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Freeze Drying Your First 500 lbs of Food - Batch 1 part 2 - Chicken
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- Опубліковано 26 кві 2022
- Freeze Drying Your First 500 lbs of Food - Batch 1 part 2 - Finishing and bagging the chicken.
Link to the spreadsheet docs.google.co...
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Freeze dryer batch #1 - 10 lbs of cooked, diced, chicken. Started precooling the freeze dryer at about 1:50pm 4-24-2022.
Cost of chicken: $43 (we bought this a while back when the prices were lower)
Total batch time: 32 hours 16 minutes.
Weight before drying: 4534 grams (about 10 lbs) Weight after drying: 1392 grams (about 3.07 lbs)
Power use: 21.31 kWh
Bagged into: 14 quart 7 mil Mylar bags with 300cc oxygen absorbers.
This list is about getting started on a 500 lb mixed pantry of freeze dried foods in 100 days.
(This may be a bit optimistic and perhaps it'll only be 400 lbs)
Goal of about 85 lbs per category. (100 lbs per category if we don't do the Meals/Dishes)
1) Meats:
2) Vegetables:
3) Fruits:
4) Dairy:
5) Grain / Starch:
6) Meals / Dishes:
A Harvest Right is not inexpensive. If you have wanted one but feel they're out of reach for you, you might consider sharing a freeze dryer.
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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.
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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!
My "data person" noticed that there was an input error in the Beef Stew data. There is a double forward slash in one of the lines of the Beef Stew data, which caused a sorting error and actually our oldest Beef Stew is from 12/2017 not 1/2018.
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First 500 lbs data spreadsheet link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ieekdk5aH_2OWLUealeOLurU9_zl03BfFEg_qhAgcaA/edit?usp=sharing
Batch worksheet link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13DCB2hXo9_ZYrhIUicLk2IrEaQGszwbaJTcEH8wJxk4/edit?usp=sharing
I noticed that too. You might want to convert that column to the date format and let the computer deal with properly sorting it.
Loved this long format for the videos, quite relaxing to watch as are the other videos, olus of course informative. Thanks :-) I love the data precision by the way.
Well, I thank you for watching and commenting. It helps make UA-cam gods smile at the channel.
As an engineer, I love all the data too! Was a good video. I did laugh on the "first try!" Well played.
Thanks! I try to only use "first try" if it's not anywhere close to the first try.😀
$70 for 1.45# diced, freeze dried chicken; $378 for 8.7#. You made 3# @ $51. That is fantastic.
Since the price if chicken has increased greatly- we just get the precooked & grilled FROZEN chicken from BJs or Coscto and FD that now- much easier. However, you have to stalk it in both clubs to purchase -not always in stock. FYI- the frozen Italian meatballs FD & rehydro well too- we did many pounds as they were on sale all last month. We worked our way through proteins, cheeses, currently working on veggies- LOVE LOVE the FD. TY FD your videos
I don't know if I mentioned in the video, this chicken was precooked. We've done meatballs in the past and they're on our list for this series, too.
With the cost of chicken, I'm wondering if the best price per pound might be to get Costco Rotisserie chickens and strip them.
Thank you -you always have great ideas.
So helpful great quality checks!
I just got a batch of Maui Gold Pineapples today.
I will be cutting them up and getting them in the freeze dryer!
Pineapple is so good! And the Maui Gold is so sweet. (I like the Name, Nunna)
I really like the longer videos
Thanks for watching and I glad to hear that, because there are going to be a bunch of them!
Thanks so much for all of the detail and extra time required to film the whole process. It’s very helpful. I’m just starting out on this journey and trying to understand all of the helpful tools you’ve provided. I do have a question about the data that you’re tracking. In this Chicken batch, your far-right column “Net after” shows the difference between the “Gross after” weight and the empty tray or “Tare” weight. What is the 351, 333, … net measure used for? It seems like the more helpful calculation would be the difference in the “Gross after” and the “Gross before” to get the true decrease in overall weight attributable to the water loss to guide the reconstitute step. Thanks again for all of your help and guidance.
I'm using the Net weight before, minus the net weight after, to tell me the water loss. 4534 grams before, minus 1392 grams after = 3142 grams of water loss. I could do the gross before, minus the gross after, and it would work the same, but I still would need the finished net weight so I could figure out the grams per pound for bagging.
