Hi! Welcome to our channel. On it we will be posting mostly freeze drying, some hikes, 3D printing, science videos, and any special projects. Hope you enjoy it!
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This video was so well done! I could see everything in detail, you were thorough but not exhaustive, and I loved the laser idea! Also, didn’t know the thinner slice auger shaft was available, so thank you. I plan to dehydrate my slices so that was nice to see that option.
Have you done any research and sourcing on the following? Any links you can provide appreciated: 1. Rosemary extract for preventing oil/fat rancidity. Where to find the right extract in the right concentration, how to use it and how much to use. 2. Where to find O2 absorbers in case quantities but in packs of 10. 3. Where to find the gusseted single and double meal pouches for backpacking meals in bulk. I've only found them at Top Mylar, but their pricing is rather high. Pack Fresh USA doesn't sell these.
Sorry, I'm not going be of much help for you. 1) I'm not a food scientist (not close:) and I've been having a hard time understanding everything they have in the papers (organic chemistry is not something I know), but I have found a good number of papers. The more I read, the more of it that sinks in. Here are a few, and at least one has some amounts they used during testing - www.mdpi.com/2305-6320/5/3/98 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10572867/pdf/foods-12-03583.pdf dpointernational.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Short-Review-of-Extracts-of-Rosemary-as-Food-Additive.pdf www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0926669015305434 2) We've always been buying ours in 10 packs from PackFreshUSA. 300cc Oxygen Absorbers in 10-Packs (1000) - Wholesale - packfreshusa.com/300cc-oxygen-absorbers-in-10-packs-1000-wholesale/ 3) I've never looked for those bags. I've found bags that work for us, and I'd hate to switch and have to start testing from scratch again.
I've yet to have a batch of apple slices last more than 2 months before getting soft and ruined. I've read thin slices and no skin is the fix....but you have left the skins on. Have you found those apple slices are lasting for years, or not? Thanks!
We almost always leave the peel on, unless we know the batch is planned for rehydrating for making apple pie or other filling. We have had no issues with the apple getting soft. - That should not happen. It is harder to freeze dry the thicker slices be cause it will take exponentially longer to dry as the thickness increases. Where a 1/8" slice may take X amount of time to dry, a 1/4" slice may take 4X to dry. Maybe they weren't 100% dry; either that or the bags are not good enough and they are allowing moisture to get through. I did have that happen once. The Freeze Dry Video I Never Wanted to Make - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B0KUfoHuCk4.htmlsi=NTYtPQpPZBPhiVhe Here is a couple minutes of us opening a bag of 1/2" slices that were 7 years old. They were perfect! (I guess I should make a short video of the apple for this channel, or include a clip in the upcoming apple video) Finding Sunstones & Using Our Freeze Dried Food - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VMhcG7_ilHE.htmlsi=GHRyMRwMA9fGW4nE&t=738
@@SchoolReports thanks! We used the HR brand of bags, but all my slices were thick. I've seen others struggle with thin slices tho, and had read the skin could be the culprit. Thanks for the response and videos!
@@T4nkcommander The HR bags we've used were great, but we've been very happy with the ones we've been using after we ran out of the HR bags. We still have a few bags of food in the HR bags, including more apple slices. In the oxygen absorber test video from a few days ago there is another bag of apples in a HR bag. The video was about the 7 year old OA so I didn't think to talk about the apples slices! (Unpeeled and prefect) Skins are not a problem. Peeling them before freeze drying is something we just didn't do until after making a pie with rehydrated apples that still had the peel. It's just wrong to have peel in the pie. 🤣 Rehydrating Freeze Dried Apples & Making Apple Pie - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-02Z-LHuwqTY.htmlsi=jyBTg40tYGZB__7F&t=67
I'm not against vacuum sealing the bags (as long as there are oxygen absorbers included), except for the cost of the chamber vac, time (maybe a minute or two per bag, times thousands of bags), and the potential of crushing some delicate foods (if using bags), e.g. tomato slices, green beans or other delicate items. Plus, most vacuum sealers leave significantly more of oxygen in the the bags than oxygen absorbers. I suppose doing both doesn't hurt. I have no plans to get a chamber vacuum for Mylar bag sealing, though I would like to do nitrogen flushing of the bags like commercial bags are often done. (I just never got around to it) One concern I would have with vacuum sealing is that because the bag has a lower pressure on the inside vs the outside, there will be a pressure pushing the oxygen in.
