Freeze Dryers AND Why I'll Never Own One - 6 Reasons!

Freeze dryers seem to be very popular these days and there a number of companies now selling them. Here are 6 reasons why I will never own a freeze dryer and why it might be a good idea to at least CONSIDER and think about why this purchase should be questioned.

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[Anamericanhomestead]

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[hometronicsflllc]

Here’s the thing, dehydrators take out most of the nutrients, I get freeze dryers are expensive, but if you go in as a community and let’s say a few families get to use it, you can freeze dry meals and vacuum seal or Mylar seal for food storage that you can transport (very important) weighing very limited weight. The electricity it uses is roughly $5 per load on an xl freeze dryer which freeze dried a ton. It’s not something you’ll use during SHTF as often especially if you need to leave your home, however if you prep so much food in preparation now you have food that will last 25 years. Also maintenance is NOT an issue the oil is 2 min to change, and harvest right now has techs in every state that come to you. You do not need to ship them out. Be honest with your viewers, these machines are not for EVERYONE but they ARE amazing and useful for quite a few people out there. But I would recommend going in with a few people in your prepping community and share the value and price.

[TexomaPrepper]

I bought my freeze drier three years ago for $3300.
Since then I’ve freeze dried enough of my own garden produce (fruit, veg and eggs) to feed my family for about two years. I now freeze dry candy and fruit and sell it. My freeze drier has paid for itself and has also paid for several firearms, ammo, a very nice solar generator (incl panels) and plenty of other prepper doo dads.

[livingthecountrylife]

We love our HR! We have stored up an enormous amount of food for us and our community. It preserves 95% or better of the nutritional value. And it will store for 25 plus years. You can not do that with canning, freezing, or dehydrating. This was one of the very best prepping purchases we ever made. It's worth every single dime.

[followerofyahushaDM]

We love ours! We use it to preserve and freeze dry our milk from our cow so we can have it while she is dried off! Works wonderfully to make powdered milk that can be reconstituted and not taking space in a freezer so if someone on your channel has a milk cow it may make sense. There’s no other really good way to make milk shelf stable long term.

[RichardMcDonald]

Freeze driers are to prepare for when things fall apart, not for when things fall apart.

[Sparkeee]

We love our Harvest Right. To each their own, but we have had amazing success with ours, and really enjoy all of our items we have freeze dried.

[beckypetersen]

Reasons he doesn't own a freeze dryer. I was looking for this somewhere...didn't see it so I wrote it.
1. Too expensive
2. Not needed for survival
3. Most things you can make without using one
4. Energy intensive - he has only solar
5. Expensive maintenance
6. Super heavy - hard to move

[beardpapa]

I have 2 and they run 24/7. I made a business out of it and there are people out there buying freeze dried food. I live on an off grid 300 acre homestead and I freeze dry meat and make powdered eggs from my 200 chickens. Dehydration does not dehydrate moisture fully!!! I’ve had my units for 6 years and had ZERO maintenance costs and I’ve made my money back 10 fold!!!

[jayc]

We spent our stimulus checks on one. We use ours for
1. Extra eggs out chickens produce
2. We have fruit trees and I like the taste of freeze dried fruit better than canned
3. I grow a lot of food and it saves me from having to can non stop during harvest season.
4. I freeze dry for family members who want to prepare but can’t afford to buy one. My mother in law is a widow on a fixed income she still gardens and I help her put food away.
5. We run ours almost every day and our electric bill has only gone up $10-$20 a month
6. I have reduced food waste my family isn’t into eating leftovers so now I preserve them instead.
7. I’ve saved a lot of money buying food on sale over the last two years. I buy 50lbs of bananas when they are on sale for .39lb and have snacks to eat all year at a discounted price.

We are by no means rich but when stimulus checks came out I saw an opportunity to own one. They also have a lay away plan for those who need it.

[minionkevin]

I 100% disagree with you. On cost, you should be striving to have a MAG (Mutual Assistants Group) split the cost and take turns using it. There is a huge difference between freeze drying and dehydrating. Freeze dried foods in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers will store A LOT longer then dehydrated foods stored the same way. We grow a lot of food and freeze dry most of it incase for whatever reason you aren't able to grow for a season. You are correct, They are heavy and require a decent amount of energy to run, they are also very time consuming, but when its all said and done you can properly put up an insane amount of long term food storage. Oh and trust me when I say its all cheaper than buying Mountain house meals.

