How to Build a Freeze Dryer

Freeze dryers are best known for the fun food items they can be used to make like astronaut icecream, but they're actually really useful tools. From ideal sample preservation, to the preparation of useful cryogels, freeze dryers are used all throughout science.
As machines go, they're actually really simple with only a few parts, so in this video I demonstrate how to make a freeze dryer in an afternoon.
Parts list:
1 gallon vacuum chamber - www.ebay.com/i...
2 quart vacuum chamber - www.ebay.com/i...
2 gallon stainless steel cooking pot - www.ebay.com/i...
1/4" flare union - hardware store
5/8" barb splicer - hardware store
foam sheets (I used styrofoam) - hardware store
Glue (spray adhesive is ideal but most will work) - hardware store
Dry ice - grocery store
Denatured Ethanol - hardware store
Svg2 field piece vacuum gauge - www.ebay.com/i...
2 stage rotary vane vacuum pump - cheap models likely won't work. Invest in a decent pump
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[@900darmah]

I just found this. Very good and informative. As an owner of a lyophilizer service company I only have 1 criticism. You keep stating that no heat is applied. This is against the criteria of sublimation. Heat is ALWAYS used in freeze drying. This is how you achieve sublimation and desorbtion in time. Heat is applied either radiantly, or more common, through conductance. Other than that, very informative.

[@pieterveenders9793]

Considering you need a vacuum of at least 611 pascals to reach the triple point of water, where it goes directly from ice to gas at 0C or higher, do you still need to apply external heating to the vacuum chamber? Is the freeze drying apparatus being in a room temperature environment not enough, seeing as theoretically the ice sublimates at 0C and above anyway? I've read that for the tail end of freeze drying things like fruit or other organic material you sometimes need to apply a small amount of external heat to overcome the molecular attraction between that last bit of water and whatever it is locked inside of, but for the first 90-95% external heat should not be necessary I thought?

[@jasonyeag]

top 10 ways to make your neighbors think you have a meth lab

[@jbstepchild]

I need them to know where to get it

[@Itried20takennames]

Hah…so true. Can’t imagine the in-laws or a landlord seeing this set-up sprawled across the kitchen, with no explanation.

[@Seegsoutdoor]

😂

[@zackengelhart2]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh it is weed stuff I swear mam I just separated the resin from the plant

[@KvisTwig]

jesse we need to freeze dry fruits

[@styropyro]

awesome project! buying a lyophilizer is expensive even used...it's cool to see this done so cheaply (other than the vacuum pump). ill have to give this a try!

[@thethoughtemporium]

Thanks :) Ya I was looking at buying a used one, but the price was insane. Was so much easier to just build it.

[@davidmontoya3997]

@@thethoughtemporium how well would it work to use a used refrigerator compressor for the vacuume pump?

[@thethoughtemporium]

@@davidmontoya3997 not at all. needs a better pump than that.

[@davidmontoya3997]

@@thethoughtemporium My second question is do you think it would be possible to modify a deep freezer to hold the required vacuum and have a separate water trap compartment built in as well?

[@maxk4324]

@@davidmontoya3997 No, typical deep freezers are not built with vacuum sealing in mind, You would likely end up swapping out the entire interior compartment and the door along with all sealing elements. By the end it would likely just be cheaper and easier to build a vacuum chamber that size from scratch and then to cannibalize the refrigeration system from the deep freezer to cool the vacuum chamber. That is effectively what you would end up with anyway if you tried to convert the deep freezer into a deep vacuum chamber.

[@dilboteabaggins]

This is quite late, but instead of Teflon tape, use a product called nylog on your thread fittings. It acts as both a thread lubricant and a thread sealant. It never dries or cracks. It's what I use on all of my refrigeration systems I need to evacuate. My manifolds can easily reach 50 microns Hg/50 mTorr. I have found that Teflon tends to be a bit leakier. With that said, I also only used tapered fittings or flare fittings on my vacuum setups.

[@arleneelainelittlechild1562]

The dry ice purchase itself is ridiculously expensive What did it cost to build this and break down cost to freeze dry strawberries? I freeze dry food now in regular freezer, lay it out on baking sheets, flip every couple days, in 10 days or so, depending on what im freezing, up to 3 weeks. Stand up freezers are great for this and a lot cheaper

[@mikec3820]

awesome build. wish there was a affordable home/mini sized freeze dryer on the market..

