. I've done alot of batches and so far I'm really happy with it. I've been following a suggestion I got from YT "school report" that is a rotation (aleast initially) of batches of foods. It helps me to have an idea of what to FD next.
1. Meat
2. Vegetables
3. fruits
4. Dairy/eggs
5. Grains/starches
6. Meals
Then I added a 7th which is pet food & treats. It's actually been alot of fun.. so far so good!
Excellent! An honest evaluation. Will still do canning, dehydrating, growing, make a. Root seller and start raising. Poultry before I get a freeze dryer.
That’s my honest 8 year experience advice. Once you’re ready, it’s totally worth it. ✌️
@@ArkopiaUA-cam one reason I have waited is I hope prices on freeze dryers go down, and they get more more efficient with more redesigning.
@@Junzar56 The free market vs government money printer (inflation). So far government is winning.
Bought one (Large) in early 2022, and have been just about running it non-stop since then. Changing and filtering the oil per manufacturer’s recommendations. No issues.
Done just about everything through it, over 1000+ eggs when they were way under $10’s for 60 count. Lot’s of dairy, shredded cheese’s, yogurt, sour cream, milk, and of course ice cream sandwiches.
Appreciate you taking the time to share this.
I’ve had so many issues with mine.., but glad I’m still under warranty
been running one [ med ] for about 3 years , i run it in the kitchen mine is not very noisy , heat is the biggest enemy to a vac pump , so i run a small fan behind the pump . i run it mostly all winter because it does add heat to the house but it does run year around . this has been one of the best things i have ever bought.
Yup, I have people telling me you could sell stuff and I came to the same conclusion as you that it wouldn’t be profitable.
I have the large freeze dryer and I have been drying fresh and frozen veggies and fruits , chicken and beef.
I use glass jars and a food saver to take the air out. You can also buy amber colored glass canning jars which is what I use to store my herbs in.
Next on my list is making quick meals that don’t need refrigeration or freezing.
I have gluten/dairy allergies I can’t buy MRE ‘s so now I can make custom ones where I know what is in them. If I am traveling I will put in Mylar bags which will be incredibly convenient and healthy.
This machine has been an incredible blessing for me and my family.
It’s unfortunate you pretty much have to be very big or it’s not worth it for business. But it’s a game changer for the do-it-yourselfer. ✌️. Mexican spiced chili and a bit of rice is one of my favourite MREs we did for ourselves. But after making full meals we ended up focusing on bulk raw ingredients, then we use in cooking. I’d never have to grow garlic again in my life. 😂
I’m going to get the new XL both for home and for use at my ice cream business. I’m super excited
Just doing fruit from my small orchard makes it worth buying a freezer drier, because dehydrated the fruit only lasts so long and to try to make it last you have to put it in the freezer anyway not to mention the taste and texture is so much better then plane dried fruit. Thank for all your info lots of ideas there.
Thank you for this Video.
I have been thinking about freeze drying my food (I love the taste of freeze dried food).
The high cost of the dryers are what has been discouraging me from doing it myself.
I have been doing my research on these dryers, and like you came to the conclusion that the biggest one would be the best value.
Several years ago you could buy one for about $7000.00.
I bet now they cost alot more. Also, I switched to basic Solar Energy, so unless the industry comes up with solar versions of freeze drying I am officially out of that market.
But your information is very valuable anyhow, so thank you again for this Video.
It would be really tough to get enough power being off grid. If it comes time to go “off grid”, we’ll be canning on a wood cook stove, and using a solar dehydrator and smoker. It’s sort of while times are “good”, use a freeze dryer while possible. ✌️
@@ArkopiaUA-cam
I am ALREADY (except water) off grid, my Solar Energy is the VERY basics. Consisting of three Solar Panels and my deep cycle Marine batteries. Three of them as well.
I have been using a 5w solar Panel for my cellphone since 2012, and finally moved to solar panels in 2021 for the home itself, after years of searching and learning the basics. And waiting for my Price ranges for Panels. Meanwhile as usages around the nation goes up, improvements are constantly made...
So I have been out of the market since 2021.
I am still keeping informed of progresses/ and information in our industry here in the US about developments of new products and ideas. I also watch what's going on in Europe for the same reason.
I still have family in Germany, so it is very important for me to learn about many cultures and their ideas.
And since I love learning, I spend many hours researching the products the world has to offer.
I like other readers input on many things I am interested in and read instructions, specifications, sizes, qualities, quantities, weights and many other information about what interests me.
And if I don't understand something, I type in the thing I don't understand and come up with many more sites that help me understand things better.
That is how I end up with channels like yours...
