Freeze Drying Batch 652 Beef Tri Tip RAW Steaks
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- Опубліковано 9 бер 2024
- Freeze drying about 9 lbs of raw beef steaks - thin-cut (1/2")
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PackFreshUSA
We have been buying oxygen absorbers and 7 mil Mylar bags from PackFreshUSA since early 2018. During all that time (1000's of bag and oxygen absorbers, and about 6 year before before we added this affiliate link) we have been happy with the products and service we have received from them.
I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. - packfreshusa.com/?rfsn=787757...
Use the discount code "SchoolReports5" to get 10% off your first purchase when using the link.
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Before buying a freeze dryer, perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; some people have problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
When trying to decide what to freeze dry you can start by asking why.
Start by asking yourself this question. Why are you freeze drying food? Knowing this should help you decide what you should freeze dry first.
I'm freeze drying because:
Just to freeze dry leftovers?
You want to make your own food for camping/backpacking?
For if/when the SHTF?
For a short term emergency?
You have your own garden and want to freeze dry the food?
You love Costco but don't have a family of 6?
You are good at finding the food sales but only have 1 freezer?
When you cook homemade chili just for yourself you make 10 gallons? Because you have 3 full freezers and are worried about power outages?
If I knew then what I know now, I would have freeze dried things in a different order. Or maybe not, because I started freeze drying because we had 3 full freezers, I was thinking of getting another one, and I decided I should buy a walk-in freezer instead. I started looking into walk-ins and realized they were expensive to buy (even used ones) AND expensive to own and operate. Then I found out Harvest Right was making home sized freeze dryers. One of my first thoughts was "I like Mountain House!" I have used their food for backpacking almost 45 years and we even kept some in our travel trailer, for just in case.
Freeze dried food will stay fresh for many years and be ready and waiting when you need it.
We do videos showing how we are using our Harvest Right Freeze Dryer to freeze dry food for long term storage. (We have the medium size machine that we got in August of 2017) We talk about how to load and unload the freeze dryer, how to know if the food is dry, is it better to freeze dry raw food or cooked food, and do a few taste tests. Freeze dried food is also great for prepping or just for camping and snacking!
Want to support this channel? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm
AFFILIATE LINKS & REFERRALS - I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided
───────────────
As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. By clicking on the links, you can explore the products and tools I use.
www.amazon.com/shop/schoolreports
---------------------------------------------------
PackFreshUSA
We have been buying oxygen absorbers and 7 mil Mylar bags from PackFreshUSA since early 2018. During all that time (1000's of bag and oxygen absorbers, and about 6 year before before we added this affiliate link) we have been happy with the products and service we have received from them.
I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. - packfreshusa.com/?rfsn=7877576.a54e2a
Use the discount code "SchoolReports5" to get 10% off your first purchase when using the link.
---------------------------------------------------
Harvest Right - If you are thinking of buying a freeze dryer, please consider supporting us by purchasing through our 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; some people have problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
Forgot to mention - great deal on the beef. Buying in bulk and catching sales like that greatly offsets the cost of a freeze dryer especially over the long term
How is freeze right not paying this guy? Or have a million views?
This guy is the only FD advice I trust
I know right?!
other excellent video!
Thankyou for sharing :)
Yay! gun anatomy is back 😂
The part labels crack me up!
Awesome video and I LOVE YOUR SHIRT🥰🇺🇸❤️
Thanks, the way the parts are labeled crack me up!
Thanks for the video. It is interesting that the middle trays tend to be "warmer"... which brings me to a question, does the machine have "resistance coils" to heat it for the defrost cycle or is it using a reverse refrigeration cycle?
ps.. I was totally surprised to see you slurp the air out of the bag... I was really thinking that you would vacuum it out...(of course, with an added O2 absorber added to make sure no oxygen makes it in the bag over time).