[@gina248]

Agreed ! I’ve been searching for years for a mini kitchen one and they are all large and expensive

[@mikec3820]

@@gina248 even the "home" model harvest right is 3000$ and it doesnt even come with the software id need for my applications (hash lol) needs the pharma grade software . the pharma grade HR is 7000$. to rich for my blood. air dry it is haha

[@nicholi8933]

I just watched the King of Random do something with freeze drying. I was a bit curious on how the process was done so I googled it and you were the second video. The first being basically and ad for a freeze drying company. This was really neat. I figured it had more to do with a vacuum considering the cost of the pre built machines. Thanks.

[@stevie_jean1953]

One of the only video I could find. Thank you. Was trying to see if I could build a big one like almost walk in. And how they actually worked. Thanks great video.

[@bornfree2237]

That's a lot of -pressure in a huge area, basically a bomb if it fails. Unless you're working for NASA, it's going to cost about a Mil in steel and labor for welding the structure alone.

[@souravzzz]

You are just like an young version of Ben from Applied Science, someone who I have a lot of respect for. I hope you continue to make such great videos on diverse topics!

[@thethoughtemporium]

Thanks! Glad you enjoy

[@maxk4324]

If you ever need to make more cryo insulation I would recommend closed cell polyethylene foam. We use it at work for LN2 plumbing and it works a treat. If you stick with the polystyrene though I would recommend investing in some nichrome wire, a 12V battery, and either a high power pot for voltage splitting or, for more efficiency and less heating, a variable buck converter to adjust the voltage across the wire. Basically I'm describing a DIY hot wire foam cutter. A lot better than using an exacto, I can tell you that much.

[@shdwbnndbyyt]

Wow. I used to use freeze-dryers (Edwards) for lyophilization of pharmaceuticals from both aqueous & non-aqueous solvents. Our shelf temperatures within the lyophilization chambers were on a separate temperature control circuit so we could drive the process by adding heat to the subliming vials of product. I also used the chambers to add a special gaseous headspace to a liquid diagnostic product that is on the market today. I was actually given a product that I had performed pre-approval development work on. Of course most of the products I worked on were for cancer or HIV, so I am quite glad I never needed those. BUT, I never got to lyophilize STRAWBERRIES!!!

[@ChrisMuncy]

I've always been interested in making one of these myself, very nice. The only thing I would change is get rid of the styrofoam and get some closed cell foam, like the sheets of insulating foam you can get at the big box hardware stores. Easier to cut clean edges with.

[@thethoughtemporium]

I was considering it but the styrofoam was half the price and fit in the car haha

[@chancetolbert4852]

Couldn't you just tube it up into a deep freezer?

[@bornfree2237]

@@chancetolbert4852 I think the temperature needs to swing a bit to entice the sublimation, but I have always wondered if just sealing up my deep freeze and putting a vacuum would work for some foods. I know it's worked on a few steaks I forgot about at the bottom of mine.

[@Lardzor]

I think keeping the drying chamber below freezing during the entire process is preferred. That is to say, below freezing and not below zero F. Sublimation still occurs and you don't have to worry about the cellular structure getting smushy.

[@Hansen710]

they do sell heating mats for them. i doubt freezing is the best.. after all temp differences are used to move gasses, or to make gases liquid or liquid into gases.. (and that is what we are working with in this method) the importent thing is probetly the temp diffence, and not the temp. as long as you stay within where nothing usefull is destroyid in big amounts.. terpens can be collected with freeze drying (with the right temps), so you can also collect the taste and smell to some degree. (and those are not collected when the proces is at its coldest point) probetly not anuff to taste any difference, but you would be able to collect some very tastefull and nice smelling aromas

[@rickcoona]

i am really interested in hearing how your carbon foam turns out this was very helpful, Thank you good Sir!

[@totallynotdelinquent5933]

I'm gonna use this to make magic mushrooms last super long without being leathery.

[@johnr8996]

That's a good idea

[@randeeeller8892]

Did it work well?

[@tobylangdale95]

Do you regularly read minds from afar?

[@ucid5363]

ima have ta hop on this wave

[@darthyda]

That is just godlike!

[@doraran2138]

Dollar Tree Stores have small bags of freeze dried fruit for $1.00. Strawberries, peaches, apples, mixed fruit. 70-80 calories a bag. An alternative for those of us that like freeze dried foods as snacks but don't have time or money for freeze dryer.

