How do you vacuum pack them? Can you use a kitchen seal meal? And then use your impact sealer to make sure it’s really sealed well?

Test has no value what so ever without using a moisture meter. For example, dry firewood to me means 0 to maybe 5 % moisture content.

@Phil at 4800 feet, have you had some bag reinflate on you? I tried placing a vacuum on 3-4 mylar bags of freeze dried food with a "tiny" vent hole, but based on how the food gets laid out inside the bag, it seems the freeze dried food or shape of the vent hole as it vacuums will suck air in quicker than I can impulse seal all my bags again. Just wondering if you have any additional tips! Have a happy new year if I don't hear from you until after New Year's Eve!

My machine shut off entirely in the night, in the middle of a batch. The power all the way to the machine is working. There are no lights anywhere on my machine that work, including the screen. Do you have an idea of what the problem could be? I looked at all wire connections and they all seem intact and no other visible damage.

Excellent set up. Thanks for sharing. Lean and efficient process.

Thank You.

Great video. I am going to get this micrometer and test my pump. Found the same micron Guage on AMZ but what connectors between pump and meter?

Good info. Thanks.

Thank you.

I did appreciate your video very much, thank you. I wonder how they would do in an air fryer.

Yes yes yes! I ordered a freeze dryer and im looking at 2 water filters from lifestraw. The lifestraw 'community" portable water filter for a first pass through, and the larger size of lifestraw "home" to remove a wider array of chemical impurities. My goal is to stockpile what I can for shelter in place emergencies and gather equipment necessary for long term and basic survival if we have to evacuate our area quickly, or run and stay on the go until we could return. Its become my primary focus. These are skills we to learn. I'm grateful to have found your channel. Thank you for teaching this and sharing what you know. 🙏

Thank you for being so thorough in explaining the how's and why's of your preparation. You're detailed oriented. Your attention to detail instilled so much trust and confidence in your knowledge. I know absolutely nothing about generators except that I should get one, and until now was completely overwhelmed with the options and how to tell how much power I would need to be just as comfortable in an emergency situation as I am now, with no worries. I am strongly considering the firman 15000w tri fuel portable generator. I want to be comfortable and worry free in a multi day outtage if we have another ice storm. I like the idea of portability and I really like the multiple fuel options if needed. I even have extra heat tape. What a smart idea. I can do that. I feel reassured that it could be the right purchase. I hope so. There are good and bad reviews on every product out there which makes the purchase all the more nerve wracking. I don't want to waste money on a poorly made product and I surely do not want to have to figure out how to replace parts for many years. Questions: 1) How many times since you purchased the generator have you used it for any length of time beyond start ups for routine maintenance, and have you had any negative experiences or noticed any drawbacks in design that would make you rethink your purchase or choose a different product? 2) do you have any additional tips or tricks for upkeep and continuiously reliable operation beyond wrapping the battery and wiring in heat tape? 3) Were there any other generators that stood out to you while evaluating your options that you would have felt equally as confident in purchasing if you had not purchased this one? 4) Is there potential to damage the electrical system of my home if I would choose a generator that offers more power than what I actually currently need? If I purchase now, factoring the potential for future increase in energy usage, would a generator with a higher output than what I currently actually need overload and fry my wires or circut breaker creating a fire hazard by being too powerful? Is that a possibility? I imagine there would be a built in safeguard of some sort, but again, I know nothing about them. If there is a possibility, other than purchasing a smaller unit, am I able to install a safeguard to thwart that danger, and where would that need to be installed? And finally, 5) would you please show the silencing encasement you built for your unit to reduce probability of conflict with neighbors over noise volume while the generator is in use? That's thoughtful. If it is encased in concrete or another heavy material, how would you replicate it using lightweight portable materials? If in the event of catastrophe that I should need to pack and go with the generator, some national and state parks/ gamelands have a maximum allowable decibel level for generators and portable noise reduction would be of equal importance. Any ideas on how you would construct that or construct a mulit purpose weather protecting portable silencer that would also shield against electromagnetic pulses? Do you still get adequate cooling airflow around the generator with the silencer over it? It's a lot, I know, but I'm asking you because I can tell you're of above average intelligence and I appreciate how you explain what you're doing so thoroughly that even with the limited knowledge I have, I can still understand you. Thank you!

Stuff of legends testing. The industrial engineer inside me is at awe

Awesome. As always, thumbed up.

Have you tried making snowman toppers from heavy whipped cream with fondant for eyes and nose?

I really don’t care for ice cream but because we have goats I make tons of ice cream. Freeze drying could free up my freezer

Super informative! Very helpful for a newbie! I like to roast my ham in the crockpot, low and slow for 12 hours or so. It falls apart, very "shred-able", really good flavor. Ham is on sale this week and I am now inspired to try a load in the freeze dryer with variations on this theme ~ some cubed ham, some roasted ham, some soup... we'll see how it goes. Thanks so much for emphasizing the safety aspects to consider as well. Great video! 💖😋👍

I'd recommended using non-dyed cotton or linen towels. Dye particulates wouldnt be good to have transferred into the cheese. transferred

Homemade apple butter and sharp cheese grilled sandwich.

