Freeze Drying Batches of Fuji Apple Cubes (7 Batches)

[@SchoolReports]

Want to support this channel? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm AFFILIATE LINKS & REFERRALS - I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided ─────────────── As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. By clicking on the links, you can explore the products and tools I use. www.amazon.com/shop/schoolreports --------------------------------------------------- PackFreshUSA We have been buying oxygen absorbers and 7 mil Mylar bags from PackFreshUSA since early 2018. During all that time (1000's of bag and oxygen absorbers, and about 6 year before before we added this affiliate link) we have been happy with the products and service we have received from them. I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. - packfreshusa.com/?rfsn=7877576.a54e2a Use the discount code "SchoolReports5" to get 10% off your first purchase when using the link. --------------------------------------------------- Harvest Right - If you are thinking of buying a freeze dryer, please consider supporting us by purchasing through our link. It helps us and costs you nothing! affiliates.harvestright.com/995.html ─────────────── Before buying a freeze dryer, perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; some people have problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!

[@justintime6346]

Curious! How do you make, the extremely nice labels?

[@SchoolReports]

@@justintime6346 I started trying out a printer about 3 months ago. For a while before that I tried printing tags with my regular laser printer and taping them onto the bags. Trying Out My New Thermal Label Printer kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGXYfop7e92CnaMsi=yotIhml542lgZlb8

[@ihave0ideaofwhatusernameuse]

Something about this video comes off as awfully adorable to me.

[@91049]

Being a info junkie, I really like your batch sheet and using grams to check for water content. Thank you for sharing. Being new to freeze drying, I added additional rows at the top of the batch sheet to record the freeze drier settings. This has been really helpful when we are doing candy. Some candy like a higher tray temp and longer time while others like the lower temp and time. This has reduce the number of clean up.

[@SchoolReports]

Good idea; more info is almost always better! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@judyblaise1639]

The apples look so pretty. I love the potato cutter too.

[@kuroimushi9421]

Yes, those cutting devices are game changers...in any cooking or procesing thing, it works wonders...no matter if it goes for fruit or veggies...I would cut fruits into strips in that thingy instead of 'spam cutter' (which is egg cutter for me 😅), it won't break or damage unrippen fruits at it's heavy duty.

[@kerry1963qld]

UGH! I just did apple slices so i could make apple cider vinegar , I wished id seen this yesterday now i want to do cubes lol , I have a slicer that does those tiny cubes , Thanks for sharing :)

[@justintime6346]

I did the same thing! Lol

[@SchoolReports]

Oops! Would you find it humorous to know that I had meant to put this video up yesterday and didn't get around to it? 🤭 Sorry. 🤣😇 These little cube are great! Coming up very soon, a very short video of rehydrating the test apple cubes for a filling or topping. Delicious!

[@kerry1963qld]

@@SchoolReports 🤣😂 usually the way isn't it ! Thats ok i can always make more vinegar lol , Im looking forward to the next video :) Thanks Oh i have the veggie chopper like that , it comes with a container underneath I also have a miniature one for cutting garlic into tiny cubes which i love .

[@SchoolReports]

@@kerry1963qld I've done this with tools. I buy a new tool and (seemingly) the next day the Project Farm KZbin channel will show which tool is best in that category!

[@robingirven4570]

Too funny! I just put slices in and came up and watched this. Dang it. I did larger cubes. Those little ones are great.

[@judypatterson4132]

wonderful idea . I will have to try do those.

[@kuroimushi9421]

Could you make a quick sneak peeks at electric meter before dry check? It would be nice to know how much it needs to 'eat' at different stages of process.

[@SchoolReports]

Great idea! I'd never even thought of checking how much power the _Dry Check_ takes. I should be able to do that later today with my sister's machine; it's almost time on her machine.

[@SchoolReports]

With my sister's machine this evening, a 3 hour _Dry Check_ used about 1.44 kWh. The Power Use of a Dry Check - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3OYdml7g5Z0Zq8

[@robingirven4570]

I did larger cubes for apple bread and cake. Wish I would’ve seen this before I did my last apple batch, this morning!! I pulled the last of my storage apples and did slices. 🤦‍♀️ These tiny cubes would’ve been perfect and I have a French fry cutter. Oh well. Next year. Thanks for the great idea!

[@SchoolReports]

Have you used your french fry cutter to cut potatoes? Which model? How well did it do. I didn't want to buy a more expensive one and this one worked great for the apples. When I hand cut my apple cubes it took me a long time and they were bigger cubes. I love these little ones!