[@TheRichardellison]

Thanks for the video. Now im definatly just going to buy already made freeze dried food even though its very expensive, which i can see why

[@doodybird5766]

Oh lordy.. I was looking at freeze dryers and there's no way I can afford 2 or 3 thousand dollars for one. Then I think ... Hey, maybe I could build one.. Then I see this and look at my DEHYDRATOR and tell it, Don't worry, I'm not dumping you. Holy crap on a cracker!! LOL Macgyver is staring at me with a knowing smirk like he's saying I told you so lol

[@superdupergrover9857]

BTW, regular J-B Weld, and long set time epoxies in general, are stronger than the quick set ones. The quick set kinds use different chemicals that result in a weaker resin.

[@Darknesssleeps]

He said that

[@flonpdinglechalk7920]

Dude your videos are really cool and interesting, and im glad that I found your channel. Keep it up.

[@outsmoker420]

Can i use a rolled ice cream machine to sit the big pot on instead of dry ice? Will it be cold enough or maybe that plus dry ice? I would think the rolled ice cream machine could help maintain the temperature? I know this is a old video but can't find a answer to my question anywhere. Thank you to anyone with information

[@CarolP2045]

Thats really smart but I dont think I would go through all that for 3 slices of a strawberry. Guess that is why the machines cost as much as they do.

[@Dmbm789]

0:01 that building is so good it looks animated

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

Great project. It worked. The next step is to build a box with massive insulation around the freezers. Have fun with your *freezing powwrs !*

[@whiskyweasal89]

What would change if I want to build a bigger unit? Say I want to make an entire gallon of astronaut ice cream.

[@tge3069]

A/C accumulator w fittings A/C oil A/C condenser HD vacuum pump Vacuum pump fitting & sealant Temp gauge Put condenser into container & seal holes, Fill w enough oil to fill condenser, Attach both lines of condenser to accumulator, Attach vacuum fitting, Apply vacuum until reaches preferred temp, Freeze w/e for however long The end

[@riverafter9500]

I’m curious to know what your final build cost was? Freeze dryers are ridiculously expensive.

[@Nice-qi5cf]

Right?

[@Devildog2069]

Yeah how much

[@phylliida]

$180 Field Piece SVG3 $30 2 Gallon Stainless Steel Cooking Pot $100 Two 2 Quart Stainless Steel Vaccum Chamber ($50 each) $3 1/4” Flare Union $7 5/8” Barb Splicer $25 Styrofoam sheets $15 Spray Adhesive for Foam $15 High Grade Teflon Tape $9 J-B Weld $10 Thermal Work Gloves $25 Denatured Ethanol $150 2 stage rotary vane vacuum pump Total $569 Each time: $5 Dry Ice

[@tthtonekid]

Built on Amazon like 400

[@JustWickedSwede]

Fun fact: "Astronaut icecream" have never been in space and have never been intended to be eaten by astronauts.

[@thethoughtemporium]

If I ever become an astronaut, I know what I'm bringing with me then

[@WatchingMyLifeFlashB]

En Person The comment should read 'has' in the places it now reads 'have' as 'Astronaut Cream' is singular. Now if you said Astronaut Creams, flavors, types, or varieties, 'have' would be appropriate

[@morescodesup2087]

Astronaut bacon is a thing And it needs be known

[@lordgarion514]

En Person You're only half right. It never went to space. But it was developed under a NASA contract for the Apollo missions. So it was very much intended for them to eat it. The problem was it was found to be to crumbly, so it didn't get to go.

[@askhowiknow5527]

En Person “has”, not “have”

[@RandomNooby]

@The Thought Emporium I cannot stress how grateful I am for your work, My 13 year old is just finishing putting the thing together for me, obviously I will be connecting the VAC pump and operating the machine, thanks again. Have you ever thought of building an electron microscope (its been done before)

[@kerrimtthefrog1001]

Crushing the dry ice to a powder speeds up the process and Ive used paint thinner for a cryo liquid but I was just messing with stuff cause I get free dry ice sometimes

[@aguileraq77]

When I was searching for DIY Freeze drying, I was really hoping I'd find a video that said -- "Stick desired freeze dried item in the very back of the freezer and wait"

[@__WJK__]

Great video but in the long run... the initial low cost of a DIY unit will end up costing more than a retail unit, due to the unavoidable need to replenish the dry-ice, given dry ice is a consumable and can be pretty pricey in cetain markets :( The most cost-effective solution, of course, would be to find a used retail unit for cheap or (better yet) split the cost with someone/a group of ppl, to help lower the rather steep initial cost. On a side note/for what it's worth... many people forget that DIY & retail freeze dryers typically need to operate for many (many) hours, so depending on the water content of the particular food being freeze-dried, the freeze dryer may need to run for 12 hours, or more, which (unless one lives where electricity is cheap or they have a solar system) there's going to be a noticeable increase in one's electric bill when running a freeze dryer...the point being...it might be a lot less expensive to simply spend/invest the $3000-$5000 (plus food costs) on food that has already been freeze dried by a commercial company(?)

