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HikerJohn
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PostTue Dec 15, 2020 6:13 pm 
Ok gang, My wife and I have been looking at a home freeze dryer that a store in Maple Valley has for sale for $2200-- look like a pretty good price. Anyone out there have one? Any thoughts? Is it worth the price? Figured we would share it with family and friends... Thoughts??? John

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Frango
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PostTue Dec 15, 2020 7:20 pm 
I have a friend who has one. It’s cool. We’ve made a few backpacking meals - roast chicken and mashed potatoes, hummus for wraps, stuff like that. Also freeze dried eggs for breakfast and cheese and fruit for snacks. We also freeze dry a buttt ton of chanterelles in the fall for use throughout the winter. Oh - and beef and lamb and veggies for the dogs who eat better than we do most days on the trail. Is it worth the money? Probably not. But as a really cool toy and pretty fun hobby? Totally worth it. And finally, if it works properly, I’d say that was a darn good price.

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RumiDude
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PostWed Dec 16, 2020 2:59 pm 
If you are only using it for backpacking meals, it probably is not worth it. If you are going to be using it for long term food storage for "prepping" then maybe so. Let me explain. Of the methods of long term food storage, freeze drying is likely the most durable. It also retains the nutritian value of foods extremely well. Our family cans a LOT of food. But keeping canned food requires special storage means. The jars shouldn't be stacked on one another which means they take up a lot of space. Also the glass jars are expensive and in the event of an earthquake that would disrupt services, they are likely to be destroyed. Freeze dried can be stored in vacuum sealed bags w/oxygen absorber. Foods put in a freezer are vulnerable to electrical disruptions. A couple caveats: freeze dryers require maintenance to the vacuum pump and as with all long term food storage, the food must be rotated so you don't end up with stuff you don't know when it was processed for storage. Additionally to make any long term food storage system work to your advantage, you need to have time, money, and space on hand to purchase when on sale/bargain, then process, and then store the food. Rumi EDIT: Here is a video I found that goes through a lot of the pros and cons.

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Snuffy
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PostFri Dec 18, 2020 10:31 pm 
Thanks for the information, Rumi. I've entertained the idea of having one but I definitely do not work on that grand of a scale.

You don't find yourself standing at the top of a mountain without having started out in the valley.
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BigBrunyon
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PostSat Dec 26, 2020 1:44 pm 
For half the price you can just invest in a internet app that shows the location of the private homes where these type machines reside. Then when the apocalypse descends you can just go loot from these private homes. Several of the foremost authorities on prepping agree that this plan is the way to go.

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RumiDude
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PostSat Dec 26, 2020 8:13 pm 
BigBrunyon wrote:
For half the price you can just invest in a internet app that shows the location of the private homes where these type machines reside. Then when the apocalypse descends you can just go loot from these private homes. Several of the foremost authorities on prepping agree that this plan is the way to go.
You must be some kind of subversive anarchist! *bigantifagrins* Rumi <~~~~~prepping anarchist

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Snuffy
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PostSat Dec 26, 2020 9:13 pm 
BigBrunyon wrote:
a internet app that shows the location of the private homes where these type machines reside
Only as long as said app also tells you whether or not said prepper is a card carrying member of the NRA and has stockpiled to defend themselves during an apocalypse.

You don't find yourself standing at the top of a mountain without having started out in the valley.
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Randito
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PostSat Dec 26, 2020 9:23 pm 
Snuffy wrote:
BigBrunyon wrote:
a internet app that shows the location of the private homes where these type machines reside
Only as long as said app also tells you whether or not said prepper is a card carrying member of the NRA and has stockpiled to defend themselves during an apocalypse.
I think a Venn diagram of preppers and multiple semiautomatic rifle ownership with more than 10,000 rounds stockpiled is close to a perfect overlap.