Really great coverage of this subject.
Amazing video! Thank you so much for this information. I hope to buy a freeze dryer this month. I'm interested in freeze drying much of my canning on the shelves, such as soups, stews, pastas with sauce, etc. More meals, but also a lot of my garden produce this year.
We are thankful that we got the big one. Our friend got the medium and it a huge different in size! Mainly use for dog food with out own recipe and Eggs as we get too many of those
Great Truth on FDing!
We only FD Sous Vide Beef & Chicken and raw scrambled egg.
We can still buy beef for $3-4 lb, chicken $2-3 lb, eggs $3 doz.
For us it’s all about long term (20+yrs) storage of pre-cooked meat that’s very light weight.
We’re storing for a Household of 20 for 3 years
3600 lbs beef
7200 lbs chick
7600 eggs
460 batches in a HR large
An XL FDer is on order
Also the new Premier Oil Pump is essentially maintenance free.
Tip: have your vacuum pump higher than the outlet to keep moisture in the chamber and out of the oil.
Hi Dean - nice review on freeze drying machine. I have 2 machines as well, but I only freeze dry meat, veg, eggs, herbs and prepared meals for our family. I have also done freeze drying for friends - they provided the food, I charged for electric, Mylar and OA - I’m not trying to run a business. I still do canning - pickles, salsa, relish, hot sauce, jams and tomato sauce (I also freeze dry tomato purée which can be used for tomato paste, sauce, juice, soup). I make a lot of homemade soups in bulk and freeze dry those as well. If you cook rice and freeze dry it - it can be added to pouch meals and rehydrates really well. We have a lot of wild fruit in our area as well as friends who have apple trees so I’ve freeze dried a lot of fruit as well - it’s all free stuff so the cost is just operating the machine.
I appreciate your efforts and content!
Good review, I do have the medium one 2021 model with maintenance free pump I use it only to freeze dry fresh eggs. But yeah you're right Chinada oups sorry Canada is not for canadians and never been...
Thank you so much for posting this. Very humorous!
Thanks for the great information. I've gone back & forth on whether to get a freeze dryer. This actually answered a lot of my questions.
Had mine for about a year. Spot on info. I reuse canning Jars to store short term and vac seal lids. Cheap because I don't use absorbers for that because I know I'll use it in less than a year so like herbs and some eggs, tea
Great insights, thank you for sharing.
We bought one 2 years ago and did a lot with it for the first year. We are getting back into it this summer.
Very good information. Thank you
thinks for putting things into order, great video.
My harvest right fried after just 4-5 months!!! Glad I was home to quickly unplug it. Now I have to take it apart and do what looks like complicated work I'm not comfortable with. So there it sits. I'm really disappointed.
All this high tech stuff os wonderful, until 1 of the 1000 things goes wrong with it. Like new vehicles. A wood cook stove and canner doesn’t screw up. A dehydrator doesn’t screw up. ✌️
Going to hold off a bit before purchasing a unit. Sounds like there are other things to master 1st, thanks for all the info sir
We have a medium and freeze dry leftovers, excess garden produce and anything we find on sale.
Have had a medium harvest right for 3.5 years, very well made video with a lot of good points to the pros & cons. The one thing that has kept me from using it as much as I would like is the oil filtering. Was wondering if you could share where you got your filtering set up from. Thanks for the great videos I really enjoy your content & presentation!
I beleive unfortunately the fellow passed away years ago now.
Sorry to hear, thanks.
Suggest upgrading to the new Premier Pump ($800) from HR. It’s much improved. Also Tip: mount your pump a high above the FD as possible to have the vacuum hose as vertical as possible. This allows any moisture to drain back into the chamber instead of into your pump. We have Large FDers and just set the pump on top tge FDer. It’s tight and the hose is bent more than I’d like, but ours have been running that way for years. We change the oil every 25 batches or every two months. We filter and reuse it three times. After filtering the oil looks and feels new to the touch.
@@jayweiss602 I’ll do a short on it explaining how it works. ✌️
I love watching your videos
Appreciate that. ✌️
I've wanted one for years now. Thank you for sharing . I just might get one this year. Lol🌈❤️🌍✌️
Thank you for a valuable presentation, its benefited me greatly, I live in a small coastal town in Queensland Australia, while we have a good local grocery store it only stocks the basics and to get what I want requires an hour trip to get to the town that usually has what specialist items that I require, therefore I am planning to buy a freeze drying machine for convenience and being 89 I can store some nutritious and appealing and easy to prepare meals meals and maybe help others in similar circumstances.
