Long ago. and B. I don't have the test equipment I did then. I guess what I'm saying is don't be afraid to get too technical with me in your answers. What I wouldn't give for a helium leak detector right now...
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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.
Raymond Shipka My freeze drier arrived perfectly and professionallly packaged and it works like a charm.
How does freeze drying work? To put it simply, it freezes the food then goes through a sublimation process where it dries the food.
We also like to freeze dry gluten-free sweet breads and muffins. Slice bread or muffins and freeze dry it. Then to reconstitute, simply wrap it in a wet paper towel and leave it in the fridge overnight or put it in the microwave for up to 30 seconds.
Isolated pump by capping the stack (pelo meter to measure pressure, but pelo bubbling after a very short pumpdown - pump sounded normal for a high vacuum situation)
14 Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) On 7/31/2015 at 11:12 PM, TonyC said: Somehow this post got posted twice so I'll edit the second one with some more useful information. I remember reading somewhere in this thread where somebody was asking how long you run the freeze cycle with pre-frozen food. I have my chest freezer set to -12F, and I usually let the freeze dryer cool for an hour before I put the frozen food in. After I load the food in I wait another half hour to start the drying process. I've had a lot of cycles that the Completa time between pulling one batch out and starting the drying cycle on the next is around 2 hours. I'm running mine in a cold garage, Know More so it cools down pretty quickly. If you have yours in a warm room it would probably take a little longer.
adding insulation on the 3 ports on the chamber (One time thing - the drain and vacuum ports are very easy to get to)
Thirdly, I like to know what is in my food. When I process my own food, I know what is going in it. Also, I like to grow my own produce so when I freeze dry that, I know exactly where my food came from and how it was grown. Some commercially freeze dried foods contain preservatives.
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!
Control of the amount of time a material is held at the ultimate freeze temperature before the drying cycle is started.
I, too, have noticed a significant difference when I defrost mid-cycle. I do that routinely now. I carefully use a heat gun to "shock" the surface of the ice, moving back and forth across it fairly swiftly, which causes it to crack and separate somewhat from the cylinder.