Should You Buy a Freeze Dryer?

There’s a lot of debate about whether a freeze dryer is truly worth it.

Let’s be clear: there is no right or wrong answer.

In the end, the decision to buy a freeze dryer is ultimately yours. Some people feel it’s best to buy freeze dried food and that’s good enough for them, while others find it an absolute necessity for their household.

Let’s go over the pros and cons of a freeze dryer:

Pros:

Long shelf life, some foods can last up to 25+ years
Reduce waste by freeze drying leftovers
Retains up to 97% nutrition
Create your own freeze dried meals
Easy to use
Freeze dry meat, dairy, vegetables, smoothies, full meals, candy and so much more!

Cons:

Has a higher price tag
Can be loud for some, but it’s not much louder than a dryer or air conditioning
Monthly electricity bill might increase in places with high electricity rates
There are certain things you can’t freeze dry; butter, peanut butter, nuts, oils, jams, honey, and general things that are high in fat.

You’ll have to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. For me personally, none of the cons outweighed the pros.

The high price tag is an investment in my ability to preserve food for long periods of time for me and my family without relying on others.

The noise doesn’t bother any of us and it’s like white noise.

Our electricity was very high when we had it in AK because our electric company charged a lot, but in Texas, it’s very cheap to run.

I don’t mind that I can’t freeze dry some things, as most of the things that you can’t freeze dry, you can purchase commercially or they shelf stable as is. For instance, I don’t freeze dry butter, but I do buy powdered butter.

Oh, here’s one more potential con: it’s addicting!

You will be addicted once you realize how much you can freeze dry, how easy it is and how much you can preserve for your household in a short amount of time.

How does freeze drying work?

To put it simply, it freezes the food then goes through a sublimation process where it dries the food.

For a more science-y explanation:

It freezes the product and lowers pressure to remove ice by sublimation. Sublimation is the transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas phase without passing through the liquid phase. The process consists of stages: primary drying, where most of the water is removed, and secondary drying, which removes unfrozen water molecules to preserve the product.

So how does that differ from dehydrating?

Dehydrating simply removes the moisture by using heat to evaporate the moisture to dry it.

Freeze drying retains more nutrition than dehydrating in general.

What you can and cannot freeze dry:

Can:

Vegetables
Fruits
Dairy
Meats
Fish
Eggs
Candies
Ice cream
Pasta
Rice
Soups
Breads

Can’t:

Jam
Honey
Peanut butter
Nuts
Oils
Vinegar
Butter
Syrups
Chocolate
Water (lol)

Many times, you can still freeze dry something if you mix it in. For instance, if there’s a meal that has butter in it, it’s fine to freeze dry. It may just reduce the shelf life a little. So instead of 25 year shelf life, it might have a 10 year shelf life.

This is the case with meats as well. The trick with meats is to cook out as much fat as possible, then run it under water to remove even more fat. However, you can also freeze dry raw meat as well.

You can freeze dry things with fat and oils in it. The point isn’t to completely get rid of all the fat, but to reduce it. The reason being is for the storage process. If you store something with fats and oils in it, it can go rancid quicker than those without it.

So again, something that has a higher fat content, it may only last about 10 years instead of 25 years.

How long do freeze dryers last?

They can last for decades, with regular maintenance of course. It’s like any other major appliance, it has running parts and will need to be maintained or repaired as needed.

Take care of it, change the oil regularly, maintain it, and make sure to read the user manual carefully to keep it in good, working order.

You might have to change a pump, change freon or general maintenance, but it’s no different than any other major appliance.

Is a freeze dryer worth it?

For me, a prepper, a freeze dryer is 100% worth it because I can freeze dry whatever I want/need to fill my pantry with food that will nourish our family for years, no matter what might come our way.

The freeze dried food can be used for everyday eating, camping and of course, long term storage.

I freeze dry as much as I can while times are good, I won’t plan to freeze dry if I go off-grid or don’t have electricity. I freeze dry right now so I can have as much preserved food as possible. For me, it’s a lot cheaper in the long run, even with the initial investment and run time.

Freeze drying isn’t my only preservation method, but it’s my favorite. Keep the skills of canning, dehydrating, fermenting and more in your pocket so you have various ways of preserving food. They all have their pros and cons but none should be ignored.

I personally have a medium Harvest Right Freeze Dryer and love it. I actually wish I had gotten the large! But for our family of 4 (almost 5), it’s a perfect fit, we have it running constantly and fill bins full of homemade freeze dried food.