Good question. The defrost is just using the same tray heater pads that are used to dry the food. They heat the whole chamber the same way it heats the trays, just the freezer unit is not on. (You can see them here) ua-cam.com/video/91gEssGQsYw/v-deo.htmlsi=eOl_7rYUHcrwHPlN&t=1340 This is part of why we don't use the defrost function.
😁 I'm not against vacuum sealing the bags or jars (as long as there are oxygen absorbers), except for the cost of the machine, the time (maybe a minute per bag x thousands of bags), and the potential of crushing some delicate foods (if using bags), e.g. tomato slices, green beans or other delicate items, but most vacuum systems still leave a little air (and oxygen) in the bags. A little oxygen goes a very long way when it comes to food damage!
Oxygen is going to be going through the bag, slowly, forever. The better the bag the slower it happens, it depends on the oxygen transmission rate (OTR). But it will happen.
@@SchoolReportsOh. I see. Thank you!
@@SchoolReportsIt makes total sense. All of these containers have some small but non-negligible OTR for long term storage. So, the food will need to be stored with an oxygen absorber. Thanks again.
❤how do you sterilize the FD after raw meat ? Thanks for your very detailed explanations
Thanks for watching and for commenting!
I do clean the machine after raw meats and raw eggs. (But I don't show it most of the time because my videos all already long:) Here are a couple examples:
Freeze Drying Your First 500 lbs of Food - Cleaning - Between Batch 4 Eggs, and Batch 5 Potatoes - ua-cam.com/video/fQmK-0UIhcw/v-deo.htmlsi=4fTtDOlpkFMkU0Sz
Freeze Drying Your First 500 lbs of Food - Cleaning - Between Batch 25 and Batch 26 - ua-cam.com/video/tLjLEB5pp9Q/v-deo.htmlsi=hnNcRSzUWPX3z62p
Cleaning the Harvest Right Drain Hose - ua-cam.com/video/n7-GQVS-T7c/v-deo.htmlsi=x_XEn52t1djsOuqX
Thank you for all your information and I really love your spreadsheet by batches. The list from 1 to 50 has helped me think about other things to freeze dry. Do you have a listing of all your batches? I know you’re in the 600+ range.
Finally before purchasing on Pack USA, what size bags would you recommend as standard?
I’ve learned so much from you. Thank you so much and I will be adding a few coffees. I’m now on batch nine on my HR medium machine. 😊
You are so welcome and thank you!
I'm going to assume that you are asking if I have a list of all our batches like the 50 Batch series spreadsheet. (Please let me know:) The answer is no to that; I didn't track all the data points until I started the series and viewers asked for the data. Even the _Dry Check_ weights were just on scratch paper! Now everything is on the batch worksheets and they go into the 3-ring binder for future reference. We've only been using the batch worksheets for about 160 batches - much better than the notebook I was using when it comes to information tracking.
On the other-hand if the question is if we just have a list of every batch and what it was, that we do have. (Although we may have missed one batch in August of 2017)
And, on the other, other-hand 🤣 if you you just are interested in a simple list, I do have a 3 year old list that desperately needs to be updated. If that's what you're looking for let me know; that might finally be the impetus to finally get it updated. Freeze Dry Food List - ua-cam.com/video/Sef8mdLtm68/v-deo.htmlsi=qNZMXgOsGc5iyvFg (I hang my head in shame that it's 3 years out of date🤣)
The "What bag" size to use is a tough question. It depends a great deal on how you _actually_ end up using the food.
When we started freeze drying we were "sure" (and wrong) that we would be using at least 4 servings at a time, so we bagged a good amount of gallon bags and a lot of 2 quart bags. When we _actually_ started using the food we wished we had bagged mostly quart bags, pint bags, and a few 2 quart bags.
The key is to try to see into the future and figure out how you think you might use it then. In general, in an emergency situation I'd rather have to open 2 bags and use them up, instead of opening 1 big bag and not using it all. (At least I think so:)
We now use mostly quart bags. (90%?) - but my sister uses mostly pint bags. (70%?)
These are the Mylar bags 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/pint-7-mil-seal-top-gusset-mylar-bags-1000-wholesale/
Quart bags - packfreshusa.com/quart-7x-9x3-7-mil-seal-top-gusset-mylar-bags-1000-wholesale/
And these are the 2 quart ones packfreshusa.com/two-quart-7-mil-seal-top-premium-gusset-mylar-bags-and-oxygen-absorbers/
And the oxygen absorbers we use the most -300cc Oxygen Absorbers in 10-Packs (1000) - packfreshusa.com/300cc-oxygen-absorbers-in-10-packs-1000-wholesale/
PackFreshUSA
We have been buying oxygen absorbers and 7 mil Mylar bags from PackFreshUSA since early 2018. During all that time (1000's of bag and oxygen absorbers, and about 6 year before before we added this affiliate link) we have been happy with the products and service we have received from them.
I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. - packfreshusa.com/?rfsn=7877576.a54e2a
All this info is perfect. You probably have addressed some or all of my questions on other videos - but being able to ask you directly has been so helpful. I’ve been diving deep into all the videos and feel that the final absorption of learning don’t really happen until you are all alone with your actual machine that the real lessons happen.
What I have loved about your list is sparking my creative mind for “batch” ideas and the direct links to the specific video so I can learn more about that specific item. Thanks!
My overall intention - and as we know things always change - is to have ready food so we can go RVing more often. It’s just my husband and myself (and our dog) and the shopping, prepping, chopping, cooking, and cleaning up takes away for the time I can enjoy the outdoor experience I so love about our beautiful country. Also to add that monitoring our refrig/freezer (need for electricity) or cooler levels (ice) to make sure our food doesn’t go bad is what makes freeze drying so wonderful. I want my own food, that I know all the ingredients, at an affordable cost - instead of buying the very expensive products from places like Mountain House or Peak. The savings of doing it myself in the short/long run will pay for my machine.
Finally - last question - I’m still cautious about daily/weekly inventory? Example: Apples, Bananas, Strawberries - they all turned out excellent. I currently store in a Mason jar and vacuum seal - but it is a nuisance to get the seal off and reseal if I just want to grab a handful for lunch/snack. Should I assume that these FD items are now like potato chips - that once in the jar or freezer bag should last for days/weeks. I don’t want to have to vacuum seal the jar again every time I want a quick snack - or have to drop in an oxygen absorber (currently everything is vacuum sealed in jars). The freezer bags (currently only have candy) are so easy - just roll out the air and I’m fine. Does that also apply to all my fruit and veggies? Videos put the fear of God into me about the dangers of air rehydrating you food and spoiling it. They say it doesn’t last “long term” - well that word has a huge range - hours, days, weeks, months, years, or decades.😡
Bonus - my first “real” test for my meal intention was outstanding. To grab some already prepared healthy items from Costco and FD them. The “Fire Roasted Primavera Mistura” by Puravida and “Organic Rainbow Carrot & Sweet Potato Blend” by Eathos were exceptional and rehydrated like I made it myself.
Thanks for your time and all the work you have done in the past to make this process of learning so helpful for us “Newbies”.
@@girarddyess Congratulations on our freeze dried meals! Isn't it great? 👍
Thanks so much for the "Why you started freeze drying." When we started freeze drying it was for camping and to try to empty the freezers so we wouldn't have the worry about power outages!
I do really like some of the commercially freeze dried foods, like Mountain House, but as I show in my beef stew comparison video it's not the same as our own home cooked recipes. It's great to be able to bring our own freeze dried food camping. (In case you haven't already seen it) Rehydrating Freeze Dried Beef Stew - Homemade vs Mountain House - ua-cam.com/video/w_p5j5oyX5M/v-deo.htmlsi=JnZXMk-aSmGEqp5n
We loved taking our homemade freeze dried foods camping in our travel-trailer. We used to have a Trail Manor and sold it a couple years ago, but I hope to do some van camping in the future.
