How loud is the freeze dryer pump? The pump operates at about 65-75 decibels, similar to a normal conversation or dishwasher. Many customers place their freeze dryer in a garage or separate room for quieter operation.
The shelf heaters can be set to automatically control the rate of sublimation during the primary drying cycle.
My husband has been contemplating cost effective alternative ways to get oil-less vacuum happening... what would the specs needed be, since I don't have a pump to look at. Hopefully I asked that in a way that makes sense.
For ground meats, it’s a good idea to cook and then drain off as much grease as possible. I like to rinse ground meat before putting it in my machine to get rid of even more fat.
Now that you understand the conditions, you can better understand what happened when we finally turned off our FDer after an extended use in these conditions.
With Trimleaf Canada, the price you see is the price you pay, with all import and shipping fees included upfront. There are pelo hidden or surprise fees when you receive your statement or upon delivery.
Trust the machine. It will let you know when it thinks the food is done. Once the cycle has finished, you can check the food to see if it is completely done. If so, you can remove it from the machine and package it. If the food isn’t done, you can add time.
After buying our freeze dryer I was naturally curious as to how it "knew" when something was done, more info since batch times varied so much depending on what was being processed. Watching the cycle times didn't seem to tell me anything at first -- especially without a thermometer to tell me what was happening inside -- until I finally caught on that applying heat to the frozen food affected the vacuum, which provided the measure of how dry the food had become.
Use a professional shipping service that specializes in handling industrial machinery. Ensure the dryer is properly secured and protected to prevent any damage during transit.
Based upon your work experience you probably know more about vacuum pumps than most of us. Chasing a vacuum leak can be frustratingly difficult.
Remove all ice every 8 hours of drying time. It is amazing how much faster the drying time drops doing this. A side benefit is water vapor does not contaminate the oil as fast. I've gotten up to 20 cycle per oil change by carefully monitoring the oil and water.
Shortly after getting the freeze dryer, Lance's wife began shipping over boxes of dehydrated food. We get the food, rehydrate it, and make some incredible meals. My favorite was the pizza Lance would whip up!
Monitoring the FDer internal temps and once I see -40F I start the dry cycle, except for high sugar content food which I give an extra hour. I'm still experimenting with Ice cream and a few fruits to determine optimal freeze time to get the best results. The cooling cycle ends up much shorter.
You can choose to season meat either before or after the freeze drying process. I prefer to season cooked meats before processing and leave raw meat unseasoned. Then the meat can be seasoned later before it’s cooked.