I don't always note the water needed on the bags, because some things just absorb the water it needs and then stops. (I go into that a bit for the corn that I just finished, and will start editing tomorrow)
Once worked in the food industry. Well that explains why you are so incredibly thorough. Which I like. How often do you find that after the extra 2 hours you need more dry time? I know you have an older model so does that mean that there is no sensor that tells when it is done? My model is a 2021. I rarely have to add more dry time. I check a few pieces from each tray with a thermometer.
Thanks for another great question/comment. Yours have always been good. Okay, from the top:
I worked for a "premium food and gift producer" company for more than 20 years.
The more carefully I load the trays (even depth and consistent food size) the less often it needs extra dry time. Maybe 1 out of 4 batches. (maybe?) If I do mixed batches there is a much higher likelihood of this issue because that can "fool" the algorithm.
The fact that it's the older software might make some difference: they have improved their algorithm, but I believe it would be minor, from what I've heard.
The thing that made me change to using my current method of checking to be positive about dryness was a batch of eggs. (or it could have been mashed potatoes) Whichever one it was, I was crushing it in a large zipper bag AFTER having already checked it for dryness, by the method, as you said, "check a few pieces from each tray" method, when I found a 1/4" wet spot in the powder. Sure, it's small and may have been fine, but there was no way I was going to bag ANYTHING with known moisture in it.
I've read manuals from the older version freeze dryers and the newer versions, along with the troubleshoot guides and the repair instructions.
As far as sensors; as far as I can tell from everything I know and have read, (I'm not an engineer for Harvest Right, and I could be wrong) there is no sensor in the freeze dryer to tell when the food is dry. Their wording is careful "your machine senses when the food is ready" which is beautifully ambiguous.
I believe they use a complicated algorithm to monitor the time, temperature, and pressure, and the interaction between them. (i.e. If the pressure is this low, for this long, at this temperature, it must be dry) And they did a great job, but it can be fooled/lied to. Some foods, or mixed batches, are more of a problem than others.
If I were doing this commercially, doing batch after batch of the exact same food, of the exact same quantity, loaded in the exact same way, under the exact same conditions, I could find an amount of time I could trust, but I would have a nice 3 to 9 thousand dollar Water Activity Meter like these: www.weberscientific.com/water-activity-meters-novasina
I'll probably find out during this 50 batch series, with almost all batches being just one food, that the machine does a better job of sensing/calculating when it's dry than I even knew!
I believe Harvest Right says in at least one place that it's best to not mix foods in a batch. I'm not good at following instructions!
@@SchoolReports Thank you. I have never done a mixed batch. Never felt comfortable about everything drying the same. I have the small FD with 3 trays so filling all the trays is never a problem. I have noticed that during the final dry the progress bar will be close to finished but I will check on it and it will have receded. After 10 batches of broccoli all of them have been consistent 18 to 19 hours of run time. I am very happy with that. But of course I am very conscience of the size of the pieces being uniform, evenly distributed and each tray weighing almost the same. That's why I love your channel so much. You take the scientific approach to determine what will be the best way. So far, I have had a great time experimenting with my machine. Oh, and as for storage I use "under the bed" storage containers. 2021 is in one room. 2022 in another.
@@iselasmith4526 I love it! "Where's the mashed potatoes?" "They're under the bed it the 2021 room."
After all this time, (and batches) I'm finally learning to not mix the foods, at least not ones with very different dry times. You're ahead of me on that!
The fact that yours take 19ish hours of run time is a good example of why, when asked, I keep telling people that me listing/posting my dry time is pretty much useless. With the exception of marshmallows, our machine with its older software, can't finish a batch that quick. Not to mention all of the other variables of loading, etc.
Interesting we have always done mixed batches- but usually add 2 extra hours just because it doesn't finish when convenient to empty LOL
@@gigis5017 With some mixed batches I've had to add 6 extra hours or more.
Just found your channel so I'm binge watching. Love it all! What shelving units did you buy? Is your Freeze Dryer in the garage? Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
The shelving units are whatever they had at Costco at the time we got them a few years ago. (I could check if you would like to know the brand/model)
Our freeze dryer is in our basement, where it rarely gets over about 72°F even during the hottest part of our summer. It only gets that warm BECAUSE I'm running 2 large freezers and a freeze dryer down there. Without the freezers and freeze dryer running it might plummet😁 down to as low as 62°F in the winter. With them running, it's about 68°F down there right now, and it was about 22°F outside overnight.
