We sold a grainmill also, hyped by a friend who had several. Used it some also. Nothing happened and other things incl food was donated or tossed. Now retired, who has time or money to throw away again? not me.
Congratulations! You are now the owner of a new freeze-dryer; or you are ready to make the purchase! While the freeze dryer itself is a major investment in food preservation equipment, you will want to make certain you are prepared with a few other items
I think a community-built troubleshooting manual is a great idea. These machines are simple in some ways, and more complex in others, and having a lot of eyes on the problem is always good.
Also, since it’s such a large amount of money in question, you don’t want to lose your warranty, which can happen if you buy through resellers.
Monitoring the FDer internal temps and once I see -40F I start the dry cycle, except for high sugar content food which I give an Em excesso hour. I'm still experimenting with Ice cream and a few fruits to determine optimal freeze time to get the best results. The cooling cycle ends up much shorter.
It's so much easier to stay on a low carb diet when you have things to nibble on. I've been drying meatballs (cut them in half first), and they make a fantastic savory snack. I'll post to the Tried and True thread when I get a chance.
Freeze drying is also simple to do – much easier than canning or dehydrating. If you care about having an emergency food supply, a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer is the best and most affordable way to do it.
The item is then heated up again and as the water starts to leave instead of melting (ie going from a solid to a liquid) it sublimates (ie goes from a solid to a gas) under the influence of the negative pressure produced by the vacuum. So you are left with the cell minus water in an intact shape and size.
No matter the extent of the damage, most of the time there is a simple and quick solution afoot. Whether it’s washer or dryer that needs a bit of work, or an air conditioning unit that’s making an unsettling noise, the right appliance repair expert can likely solve your problem with little to no stress on your end.
While I had the unit apart to replace the display I decided Buy Now to correct the water condensation problem. If you find yourself using your FDer in the same conditons as we do you may want to consider modifying your FDer to keep the condensation from your FDer control circuit and display cards. Here are the steps that I followed to minimize what the NC high humidity climate does to my FDer.
Ready to shop for a Harvest Right freeze-dryer? I use and recommend the medium-sized unit. Click here to shop for current promotions and sale prices.
Run full system test with no food in chamber (results, 630 mTorr lowest steady reading - looking through the oil level window, some bubbling seen in oil even after an hour of pumpdown - some "air" noises from pump)
Obviously things like ice cream and marshmallows you would want to let the freeze cycle run longer. When I'm ready to start the drying cycle, I open the door, remove the insulator, and check the temperature of the food on the trays with an infrared thermometer. As long as it's below -10F I start the dry cycle. A side note for TonyC, have you ever thought about attaching a mirror to each side of the tray rack to reflect the radiant heat back in to the trays? I've looked at some mirror finish stainless on ebay, and it looks like you could do it for about $quarenta. Not sure if it's worth a try or not. I would think it would let you get more water out in a cycle because the radiant heat wouldn't be warming the ice on the chamber walls. Just a thought.... Edited December 16, 2015 by Pipsqueak duplicate post (log)
The industry standard machine for drying ice water hash at commercial operations that need serious throughput