Mo Hints and Tips #3

[@kevinrowbotham545]

Lineman's pliers and coat hangers. I may have found a kindred spirit just now. I just got my harvest right and still getting setup to use it. Your videos have taught me so much already and I will have greater success in a shorter time because of your kind sharing of the experience you have. Thank you Phil.

[@eviebays]

I love the way you think. I have watched your videos numerous times. thank you.

[@elainecurtis3649]

Ive enjoyed watching the few videos ive seen so far...

[@Philat4800feet]

Glad you like them

[@philw7174]

More great tips. Thank you for sharing the moisture content spreadsheets. Happy trails!

[@EarthlyVibes]

🇨🇦🇺🇸 I worked in a lab environment for 30 years, you are definitely speaking my language. Thanks for your support

[@rw8147]

Yeah, I've worked in a lab an in electronics manufacture. The approach hits some very old buttons in my head :)

[@marniea8395]

You are so totally awesome. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and encouragement.

[@Philat4800feet]

Blush. Thank you.

[@marniea8395]

@@Philat4800feet yw

[@alisamuir9864]

Thank you for the info

[@stephensuter5016]

Thanks for your moisture spreadsheet! Just getting started and this will really help!

[@Philat4800feet]

Thanks, Good luck. Warning- Freeze drying can be addictive.

[@karynkelly-michael4089]

Another great video, Phil, will be sharing on the Retired at 40 Freeze Drying Group in FB...

[@BevLoveNlife]

Omygoosh! I was just coming to comment and tell you I’d pay you $100.00 for a copy of your moisture spreadsheet but I see you unconditionally offered it to us. Can I donate to your cause Phil? That’s a lot of time you’ve put into that. Thank you you so much for doing this, what a great help this is going to be for me and my family. I really would like to give you something if I could. Mylar bags? Oxygen absorbers? Just name it!

[@BevLoveNlife]

Another great video, thank you Phil:)

[@Philat4800feet]

Help a neighbor in need.

[@lindasteckman7147]

Absolutely LOVE your helpful and informative videos!!! I'm gleaning all I can, before my FD arrives. Thanks for all you do!!! God Bless!!!

[@Philat4800feet]

You are so welcome!

[@marizen2]

Amazing!!! I have learned so much from you. Thank you, Phil! Truly appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

[@Philat4800feet]

Kind words- Thanks

[@bluewolf4915]

Love your tips. I've been binging on them and I don't even own a freeze dryer........Yet. 😉

[@Philat4800feet]

Careful...Freeze drying can be addictive.

[@bluewolf4915]

@@Philat4800feet Counting on it. 😂

[@johnoschwald1962]

Your videos are FANTASTIC!!!

[@Philat4800feet]

Wow, thank you!

[@jeanniegreer7]

Thank you for sharing ur knowledge.

[@scotts595]

We put an old sock over the muffler to catch the oil mist. We use a husky work bench, no sag. We also use the dairyman blue vacuum pump oil (pump saver). Oh and we run a fan too.

[@Philat4800feet]

Good idea with the sock. Buyers remorse with the cart

[@jamesschultz796]

Phil, here's a suggestion that you might want to try out and make a video on. When I do liquids (ie. eggs, pasta sauce, Milk) I put the liquid into a ziplock bag to freeze it. Once it is frozen, I do not remove it from the bag, I simply open the bag and place it onto the tray. I freeze dry it in the bag and when it is done, I powder the product and transfer it to the final storage container. I minimizes the handling/mess of moving the food in and out of bags. The other thing that I do, is I'll put the leftover rice from our weekly Chinese takeout order, into a ziplock and freeze it. Once I have several bags full, I put those onto trays and freeze dry it. It gives you instant rice once finished without ever having to cook rice. And I sleep better knowing that I'm not throwing a full container of rice out every week. Food for thought.

[@Philat4800feet]

That's thinking outside the box! How much liquid will you place in the bag? If you don't have a full tray of liquid or have different liquids, it would be beneficial. Good idea.