[@tthtonekid]

Dry ice is so cheap I think this would be great for home growers that only harvest a couple times a year

[@World_Theory]

The comment at the end about making a carbon foam from bread in the kiln, reminds me of a video I saw from AVE. He did just that by burning the bread without allowing it oxygen. I thought it was really neat, so I've been thinking about it for a while. What if you used popcorn instead of bread? And then, I wondered if you could make high temperature refractory bricks using the presumably resulting carbon foam pellets, by misting it lightly with water, and dusting it with dry (unfired) clay, and repeating this until the pellets build up a thin protective shell of clay. Then you would pack them into a brick mold in layers, with a light mist of water and a light dusting of clay in-between each layer. I think a handheld old fashioned flour sifter would help to apply the dust evenly. I also wonder of being able to incorporate grog (crushed, fired pottery), in dust or fine grit form, to help with thermal shock, incase the version made without it has any trouble. Anyway, the brick should be allowed to dry very thoroughly, and not too quickly, so that it doesn't explode in the kiln, or crack while it's drying, from the pressure of water vapor trying to escape too quickly, or the strain of the brick contracting unevenly from drying out. I also thought about adding the clay shelled carbon foam pellets to the kiln individually, but I wonder how you'd get them packed in efficiently, without having them all stick together during the firing, if they're touching eachother. Maybe coating them with some kind of ash? But if you could fire them as individual, loose pieces, you could probably actually use them as grog for clay bricks, without actually crushing them up, like one would normally do. That way, you could create custom shaped refractory clay pieces for ovens and things, without having to try to make them from assembling a bunch of bricks.

[@jonjohnson102]

World Theory wow

[@ITpanda]

So many of your videos are in my projects playlist. Thanx for your awesome videos as always.

[@CreepyChappy]

Nice gloves for the dry ice

[@johnanders8861]

For the vapor trap, I used some stainless steel fins from some scrap 304 stainless steel to increase the surface area and help less water vapor make its way into the Vacuum pump. I learned that the hard way and ruined a $1000 vacuum pump and vacuum fittings.

[@MaacAbra]

That’s amazing. Could you please estimate how much time and cost would it take to prepare specified amount (100 grams for example) of fruit like strawberries and other food that you tried it with?

[@Scrotux]

A yield of 20-30% would be good. He says 6-14 hours after flash freezing. I run industrial multi phase freeze dryers with 1500lb capacity and takes us 17-19 hours depending on size and type of product

[@CCAnne]

@@Scrotux we’re trying to make one

[@nathantron]

Soldering Iron + Paperclip makes a good foam cutter btw.

[@dracofirex]

I accidentally freeze-dried food in my freezer once. That really shouldn't have been possible lol. Sometimes when it gets insanely cold out here (like -30F and under) I wonder if I can actually freeze dry stuff outside. This is really neat. :D

[@Pufflers]

Brilliant. Looking to make one, hopefully this gives me a better idea.

[@fancentral4662]

Unexpected find. Nice work. I wasn’t familiar with freeze drying, still not sure why Ppl want freeze drying or how much can be freeze dried in this device.

[@jarodmorris4408]

Thank you for the video. I wish you had been able to make more on freeze drying.

[@setoman1]

I have no need for a freeze-dryer, but thanks for the insight. The cold trap will be useful for another project.

[@michelleanderson6085]

Every single time I want to learn how to diy something super cool, you have a video! Haha thank you!

[@ShadowRifft]

Capacitors or that AeroGel substitute might be fun to make if I knew how🙈 It was Cool to see a phase change chart too, Going the extra step to explain beyond basic understanding, it's shown in more detail if we wanted to Learn even more🙄👌

[@manashejmadi]

Man I want him to make a small scale nuclear reactor 😂

[@reluttr2]

Why didnt you just use spray foam to insulate the larger pot?

