Having recently made the jump in to a freeze dryer, and knowing there’s both a couple others here with them, and several here thinking about them, I thought I’d start a thread detailing my experience. That will give me a chance to learn from the experienced ones, and people thinking about it to follow from the beginning.
First, my buying experience. I ordered a medium black freeze dryer with oil free pump direct from Harvest Right on 4 May for $4493.78 with tax ($4190 just machine) and was quoted 10-12 weeks for delivery at order.
I got notice on 14 May that a shipping label had been created, and it was delivered on 22 May, exactly 3 weeks from when I ordered! It was delivered by FedEx freight on a semi, so if you’ve got a long or hard to navigate driveway, you may need a way to get it from the road to your house. FedEx shipment details said it weighed 235lb, and it was banded in two boxes onto a pallet. Harvest Right requires you unbox and inspect at delivery, or they won’t accept any shipping damage claims.
Ours arrived with no damage, but with one issue... They sent the wrong color. Our kitchen appliances are black and, not being 100% sure where we were going to keep it, we ordered black so that it matched. I called the sales guy and he gave the option of getting a replacement sent out (ETA unknown) or taking a store credit and keeping the white. We opted to keep the white so that we could start using it and they agreed to give me the things I asked for, which came out to a little bit over $250 worth of stuff. We got and extra set of trays for pre-freezing, silicon mats for both sets of trays to make clean up easier, and to sets of Mylar and O2 absorbers.
First impressions were that it’s well made, but larger than the dimensions sound, and the weight/size combo make it too big for one person to move. It was very easy to assemble with only two compression fittings for the vacuum hose and one push on vinyl hose for drainage. Took about 3 minutes to assemble.
We decided to put it in a room that’s my “office” but has also been used to start chicks (good Lord, never again) and to start seeds. We needed a sturdy base to set the machine on, we we refinished a 100 year old oak dresser to use to set the machine on, figuring the drawers would be handy for storing Mylar, extra trays, etc.
We’re getting ready to run our first batch today, doing blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and mangoes.
Love to hear the guys that have had these for a while chime in with tips and tricks learned from experience!
First, my buying experience. I ordered a medium black freeze dryer with oil free pump direct from Harvest Right on 4 May for $4493.78 with tax ($4190 just machine) and was quoted 10-12 weeks for delivery at order.
I got notice on 14 May that a shipping label had been created, and it was delivered on 22 May, exactly 3 weeks from when I ordered! It was delivered by FedEx freight on a semi, so if you’ve got a long or hard to navigate driveway, you may need a way to get it from the road to your house. FedEx shipment details said it weighed 235lb, and it was banded in two boxes onto a pallet. Harvest Right requires you unbox and inspect at delivery, or they won’t accept any shipping damage claims.
Ours arrived with no damage, but with one issue... They sent the wrong color. Our kitchen appliances are black and, not being 100% sure where we were going to keep it, we ordered black so that it matched. I called the sales guy and he gave the option of getting a replacement sent out (ETA unknown) or taking a store credit and keeping the white. We opted to keep the white so that we could start using it and they agreed to give me the things I asked for, which came out to a little bit over $250 worth of stuff. We got and extra set of trays for pre-freezing, silicon mats for both sets of trays to make clean up easier, and to sets of Mylar and O2 absorbers.
First impressions were that it’s well made, but larger than the dimensions sound, and the weight/size combo make it too big for one person to move. It was very easy to assemble with only two compression fittings for the vacuum hose and one push on vinyl hose for drainage. Took about 3 minutes to assemble.
We decided to put it in a room that’s my “office” but has also been used to start chicks (good Lord, never again) and to start seeds. We needed a sturdy base to set the machine on, we we refinished a 100 year old oak dresser to use to set the machine on, figuring the drawers would be handy for storing Mylar, extra trays, etc.
We’re getting ready to run our first batch today, doing blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and mangoes.
Love to hear the guys that have had these for a while chime in with tips and tricks learned from experience!