Again, if you saw my "50 Batch" series recap video, I show that the pay-back can be less than 50 batches. - It could be as low as 25 batches depending on what you freeze dry.
Glass jars:
I'm not a fan of using glass jars for a number of reasons: weight, space, breakable, transparent (light is bad for the food), to name a few. I do think jars could have a place with freeze dried foods, just rarely for me. (Maybe tomato slices at a picnic) There are probably plenty of other good uses, but I gave away all my jars after I stopped canning.
I would always use oxygen absorbers for long term storage (anything more over a week), even when vacuuming, because there is still going to be a small amount of air/oxygen between every particle of food. I believe it will be a lot more than people think. A little oxygen goes a long ways when it comes to damaging food. Oxygen absorbers remove the oxygen _exponentially_ better than most jar vacuum systems. If a 1 liter jar is vacuumed and 9/10 of the air is removed (a pretty good vacuum), then there is still 100 cc of air, with 21cc of it being oxygen.
Potato chips are less sensitive to moisture than freeze dried fruits. Because of the extreme hygroscopic nature of freeze dried foods, some foods (like Comice pears) will start to rehydrate and became chewy in a matter of minutes/hours of being exposed to moist air. That being said, the texture may suffer but it's still going to be fine to use. Freeze dried vegetables don't seem to have near the issue with moisture as fruits. I personally don't worry about having opened - but zippered shut - bags (or closed jars) of most freeze dried foods sitting on the counter for a week or two before using it up. (Maybe a lot longer - I haven't tested longer) Again, the quality may suffer, but I not concerned about it "spoiling" until it gets above the 10% moisture level.
You're right, "long term" is meaningless unless it's defined. I'll have to see if I can come up with a definition that's easy to understand and works for all foods.
A couple of times you mentioned "freezer bags." I assume you're meaning Mylar bags; freezer bags are nearly useless for freeze dried foods. Freezer bags won't keep out oxygen or moisture. (Again, I have a video:)
Wow this is a gold mine of consolidated info!
So, allowing food to remain that cold, for extended time does NOT cause freezer burn?
Great question. While freeze drying and freezer burn are kind of similar, the conditions are so different that it's really not something that happens. The freeze drying process happens in just a day or so, in a vacuum, and starts at temperatures much lower than most normal freezers.
👍👍👍👍👍
Another question from a different person's video, he vacuumed raw steak, the frozen them, the put them in the freeze dryer. He dehydrated them and they looked like the raw meat he started with. Have you tried that.
Sorry, I don't understand the process as you've described. I got lost at "vacuumed raw steak." Why? How? In what?
If they are in a bag, they are not really under vacuum, just the air has been removed from the bag. (Which is great for storing in the freezer) They would have to be removed from the bag before freeze drying, or at least the bag would need to be opened.
If raw, non-frozen steaks are put in a vacuum chamber the water will start to boil and the temperature will drop. If the vacuum is low enough and there is enough water, it will even freeze. (Cody'sLab has a great video of this - ua-cam.com/video/y4BGV7-1lhs/v-deo.htmlsi=PtRQ_RwtaQwtGeN1 )
I have rehydrated some of the raw steaks that we've freeze dried.
Raw Beef Steaks ua-cam.com/video/dxeIuqd0O1k/v-deo.htmlsi=BpEAWb60etlNBxIz&t=621
Tri Tip Steaks Rehydrating Tests ua-cam.com/video/9vHbGKsyXKw/v-deo.htmlsi=qtMUWZ49GM66MKeb
Should i get thermometers for each tray? I havent received my freeze dryer yet, but looking at getting everything i need. Do u recommend anything that i should absolutely get?
I would, and a scale.
(And now for the book that you didn't want/ask for:) (Sometimes I just can't stop myself!)🤣
I consider the thermometers and the scale to be the most important tools I have for freeze drying.