[@Gkokkinakis2]

He didn't have it at the time

[@ourcoralreefcollab]

Because he wanted to add dry ice underneath

[@joryclouthier]

pro tip always point your micron gauge up, water vapor will damage the sensor over time

[@mariaking81]

Hi . Thank you!I was thrilled to find this then when i went through the list, it looks like dry ice is almost impossible to get or exorbitant prices especially for lasting only 24 hrs. Anyone else in the Uk have this problem

[@milongos1]

wow, this is so cool. I'll try to build one of those by myself. Thanks for the video :D!

[@GrayEmbry]

Ebay links are prone to link rot... any chance you could just list the full names of things like the vacuum chambers, cooking pot, vacuum gauge and vacuum pump?

[@Draakdarkmaster6]

huh... its much easier than i thought it would be, this was helpful.

[@thethoughtemporium]

happy to help :)

[@swordoff7]

A good idea to build this unless there's children around. Then this has to be secured away from them. Other than that, the volume produced is small. Not too handy for survival food storage when one needs a healthy portion to put away. Do the math. It takes one year of constant freeze dry production with a 4 shelf home freeze dryer to put away enough emergency food for 4 people to last through a long term crisis. However, it sure looks like it's a good fun project to work on. Good luck with freeze drying the magic mushrooms.

[@ronwitek4539]

Best for bubble hash

[@metro4206]

Thanks ,now I can dry my water hash perfectly!

[@Orandu]

Wouldn’t a canned spray on foam insulation have worked better than styrofoam? Also, that is one of my favorite folding knives!

[@tigoda85]

one small point, don't use regular spray adhesive on polystyrene, the propellant and the solvent in in dissolves the polystyrene, same is true for a lot of plastics, you need the one that's specifically made for plastics though to pay through the nose for it

[@billys.5580]

tigoda85, 3m brand super77 contains acetone, and that eats most foams. Yet if you take said adhesive and spray thin, light coat from a distance of 16 inches approximately on both surfaces to be bonded, it won't melt foam. Acetone evaporates before it reaches the surface. You'll tear the foam apart well before you tear the glue seam. Great adhesive for using a hotwire cutter on laminated foam

[@StabbyMcStabwood]

That's nice... But what if I don't have access to dry ice

[@smellthel]

He saved like 4000 dollars

[@Onyxx98]

youve just got a new sub and you are the 2nd channel where id ring the bell i really like your content

[@themousethatroared3559]

love the video. is there something you can use in place of dry ice?

[@xtipsxify]

i was looking for Harvest Right, then i find this video. thank u, sir.. i will try to make one . thank u.

[@jonosterman2878]

I saw this video on your blog page, and I thought it was funny how someone was like "Meh! You must not use super glue on polystyrene!!!" when you in fact did not use super glue on polystyrene. lol. Anyway, great video, thanks for it. It helped me out a lot with my own built.

[@briannacooper8381]

Also freeze drying food stops histamine growth completely making it the ideal food storage method for those suffering from gastrointestinal discomfort.

[@SICKFREDO]

can an aluminum pressure cooker be used instead of the stainless steel chambers?

[@edwardhumble913]

I would like to get a parts list from you and diagram on how to build this

[@slikeklen2880]

bro i just wanted to freeze dry raspberrys not end up building a rocket 😂 Jokes beside, great Video 👍

[@edhernandez4344]

Wow only 6 to 14 hours AWESOME!!!

[@TinaShay]

Great video! I was just wondering if I could make one of these!

[@NwoDispatcher]

Anything is possible if we try... Let's cohabitate and collaborate Just do it!

[@markp8295]

Wouldn't a Sprengel vacuum pump work? A simple pump is much cheaper to buy and run. Nerd rage built one for $50 and achieved with water and a 100psi pump almost the pressure you want. Changing to mineral oil or vacuum oil to improve performance further would mean you can boil off the water at sub 25C without the need to freeze the fruit. The water that comes off can be separated through a simple oil water trap made with a sheet of plastic. So you can cycle the same fluid around, and it doesn't require cooling. This would be lower investment cost and lower running cost. However I've not built or tested this, so I'd appreciate any information as to why this wouldn't work.