Sounds like a machine would be perfect for your needs; put some harder-to-get foods away. 🙂✌️
Fiou! I almost thought you would forget Nate!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge on this. Save if us tons of time and money every time I watch one of your videos.
Glad to hear it. 👍
I hope you do more Freezedryer ideas of what to freeze dry. I’ve had a Freezedryer just like the one you have for like 2 to 3 years. Five months that it was down took forever to get repaired. But besides that I love the products it turns out. But never have I thought about doing tunafish or canned chicken what a brilliant idea. Please give us more ideas or how twos or whatever you got on the Freezedryer so many people start out but they don’t do very many videos. I understand it takes a long time I freeze dry a lot also. But even if you did video showing the end product that would be very helpful. Thank you for doing this one
Ok. I’ll do another video discussing at some point. After having them for years, we ended up utilizing them most for ingredients like garlic, herbs, spices, etc for us to use in our cooking later on. You can only put so much food away 😂. We are building up a sustainable multi-purpose farm with ongoing production now, so over time storing so much food is not as big an issue for us personally.
It's good for 25 years. As the price of food goes up. You will make profit. 😅
I buy different bags of your dryer food and not try yet. I will when is the right time. With my and my wife incoming we don't have enough money for buy one freezer dry machine. Is hard to survive now but I'm here again. Maybe 1 day 👍
Been interested in one for very long time, scared by the price!
I have dehydrator and root cellar! LOL
(and egglayers, poultry, turkeys, couple hogs per year)
Great Vid thanks.
Never get a oiless pump, parts are a pain in the ass to get since the lockdown
Thanks for the video.Love your comments. Skittles..LOL..So true. What do you think about Freeze dried meals..like Mountain House? Just buy the ingredients and freeze dry them. Freeze dried meals are sold around 14-20 $ for 100 grams of meal in stores like Cabela's etc. I believe the market is not saturated yet.
Yup. Oats or rice or pasta you can get the cost down.
The more I listen to your video the more questions I have. When you freeze dried your canned tuna and chicken did you drain it and rinse it or did you put it on the tray straight from the can? Also do you eat your fruit just in the freeze dry condition or do you rehydrate it and how does it turn out if you do?
You can eat fruit pieces dry like a healthy chip, or rehydrate. Our smoothies you rehydrate. You just squeeze as much water out of tuna or anything else as you can before freeze drying. Add water to freeze dried tuna and it instantly rehydrates.
I watched the entire video and I was waiting for you to explain what those white cylindrical canisters are? What is their purpose. I could see a what looks like a electrically operated valve. What is that for?
In the summertime I have an abundance of extra solar energy from my solar system. I have to vacuum pumps so I was wanting to experiment with putting food under a vacuum. What happens if there’s no refrigeration or heat in the chamber and it’s only a vacuum?
Sorry. I’ll do a short about the oil filtering unit. It’s an electronic valve to the freeze dry chamber, a manual value to push oil through the filter, and an electrical switch to change from freeze drying to filtering. Drains to drain water out of the oil and food oartickes.
Not sure what happens when food is just under a vacuum, no freezing of the chamber. Probably not much.
Am 50/50 on getting a freeze drier so this video was timely. Thanks.
As to "We cant grow tropical fruit in Canada"
Your Mission.
Should you choose to accept it! :)
That stupendous Greenhouse of yours must make such a possibility?
You must have a warehouse full of mylar bags!!
I can grow anything in that greenhouse, just not in large amounts or anywhere close to competitively. Can feed my family, but that’s about it.
@@ArkopiaUA-cam The fact you can grow tropical fruit in any quantity in Canada is bloody amazing, and inspirational!
Providing for your family is the most important. :)
Great stuff! Thank you for all your insights and hard work. I bought a medium HR last year and run it a lot. I have been freeze drying a lot of my canned stocks like turkey chili and fruits packed in water. It's a great way to extend my stores when the quality starts to degrade in the canning jars. I get a lot of free stuff so making my own MRE's is great! Keep doing what you do best! Just being you!
Appreciate it, and good to hear what you’re doing. Our canning goes to the freeze dryers as we rotate through it all also. ✌️
Cool content Dean, did you ever get it down to an expression?
example: X watt hours = extraction of Y water-volume over Z time.
I did not. I have extensive notes of the water content of different foods though, and how long it takes a batch. 👍✌️
From what I understand, those freeze dryers go to -40 F/C when vacuuming to freeze dry. Would it make sense to run them outside in the fridgid cold to help this process move faster and save money?
Utilizing the cold from outside would help. Would just need tray heaters and under a vacuum
Is there going to be a video on building a root cellar?