[@jamesschultz796]

@@Philat4800feet I have a Large Freeze Drier. I'm able to put 2 quarts of liquid onto a single tray. I use 1 gallon ziplock bags to put the quart of fluid into and then set them on the tray for freezing. Once frozen, I unzip the bags and put the tray directly into the Freeze Drier. Right now, I have a load of Pasta Sauce and Spinach (liquid that I powder after dried). I take a 10oz bag of Spinach and blanch it, then blend it into a liquid. I then pour that spinach liquid into a quart ziplock bag. I can get 3 quart bags on a single Large tray.

[@markpearce7321]

Thank you for all of your great content! You are my go-to source!

[@Philat4800feet]

Thanks

[@lazlong999]

Hey Phil, thanks for all the informative videos. I'm a new owner and have learned a lot. I checked my trays and they range from 656 to 661 grams. Perhaps Harvest Right has improved their manufacturing quality control. Both more consistent and lighter.

[@Philat4800feet]

Yours were 656, I had 721. Perhaps you're right. In most cases I wouldn't worry about the weight, but I wanted to be exact as possible for a peer review on some projects.

[@kristidennis2779]

Loved the information. Thank you for the spreadsheet. Keep up the good work.

[@Philat4800feet]

Thank you

[@h.kenthepworth539]

Phil, Seems like we are similar minded! I am an Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering and avid gardener. I used to preserve produce via pressure canning; but, switched recently to freeze drying due to its storage longevity and nutrition maintenance. I downloaded your moisture spreadsheet and find it useful. Likewise, when drying dissimilar produce I find it efficient to match moisture content. Hence, since I started freeze drying I have maintained a log of each run. To make my data useful and minimize erroneous results (I.e. transcription and math errors). I fabricated a M.S. Excel spreadsheet to enter data and calculate use data such as produce moisture content and reconstitute fluid needs. I also freeze dry smoked meats and it is fun to deduce my own data for future reference. I will be delighted to send you my spreadsheet for your perusal. If interested let me know.

[@Philat4800feet]

Freeze drying is addictive.

[@Marigold106]

I am slowly working my way through your videos, and you have taught me a great deal. In freeze drying groups, traditional lore is to only run your freeze dryer when the trays are fully loaded, or you are wasting energy. Is this true, or would the cycle time decrease with less volume in the chamber? I would love to see a comparison.

[@Philat4800feet]

Often when testing software, I'll partially fill my trays. When I'm FDing food, I'll load up my trays because it's faster to FD full trays than do two batches. See: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2WupJSJZbimaZY

[@randyca9122]

Great information Phil, thanks.

[@normsproul169]

I am going to modify your spreadsheet to include a multiplier to reconstitute each item. That number can then be marked on each bag as you take any amount (by weight) you need at the time.

[@Philat4800feet]

That would work on single ingredient items. Reconstituting meals would need the before and after weight.

[@normsproul169]

@@Philat4800feet I agree. We can never be too precise. Garbage in, garbage out. I enjoy your work!

[@sheilaross6791]

Thank you!

[@trinade3732]

So sorry. I hit the "reax more" and found your chart! Thanks again

[@sanot8443]

When you drain your oil after each batch do you pour new (or previously filtered) oil in to get the FD ready for another batch and allow the just drained oil to continue filtering while your next batch runs? Or don't you run them that frequently ? It took me 60+ hours for my oil to drain through the "Brita type" filter and I'd like to get another batch going before then. I have the Premier Pump and wonder if I need to change it that frequently. Thank you for these videos! I don't have an analytical mind like yours so I appreciate the tips and tricks you offer!

[@Philat4800feet]

I change my oil after every batch and refill the pump with filtered oil. I'll keep using the oil until it becomes cloudy.

[@trinade3732]

Hello, thank you so much for all work and sharing such a wealth of information! I look in the description and comments and could not find your moisture chart. What am i not seeing?