I don't understand why you're wearing gloves. Is that just to keep your hands warm? If it's to keep the food on the tray sanitary, that doesn't make sense because you're touching the outside of the box which is obviously not sanitary and has been handled tons, and you even put the dirty box on the tray where you're putting the food. It's not possible to sanitize the box so it's got to be germy. So, I don't get it
Yes, it's to keep my hands warmer. I thought I said so in the video, it must be in another ice cream video. I do have the gloves on because it made a huge difference with how cold it felt. And it was sticky. There are definitely people out there with strong opinions about gloves while preparing food. I had one commenter say they wear gloves even when making a sandwich for themself. I tend to treat the freeze dried food as if I'm making it for myself. 🤣I rarely wear gloves when I'm cooking my own dinner, either. I sometimes wear gloves when the food is very cold, very hot, or when touching very peppers.
Hi, I've been binge watching your videos lately and am interested in that french fry scoop you use. Can you tell me where you found it? If you're using it for medium trays then it's 7 inches wide. All the fry scoops I've found online are at least 8 inches wide. A link to a 7 inch wide fry scoop would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Thanks so much for watching and for commenting! 😁 The scoop I use is one I "adjusted." After I bought the scoop off Amazon, I cut both sides off and attached 3D printed end pieces to the sides. (Taller side pieces would probably make it better) This is how I changed the scoop - Food Scoop For Freeze Dryer Tray ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-trs26E42Zho.html I have made an updated scoop video when I made a scoop for my sister. No cutting or adding, just warming and bending. I think it turned out even better than the first one! Adjusting My Sister’s Scoop ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4EPiwgbFWgI.htmlsi=4Fhysu7POXqdRPpw Someone else told me that they had bought a metal scoop and re-bent it to fit the tray, but they didn't tell me which scoop they bought.
@@SchoolReports Thanks for responding. I don't have a 3D printer so maybe I'll go with your idea for your sister's scoop where you heated the sides and bent them up to fit.
Hi! I love your videos! Found you yesterday and I have been watching the freeze dry videos. I have a question on if the dough is freeze dry-able and how you always know how to re-hydrate things, would love some tips!
Thanks for watching and for commenting! Are you asking about freeze drying the dough as raw dough or as a cooked pizza? As a cooked item, pizza or not, it's pretty easy and does well. I don't think I'd bother with freeze drying it as raw dough. I plan to do a whole new pizza making and freeze drying video soon. (Soon in my world, but I'm pretty slow at getting things done:)
@@the.phoenix.k I've found that for most bread/cake type items, wrapping them in damp paper towels, putting them into a plastic bag, and giving some time, seems to work pretty well. I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard that steaming them may be successful. Most of them are also great while still dry. In the upcoming video about pizza we will try to show how to rehydrate them. Here is some older testing. (And, sorry, I have to apologize for many of my older videos. In my focus to keep my older videos very short, most of my older, shorter videos are almost devoid of information. I tried hard to keep the videos down to less then 10 or 15 minutes, no matter what I had to cut out! - Like information!) 😁 Rehydrating Experiment: Pillsbury Crescent Rolls Cooked and Raw - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TUyLKiU8xss.htmlsi=97ZmnEQxYS5_DI5Q&t=177 English Muffins - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BhZNVTCglfs.htmlsi=n34HWVPGAgOf8Xd7&t=128 Chocolate Chunk Muffins - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BXfk2kEFknY.htmlsi=9MheoktwVV2ueEHU&t=369
@@SchoolReports Thank you! I will be watching those! I haven’t seen your storage room in a few videos, did you still have it? And if so can you make a video with a tour of it and how you keep track of inventory? For example: is it better to be in a hot or air conditioned room? Texas garages get hot fast and I want to make sure my food won’t spoil or not be good! (Sorry for all the questions, I’m learning :) )
Love this peeler! This is the comparison video of the old vs the new peeler, in case you're interested. Apple Peeler - Old vs New - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rcBiXDWr98I.htmlsi=KZbqDTJuO2bN1PzD
I'm not a fan of adding kitchen gadgets if you're not going to use them enough, so I not going to encourage you to get one unless you think you'll use it a lot. But, we have used ours (this one and the one we have before this one) to peel and/or just slice many, many hundreds of pounds. We just peeled and sliced 60 lbs of apples, in perfect, even slices that I never could have done by hand with a knife. This is the comparison video of the old vs the new peeler, in case you're interested. Apple Peeler - Old vs New - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rcBiXDWr98I.htmlsi=KZbqDTJuO2bN1PzD We've also used the peeler to slice and peel potatoes for making scalloped potatoes.