Hose cleaner (someday - no rush) Cleaning the Harvest Right Drain Hose ua-cam.com/video/n7-GQVS-T7c/v-deo.htmlsi=3zaF33GxhJkzcW6p
We do like to line our trays with parchment paper most of the time. Again, not required.
Pans for prefreezing are also nice to have.
Personally, I really wouldn't _consider_ freeze drying without a scale for doing the _Dry Check_ Process. And I wouldn't be happy freeze drying without the thermometers.
The thermometers are absolutely _not_ required for freeze drying, and I absolutely love using them. I consider them to be the second most important tool (after the scale) for freeze drying. I never use the thermometers to tell me if the process is done. (they can't) I use them to tell me it's not done. I know that might not sound like a difference for some people, but if there is still any cold area in the food and therefore the process can not be complete yet, even though the freeze dryer firmware is telling me it is.
I use the thermometers for two main reasons:
First, to let me know if the food is getting close to being complete and second, to tell me if it's too cold to take out. For example, I might be doing a batch where the machine says is getting close to done, it might be in the last 3 hours and is going to finish at about 2 am, but one thermometer is showing that one tray is still only 10 degree, and I know from experience that it wouldn't be done in just 3 more hours, so I can add more time without having to take it out and check it. As some (most) foods dry, they really became like super light fluffy insulation. The top and bottom layers can be very warm, yet there can still be a layer of ice through the middle. The _machine's temperature probe_ will often say that it's very warm not knowing about the ice in the center layer. - Example: ua-cam.com/video/qDuB_T8gIm8/v-deo.htmlsi=BZSwReZ0c2PZDpv2&t=540
If we have the tray temperature set for 120ºf and the middle trays have been at 120º for at least 3 or 4 hours and the top and bottom trays have been at least 110º for that time, then it is probably time to start the _Dry Check_ process.
Second, if the freeze dryer finishes when I'm not there (happens for me a lot), I can still know the temp of the food, making sure it's still warm before I take it out. If the food is -40, there will be condensation on/in the food almost instantly, you just won't be able to see it because it will be absorbed and not be visible. It probably will have already happened before you even get it out of the freeze dryer. The room air moisture going into the machine when the drain valve is opened may be condensing in the food before you even have the door open. The temperature probe built into my machine is on the bottom of the second shelf up from the bottom. It's sandwiched between the heater pad and the rack itself. It can not tell me the temperature of the food, only the temperature of the heater - good enough to know the temperature of the heater for controlling it - but tells me almost nothing about the food. The built in probe also does not tell me the temperature of the chamber walls, (on my older machine) the thermometer laying on the bottom does.
Scale and thermometers are ordered! Haha I will definitely be following the weight method to make sure it's dry. I agree, it's the only way to really tell if it's done. Don't want to spend all that time on something just for it to go bad!
Thank u for answering! I may have more questions as I'm waiting for it to be shipped. Should be 2 more weeks! Fingers crossed 🤞
Thanks for understanding.
I have a hard time giving short answers and often go overboard a tiny bit. I figure if nothing else, someone else might be looking for more depth in an answer.
I'm happy to answer anything I can.
Remember, I'm just another idiot on the internet. The #1 joke at our house is "But, I saw it on the internet!" Consider looking at what commercial companies are doing. That's where I look to for guidance. If they can do it, we probably can too. (with method adjustments)
Do you worry about inhaling with raw meats in the bag?
I don't really _worry_ about it when it's steaks. 🤣 There is no dusty/powdery-ness to them. (That doesn't mean it's a good idea - just that I'm an idiot!) But it does kind of yuck me out a bit because I don't even like my steaks to be cooked anything less than well done! Some people eat raw fish!
Maybe next time I'll remember to bring down the FoodSaver with it's vacuum hose.