[mrs.washington]

I went halves with a friend on a medium freeze dryer so it was $1300 each. I love it. I don't dehydrate much of anything anymore because I'd rather freeze dry. Compared to purchasing freeze dried food, I've made my money back. I do know in a grid down situation the freeze dryer will be useless because we don't have enough solar, but until then, it's been worth the money. Last deer we harvested and freeze dried all the meat. My cousin hikes and buys freeze dried food. When she visited she made 6 dozen scrambled eggs (from our chickens) and freeze dried them. It cost $2.00 in electricity for the 6 dozen compared to $120 if she purchased them from the camping store.

[babsoneverything]

The thing that I like about freeze dried foods is that they are lightweight and take up less space than canned, which is an advantage if one needs to bug out. You can carry a LOT of food in a backpack. So yes, when the shtf, I will be thankful that I had one. Added: If the shtf, you may NOT be able to find more chickens.

[dressseller]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion… But freeze dryers are the bomb. The reasons given here are valid from your point of view but for many many others they are hardly valid reasons to diss freeze dryers. All of the food preservation method you mentioned are great methods… Freeze drying is one more terrific method of food preservation that outpaces many of the others you mentioned. It doesn’t mean those others aren’t any good… This is just another valuable tool in the shed. It all comes down to individual ideas, likes, dislikes, goals, etc. As for me… Love love love the freeze dryer. And I know I’m not alone. It’s fine if you don’t have one… It’s fine if you don’t want one… But your reasons hardly are persuasive to those who see a lot of value in them.

[cherriethomas]

I've had my harvest right 4 9 years and it is amazing. The candies the most fun my kids love the gummies but I also love being able to put up my strawberries in my apples and everything that I have in abundance.

[GoshenPrepping]

Great video Zac. I have to admit, we jumped on the "free freeze dryer" bandwagon. I don't regret having one, but our viewers would never buy one. I don't even recommend getting one unless you're one of those "prepping 24 hours a day" preppers. Even then... Maybe! I tell my viewers that instead of $4, 000 for a freeze dryer, take that same cash and buy canning equipment or shelf-stable foods that don't require preservation. Keep up the good work brother and speak the truth!

[forthosewhoHUNGER]

I LOVE our freeze drier. I AM so happy I have a freeze drier. Your reasons sound like a justification for why you can’t afford one. And those of us who freeze dry, we already know how to ferment, dehydrate, pressure can, etc.

[lisabakos]

We bought a Blue Alpine freeze dryer over the summer. I have to say, it's one of the best investments we've made so far. My husband has been using it nonstop, and now we have meals upon meals stocked away that'll last at least 25 years. Talk about food security! We can barter or sell some meals if needed, too. We also can, ferment, and dehydrate.

[DonnaMM]

I noticed that An American Homestead commented on Heidi's most recent video about the freeze drier. I have followed Heidi at Rain Country for years. I find that her research is spot on. Especially, her research about herbs and herbal medicine. She is very organized and pragmatic. Practical. Very practical!

[ouachitafarmacy]

We love ours.
1) you prepare now, not when something happens. Much lighter to transport if you had to go. Mylar vs jars. No brainer.
2) Cost no one needs the $5000 model you can preserve lots of food with a medium. We bought ours (saved up) for $2200 and free shipping. Runs on 110v
3) The energy use is not as exaggerated as portrayed. Many have run meters to test. Ours averaged about $3-5 for a load. Oh snd that load comes from our farm. See we don’t stop nurturing our soil, growing food, saving seeds because we have a freeze dryer.
4) Freeze drying retains 95% of nutrition for 20+ years where canning starts to lose it after about 18 months. We also can and dehydrate certain things do I’m not an opponent of either. FD simply is another tool we choose to use.
5) We have never had to ship our machine off to be repaired. We’ve had two issues and each time I did the repair and trust me I’m not a tech type person. If I can repair one anyone can. You simply keep it clean and change the oil.
I respect that you don’t feel like it is a product you should endorse on your channel. But as an owner/user for several years I am glad that we made the purchase. I keep FD items in my working pantry, long term storage and for outdoor trips. We’ve also run load for others which has offset our cost. Just a different perspective.