Using Some of Our Freeze Dried Food in the "Wild" at the Oregon Sunstone Area.

[@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!

[@KarenShady-l4b]

I love seeing how you rehydrate, and use youre freeze dried food. Thanks. Great video

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks!

[@stuntman762]

I echo this sentiment- love the rehydration videos, and more would be great! Happy camping 👍🏼

[@SchoolReports]

@@stuntman762 Thanks! Are videos like this, meaning ones that don't show a great deal of rehydrating how-to detail, good enough to be useful? I'm planning/hoping to do a lot more of the using the freeze dried food while out & about. I would love to share the what and where we use our FD food.

[@stuntman762]

@@SchoolReports Yep I’d say they’re both useful and entertaining. I also like the detail-heavy rehydration videos you used to make early on in the channel 👍🏼. It’s interesting seeing how things stored long term and how they come back after rehydration.

[@forthosewhoHUNGER]

I thoroughly enjoy watching you both use your freeze dried foods on camping trips. Hi, Mrs.! Happy camping!

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks!

[@AddictOfLearning]

It is awesome that you can enjoy traveling and camping in your sweet converted van! Thanks for bringing us along for the fun!

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks!

[@misterp158]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing. enjoy your vacation, Be safe

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks 👍

[@marcfruchtman9473]

Interesting. Thanks for the video.

[@jeffbryant545]

I really enjoy the content. I would enjoy seeing more camping application and taste test of your freeze dried meals. I am a new owner of a HR and enjoy your attention to detail.

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks for watching and for commenting! I plan to put most of the rehydrating and using freeze dried food while camping on the second channel and the rehydrating while at home on this channel. Drive From Odell Lake to Florence, Oregon & Camping in Minivan kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6azgIt3pbBmhqMsi=Rt0_6Qt4uHviSg5T&t=1170

[@kerry1963qld]

Nice , thanks for sharing :) hope your both enjoying your trip

[@SchoolReports]

Thanks! The trip was great. The whole, longer video of the Sunstone area will be on the second channel tomorrow.

[@chickenstead6586]

I saw where you made the sliced tomatoes so I have made some this year. We really like them. Thank you

[@SchoolReports]

Simple, good, and easy to travel with!

[@dartagnantaft5918]

Last year while hunting all I ate was my freeze dried food.

[@SchoolReports]

Sounds great! We will be starting to use more as we get used to it. We don't tend to eat as much/often when we travel.

[@Sam-y5d3j]

Your next purchase: Swiss Army Knife keychain - a combination knife and scissor set among other things. LOL.

[@SchoolReports]

🤣Worse than that. - It's one of the things I already have. At the last minute, as we were deciding what to leave at home based on the weather/temperatures expected where we were going and what we planned to do, we decided to _not_ bring the hydration packs, which is where I keep that knife. Soon after we got there we realized that we should always bring our hydration packs, even if we "know" we won't need them for water. They are still packs, and we sure missed them on this trip.

[@Sam-y5d3j]

@@SchoolReports LMAO, “all the best laid plans of mice and me,” I believe is the saying, LOL.

[@voidisciple2759]

you know your in too deep when your eating the dehydrated tomato slice lol

[@eyesup9542]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@brianschindler1511]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@4150CHF]

I plan to purchase a medium Harvest Right or the smaller size Stay Fresh. I am leaning toward the Stay Fresh. Any opinion on Stay Fresh? The reviews seem to indicate that Stay Fresh is better quality than Harvest Right. One can never really know for sure. I think Stay Fresh should send one to you and let you put it through the ringer.

[@SchoolReports]