I thought the one we had for the previous 20+ years was great, but this one is better. This is the comparison video of the old vs the new peeler, in case you're interested. (Or want to share with people looking for a peeler:) Apple Peeler - Old vs New - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rcBiXDWr98I.htmlsi=KZbqDTJuO2bN1PzD
Want to support this channel? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm AFFILIATE LINKS & REFERRALS - I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided ─────────────── As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. By clicking on the links, you can explore the products and tools I use. www.amazon.com/shop/schoolreports --------------------------------------------------- PackFreshUSA We have been buying oxygen absorbers and 7 mil Mylar bags from PackFreshUSA since early 2018. During all that time (1000's of bag and oxygen absorbers, and about 6 year before before we added this affiliate link) we have been happy with the products and service we have received from them. I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. - packfreshusa.com/?rfsn=7877576.a54e2a Use the discount code "SchoolReports5" to get 10% off your first purchase when using the link. --------------------------------------------------- Harvest Right - If you are thinking of buying a freeze dryer, please consider supporting us by purchasing through our link. It helps us and costs you nothing! affiliates.harvestright.com/995.html ─────────────── Before buying a freeze dryer, perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; some people have problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
These were just for freezing to have on hand for quick lunches/dinners. In the (relatively) near future I plan to do a whole new pizza making and freeze drying video.
@@SchoolReports sweet! looking forward to seeing them. thanks for the reply, you are such a great instructor, love all of your videos. Take care out there and stay safe :)
In the (relatively) near future I plan to do a whole new pizza making and freeze drying video. Here is a video from early in the year showing making the dough and some of the pizza toppings setup. Pizza Bar Setup - Making a Bunch of Pizzas - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DSyfe_2bbEI.htmlsi=DiQxWHv8hunLh-0n I use a recipe from _The new artisan bread in five minutes a day_ Good book to get if you like making bread! Olive oil dough 625 grams lukewarm water ( 100° or below) 10 grams granulated yeast 20 grams Kosher salt 15 grams sugar Mix together in large food safe container with a lid ** Then add 55 grams olive oil and mix well ** 920 grams AP flour Add flour and stir until mixed together well Leave on counter with lid covering but not sealed Leave there until it rises and collapses, then place in refrigerator. Check on them a couple times a day to make sure they don’t escape their containers
Ok it’s Mozart! I had to watch it again. Also because I realized I forgot to ask about the pink salt I saw on the counter. Do you believe there is a health benefit to pink salt? I have some Himalayan salt I haven’t used yet. I’m inclined to believe its aesthetic only.
I'd never heard anything about there being health benefits from the pink salt. I just like the flavor of all those impurities! 🤣 Regular salt is just salty, with maybe a hint of bitterness, this salt has a delicious salty, savoriness with no bitterness. (I can't believe I'm reviewing salt! I blame you!) 🤣
@@stephaniegaspard4120 We also have done many batches with cinnamon - Love them. These had to stay plain because of what they are for. (For someone else)
@@timstuff7 It's a "Johnny Apple Peeler " brand peeler. We've had it for 3 yeas now and still love it. Apple Peeler - Old vs New - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rcBiXDWr98I.htmlsi=KZbqDTJuO2bN1PzD
Your seal needs to be against the machine to assure that the seal is complete. If for some reason the vacuum does not pull the seal all the way back you could have vacuum issues. We have never had a seal vacuum issue if the seal makes contact over 50% of the circle. The only time we have had an issue is if the seal was away from the machine. Same for several of my customers. One thing we have found with seeded product: The machine does not have a clue if it is done. The moisture is readily retained by the seeds. Even weighing is not enough to detect the moisture. I know from experience. Why not just make the extra dry time long enough to keep the food warm until the morning. That also gives the seeds more time to expel the moisture.