If it was raw, crumbled, ground beef I would be more concerned. (I've never freeze dried any raw, crumbled, ground beef)
I have had 2 drain valves go bad on me in 6 months. the second one surprised me because of the new one i changed out earlier. i finally took the hose off and put a 3/8 pipe plug on and bingo mtorrs went down. also what type of label printer do you use?
I took my sister's valve apart to clean earlier today and found it was so bad it wasn't cleanable, it had to be replace. Hers is about 1 1/2 years old. She has run a couple batches just using a rubber stopper in the end of the hose. Worked great. The hose with a stopped might be better than the valve. 😁 Easy and pretty much leak-proof.
I'm going to have to really look at the valve on my machine. It's over 6 1/2 years old and hasn't failed yet. I like to know why. (Or why not?)
@@SchoolReports what type of label printer do you use?
@@johnbailley4468 Sorry! I completely missed that!
Trying Out My New Thermal Label Printer - This Type of Thermal Print May be a Very Bad Choice! - ua-cam.com/video/64uMWEFxOgA/v-deo.htmlsi=g2Mlr2yWF2S3rJ7B
@@SchoolReports thanks just found your review on it.
@@johnbailley4468 Of course I still have no idea how they will do long term. So people are very concerned about the longevity of the labels. I'm not overly worried; I have 20 year old thermal prints that still look perfect. Time will tell.
🙂🥩🙃🥩😋🥩❤🥩🐸
I don't remember who I ask about the environmental impact oxygen absorber would have, I just realized that was the wrong question.
What will the environmental impact be from all those mylar bags?
Beings I don't remember I will probably ask others.
You did ask me and I answered. (The short version of my answer was - " I would think that pretty much any environmental impact issue will be the actual packet material and not the contents.")
I did wonder at the time why you didn't ask about the bags. 😁 They would potentially have a much bigger impact. But, in an emergency situation the Mylar bags would also be extremely useful for a lot of purposes.
Environmentally, the best option would probably be to use steel cans to store our freeze dried food. Very few people use cans due to the cost and difficulty of getting them. I would love to try them.
Thank you. When I ask about the oxygen absorber, I had just started watching freeze dryer videos and didn't know what an oxygen absorber was.
About the mylar bags, my experience with the current situation, most people are still in the throw away status, I have been begging for used jars and metal coffee cans and anything else that I can put something in. I'm not as concerned about saving food for long term, as for convenience.
I noticed that I confused you about the vacuum packed steak question:
Being you and Phil at 4800 are the only ones I trust completely, I think the steak guy was something about critical thinking.
He put the steak in a foodsaver bag, vacuumed it and put it in the regular freezer, after 24 hours he took it out of the bags, put them on the freeze dryer trays and then put them in the freeze dryer. At the end of the freeze dryer cycle he just rehydrate them to see if they dehydrated quicker and if that made a difference in tenderness or the steak.
I have noticed you freeze a lot of things and then put them in zip lock bags.
Anything you do is very interesting and helpful. Thank you
@@user-ys6pl4wo3c Okay, that makes sense. The difference between prefreezing in a foodsaver bag or not should be minuscule at best. (Maybe if I put some marinade in the bag?) I stopped watching any other people's freeze drying videos years ago.
For short/medium term storage, I might consider canning jars, if I can keep the conditions right. (Cool, dark, and always with oxygen absorbers) Vacuum Sealing Jars in the Freeze Dryer - How Much Air is Left? Too Much! - ua-cam.com/video/JJqCHYoylDE/v-deo.htmlsi=Dh1QMyHv2ISiscGX
We prefreeze almost everything before loading it into the freeze dryer. We are often prefreezing our blocks of food weeks before we freeze dry them, and have had 100+ blocks waiting for their turn in the freeze dryer.
Freeze Drying - Prefreezing Food in Pans - ua-cam.com/video/8kjkox2ymmw/v-deo.htmlsi=kFo_MTb-unt8FuKF