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Some pitfalls when freeze drying…
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Some pitfalls when freeze drying…
This last freeze dryer run has been a slog. bad thing is that every single issue has been our fault. Here’s what we’ve encountered. Over loaded trays and a drain valve left open, so a vacuum couldn’t be set. An over heated pump, because we had to run extra dry time, because of the over loaded trays. Extracting a tray that was encased in ice without ruining the food. A pump that was inadvertently turned off when cleaning it during troubleshooting of the previous events, so again, it was unable to set a vacuum. This was the first run since we got the dryer up and running after it being down for repairs for 2 months. We haven’t had a full run that went without a hitch for over 4 months. I’d like to get just one that worked from start to finished packaging. Well, the good news is that for the foreseeable future, there is always next time.
If you have a freeze dryer, have you had any self inflicted problems?
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7 Replies
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I love my freeze dryer but it was a learning curve. Never overfill the tray.
Don’t do popsicles! Lesson learned in cleanup!
Our humidity is so high that i don’t run it when rainy.
The faster you get it from the freeze drier in the bag and sealed the better. One tray at a time. Again humidity issue here.
Small fan in our motor all the time while running.
I always extend the time 6 plus hours according to how much moisture was in the food.
Defrost after each user. Clean water out of machine and tube after ever use.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by DeepSouth.
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Again humidity issue here.
Same here. At the old place, the freeze dryer was in the processing kitchen in the basement. Had a constant temp of around 65, I kept a fan blowing on it when running, and kept a dehumidifier running 24/7. At the new place, no real climate control in the area, and very little room for a fan, or dehumidifier. We just have to survive until I get the new processing kitchen built sometime next year.
These are the trials and tribulations of building a homestead from scratch. We en devour to persevere.
Have a great one!
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
1 Timothy 5:8-
This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Grumpy_G. Reason: Grammer
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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Humidity is definitely something that we deal with here. In the winter I will have my wood burning stove going so I can continue during the winter
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It definitely is a learning curve~ isn’t it!!
The humidity factor is real.
Don’t add too much fat to anything you hope to have keep well.
Definitely keep the oil in the pump cleaned if you want the vacuum to hold without overheating the pump.
Rodents love freeze dried mashed potatoes, lol. Now we put all mylar bags inside other buckets with lids as well.
Lessons learned.
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It definitely is a learning curve~ isn’t it!!
You’d think that after owning and operating one for going on 6 years now and having freeze dried literally hundreds of pounds of food, wed be beyond this type of stuff. It’s just another example of all the minute details you take for granted, which become important when you make a big move like we did.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
1 Timothy 5:8
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Our biggest pitfall is the temperature in the room where we run the freeze dryer. During the summer it really gets too hot in the room to run it successfully. Just added some climate control in the room and will be trying it again soon.
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We turned the AC on and ran it while the 2nd cycle was going on for this batch. It turned out like it was supposed to. Just going to have to keep that in mind from here forward.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
1 Timothy 5:8
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