I guess we've had different experiences. (Along with a number of other people) The only time we've had a vacuum issue has been if there is not a complete ring showing on the plexiglass door. If it shows a ring it always works. The machine has no way of *_ever_* knowing if the food is done drying regardless of what's in it. Period. I have mentioned that fact many times; and it's not just due to seeds or other hard to dry items like unpunctured blueberries or citrus, etc. Even if weighing is not perfect, I haven't found any other method that's even close to as good. In our experience, it's never failed in the 7+ year and 800+ batches we've done; so much better than the guessing that some people are doing. I agree that I should often add a bit more extra time than I have been when I'm not sure when I'll be back to check it, and I have started to do that if it's a reasonable time. I could just let it run constantly until I'm ready for it, but sometimes that could be a day or even two. That much extra time does use a significant amount of electricity with no benefit. I need to end up in the middle zone.
As far as I can remember the only one I've done with 2 magnets was one for the large size machine that a friend has. He said it worked well for him. For the large freeze dryer pans www.thingiverse.com/thing:4976081 I'm not sure why one magnet wasn't strong enough, but it shouldn't be hard for you to add a second magnet hole (or as many as needed) in the original medium divider.
Excellent test! Thank you for doing this. Very valuable information, and reassures that both the oxygen absorbers and bags are doing their jobs despite years of inactivity (or extremely little activity if you factor in the OTR of the bag). This answered my question of will an oxygen absorber continue to “scavenge” the measly 1cc or less of oxygen that makes it through the bag each year even after years of storage. You’re testing proves that they’re very much alive 👍🏼
Thanks. I'll be starting the "dry" test you suggested soon using the OA from a bag from 9-20-17. I probably won't video it, but I'll let you know have it works out.
Great video. I finally got my medium harvest right a few weeks ago. I have done some candy for the kids and fruit for the wife. Can't wait to get to building my long-term storage. Dumb question i quess after this great video, but some people say that if you dont use an unopened pack of o2 absorbers they expire 6 months to a year. That doesn't sound right to me. I have some pack fresh still sealed from two years ago. Would they still be good to use? Dot is still pink.
Thanks! That's in no way a dumb question. (I've seen dumb questions, and that's not what they look like:) My question to someone saying that a pack of unopened oxygen absorbers would go bad in just 6 months would be - How? Seriously, "they" are saying that it will work for 30 years in the Mylar bag with the food in it, but only 6 months unused, in the factory bag. The bags that the OA's are shipped in may not be as good of an oxygen barrier as the metallized Mylar, but it also has a very small surface area. Oxygen transmission rate is calculated on an amount of oxygen, over time, multiplied by the surface area of the film (bag size). With the bags the OA's are shipped in, there is a tiny amount of surface, with a (relative) huge amount of oxygen absorbing capacity. Even if the OA's absorbing capacity dropped by 10% (which would huge, considering the small surface area of the bags), they would still be capable of absorbing far more than the rated amount. I would just give one a test. Bottom line: I have not measured a loss (with my crude measuring) of capacity with the older unused, sealed OA packs. In this videos test I used a used one, I have some 6+ year old unused, sealed ones that look the same as the one tested here. I'll run another on one of those and if they don't still do as well I'll let you know. We've just never had any of this brand test anything lower than 1 1/2 to 2 times the cc rating. But that's why we keep doing the testing multiple times on every shipment of 1000 we get. - Something could go wrong, and I don't like to take chances.
