Freeze dryer/drying

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Dani said:
Nice to kwnow. I didn't even think about freeze drying bread.
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I did it because the instructions in the manual say it should be the first official batch to get the "new car smell out." Then you chuck it.

Officialdom says bread should not be done for real because it turns to mush when rehydrating. Well, fresh bread does as well when doused with water. It took almost 24 hrs to slowly rehydrate a slice nicely. Not worth the bother for me to ever dry it again.

My freeze dryer is working well; knock on my wooden head. I figure not more than 2 lbs a medium tray for 80+% moisture content. It was 0% moisture in less then 20 hours. It has the potential to do a load a day if it isn't completely maxed out.

The $1.50 store sells cheap none stick square baking pans. 2.5 pans worth to a tray. I bought 40 of them to start pre freezing wet stuff like eggs and stews.
 
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lilmissy said:
Was thinking of fd chickweed. Does anyone think it is to fragile and would lose its medicinal properties
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My wife is a herbalist as well as many other things.....yes we have been running all sorts of herbs thru the FD. I even harvested our overgrown window full of alo vera and FD that. The FD doesn't get too hot so the medicine should be good and with O2 absorbers the herbs should stay fresh.
We are filling tubs with herbs and such that are FD.
 
Never thought of doing aloe vera. Good idea. I've done spinach leaves. Was just going to have little granddaughter start harvesting mint and chives. Maybe I'll try it in the FD instead of the dehydrator.
Took out the misc I had in the freeze dryer today, defrosted it, and ran out of time to fill it. I need to crack 60 eggs.
 
Mel said:
I would be interested if I could build one or find one that isn't in the hundreds of dollars.
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We are chatting about freeze dryers which cost thousands. Nothing else preserves food for so long and while still retaining nutrition. I tell people to go in with several friends and share the unit . The write ups I have seen about making your own freeze dryer all seem almost impossible ....and I consider myself a handy person. (I fix generators and cars and have built my own powder coat oven)
 
I am on a 3 day mini road trip. Last night I cracked somewhere around 60-80 eggs and measured them into the cake pans to put in the freezer for when I get back.

I also made up a huge batch of fried rice with eggs and the leftovers from a Chinese style roast beef/saucy kind of thing. That is also portioned up in cake pans in the freezer. That's two loads ready to go in the freeze dryer when I get back.

I am liking the cake pan ice cube idea instead of more freeze dryer trays; way cheaper and leftovers from different meals can be combined on one tray without mixing.
 
Amish Heart said:
Never thought of doing aloe vera. Good idea. I've done spinach leaves. Was just going to have little granddaughter start harvesting mint and chives. Maybe I'll try it in the FD instead of the dehydrator.
Took out the misc I had in the freeze dryer today, defrosted it, and ran out of time to fill it. I need to crack 60 eggs.
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When I do eggs I pile the shells on cookie sheets and dry them in a slow oven then pulverize them and feed them back to the egg producers.
 
montanabill said:
We are chatting about freeze dryers which cost thousands. Nothing else preserves food for so long and while still retaining nutrition. I tell people to go in with several friends and share the unit . The write ups I have seen about making your own freeze dryer all seem almost impossible ....and I consider myself a handy person. (I fix generators and cars and have built my own powder coat oven)
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That's kinda what I thought and at this point, I do agree about the expensive ones working best but right now it's me and my parents...Mom is retired and Dad is disabled.
 
Mel said:
That's kinda what I thought and at this point, I do agree about the expensive ones working best but right now it's me and my parents...Mom is retired and Dad is disabled.
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Dehydraters can be very cheap or homemade and preserve produce and make jerky. Localy the native americans just hung meat on sticks close to fires to dry and preserve it.
 
montanabill said:
My wife is a herbalist as well as many other things.....yes we have been running all sorts of herbs thru the FD. I even harvested our overgrown window full of alo vera and FD that. The FD doesn't get too hot so the medicine should be good and with O2 absorbers the herbs should stay fresh.
We are filling tubs with herbs and such that are FD.
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Thanks for the reply on the chickweed, going to toss some in the fd tomorrow. When I do chives and other herbs, I lower my tray temps to 110.
 
Do you all weigh your food when you load the trays? With my medium dryer I am keeping the weight to 2lbs a tray for wet stuff even though technically, it's good for 2.5 lbs. Thoughts?

My dryer tray temp was set for 125° which sounds reasonable, but it was spiking up to 140°. That is too high by my reasoning and is potentially destroying nutrients. I lowered the setting to 120° and now it's hovering around 125°. Its added some time to the drying process but I don't care. If the new improved efficiency is due to higher drying temperatures, it's at the expense of nutrients.

I dehydrated my eggs at 100• to not cook them, so my blonde mind can't accept 140° in the freeze dryer. Am I missing something?
 
ClemKadiddlehopper said:
Do you all weigh your food when you load the trays? With my medium dryer I am keeping the weight to 2lbs a tray for wet stuff even though technically, it's good for 2.5 lbs. Thoughts?

My dryer tray temp was set for 125° which sounds reasonable, but it was spiking up to 140°. That is too high by my reasoning and is potentially destroying nutrients. I lowered the setting to 120° and now it's hovering around 125°. Its added some time to the drying process but I don't care. If the new improved efficiency is due to higher drying temperatures, it's at the expense of nutrients.

I dehydrated my eggs at 100• to not cook them, so my blonde mind can't accept 140° in the freeze dryer. Am I missing something?
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I just load my trays with juciy things and meats so they aren't piled too deep and can get rid of the moisture, for chunky bits I give them space all around so everything is dry with one cycle. As far as pure liquid I put a quart in each of my large trays. and 22 ounces in my medium. We dry a low cal high protien drink.
 
I am pre-freezing everything. I weigh 1lb of whatever into those cake pans I mentioned. It makes the correct thickness for the trays and I can transport 4 pans at a time with out spilling.

I use pieces of thin foam board to let me stack them up in the freezer. One freezer basket holds 10 pans or one load. Once frozen, I put them in zip locks, I have three loads of eggs ready to go and a load of fried rice, but I have a bunch of veggies and fruit to get done first and the eggs keep on coming.

I could happily run 3 freeze dryers for a while. There is a video of a guy who runs 3 mediums with one suitable sized vacuum pump. He has a way of using relays to run one two or three at a time.
 
Amish Heart said:
I've never seen oil spit out, is it supposed to do that, Dani?
I've never weighed what I've put on the trays. Just being careful with liquid not to spill it all over the place. Just took more Ranch Beans out. I'll either put in more, or eggs tomorrow.
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I didn't buy mine new and got it from a friend at a much discounted price. When he brought it to me, it was with a sock so I thought this was normal since he did not have it very long before upgrading. He did complain early on with the spitting of oil.
 
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