Mommy High Five reviewers are mothers and some grandmothers who have experience in parenting and children’s products. Whenever possible, products are purchased and tested for reviews.

Be aware that it is very important to drink liquids when eating freeze dried foods that haven’t been reconstituted.

Evaluating efficiency and operational success is essential in selecting the right freeze dryer. One of the most important factors is capacity. For small batch production, pharmaceutical companies need precise and accurate freeze dryers, while food producers require large scale systems for mass production. Aligning a freeze dryer with the production requirements increases efficiency. 

In fact, my son’s friends often comment that they wish they could have his freeze dried meals rather than whatever they are eating!

It freezes the product and lowers pressure to remove ice by sublimation. Sublimation is the transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas phase without passing through the liquid phase.

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I've also added an oil catch can that does a wonderful job of trapping oil vapor exiting the exhaust of the pump. Now instead of coating the area in a fine oil mist, the oil settles into the can. The clear tube on the Shop Now side of the can lets you know how full the can is.

After buying our freeze dryer I was naturally curious as to how it "knew" when something was done, since batch times varied so much depending on what was being processed. Watching the cycle times didn't seem to tell me anything at first -- especially without a thermometer to tell me what was happening inside -- until I finally website caught on that applying heat to the frozen food affected the vacuum, which provided the measure of how dry the food had become.

We have a large vegetable garden, and I love that I can pick something and freeze dry it right away. I know where my food comes from and how it was treated. This gives me peace of mind in knowing I am feeding my family healthy food.

adding insulation on the 3 ports on the chamber (One time thing - the drain and vacuum ports are very easy to get to)

The only downside is that the interior is now so cold that defrost time has doubled! I use a large high volume fan to defrost the unit, not the heat trays. It used to be a 15 minute job, now it is closer to 30 minutes.

Shortly after getting the freeze dryer, Lance's wife began shipping over boxes of dehydrated food. We get the food, rehydrate it, and make some incredible meals. My favorite was the pizza Lance would whip up!

The next way to save money is to watch Harvest Right's website for seasonal sales and promotions. Sometimes, patience pays off in the form of significant discounts.

And they are so much more flavorful than what you buy at the store. Again, I like to powder vegetables and use them to thicken soups. My family doesn’t even recognize when I add powdered zucchini to spaghetti sauce!