Links to more oxygen absorber videos: Is Your Oxygen Absorber Doing it's Job? - ru-vid.com-HIdI58qRtQ?si=O3rLL9ylFdR9q4vR Short Version - Simple Test: Using a Pickle Jar and a Soda Bottle to Test Oxygen Absorbers - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zCKh0gtg28k.htmlsi=IW4KSm-brBDz5RxL Oxygen Absorber Testing (For our freeze dried food) - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x30h6lxfcHc.htmlsi=u4hCGk3OvqLH3NcZ Vacuum Sealing Jars in the Freeze Dryer - How Much Air is Left? Too Much! - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JJqCHYoylDE.htmlsi=oojpQWO_wmEPfXwn Want to support this channel? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm AFFILIATE LINKS & REFERRALS - I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided ─────────────── As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. By clicking on the links, you can explore the products and tools I use. www.amazon.com/shop/schoolreports --------------------------------------------------- PackFreshUSA We have been buying oxygen absorbers and 7 mil Mylar bags from PackFreshUSA since early 2018. During all that time (1000's of bag and oxygen absorbers, and about 6 year before before we added this affiliate link) we have been happy with the products and service we have received from them. I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. - packfreshusa.com/?rfsn=7877576.a54e2a Use the discount code "SchoolReports5" to get 10% off your first purchase when using the link. --------------------------------------------------- Harvest Right - If you are thinking of buying a freeze dryer, please consider supporting us by purchasing through our link. It helps us and costs you nothing! affiliates.harvestright.com/995.html ─────────────── Before buying a freeze dryer, perhaps research to find out more about the downside of the machine; some people have problems with their machine and it's big and heavy and hard to return!
We used this inexpensive Ccfoud brand one - amzn.to/3zt7fez (current price is about $13) As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases from the links provided. By clicking on the links, you can explore the products and tools I use. www.amazon.com/shop/schoolreports There are much more expensive ($160), roller type ones that may be great if you're doing LARGE quantities of blueberries. I read a paper about some testing were they used a laser to drill 9 "microperforations" into each berry vs no holes vs cut in half. Cutting the berries in half helps the berries dry A LOT faster than with holes. With holes was about 50% faster than no holes, and cut in half was about twice as fast as with holes. ( www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/2/211 ) Next time I do them I will probably cut them in half instead of poking holes.
Have you tried any tests on bags that didn't shrink after being sealed? I have some like that and they freak me out. Good idea testing one out of each bag. Looking to see what containers I have to set something like that up for piece of mind.
That shouldn't happen. My sister once had one bag out of a freeze dryer batch (1 out of 10 or 15 bags?) that didn't shrink like the others, so she re-bagged it in a new bag with a new absorber and it shrunk down like all the others. It must have been a bad bag, a bad seal, or a bad oxygen absorber. I don't know what else it could have been. I wish I had thought to test the absorber at the time, but I didn't. If it ever happens again I'll try to remember to do testing. All bags should get about 21% smaller as the oxygen is absorbed, but with some bags it might be a little hard to notice it depending on how it's packed. With the absorbers we used 7 years ago, it could even take a few days. With the one we get now it only takes a few hours to a day. If I had one that didn't get smaller, I would assume that something failed. We don't test one absorber per bag, we test about 3 per box of 1000 absorbers; one when the box is new, one about half through the box, and one when it's almost empty. (We usually buy the ones that are packed 10 absorbers in a bag, 100 bags in a box)
@@SchoolReports To be fair, I mainly use pint bags and squish as much air out as I can. So it might not be as noticeable as the larger bags. I found a container for testing, just need to mark it up and start testing. Looking forward to finally finding out.
@@shaunnichols4664 Yes, under those circumstances it may be hard to see! This is the video I made show the details of what we do. (I was pretty proud with my "Step One" getting the container right at the beginning:) Oxygen Absorber Testing (For our freeze dried food) - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x30h6lxfcHc.htmlsi=cJj3rye3_KCQfGap Also this one shows a very simple method (I will probably start doing it this way more often) - Short Version - Simple Test: Using a Pickle Jar and a Soda Bottle to Test Oxygen Absorbers - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zCKh0gtg28k.htmlsi=ZnQdC2ATuzKFFp6E
Thanks! These pizzas were just for the freezer for quick meals. We are going to be doing a batch for freeze drying later. The biggest difference with the ones for freeze drying is that we make them with a thinner crust (3 oz of dough instead of 5.5 oz for each 8" crust) and slightly less toppings so they are less likely to fall off when dry. We think of them as pizza crackers.
That's really great to hear how well the oxygen absorber performed, even after 7 years... thanks for the video. If we had a way to add a nitrogen absorber we could generate fairly good vacuum, hehe.