@@SchoolReports Thank you for replying. I'll figure out what shelving will work.
@@SchoolReports Thank you for replying. I will figure out what shelving will work. Thanks for the 'concept'. The nearest Costco is over 2 hours away. I live in the mountains of western most Maryland. This morning the wind chill was -45. Burr. The basement would be a great place for the Harvest Right. I plan to get one soon and definitely will use your link. You deserve the credit. Thanks again for all your informative videos. Very helpful.
I am awaiting the arrival of my Large FD. I wanted to ask what type of clear plastic you are using for the insert at the front of the drum? I want to source the proper type of material needed, so I can be prepared when it arrives.
The disc is just Acrylic, like the door, but a lot thinner. Here is how I made it. Making an Acrylic Disc Front for a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ua-cam.com/video/erH1VDqNi80/v-deo.html If your freeze dryer is like ours, (2017) the opening is not quite round. For my first test piece I cut a very accurate circle out of a piece of foamcore and it had gaps of 1/8"+ (3mm +) around the edge. My sister's new (late 2022) machine has a chamber that is very round. We will be making a disc for her machine and I think the fact that it's round will make it easier. Her machine is a medium and I think hers is just a simple 11 7/8" diameter actual circle! I don't know what size the large is.
You don't NEED the disc. However, for us it's a useful addition because of two related things: condensation and heat transfer. First, while it's cooling, but before the vacuum pump starts, it helps with heat transfer. Second, because I often (very often!) don't get to the machine right away when it finishes, it just sit there chilling. Sometimes it waits 12 hours or more. Very chill, -40 chill. By the time I get around to it, without the front disc and seal insulation, the entire door and seal would be covered with condensation, both liquid and frozen. And then it melts and makes a mess. For people that stay right on top the the process, ready to take it out and check it the minute it beeps, all this is totally unneeded.
Thanks for sharing your storage method. I am getting to the point where I need to manage the accumulation. I think your method will work perfectly. QUESTION: How well has "your other half" adapted to living our of these bins? Surely, your consumption is a mix of fresh and stored. What does that look like?
For most freeze dried items that we're going to use, we plan ahead to allow for plenty of rehydrate time, often rehydrating in the fridge from morning until night, if needed. As far as adapt to the bins, she set up the system; Inventory management system stuff is her day job.
I use one gallon bags and put 1 lb of chicken in each.
1 lb after freeze drying? Wow! That's a lot of chicken, about two #10 cans worth.
This was great. I have lost track. I have been using different size bags based on what it is. I just label the container as cooked meat, raw meat, veggies and meals. storing them being in different size bags has proved, not successful. love your record keeping, so I don't really know what I have of everything right now. I have started using mason jars for some things I use often, eggs, mushrooms, bell pepper, onions that way I just take what I need out real quick and re vacuum seal it. After opening a few times I replace the oxy absorber Watching this made me realize how unorganized I really am..yikes!! Thanks for sharing all your ideas. Got some work to do
Thanks for watching. That's a great idea, using resealable jars for the often used items!
Great video although not once did you show the pile of mylar bags that you haven't organized yet slowly sliding down to take over the whole basement . I use a totally foolproof system of my own invention where I write on the end of tubs on wide masking tape. It worked well until I too transitioned to the smaller bags.
this system also only works well until the gremlins replace your tan tape with the blue stuff. Really don't ever bye blue masking tape when you have black markers. I mostly run into organizational problems with the little snack bags. you can get a hundred of them in a tub. Try to find the ten gingerbread apple slices in a big tub of grapes. I didn't want grapes I wanted gingerbread and finally settled for apple crisp. The gingerbread is still missing.
Ha! We started with the same system for inventory organization. It works perfectly until you start using stuff and the then put new stuff in, repeat, repeat. We would end up with marked out lists and sloppy writing and 40 bins of things we know we have, but not exactly where.
