Five Reasons NOT to Get a Freeze Dryer

I simply love my freeze dryer, so it may seem odd to write a blog post entitled, Five Reasons NOT to get a Freeze Dryer.

But here we go…

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Five Reasons NOT  to Get a Freeze Dryer

1. It is a knock-off/cheap brand.

There are probably other knock-off or cheap brands of freeze dryers. Harvest Right is the only one I’d buy.

How did I come to this conclusion? Loads of online research, but especially watching tried and true homesteaders using only Harvest Right machines helped me make my final choice easy.

2. You have loads of freezer space, there’s absolutely no way your power will ever go out. Ever.

If you can ensure that your freezers will always run and never go out, don’t bother with a freeze dryer.

A Quick Story: We have four freezers, and we have a generator for them. But just the other day, one of our freezers unexpectedly stopped working. I was THANKFUL to have my freeze dryer to at that moment! It was a good reminder to start working on getting as much out of our freezers as possible.

3. You hate fresh-tasting food and prefer that freezer burned taste. Yum!

Unless you have an amazing system for remembering and rotating what you’ve shoved thoughtfully put into your freezer(s), freezer burn seems inevitable. Even after putting my meat and veggies into freezer bags, I’ve still had to toss several items because of freezer burn. Ugh!

But if you really like freezer burned food, keep storing all your stuff in the freezer. Bon Apetite!

4. You’d rather have little to no control over what goes in your food.

If you much prefer boxed and/or processed foods, then you probably won’t enjoy this machine.

But if you have access to a garden or even a local farmer’s market {or farm}, you can freeze dry fresh foods in your freeze dryer.

5. You’re an absolute pro at canning.

Yes, canning food is a great option for long-term storage. I just starting learning how to can this year, and I’ve had a ball with it. {Do you see what I did there?}

But really, no matter how long you’ve been canning, there are some foods that simply aren’t safe to can.

Even if you’ve been canning for 20+ years, canning is labor-intensive and very hands-on. Freeze drying. Not so much. You just must put the food in the machine, turn it on, and let it do it’s thing.

Now, there are some REAL reasons people don’t get a freeze dryer like:

• It is expensive. Well, have you seen the price of freeze dried food? It’s crazy expensive, too. That’s mainly what pushed me to buy my Harvest Right.
• You don’t have a place to put it. I will admit, my Harvest Right freeze dryer is on the loud side when it’s running. My hubby built a table for mine out of scrap wood and we put it in an extra room in our basement. But I understand not everyone has that kind of space.
• You don’t have space to store the food afterwards. For me, this is the weakest argument on why you shouldn’t get a freeze dryer, although I’m not saying it isn’t legit in certain circumstances. Freeze dried food can be kept in a bin under your bed after you’ve put it in Mylar bags. You can dedicate a China cabinet or buffet to jars of freeze dried food much like people do with canning. A portion of a closet or room can also be used for food storage if you can say, “Good-bye” to other things that take up that space. It’s possible to get a little creative when you’re limited on space.

Enjoy homesteading!
~Becky

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