Aside from digging a hole in the garden what else does one need to do.
We also sit half way down a hill so water accumulation is an issue.
Mine is just a cold spot in the back corner of my shop, and another cold spot in the crawl space of my house. I’m planning on a larger food larder on the north side of the greenhouse, partially underground and super insulated.
@@ArkopiaUA-cam I look forward to the construction video of this "partially underground and super insulated" root cellar.
:)
F.Y.I. The newer ones are not very loud , I have the Large 5 tray I bought from Harvest right , under $4,000.00 U.S.D. .. Keep it loaded to max . I have F.D. almost every type of food but not a lot of raw meats but soon will be . , I would like to see a " SHORTS " video of how you make the capsules of liver Etc. .. And YES I highly recommend having one .
What about using solar power to operate them? It would probably be a huge draw on the batteries, but just curious if anyone's tried it 🤔
It’s all doesn’t make financial sense unfortunately, but doable. ✌️
I think it would be worth it for personal use, but it probably isn’t viable for a business.
However, if food became so valuable that storing it long term is priceless, then maybe.
We have a very large solar system 16kW with 30kWH batteries. FDing requires WAY to much power constantly for 24-48 hours.
I’d say FDing Off-Grid is impossible.
The FD uses between 20-30 kWH per batch depending on the cycle times. You would need a solar array over 20 kW ($15k) and a battery capacity of > 30 kWH ($10k) dedicated to only FDing.
Not impossible, but highly impractical. For budgeting we account for $3 of electricity per batch at $0.15kW. Batches run from 25-50 hours depending on moisture content. And BTW, the Large has never pulled over 14amps. It can be run on a dedicated 15a circuit. We power each of our Large FDers through an EcoFlow Delta Pro.
I’m just curious what do you think of the new Freezedryer that’s out where the pump is on the inside and they say you do not have to change the oil? To me I think eventually you’re going to be running into problems for the fact that you even have to change oil in your car. Your opinion place would be much appreciated
Any pump that deals with sucking out moisture will need maintenance. Not even sure what new machine you’re talking about, but any pump requires maintenance.
The new Freezedryer that I was talking about in particular is called the cube. And it’s one claim to fame so to speak is that the pump is on the inside and you don’t have to change the oil. And I’m just thinking there’s got to be some type of maintenance going on there or you’re going to pay big bucks to get it fixed.
@@Thisisit120 Ya. Having it all in 1 might give you some grief and downtime. Interesting though. Thank you. 👍
What is the best way of keeping oxygen absorbers once vag is open
In Mylar
Buy OxAbs in bulk but packaged in in individual 5-10 packs per or what you typically use per FDer batch. Or buy in bulk and repackage into smaller packages that match you FDer loads.
hmm. i saw that you had tobacco in your greenhouse does that work at all with a freeze dryer? We got one last year for a crop share we are part of, and our own garden. put away a bunch last year.
Tobacco I just ferment and hang to air dry. That’s all it needs.
👍👍👍👍👍
Great video, very informative. I have a question. Do you have a permit for those wild Saskatoon Berries? Fascist Canada and all🤣
Don’t give them any ideas. Taxing your own garden will be next. 😂
Still can't wrap my mind around you eating bananas off of your own tree up there in the North Pole neighborhood 😁
I considered doing a local business of delivering to the elderly. My area is the number one growing city in the USA and many are retirees.
Freeze drying likely too expensive for most things. Fresh off farm would be great and more affordable. 👍
@@ArkopiaUA-cam the reason I was thinking was many elderly who refuse to go in to an assisted living type of situation go without food as it’s too hard to cook for one or they simple cannot. Even if I was a non profit it would be worth it to me. There are many women owned business grants available as well.
Why are you freeze dying caned food?
Rotating our food storage. ✌️
So you're just using energy for fun. And wasting mylar bags when the can already has a long shelf life.
@@moldboy2 Canning chicken makes it nice and tender. We also make corned beef using a canning method, then freeze dry it for long storage.
I have canned tuna and other fish, which make me nervous keeping in long storage. The Pop-Top lids don’t hold so well.
Thin strips of bison meat, hung on peeled poles in wind. Have a kid on standby to chase off Ravens and Magpies. Test of time,….. test of time.
Good video but, 12 smoothies for $95cdn not Poppin
Working on shrinkflation to help with prices. 👍
Not good for Nate 😇
100th comment
Mass produced food is no where near the same quality as home grown food.
Sometimes. I often think if I was selling garlic that I grew, and went bigger, there would only be good changes. Such as consistency, and the same thing for a lower price. 🙂✌️