[@xeigen2]

Do you mean a water aspirator pump? A Sprengel pump is what Cody's Lab made, it uses mercury falling through a small capillary tube to evacuate the air. It pumps far too slowly to do the job. However, as far as I can tell an aspirator pump will work. I found this paper images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1976/1976-30(4)277-Hedges.pdf talking about doing exactly what you describe. The drying process was very slow using water as the working fluid but as you say, could be improved by using mineral or vacuum oil.

[@AWIERD1]

Yikes, your micron gauge isn't made to be tightened with a pipe wrench and will likely rip the oring. Protip use some vacuum pump oil on the oring and hand tighten.

[@thethoughtemporium]

True, but also it was leaking. I was pretty gentle with the pipe wrench, though I realize I should've mentioned that.

[@EricDalgetty]

Typically I would avoid adding any extra oil inside the chamber, it can offgas and keep the chamber from reaching a good vacuum

[@AWIERD1]

Eric Dalgetty Having a dry o-ring shred or just being dry would also cause leaks too so a little does go a long way. But you are right too so there's a balance...

[@almosthuman4457]

Sterile petroleum jelly works better than pump oil. There's a product called petrol-gel intended for laboratory use.

[@huntman1871]

How many hash makers are here?????

[@d.g.T]

Got me! 🤣🙌🏻💚

[@Ray-sv9zi]

What are you, like the coolest guy ever??

[@red0eye0ron]

😂 got me 2

[@huntman1871]

Hell yea brother!!

[@laughingman7882]

Next time, get a cardboard box and some spray foam insulation. Put the pan in a plastic bag if you want to be able to remove the pan from this later. Put pan in bag and bag in box then spray in foam into the box and wait for it to dry.

[@donaldasayers]

Could you freeze dry something bigger, like say a body? Just asking for a friend.

[@fistpunder]

And someone just made a watch list. LOL

[@gp1971]

That’s funny!!!

[@mikaelgaiason688]

@@fistpunder They don't bother with lists any more, they just watch everybody and store all communications. Or were you not listening when Snowden spoke up?

[@PANCHOVILLA4U67]

🤦🏻‍♂️ lmao 😂😂😂😂

[@AtlasReburdened]

@@mikaelgaiason688 My dude, he couldn't detect the sarcasm in OP's comment, there's no way he was paying attention to Snowden.

[@timamar]

Hey, love your video :) i want to build machine like this on my own and i have a 2 questions: 1. how do you prevent water from going directly to the pump from the water trap? 2. how do you know when the process is finish? and you products is completely dried? and when i turn off the pump? Thank you :)

[@jonosterman2878]

37 degree JIC fittings don't need teflon tape because they are tapered.

[@haidenmorgan]

Thank you

[@3dp_edc]

How much dry ice (and alcohol?) per hour is used would be interesting to know

[@MiddleAgedMisfit]

What kind of savage slices strawberries with the stem on?

[@ricrea135]

Can I put damp rid in water collector so it doesnt have to be kept so cold

[@gddeen1]

I've been thinking a lot about this setup. This might be cheaper by eliminating the dry ice. Put a check valve from food container to freezing chamber. Next pump/circulate your dual stage vacuum oil into that chamber such that the surface area of the oil is increased. Here is a luxury step. If you have a 2nd pump of poorer quality connect that to the food chamber. Steps. 1 while food chamber is worse than 25"Hg, then open cheap vacuum and run it. This is a quick 8 second step, but very useful if you can pump CLEAN dry air into the food chamber. Most air compressors don't make clean air. 2. Turn off cheap pump and valve. 3. Turn on nice pump and run for an hr. 4. Pump oil from nice compressor into the freezer jar (now it is not a freezer, but a dryer). Circulate last oil from here to nice pump. A continuous circulation sounds better. I have to think more to be able to determine how to adjust the flow rate of circulating oil. The idea is because of the high vapour pressure of water, some water will escape out the exhaust of the pump. The oil will absorb some moisture reducing the vacuum capability of the pump. When the vacuum gets too poor, freshened oil is circulated in when makes the vacuum much better again. The old oil is dried and gets cooler (makes the vacuum pump work better - lower vapor pressure of water in oil) This will make your HV oil last longer. However, contaminants from the food is getting into the oil (and baking onto the walls of your good HV pump). At some point a flushing solvent is needed to clean the pump and a complete oil change. I'm trying to remove dry ice which makes the process onerous. I'm trying to keep the pump and oil below 104 F. I'm trying to keep food chamber uncompromised by bad air, oil vapor, etc. I'm trying to keep HV pump always operating at HV with clean cool oil. It works better stays cleaner and needs less maintenance. Oh, I forgot all about my dehydrated apple there. I'm having too much fun keeping the pump running.