Thanks! Interesting idea. Nitrogen is so non-reactive, I don't know if a simple, room temperature nitrogen absorber could be a thing. 🤔 The only time I tend to vacuum the bags is if space is an issue. One of the reasons I don't bother vacuuming the bags is because I don't want to increase the pressure difference between the outside of the bag and the inside. (Plus, food crushing:) If we could make the inside of the bag an absolute vacuum, there would be almost 15 psi trying to push air into the bag. (I know there is still a partial pressure issue with the oxygen deficit inside the bag)
@@SchoolReports I can see how not having a complete vacuum might help protect some contents... for example, a pressurized potato chips bag has less issue with broken chips. If you get some sharp surfaced freeze dried foods, I suppose it is theoretically possible for a crimp to be more susceptible to the risk of a hole. Tho, I am not sure if that happens very often. And with freeze dried foods, if you did have a hole for "years" you would notice a problem with the food once you opened the bag. Also, if you had a hole, you would probably notice that the bag was no longer squished, so it would be similar to how the pressure lids work to indicate loss of vacuum. I would probably still add an oxygen absorber tho.
@@marcfruchtman9473 All I can say is that I agree with everything you said there! With a vacuumed bag (or any other container) the oxygen absorber can be very small. A vacuumed one liter container might be fine with a 50 cc absorber, or even smaller.
Mountain House did experiment with entrees made from freeze dried and dried components instead of cooked then freeze dried. I tried a few and found them to be unevenly flavored. It was clear they were ingredients tossed together as opposed to cooked together. The dried vinegar (not freeze dried) overpowered the flavor. This is a problem as nobody can taste the initial product and the mix can vary slightly in composition which translates to massive variance in flavor. Again, try any of the gluten free items from Mountain House now. I checked at Walmart and Amazon in Aug 2024 to see if they reverted back to the older recipes. I was very disappoint to find the gluten free crap still failing after 4+ years of poor reviews. Rest in pieces Oregon Freeze Dry...
Wow! The fact that they actually cooked their ingredients together was always one of the proud selling points, it's surprising they would do that to their brand. Too bad. I've had people tell me many times that I should be doing that for my freeze dried recipes; just mix the already dried ingredients. I have to tell them how cooking the ingredients together works; flavors change, etc. Even the order the ingredients are added during cooking can make a difference.
I assume it will. I didn't think about it at the time and was just on autopilot when I bagged them - fill, add OA, seal. Since sugars (including honey) really have nothing to go bad, I probably should not have added the absorber. For the next round of testing I plan to leave it out.
I appreciate you addressing this issue. I am looking into freeze drying, and this was a question I have had. I stopped buying Mountain House when they changed some recopies to gluten free and kept the names. They are terrible now and I lost all confidence in Oregon Freeze Dry. May they rest in pieces...
Thanks for watching and for commenting. That's too bad to hear that Mountain House has done that. I haven't had any of those, as far as I know, but I haven't had to buy any for years. I do like all my own recipes better than theirs anyway:) I wonder when the gluten free fad will end. Did you see my homemade vs Mountain House beef stew video? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-w_p5j5oyX5M.htmlsi=MOvQoDGWPTzC-rEg
@debmerrill9798 2 minutes ago (edited) I love your shows and bought a Harvest Right. Within 1 year, multiple breakdowns and a trip back to Utah for the second time. Well now, it is 15 months old, back in Utah at harvest time and they tell me they know what is wrong but do not have the part to fix it. I am heartbroken. Harvest Right employees have been courteous but now this machine has been inoperable since July and we are in the 3rd week of September with no ETA. I think folks need to be aware that this is not a plug and play item and has many quirks. I am not the only person having difficulties. The freight man who picked the machine up told me that he has had to return quite a number of them for others. All I know is, my monthly payment is due again and out of the 15 months I have "owned" it, it has run for less than 10. I suggest folks do their own research before making this decision- it is a fabulous machine...WHEN it works.
The oxygen absorbers can stay good and potentially functional for many years if not exposed to too much oxygen. (Pretty much forever, if oxygen doesn't get in) I'm actually finishing doing a test and video right now on an oxygen absorber that has been in a bag of apple slices for 7 year. It was still working great. Here is an old, short video showing a test of a used oxygen absorber. Oxygen Absorber Supplemental Video - Testing a Used Oxygen Absorber - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JkBdeXT-Dv8.htmlsi=bzb95_Xs0TJ6hETd
