Freeze Drying

DeerMadness

Long Time Member
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5,351
The Mrs has been begging for one two years now. A medium Freeze dryer size - they make a small , medium. And large freeze dryer. , supplies, extra trays, Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers and divider trays set us back about 32
33n00.00.
We have frozen, Green Beans, Strawberries, Zucchini Chips with Parmesan, Chili, Salsa, Stew is what we have done so far. I will use stuff like Chili and Beef Stew for hunting and backpacking and it will taste better than Mt House. But it is going to take a year or so to get our moneys worth then it will really pay off with shelf life up to 25 years.
The Zucchini Chips with Parmesan are amazing as I tasted one tonight. Better than just about any potato chip or any other chips.
We grow a huge garden so will be freeze drying lots of stuff for at least 3 or 4 more weeks. Canned goods that are past the shelf life are still ok so we will be freeze drying them during the winter too and that is much better than eventually tossing food out. I guess by next summer I may have an idea on how long or much it takes to save money. Some Mountain House and other brands can cost up to 15.00 for a 2 person meal so it should add up fast if we stay busy. She is happy doing it so I guess that part is nice. I have hunting , fishing gear and backpacking as hobbies and this is her hobby. I do help her though. I need to go target practicing really soon though. I may skip deer hunting as I didn't draw a tag and our freezers are fairly full of meat like chicken, beef, pork and babyback ribs so we are working on eating some to make room for elk.
We will make elk stew and elk burger mostly and maybe elk spaghetti. The rest will be steaks, some roast, frozen elk burger, Summer Sausage , and Ghost Pepper Elm Jerky. . So Elk Breakfast Sausage and maybe Elk Sticks too. I have a Cabelas Carnivore Grinder, an L& M meat Slicer Seal A Meal and sausage stuffer and canning jars and pressure cooker to can Beef Stew also. I have a Master Built Electric 40" Smoker for the Jerky and Summer Sausage and even a large food dehydrator for soqme things to along with our pressure canner too. It takes 24 to 36 hours for each load to be done so about 5 loads a week. The Vaccuum Pump is a Premium so we can do ten batches before we have to filter out the Vaccuum pump oil and then filter it out to reuse.
 
This is our Unit.
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