[@MisterEMystery]

So many comments and questions. I don’t recall why you have the acrylic circle on your FD; I assumed it was to help see your thermometers and reduce condensation on the main door. I know pillows used to come with the FD and maybe you just keep something like it. But that’s neither here nor there. The question is why don’t you have one in your sister’s FD? I see these in your Amzn shop. Next question, who’s voice do I hear commenting during your first use of the (potato) slicer? I know I saw the apple peeler/corer in your shop but at the time I didn’t think I’d get it, but now that I’ve seen the slicer, I may have to get both. Can’t say when as some things I just ordered from Amzn are arriving tomorrow and I’m excited about them right now. One is a cheese slicer that I want to see about using to slice ice cream (scoops don’t look appealing to me). I like how you’re adding so much information, I wish I had seen these videos before making what amounts to the same ideas to your video “Never Look Back.” I had to look up “Thermistor” as the first time I heard you say it I thought it was a misspeak, but then you said it again. Was your sister’s machine done before going to bed, and did you stay up and bag it? You could just add time to her machine too even if it’s done and get to sleep, it won’t hurt them. Oh, maybe you did this. You know you shouldn’t talk while yawning 😂! Since you used Ascorbic acid when cutting the apple cubes, why would you need to use it again to rehydrate? This is listed on the label you show at your sister’s while explaining the label. Why do you use 2 different scales, the white one during freezing/freeze drying process and the red one during the bagging phase? The readout DOES show on “that camera” but I wasn’t worried about seeing the weight 🤣. Thank you for the idea about adding cinnamon to the cubes! I haven’t checked but are the straw cleaners in your shop? I know I can get one with metal/reusable straws, so no biggie if they aren’t. Thanks for all the babbling!😁👍

[@SchoolReports]

🤔😁 A lot of good questions! Correct - The disc helps keep the condensation at bay. The big plus was being able to see and video through the clear front. I started making the disc for my sister's machine over a year ago - just haven't finished. Wife. Using a cheese slicer for cutting ice cream sounds interesting! Please let us know how it works out. Probably just added time and waited until the next day. (yawn) This video does show parts from 7 batches, so I'd have to research to be sure. We end up eating most of our apples dry because they are just so good. But from some test we've done rehydrating them, some of them had started to turn brown so we just find it best to add a bit of ascorbic acid. (I think I show it somewhere in a video, but I don't know where - 2 sample cups with 2 apple slices) The red scale goes to 1/10 grams, so I use it for bagging, but it's so sensitive that if the tray is on it, even breathing near it can cause the displayed weight to fluctuate. The silver (white:) one only goes to full grams, so it doesn't fluctuate as much. I like to have the display show so people would think I'm hiding the numbers and/or lying about weights and weight losses.

[@TPD605]

Is your name Johnny Appleseed? LOL. That's a lot of apples!

[@SchoolReports]

🤣 Apples this good, at 50 cents per pound, are hard to pass up!

[@BabyAndy2023]

What does a freeze dryer like yours cost and how much does it cost to run ? Are the silver pouches reusable ? Does hydrating remove any nutrients ? Thank you

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Great questions. In theory the Mylar bags could be reused if they have been handled carefully and with some foods. I probably wouldn't even try if they had raw eggs or raw meat in them. All food loses nutrition over time. Freeze dried food loses the least over time. Freeze-dried food retains nearly 100% of its nutrition value, dehydrated contains roughly 60%, and canned food 40%. Even so-called fresh food in the produce section of the store can be significantly lower than freeze dried food. There is a lot of research about this. I would say, for "fresh" fruits and vegetables that I'm going to freeze dry, I will almost always take frozen over fresh because, assuming a quality brand, the items tend to be picked and processed faster. Not sitting in a cold storage warehouse, then in the store's back room, and finally in a store's produce section for who knows how long. I love to go to the u-pick places and pick items myself. (or grow it myself) Did you know that the apples at the store can be over a year old? CA storage is an impressive thing. In order of my personal preference, fresh that I harvest, next frozen, produce from the store, and last by a large margin canned. This is one of the benefits of using frozen foods; they usually go from field - to processing plant - to flash freezer in just a few hours. The "fresh" food you find at stores is not always fresh. ( getdailyelements.com/blogs/articles/the-facts-on-freeze-drying ) ". . . nutrient profiles of fresh fruits and vegetables begin to degrade the moment they’re picked-and continue degrading the longer they sit in your fridge. In fact, one study showed that spinach lost roughly 50% of its folate after eight days of refrigeration. Not to mention, produce from the grocery store can range from weeks to months old, some even spending upwards of a year in cold storage before you see them on the shelf. . . . freeze-dried food retains nearly 100% of its nutrition value, dehydrated contains roughly 60%, and canned a slim 40%" True, they are expensive, but they are shareable, too. Splitting the cost 2 or 3 (or more) ways can make them much more affordable for more people. They are about $2900 ($2700 this month) for the medium size Harvest Right, the size I have. The payback, when comparing to buying commercial freeze dried food, can be as little as about 50 batches. I cover the costs in this video - Recapping the "First 50 Batch" series kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4POkpZrrNd2sKssi=TLMmvK6frsVXKvcB Freeze Drying 50 Batches in 100 Days - First 500 LBS of Food (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ieekdk5aH_2OWLUealeOLurU9_zl03BfFEg_qhAgcaA/edit?usp=sharing I don't want to dissuaded anyone from buying a freeze dryer, but I'd say don't get one if you're not really sure.