I have no strong opinion on any freeze dryer because I only have a couple data points. "Remember kids, the only difference between Science and screwing around is writing it down." I do think that all companies selling home freeze dryers (I have a list of about 13, and granted some are not home size) are doing a big disservice in portraying them as "fully automatic" and suggesting that you just throw the food in, it does the rest, and "DING" it's done and ready to bag. You do really need to check it yourself and, as you've said, and I've been telling people for years, the HR manual (at least the ones I have) just says ". . . Check the material thoroughly to make sure it is completely dry . . . " with no hint as to how to accomplish this in a way to ensure it's 100% dry every time! Don't trust the machine - It has no way of knowing if it's dry or not. I have a bad feeling that a lot of people are going to find out someday that some of their food was not dry enough. I've heard from a few of them already. This is my personal guideline about dry food: 🤣(Only a little tongue-in-cheek) #1 Never trust the freeze dryer or a spot check moisture meter to tell you if the food is dry! Do a Dry Check using a scale to make sure it's dry before bagging and storing. #2 Don't overload the freeze dryer. I try to keep the medium machine to a maximum of about 8 pounds of Water Weight per batch. (I have had 11+ lbs of water. It took a long time and I won't do that again) #3 Don't make the food on the trays too thick (height, not viscosity) If you do, you may have to run the batch twice. #4 When in doubt about dryness, add extra final dry time. #5 Never trust the freeze dryer or a spot check moisture meter to tell you if the food is dry! Do a Dry Check using a scale to make SURE it's dry. #6 NEVER trust the freeze dryer or a spot check moisture meter to tell you if the food is dry! IT CAN'T KNOW! Do a Dry Check using a scale to make SURE it's ALL dry before bagging and storing. I have heard of people finding great deals on used machines. I believe that Harvest Right has been around the longest, by far (as far as home machines), and therefore probably has the most used machines out there. It's a tough decision to buy one of these big, expensive machines. It would be nice if all machines that arrived to your house worked first time, every time. I'm actually surprised there are not more issues, considering the issues of shipping it and the 130 degree temperature swings and the multiple vacuum cycles for each batch. (The fact that that's not a thing is one of the reasons we like to buy from Costco or sold by Amazon - easy returns!) Over the years we have received a number of things that didn't work right out of the box or were missing parts, including our Mickey Mouse slow cooker, which took 3 tries before we received one that both worked AND had all the components. I don't know if Harvest Right has a higher then "normal" rate of issues with their freeze dryers. (I seriously doubt it - they just sell so many more) I do know that if anyone receives a 150 to 300 pound paperweight that's supposed to be a freeze dryer, they're going to be chapped! - and rightfully so! We only have 2 data points; one freeze dryer that's 7 years old (mine), and one (my sister's) that she got almost 2 years ago. Both have had minor issues that we could handle with ease, but other people may have been completely overwhelmed by the same issues. I'm used to working on things; I void the warranty on almost everything I own within a very short time anyway! I just have to tear it apart. Shipping one of these big heavy things back for repairs sound like it would be a heck of a challenge. (understatement)😇 Here is the list of Freeze dryers I've heard of - listed in the order I first heard of them: (If anyone knows of any others, please add to the list) (Last update - July 2024) harvestright.com/ (The only one I've used. We been very happy with ours) All the others might be great, I've just never tried them. p4lfood.com/ "The Cube" Same machine as the 4Patriots one? (Facebook page only a few months old?) 4patriots.com/products/4patriots-home-freeze-drying-system - Maybe built by Prep4 Life? (now brings up 404 Page Not Found) stayfreshfreezedry.com/ - One person start-up import business? (Judging by the corporation papers listing a home as the Registered Address) www.cuddonfreezedry.com/products/ - Big - Probably not really a home unit. At least 20 times bigger than medium HR wmmachinery.com/products/freeze-dryer-for-home-use - Lower priced. Shipped direct from China? www.labrotovap.com/portfolio-item/large-home-freeze-dryer-lyophilizer-for-sale/ - HR Knockoff? Even used some of HR web page photos. www.usalab.com/freeze-dryers/ - 2 or 3 models? Do they make or rebrand? freezedryco.com/equipment/food-cannabis/ Freeze Dry Company - more commercial size www.hudsonvalleylyomac.com/stratus-mp3-series-floor-model.html Hudson Valley Lyomac - not really home size units www.d-freeze.ca/ D-Freeze - Being built in Canada www.freezedryfood.de/en/ FreezeDry German bluealpinefreezedryers.com/ Blue Alpine Freeze Dryers - Idaho - New/Start-up - Looks very interesting 😁 Bottom line is I (personally) would only be considering two machines if I were looking to buy a home size freeze dryer today. (for my batch size needs) Harvest Right or Blue Alpine. - And HR is still the only one I've touched so I could be wrong. 🤣 Remember, I'm just another idiot on the internet. I could be wrong. The #1 joke at our house is "But, I saw it on the internet!"

[@topher6_9]

If you were to freeze dry bread, how do you rehydrate it without making it soggy?

[@SchoolReports]

The difficult part with most beads are freeze drying them without having them break into pieces. I don't have any video of it, but we've had a little success with the thin buns. Rehydrating it has gone pretty well using damp paper towels and plastic bags. Steam also looks promising. Here are a few examples from older, shorter, less informative videos: English Muffins - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJm9f4mKeMyfnNUsi=AGG7o-yjDqOQDY9H&t=131 Biscuits - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5-YaIymotKdl68si=Qg36se0vAC_r-rWt&t=326 Mickey Blueberry Waffles - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZ7Lg5-pjsSajNUsi=_3MS7Dlh4VSzRouP&t=52 Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iobcfX6fip2rqdUsi=KiNpt-xQo9zH_ELx&t=176 I have to apologize for many of my older videos. In my focus to keep my older videos very short, most of my older, shorter videos are almost devoid of information. I tried hard to keep the videos down to less then 10 or 15 minutes, no matter what I had to cut out! (Like information!)

[@Sam-y5d3j]

You are cheating, LOL. No floured tortillas or buns in a grid down, LOL. You need to use lettuce from your hydroponic garden you are growing in a bucket you can carry outside for the daylight sun and back in for safety, LOL! You could rehydrate and cook the dried foods in a HotLogic too, but then you’d need a generator, so the gas burner is probably the best. Nice to see you showing this use application, Dan.

[@SchoolReports]

Yes there will be. We have flour and a press! 🤣I will not go without tortillas or buns. We almost packed the HotLogic, but we decided at the last minute that we were already testing enough things for this trip. I think it would have been great on this type of trip where we were starting with a 7 1/2 hour drive. We could have even started it in the middle of the trip at the fuel stop and had it hot when we arrived. Next time.