I honestly think putting a thermometer inside the unit is an excellent idea. I sent the following note off to Harvest Right Support in an effort to gain a little better understanding of the process.
Brian Nichols Albert was responsive, informed and efficient. Harvest Right freeze dryer and kit are as expected, arrived sooner than expected, passed functional test and initial "bread run". Highly recommend both the company and the product.
3. Power Supply: Most freeze dryers require a standard electrical outlet but check if your home can accommodate the power needs of larger models.
Theoretically, you could use the machine for both gluten and gluten-free foods. However, we choose to put only gluten-free items in our freeze dryer to avoid any potential cross contamination.
A dehydrator dries food by using heat only, while a freeze dryer uses both cold and heat. Dehydrated food still has moisture in it and works for short term storage only.
•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.
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.
Take care of it, change the oil regularly, maintain it, and make sure to read the user manual carefully to keep it in good, working order. You might have to change a pump, change freon or general maintenance, but it’s pelo different than any other major appliance.
This is why so many people are buying their own freeze dryers to use at home. The market is essentially cornered by Harvest Right, which isn’t a bad thing since their quality and customer service are both superb.
I personally have a medium Harvest Right Freeze Dryer and love it. I actually wish I had gotten the large! But for our family of 4 (almost 5), it’s a perfect fit, we have it running constantly and fill bins full of homemade freeze dried food.
The right drier for the job, regardless if it is for mass industrial use or small batch pharmaceutical ones, can dramatically increase productivity, minimize waste, and save money in the long run. In this article, the process and techniques of freeze drying, the necessary features when picking a freeze dryer, the use of it in pharmaceuticals and food, and the future of the industry are discussed.
Nicky Risk Thank you so much to Albert for all your help and advice on helping me choose the best Harvest Right for my family. We are super excited to experiment with our freeze dryer.
Monitoring the FDer internal temps and once I see get more info -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 hardly the most exciting GoPro video for sure, and some may think it's about as interesting as watching a tree grow, but if you really want to see the Harvest Right "in action" in order to understand what's happening (not that there's much to see), this provides a "speeded-up" way to do that!