[@lynnesward3154]

The chart is above these comments. You might need to click on "see more"

[@jesuschristismylordandsavi6108]

-KZbin no longer allows me to see much info under the video. It now says Open Description or close Description. Clicking on it makes no difference. Can you give me a link to your moisture data sheet?- -Please?- Never mind, I found it. It is now on the side of the video instead of under it.

[@bobn3404]

Hi Phil@4800ft, have you done a video or have a list of parts that would be good to get for spare parts for the freeze dryers? Parts that may wear out or if SHTF and you couldn’t get parts it would be good to get ahead of time. Thanks!

[@Philat4800feet]

I haven't needed to obtain spare parts yet. Harvest Right doesn't want to get into the "DIY" parts business and they won't give up who the manufactures of the pumps are.

[@jamesschultz796]

Phil, I think you could do foods with different water content if you calculate the total water weight on each tray. So, a 500g tray at 85% water = 425g water. A tray with 450g of food at 95% = 427.5g of water. Those should take the same amount of time to freeze dry. Thoughts?

[@Philat4800feet]

That would be correct if you can calculate the amount of water. I have questioned the published amounts of water found in produce. Freshly picked carrots will have more water than carrot in my cold storage after two months. You're on the right track.

[@jimshockey6789]

Say there, Phil. I'm about to balance the weight in all eight of my HR trays. There's nothing wrong with your hanger method - except maybe for possible rust. My preference would probably be for stainless filler rod. But, I wondered if you had given any thought to melting the correct amount of low-temp, lead-free solder into the bead. At a melting point of 289°F, it should have no problems with normal FD process temperatures. It would flow in without discoloring the tray. No epoxy required. Do you see a downside?

[@Philat4800feet]

Stainless would be a good option.

[@smileformenowplease]

So should we try to blow air through the system after removing the oil, think that would help?

[@Philat4800feet]

I'd be careful using compressed air to blow out any remaining oil in the pump. Too much pressure could dislodge the sight glass. Better to drain the oil while hot and leave to valve open until ready for your next batch.

[@debbiemurawski9325]

Hi Phil! I’m been watching many of your videos and I’ve found them very helpful. I’m new to fd and I just completed my bread run or actually my second bread run. I had to stop the first one due to my daughter couldn’t sleep with the noise. So I finally got the chance and completed a whole other bread run. My question is my machine still has an odd chemical odor in it so should I do another bread run? Or is that normal? I have a batch ready in my freezer to go in but just don’t want my food to take on the odor. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Debbie

[@Philat4800feet]

The smells could be the left-over protective oils and materials from manufacturing. Pull the door seal off, pull out the tray holder, unclip the wire harness (there's a clip you'll need to slide to open and press) and wipe everything down with isopropyl alcohol and paper towels.

[@RVingwithG]

#12 JIC Crush Washer

[@yesreally7438]

Thank you for your vids & research!!!! We've just put in an order for a FD / am continuing to learn before it arrives in 5-7 wks (and beyond as well, of course 🙂) 2 items - (1) I've seen some of your vids on testing for moisture but haven't seen you use / mention a moisture meter, why not? (2) I'm wondering abt FD applications beyond food, do you know abt or have you experimented w liquid dish or laundry soap? Thanks again & God Bless!!!!

[@Philat4800feet]

1- A moisture meter will only detect moisture between the sample being tested, not the entire batch. If there is a single chuck of food, containing ice, your batch could be spoiled. I have found most moisture meters unreliable. 2- That's good thinking outside the box. a FD will remove water out of any substance.

[@yesreally7438]

@@Philat4800feet Thanks Phil! 🙂

[@JesusNameHomeMinistries]

Possibly shave off a bit on the heavier trays until they weigh what the lesser tray weighs.

[@SusanEizenga]

My other thought was to add small amounts of Sugru until it is the right weight.

