harvest right - Uma visão geral

I would prefer those fittings to have internal O rings and knurled thread on ports (similar to R134a vacuum gauge sets) that do not require high torque compression fittings. Finger tight and you are good to go. You spot a leak, change the O ring and you're back in business.

Reattached hose and ran another full system test (results, 750 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)

We have to face one hard fact when shopping for home freeze dryers. That fact is, unlike many other purchases, freeze dryers aren't cheap. However, unlike many other purchases, a freeze dryer can provide a lifetime of cost savings that ultimately pay for itself.

What type of oil does the vacuum pump use? Harvest Right freeze dryers use food-grade vacuum pump oil, which is available for purchase. One gallon typically lasts several months with proper filtering and maintenance.

When my son goes to college in a few months, we will send him with many freeze dried meals and continue to mail them to him as needed. Most colleges don’t have safe gluten-free options, and while in an ideal world my son would be able to cook all his own food, I know that’s not practical or likely. Freeze dried meals on hand are an easy way to keep from being cross contaminated at the cafeteria!

•The shelf heaters can be set to automatically control the rate of sublimation during the primary drying cycle. Through this process, the unit has control of the attendant vacuum pressure.

Is it as cheap as buying at the store? No. But properly freeze-dried and stored meats can last ten years or more without refrigeration. The freeze-drying process can be challenging, but those who have the time and patience should consider doing it.

Isolated pump by capping the stack (no meter to measure pressure, but pelo bubbling after a very short pumpdown - pump sounded normal for a high vacuum situation)

A bit of background on me - I used to work in a sold state fabrication lab more info (university research lab) Shop Now and had a lot of hands-on work with ultra-high vacuum equipment. The pumping we do for freeze drying was what was required to just start

Pre-frozen food takes less time to process since the machine doesn’t have to completely freeze the food. Your climate (humidity and temperature) can also affect the cycle length. My average load takes around 24 hours, but it can be significantly longer.

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You can freeze dry soy and almond milk as well as most non-dairy yogurt, sour cream, and cream cheese substitutes. This has been especially helpful in avoiding food waste, as my son is the only one who uses the non-dairy substitutes, and he rarely is able to finish them before they go bad. I just throw them in the freeze dryer for him to eat later.

The length of time on a freeze dry cycle really depends on a few factors including what food you are drying, how much weight there is, and whether or not the food was pre-frozen.

And, as I write that, the “more is better” side of my brain is freaking out. After all, bigger means better, right? Not always, but read on to learn my thoughts on why the small freeze dryer may be the way to go.