[@Albertalea]

I noticed that sometimes you use your acrylic cover and sometimes you don’t. Why?

[@SchoolReports]

I think I do use the clear disc in my machine (the red one) every time. The only reason I don't use one in my sister's machine (the white one) is because I haven't finished making hers yet. (which she points out every so often:)

[@te5844]

Any thoughts on how the Harvest right premier pump is able to do up to 20 batches between oil changes? I cannot find any example of any other pump doing that even those with gas ballast valves ( mine had mabe two tablespoons of water in the oil after draining after two batches...one bannana run one apple run)

[@SchoolReports]

Which size machine and how much was loaded in each batch? I'm going to guess (and it is just a guess) that the results we've had with my sister's premier pump is due to the fact that we _really_ make sure it's _very_ cold before we let it start. I'm going to ask a different question: How did yours get 2 tablespoons of water in it? With my sister's machine we have drained it twice, after 40 batches each time, and we have had _zero_ water in hers. The next time she is going to wait until after 60 to 80 batches. Oil Change After 40 Batches kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5rFemqCjauVmNUsi=F7aRZzD2EnY_euy1 Two tablespoons of water after just 2 batches is more than I would have expected, that's as bad as my older machine and vacuum pump before I opened the ballast valve on it. (experimenting)

[@robingirven4570]

@@SchoolReportsI’ve done well over 100 loads, zero water and 2 oil changes. According to you, I got mine about the same time as your sister got hers.

[@SchoolReports]

@@robingirven4570 Thanks for this info! I would love to hear from a lot of people about their experience with their pump and water.

[@te5844]

The batches were roughly 7 lbs of bananas on the first batch and 6 lbs of apples on the second...both dried really well and went in room temperature the chamber got to -39 or 40 (7 hours freeze time) both times prior to the dry cycle both batches were done within 27 hours of putting them in. We purchased the Blue Alpine which updated their pump to one with a ballast valve ( looks to me like they just replaced the fill plug with another plug that of just screw out 1/4 to 1/2 turn to open the "ballast" ( you can take it out completely and your looking a a solid surface down below where it screws in) I'm wondering if its truly a gas ballast at all. They had been recommending changing the oil every 2 to 3 batches....on heavy loads...every batch. @@SchoolReports

[@te5844]

Also I'm guessing at the two tablespoons of water it may have been a little less.@@SchoolReports

[@Judten1]

Question. I am looking at the freeze drying journals on Amazon. I would like to record my foods for future use like I do with my canning. Please can you suggest a good journal? Any experience with these? Thanks again! 😊

[@SchoolReports]

Sorry I'm of no use on this. I never even knew there was such a thing! The thought never crossed my mind. We have just made our sheets in OpenOffice, adjust the fields as needed, and then print them out for use. Any number of fields could be added. We keep all the sheets in a 3-ring binder in case of any future need. This is the worksheet I have been using: Freeze Drying batch worksheet - 4 tray - 2 per sheet (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14_1KDR7-eEv_h9EdwJcHb2Dex5MuhnxlDV24qPR7H6c/edit?usp=sharing Here are sheets for other number of trays: Freeze Drying batch worksheet - 5 tray - 2 per sheet (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tgNrGRD3BICKsokLxuClAbQAYvHfDTmbXu6XvA089nc/edit?usp=sharing Freeze Drying batch worksheet - 6 tray - 2 per sheet (Feel free to download a copy and use it anyway you want. You don't need to ask :) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d3x-gaD3_5SYravfrmk-SxUsp875T0lZsRmi8MLrKPU/edit?usp=sharing

[@judypatterson4132]

I am not as tech savy on a computer to do as he is.. I got a composition book at the dollar store and kind of follow his guidelines. I note at least 3 weigh ins. date and time and what is in each tray. years ago when I worked on the computer with spreadsheets I probably could have but it has been way to many years and not enough time on my hands so it works for me.

[@SchoolReports]

@@judypatterson4132 I should have been more precise (or honest?) about the sheets I use. When I said "We just made our sheets. . ." the _we_ doesn't include me, except I tell my wife what fields I would like to have and she does the magic for me 😇- I don't know how to setup the data sheets. I just know how to upload them so that anyone can download them. I also be glad to add (again, have my wife add) any fields people would find useful.

[@judypatterson4132]

the chart you use and documentation has been much appreciated on my part. It has helped me to make completely sure my food is dry and not weight change. I like many more appreciate your and your wife's work on helping to educate new fd people on what we should be doing. thank you for all the tips and tricks you share. a person once said you work with what you have to work with and with your tips you and your wife have been a valuable asset. @@SchoolReports

[@joycebecker446]

I do this but sometimes leave the skin on.

[@SchoolReports]

👍Ditto! I don't mind the peels on if they are for dry snacking, but if I'm going to use them for rehydrating, I don't like the peels on.

[@hydej1667]

🙂 🍎 🍏 🙃 🍎 🍏 😋 🍎 🍏 😛 🐸 😊❤