There's no way Id throw out the rendered fat. Pour it into a mason jar and keep in the fridge to use for periodic use as a cooking fat. It has a high to very high flashpoint which makes it good as a frying fat

👍👍👍👍👍

Can you tell me more about the vitamin C to help the avocados from turning brown, thank you

Have a question for you. If the salt only affects the proteins in the yoke, why not separate the whites from the yokes and treat the yokes with the required amount of salt per cup of yokes, then freeze dry separate, mix after turned into powder. That's a lot less salt when we aren't counting the whites in the salt calculation.

Thank you this was helpful. I purchased this heater for my 2 adult 2 children home but haven’t installed it yet. I live in south Florida with inlet temps closer to 70*f, I feel I should fine having a shower and another appliance going at the same time

If you want to add something to mitigate clumping, try Trehalose. It is a sugar, but is about half as sweet as regular sugar. About 35g pr. 1000g egg mixture would suffice. The low sweetness of the Trehalose would be barely noticeable. Trehalose is readily available in health stores and on Iherb..

Have u tried dehydrating the heavy cream and then, freeze drying it?

I bought this one too. Found it sealed about 90% of the time. Had oil being sucked back up the line. Customer service was no help. Returned it for a refund. Have a JVR Vac 100 now. It works 100%. Less time wasted and saves a bunch of steps. Super happy with it and made in America.

so could you just turn the cream.. either with the water or without.. back into the cream it was for coffee? why would you turn it into butter? can you store the cream powder and then turn it back into coffee cream? why make it butter and whipped cream?

On your Harvest freezer dryer with updated programming... Look for the 🍃 leaf symbol. Press it. You'll see 3 modes available. For quartered taffy or Peppermint nougats on trays... each piece must be separated by about a half an inch to an inch to keep them separated when puffing up. Turn the heat to on position. Wait and watch the numbers on the screen until the temp reaches 145 and then turn the temp button off. It's about a 15 min wait. Then make sure the drain valve it closed. Turn the vacuum button to the on position. Wait about 15 min. Turn the vacuum to the off position. Open the drain valve to release the vacuum. Take out trays and enjoy peppermint or taffy puffs. Skittles are less heat for less time. I'm still working on that. At that temp and time then all became clumped together.

How is Blue Alpines large freeze dryer? Should I get it, or stay fresh, or harvest right Pro?

"Real" chilli contains NO beans😁

WHAT?! NEVER throw away all that beautiful bacon fat, jar it and use when cooking. Cast iron frying pans and bacon fat make a lovely couple 😋

Please tell me about your tester. Make and model.

That camshaft was shredddddddddeddddddddd!!!!

do you know what the threads are on the inlet fitting? not the 3/4 JIC side the threads into the pump.

Thank you

Everyone of the commercial freeze dried products that uses meat does not remove the fat. You can see they have 20 and 30% and more of fat and their products say they will last for 25 years. Products that have been out there on the market for 40 or more years now. Why is it that everyone says we can’t have fat in our freeze dry food when we do it at home when it’s evident that it is in the freeze dry food that you buy in MREs and commercially freeze dried meats.

Once again Phil….you are amazing. Thanks for all the hard work you do for us. ✌️

I was actually wondering, how good would it be to simply use my pool? Of course being extra careful of having no water get in the food

Can this work with wet food or will it evaporate

I wonder if adding sugar to it would help, just like you experimented with eggs.

Can you please share links to the best Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers that you have tested so far.

Phew you’re right that’s some work. Here in Louisiana I can’t get my outdoor kitchen down to 35 degrees. I’ve been doing ice cream sandwiches and vacuum sealing in clear bags.

Thanks! I was just given a freeze dryer and have some winter squash and pumpkins left over from the garden. I needed to know how to prepare it and you made it look easy.

Hold the phone right there!! We can put sugar sprinkles in the fd without them blowing up? My brain just explored! Love your videos!

Tip: Rocky Road is one of my best sellers. You just need to make sure you use a brand like Dreyers with real small marshmallows, not fake sugary "swirls." It turns out perfectly, no exploding! 👌

The whole reason I got a machine in the first place was because I wanted freeze dried ice cream!! I sell it at several local cafes, as well as putting away LOTS for the apocalypse 😁🍦🍧🍨

You can use a micron gauge to measure your accurate vacuum level below. What an analog gauge cannot read.. You can also use a triple purge, and vacuum method to flush out oxygen. Using argon gas is oxygen free and does not react with materials. It’s a natural preservative and oxygen free environments.. Draw vacuum down to roughly 1000 µm. And then through your valve bleed in argon gas into your atmospheric pressure zero psi.. Now repeat this process three times. You will now have basically an oxygen free environment that is preserved with argon gas.

Should we stay away from peanut butter swirls?

Thanks! I would never have thought about pre-freezing the trays to get them chill, great tip!