I have been wanting one for years but the price is high. They have 500 off black Friday sales on some of them and I'm tempted to buy one. Figured I would check here for opinions and experiences first.

Or the cash would go a long way on a auto start lp back up generator. But I figured with my wife's gardening and cooking it would not take to long to amass a ton of the equipment of 25 year shelf life stored food.

I saw some folks selling freeze dryed candy at a homesteading music festival in Tennessee. Things like skittles . They were having good business. And I think a good profit margin . So there is also the business opportunity of selling some thing produced and freeze dried. I need to deliver some chickens to my tax lady and ask her but it may have a tax advantage also.

Anyone have any experience or thought on them?

I've been eyeing them too but the cost is nuts. You're right it's a good little business You can freeze dry candy, cheesecake various foods and a bunch of stuff with them. People sell little bags of freezer dried snacks for around $5-$10. We've had freeze dried candies cheesecake fruits. Seen Carmel apple slices, various desserts.
Everything is much different texture and appearance.

The local Bomgaars had them I asked if they were selling many at that price they claim to of been selling them.

We have had a medium size Harvest Right for a couple years now. Have put up a lot of food with it and for the most part have been very satisfied.
There is a bit of a learning curve and one thing I would recommend would be to freeze your veggies, fruits, etc. before the process, save time and
any mess on the trays when you put them in. Eggs, soups, fruits have worked very well. Tomatoes, I guess I had a bigger expectation of them, they
are great in soups or stews but not so much on their own when rehydrated.
We want to do more this year with venison, stews, chili, and so forth. Goal is to have a year's worth of food put by. The sealer and bags they make
work very well and we have bought similar ones on the internet that are much cheaper and work just as well,

Zim

Do you like the size or would you recommend the larger models?

Also how r o you know how much water to add back to each item?

Om guessing you just seal them in the bags and don't use a vacuum sealer.

I've eaten a few different freeze dried fruits and veggies and they have caused me to have some gut issues.

Anyone's guts bothered by freeze dried foods?

I want to buy a machine, but this have kept me from doing so.

Basically you weigh the food before freeze drying and then add that weight of water to reconstitute. As I said there is a bit of a learning curve but not too bad,
If you are looking for really long term storage we use the mylar bags, desiccant and the sealer that we bought with the dehydrator.
The medium size works well for us and if you go to a larger moder you need a dedicated circuit for the machine. We just put ours on a rolling table in the
basement and can move it to any outlet we want. They make a little noise but not enough to bother me. They do run for 20 hours or more typically to do a batch.

Zim

Thanks Zim. I do have about 10 empty breaker spaces in my box and could easily add a dedicated one . Well running the line would be a pain.

I had one for a couple years. It was fun, but its time consuming. I didn't have the time. Despite all the youtube videos saying how well the food taste after its freeze dried, I did not find it all that appealing. There are some novelty items such as candy and ice cream that are maybe more fun than their original form, but for the most part, reconstituted food is not all that great. I believe it is useful for emergency food storage. If processed correctly, they claim 25 year plus shelf life. My favorite thing, and regret not making more of it, was biscuits and gravy. They come in real handy in a duck blind, deer box, or mountain top on a cold morning. Eggs were o.k. Meat, not so much. Some fruits were tolerable, but most were not "good" to eat in their freeze dried form, or reconstituted form. I ended up selling my last year for what I paid for it after about 200 hours of use. I will buy another one when the price comes down to below $1k.

ol 'dad

We have one of the medium ones, as been said there's a bit of a learning curve but it's been working out fine. An 85 year old friend of ours bought one recently (medium size) and has been doing all kinds of things in it. I like it for meals such as pea soup, chili, things like that where you can just add the water and you have something to fuel your belly. If your putting up food for the future, (that doesn't need refrigeration) they can be handy

I have one of the 5 tray versions. The reason fruits and vegetables don't reconstitute well is when they are frozen, ice crystals expand breaking the cell structure, unless they are flash frozen. Anything frozen at home is not nearly fast enough to keep the ice from growing and rupturing the cells. If you want flash frozen veggies they are readily available at your grocery store, Birdseye invented the process in the 1930's. Just make sure you keep them solidly frozen until they go in the freezer fryer.

For your home grown veggies either have a tank of liquid nitrogen handy or make stews and soups where a bit of mushyness is not a problem.

Harvest right has a layaway program. You can lock in the price with a down payment and then pay it off over time. Would I buy it again? Yes. The sales price now is better than I paid. I had to pay an extra $700 for the pump that is now included free.

I would caution you on selling freeze dried products. I know Arizona, and I imagine most states, requires food to be sold to the public to be produced in a clean kitchen that has been inspected by the state. Freeze dried food is included.

The best online youtube channel for recipes is "Jon in bibs". He makes multiple trial runs to make sure things work well before posting something new. The next thing I am going to try is shrimp with cocktail sauce. Sounds like a must have for the next hunting trip.