[@uchiha1000]

do you have a list of items you used to make this?

[@skeller90]

Excellent video brow as always... congratz!!

[@thethoughtemporium]

Thanks :) glad you enjoy

[@malachieclipse9507]

Fun fact you can use a boiled egg slicer to slice your strawberries evenly without crushing them, i use it when i start drying strawberries in bulk

[@His-words]

Thank you for your teaching. May I ask how much costed the material? N how many hrs do you need to make it? Thank you again.

[@sunnohh]

I think you just saved me on the order of 1800 bucks!

[@thethoughtemporium]

Happy to help!

[@sunnohh]

@@thethoughtemporium sad to report It failed to work well

[@travelersworldcafellc7036]

Shrink wrap would make that look slick

[@almosthuman4457]

Hey guy, that's not a union. It's a 1/4" JIC to 1/4" NPT

[@SaintMatthieuSimard]

Awesome. Unfortunately, I couldn't even build a Dollar Store version. Kauz, they don'T have that stuff in Dollar Stores.

[@benb7727]

Me: imma gonna diy a freeze dryer Video: ....blah blah blah militore... Me: what is a militore? Also me: imma buy some MRE’s

[@jonosterman2878]

I was wondering why not just use liquid nitrogen for your cryofluid? Did you just not want to buy a fancy dewer, or is there some other reason why liquid nitrogen isn't being used here?

[@jerrysmith372]

RRRRIIIGGGHHHHTTTTT. LOL I simply bought a Harvest Right home freeze dryer back in Dec 2081 - I run it almost 24/7 and have processed a lot of foods for long term storage. Compared to buying commercially produced FD foods - my dryer has paid for itself many times over. It will also process up to 20 pounds of foods in a single batch. Good luck with your DYI dryer.

[@maxmccormick3376]

Acetone works much better for dry ice baths because dry ice is very soluble in it. That way you can have an extremely cold liquid without any chunks in it because the dry ice is all dissolved.

[@jonosterman2878]

You should have just bought the jacketed unit from BVV that has the full jacket for liquid nitrogen. It is only like 200 I think. That is prob what I will do to save some time and have a better quality unit, no offence to you, because you did a great job here!

[@cazhalsey8877]

Total cost of components used and bought to sum up how expensive this would be?

[@LancesArmorStriking]

Dude this is amazing. If ever there was another Renaissance Man after DaVinci, I think I've found him! How do you have such a wide variety of knowledge? Especially as an American (no offense, but the education system really encourage strict specialization at the top levels, and I've rarely seen anyone with such wide horizons). Love all the videos, please keep making!

[@thethoughtemporium]

It helps that I'm canadian, but also hated school. So I'm largely self taught. I do a lot of research before starting a project, then just dive in and see what happens. If I get stuck, I trouble shoot until it works. Rinse and repeat for 8 years and I ended up with a super weird and wide skill set. Glad you enjoy :)

[@justADeni]

Slava Ukraini! Smert voroham

[@jedeckert9525]

Double the hose clamps with the screws opposite each other for more even clamping pressure.

[@weshbesh2635]

Overall, how much did this all cost you? And how much would every run cost everytime you need to replenish the dry ice and alcohol?

[@MrBraffZachlin]

good stuff. i swear there is a dyi for everything on youtube lol can't afford a $3000 freeze dryer, make it

[@scottiedaghost]

This was very helpful

[@ZirconGames]

try to make some instant coffe

[@thethoughtemporium]

ooo good idea! will definitely give that a try

[@johnsonmay3181]

The Thought Emporium Be sure to write a paper describing the process!

[@thecentralscrutinizer5105]

worst tasting shit ever....yuckkk

[@lordgarion514]

@@thecentralscrutinizer5105 You taste instant coffee made the old way, the new(er) way, or both? They used to spray it from the top of a tall tower and all the water evaporated on the way down. Now they use reverse osmosis to remove the water. I don't drink coffee, even expensive fresh coffee tastes like ass to me(but coffee smells amazing), but it's supposed to taste better the newer way.

[@doraran2138]

Freeze dried coffee was marketed years ago by mainstream food companies.

[@Zachary-qp1jp]

Were did you guys find the vacume pump can I please get a link