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RumiDude
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PostSun Dec 27, 2020 10:40 am 
Randito wrote:
Snuffy wrote:
BigBrunyon wrote:
a internet app that shows the location of the private homes where these type machines reside
Only as long as said app also tells you whether or not said prepper is a card carrying member of the NRA and has stockpiled to defend themselves during an apocalypse.
I think a Venn diagram of preppers and multiple semiautomatic rifle ownership with more than 10,000 rounds stockpiled is close to a perfect overlap.
Either way you look at it, Doing your own or stealing from others, prepping food is a laborsome and not inexpensive task. Depending on the food, it takes anywhere from 18-48 hours just for the freeze-drying process. That doesn't include the prep before and then the sealing and storage of the food afterwards. The freezedryer is noisy, though less noisy if you are nearly deaf like me. *bigwhatdidyousaygrins* So likely you will want to do it somewhere other than in the house proper. But if in the garage or shed, it needs to be in comfortable temperature ranges, not extremely hot or cold. Additionally, you need to make a lot of stuff to justify the cost, unless you have lots of extra cash burning a hole in your pocket. The main point I am trying to get across is that before you jump into freeze drying, know what you are getting yourself into. I seriously considered it, but I am looking to simplify and declutter my life at this point. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Randito
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PostSun Dec 27, 2020 11:44 am 
Wheat kernals, rice, dried beans of various sorts, etc will keep for years when stored properly -- 30 gallon galvanized steel garbage cans are effective storage. Steel is prefered over plastic as rodents can't gnaw into it. Sprouting dried beans before consumption provides vitimin C -- but it would also be easy to store several years worth of multivitamin tablets. I think the concept of storing several years worth of ready to eat freeze dried meals preparing for societal collapse is a triumph of fearmongering marketing by companies selling bulk freeze dried foods and/or freeze drying equipment. Colleagues of mine that are LDS and follow the religious precept of having a year's worth of food do so by incorportating their "armagedon staples" into their regular diets and simply having a large backlog of supplies. Given LDS history and some of the close calls with starvation faced by LDS pioneers in Utah territory, being prepared to endure a crop failure with a year's supply of food is not an unreasonable practice.

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RumiDude
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PostSun Dec 27, 2020 1:28 pm 
Randito wrote:
I think the concept of storing several years worth of ready to eat freeze dried meals preparing for societal collapse is a triumph of fearmongering marketing by companies selling bulk freeze dried foods and/or freeze drying equipment.
Well the whole post-apocalyptic type prepping is a political stance, IMO. It certainly is not based on historical precedence. The LDS experience is kinda a different thing altogether and yet proves how society as a whole doesn't desintegrate so easily. As a species, we are more likely to cooperate in times of stress rather than devolve into chaos. We do a lot of canning and have an ample supply of stuff, but not a year supply. Mostly the canning is to take advantage of goods, especially meat, when it is deeply discounted. It is also very convenient to just pull something out of the pantry and make a meal rather than a trip to the store. I can make beef stew in about fifteem minutes rather than a long cook time. We have about fourty pints of chili currently, so I am fixed for the long winter. Another advantage is knowing exactly what is in our food. Unlike canning where people could band together and batch up a lot of stuff over a couple days, freeze drying is limited to small batches over a longer bit of time. Thats why doing it communally is not feasible. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Randito
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PostSun Dec 27, 2020 8:33 pm 
RumiDude wrote:
Another advantage is knowing exactly what is in our food
Indeed, I need to limit my sodium intake to the federal RDA of 2000 mg. Basically any commercially prepared food blows past the daily reccomended amount in a single meal.

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Pyrites
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PostSun Dec 27, 2020 10:45 pm 
I do start to see why freeze dry is expensive.

Keep Calm and Carry On? Heck No. Stay Excited and Get Outside!
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Nancyann
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PostSun Mar 10, 2024 9:11 pm 
Any helpful updates on freeze drying? (Not dehydrating.) I do a lot of ultralight backpacking every summer and always have trouble finding lightweight freeze dried meals that are low in sodium and taste good, plus I like my own cooking best! I looked at some of the less expensive models on the internet, but am a bit skeptical of them.

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Geography Nerd
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PostTue Mar 12, 2024 8:28 am 
I haven't made the jump and purchased a freeze dryer yet. I do know several folks who have at least partially recouped their investment by selling freeze dried snacks, specifically candy on Etsy. The market is probably saturated now but something to consider.

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