[@monicagriffin9922]

Thanks

[@2010srtaylor]

Hi Phil. I m not seeing your moisture spread sheet Can you help me find that Thanks

[@2010srtaylor]

I went back. Found it ! :--)

[@walterbettencourt6142]

Great idea; thanks for the spreadsheet....... >

[@kelliethommes164]

Wow, what great and helpful info! Did you calculate the total cost in electricity for each batch as well?

[@Philat4800feet]

Not really. My unit pulls 16 amps or 1920 watts per hour. At $0.08.76 per kilowatt hour that equals $0.17 per hour to run my FD. With that in mind you could divide grams of food by $0.17 for a full load. (I have a four tray FD)

[@lynnesward3154]

@@Philat4800feet How do you measure amps your machine is pulling? Thanks. I have learned a lot from the 5 videos of yours that I have watched! Looking forward to learning more! Just curious, do you live in Colorado?

[@Philat4800feet]

@@lynnesward3154 I made this video on amperage draw: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZetqaJ9irp-gac and no, on Colorado.

[@RVingwithG]

Sadly >>IF

[@MeowsTheTime]

I got a stainless steel cart on rollers.....the cart is nice and it's in my kitchen.

[@RVingwithG]

I loved all your tips, but on that last one ..20:00 could you not just scrib/wright on each one the weight??? 708, 714, 719, 721..

[@Philat4800feet]

Yup, but after a while I found it easier to make all the trays the same weight, Primarily for the research I was doing.

[@RVingwithG]

@@Philat4800feet TRUE THAT!

[@lyndabuchholz1216]

When I search the crush washer it doesn't look like the one on your fitting. Where did you get that one?

[@Philat4800feet]

Search under- Hose and Rubber Supply. Their part number is CG12 (#12 JIC crush washer.) Sometimes the JIC is interchanged with SAE. The Manufacture is Midland Industries. Their part number is 10090. Also called a 3/4 FLARE GASKET

[@lyndabuchholz1216]

@@Philat4800feet I found it on midland industries. Will this replace the o rings? Thank you !!!!

[@Philat4800feet]

@@lyndabuchholz1216 I have never seen a JIC fitting with an O-ring. I can't see why it wouldn't make a seal.

[@lyndabuchholz1216]

@@Philat4800feet The o ring in the fitting had a dent in it and I contacted harvest right to see if I could get one that fir since the o rings seem to be an odd size so far I haven't gotten any and hoped that the JIC fitting would replace it. I saw the o ring in your fitting in one of the clips in this video but it looked fine. I see it at 1:04 in your video.

[@AllOtherNamesUsed]

Is it normal to smell the food while it’s drying in the fd?

[@Philat4800feet]

Maybe at vacuum start up. The pump will expel any air out of the chamber. That would only last for a few seconds and stop.

[@AllOtherNamesUsed]

@@Philat4800feet it has lasted for many hours during dry time since this morning and still now. I called customer support and they said it was fine but I wanted input from another user. Hmm

[@AllOtherNamesUsed]

Btw it was semi-warm chinese food i ordered when i put it in yesterday (over 30 hours ago now), not prefrozen as you normally have the food. Not sure if that would make a difference.

[@glenwarren404]

Just found your channel..tsk

[@HebronGrandpa]

If I weigh equal amount of items before putting on the trays it should make not difference. The trays contain no moisture. I do not like modifying equipment. The spread sheet is great to equal up apples to apples so to speak.

[@misterp158]

Actually. in real life or the corporate world "Lean Manfacturing" is actually costly and unproductive and kills moral. Good video.

[@Philat4800feet]

Bit your tongue. Really? sounds like it wasn't running well. I've had some really positive experiences.

[@misterp158]

@@Philat4800feet Ever hear the word Kaizen? Another Corporate term that waists more time and money than it ever saves or earns. Also another morale killer, Now try implementing them both together. Retired 2 years ago mostly to get away from that and don't even get me started on the new silly safety rules. I do enjoy your videos though, thanks Good Stuff