@@SchoolReports yea I found it broke down pretty quick once you got multiple tubs of sameish stuff and I'm the only one here so nobody else ever does stuff I don't know about. I have to get some basement stuff reorganized so I don't have to move tubs around all the time. Right now it is easier to just label the tubs. someday there will be a Database. Inventory database is your friend. I have one for the rest of the pantry and it works excellent.
@@Baneironhand 😀Two words: Barcode Scanner. And maybe a little RC forklift.
I thought we should start out with barcoding each bag, use a scanner, and a nice Warehouse Management System. My wife though we try a simple database first, since we don't have 1000's of SKU's or a large warehouse.
@@SchoolReportsyes without gurls we could have all the toys...sigh
I learn soooo much from you. Wow. Thank you so much for all your amazing videos. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Where do you purchase your Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers?
We have been getting our bags from packfreshusa.com/ for a few years; we get the 7mil bags. It seems like they have been having a hard time keeping the bags in stock lately.
These are the ones we get the most: 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-gusset-mylar-bags-500-wholesale/
300cc Oxygen Absorbers in 10-Packs (1000) packfreshusa.com/300cc-oxygen-absorbers-in-10-packs-1000-wholesale/
@@SchoolReports awesome thanks a bunch. I am so glad I found your channel. It’s such a joy watching you and learning from you!!! Thank you 🙏🏻
I have a question. I know you are super precise when it comes to putting the same weight in the trays. Why is there a difference in weight after FD it? Am I missing something?
No, you're not missing anything, it's just that almost no one really thinks about food at a structure and/or cellular level. Probably a good/simple example might be 2 trays of chicken, with one tray ending up with more dark meat than white meat, or one trays meat being slightly more cooked than the other. You put the same amount chicken (by weight) on each tray, but it turns out that the water weight of one tray is higher than the other. You'll see big differences if you load "equal" trays with stew. Big water vs solids weight differences. Things like corn seem to have closer weights.
@@SchoolReports ahhh ok I understand now. Thanks so much !!!!!
Learned something again from you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thank you. Did you cook the chicken first?
It was precooked frozen chicken. I showed a picture of the box in part 1 of this batch ua-cam.com/video/AZJWMTAPDOc/v-deo.html
Where do you prefer to get the mylar bags from? Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
We have been getting our Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers for PackFreshUSA.com and have been happy with the products and service we have received from them.
-- They are not a sponsor, we just like their stuff.--
It seems like they are having a hard time keeping bags in stock lately. we've probably bought 5000-6000 bags from them. We have 1000 more quart bags on the way right now and are waiting on 1000 oxygen absorbers.
Mylar bags: packfreshusa.com/shop/seal-top-gusset-mylar-bags-sets/
Excellent, thank you! I have purchased from them in the past, but for 5 gal buckets.
@@lindseymontgomery7668 How were the 5 gallon ones? (besides BIG)
They were definitely big. They worked well I believe. I have them for long term storage items.
Where do you purchase your mylar bags and oxygen absorbers?
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 have been getting our bags from packfreshusa.com/ for a few years; we get the 7mil bags.
The pint bag with OA's packfreshusa.com/pint-seal-top-gusset-7-mil-stand-up-mylar-bags-sets/
These are the ones we get the most: 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-gusset-mylar-bags-500-wholesale/
300cc Oxygen Absorbers in 10-Packs (1000) packfreshusa.com/300cc-oxygen-absorbers-in-10-packs-1000-wholesale/
I love your sheet and your attention to detail but am unable to download it. Would it be to much to ask to email it to me?
I hope it doesn't come to that, it should work. I'm new at this so I had a couple people test it for me, both on computer and phone and it worked for them. I'll check the set-up.
@@SchoolReports thank you so much.
I use an iPhone 11 and I also have an iPad that I have since 2019. It’s just a little one nothing fancy. I do have a computer but it’s packed away and I really don’t want to unpack it and bring it out from storage. I am sure it is something I do wrong 😑
@@Sabrina1998 My daughter just used her iphone to do a download test for me. She said she had to have some app thing.
@@SchoolReports ok I will give it another try :)
@@Sabrina1998 Thanks. And if all else fails, my email is in the "About" section.
3/4lb is 340.194 grams
😀 Yes. 340 ish grams before freeze drying ended up as 104.4 grams after freeze drying.
Oil level ?
Of the vacuum pump? The middle of the sight glass.