To choose the right trays, consider the size and model of your freeze dryer, the types of products you'll be drying, and the required capacity. Ensure the trays are compatible with your specific freeze dryer model and suited to the materials you plan to preserve.
Then there are other costs like vacuum pump oil ($16 per year) and any accessories you buy. We have purchased additional trays, tray lids and tray separators.
Introducing the Xiros Mikro—a compact, bench-top Freeze Dryer engineered for efficiency and versatility. With an oito kg ice capacity, it can extract up to 4 kg of ice from your products within 24 hours, making it ideal for small to medium batches.
This freeze dryer is large enough to provide for your long term needs. But it can also provide you a way to safely store your homegrown fresh summer vegetables for winter use, saving you money, time and hassle.
Thanks to the freeze dryer, we now have a store of freeze-dried raw eggs ready for those times when our girls aren’t as productive.
We’re always looking for new and better equipment, so if you have a freeze dryer that you swear by let us know in the comments. We review most of our roundups annually, so we can always try to coordinate testing one before the next roundup and see if it makes the cut and beats out our top picks.
Most freeze dryers for home use are not enormous. But they’re considerably larger than the average microwave, and they are not exactly whisper-quiet. If you live in a small, crowded house or apartment it may be a challenge to find a place to set it up.
Noise: The freeze dryer isn’t whisper-quiet. If you have a baby that’s a light sleeper, or if you are, putting it in a separate room might be wise.
Logistics aside, this is a great choice for a couple or small family intent on being prepared. The food that emerges at the end of the process will keep for up to 25 years when sealed up properly in mylar storage bags.
It means we are maximizing the value we Shop Now get from our chickens, while ensuring we’re never short on eggs for breakfast or baking.
It is wonderful to freeze dry food that we have prepared. Drying the food ourselves is significantly less expensive than what we would have to pay to buy such food elsewhere. We are in control of the ingredients and are able to prepare long-term food storage that meets our needs.
On freeze dryer dependability: I have the medium Harvest Right. It worked flawlessly, but heading toward a couple years in, went south.
All of our experience and the testing we do to determine the best freeze dryer is useless without listing our research sources and references. We leaned on these for the book knowledge that we paired with our hands-on testing and practical prepping experience:
It makes for a great side hustle, plus you can always enjoy the candy yourself. You can experiment with different types of candy, but some of the best candy to freeze dry include: