Yes I've done a lot of whole milk. I place my trays in the dryer first and pull the tray out just a few inches then measure the milk into the tray with a large measuring cup. I don't spill any that way. Each tray will hold one quart without overflowing at the back. After drying I run it through my food processer to powder it. I put one tray into small Mylar bags. I feel this makes it easy to figure the amount of water to add back. I've never pre-frozen my milk and it turns out fine. Nice and white and very dry. I cant tell the difference from fresh and freeze dried milk. I do plan to do some chocolate milk for the grand kids. (I like it too) If you chill your water in the fridge first you'll have cold milk to serve right away. I use water from my Alexapure filter and it makes great tasting milk. So much better than the boxed powered non-fat store bought stuff. I've hated that crap since I was a kid and my grandma served it. That's all they drank. Never fresh. Yes, if you own a dryer, by all means do some milk. You'll be happy with it. Happy prepping - peace be with you.
@@live.life.simple. Yep. It works well. Eggs, milk, gravy, tomato sauce, mashed potato's, are a few I've done. I like the KitchenAid from Walmart. It has a convenient spout to pour stuff into the bag. But I suppose they all work as well to do the job. Good luck to you.
When I do liquids, (eggs and milk), I line the trays with plastic wrap. This makes for super easy release into the Mylar bags and easier cleanup of the trays. I don't prefreeze because I can't find a flat place in my freezer. I find that reconstituting eggs and milk works best when I have powdered the crystals in my blender. The crystals don't re-hydrate well at all. Also, powdering allows you to put more product in your bags or jars.
That is an awesome tip! I put my trays in and fill each with exactly 1 quart, but I never thought to line the trays with wrap. That would make taking the product out to blend it much easier.
If you put liquids and eggs in ziploc bags and freeze flat you can then open them and put them as block on the trays making room for more. I wouldn't use plastic as plastic leeches and that thing is pulling all moisture
Seriously thinking about getting into this, but here would be my solution. If four trays is 1.5 gallon I would make each tray one quart instead (decreased processing time). After processing I would make bags that held either one quart (one tray) or 1/2 gallon (two trays) so reconstitution would be easy. Place as many labeled plastic bags, unsealed, as you want in Mylar and seal. You could pull out one or several at a time then reseal the rest in the Mylar with a new O2 absorber.
If you take a vanilla bean cut it in half and then cut it long ways and scrape out the innards and put them and your freeze dried whole milk into a blender for a few seconds you can make yourself a nice vanilla coffee creamer. (Also take the empty vanilla bean pod and put it in with the milk. It will keep adding flavor.
Where I live, my neighbor had milk cows. He was always telling me to come over and get some milk. Whole raw milk. I dump and prefeeze 2 gallons at a time. I was getting so much FD milk I had to stop getting from him till he realized what I was doing. He asked me for some FD milk, so I gave him 30 packs. (60 gallons). Then I got more and kept doing it till we had 150 packs each. Sadly he lost his land in 2009 and moved away. But with all the food and garden and milk that I FD for him.
Great idea and thanks so much. Because of this video I am thinking of using the same idea with sugarcane juice can it work with freedrying? Please advise
THANK YOU! We've been raw milk drinkers for almost 2 decades and are always looking for a way to make our stash last longer. Husband is a truck driver and I ride with him now since I retired. Raw milk never goes back to normal after being frozen, so we only take a few half gallons to put in our fridge but it doesn't last the 2 months we're on the road and sometimes it's difficult to find out there. THIS IS SO PERFECT! Gallons can travel with us and we'll NEVER be without our precious raw milk again!!!
How did your raw milk freeze drying go? I drink raw milk too & in the next few days I want to try freezing the milk. I'm so glad I watched this video again.
Helpful tip: stick the end of the tray (with the freeze dried milk powder on it) in a gallon sized ziplock. Scrape the powder down into the bag with a small metal spatula. It is amazing how quickly and easily you can get the milk (or eggs, or yogurt, or broth, etc.) off the trays. Then I use a large funnel to dump from the ziplock bag into a Mason jar.
Adding a dash of vanilla flavoring to the milk will usually make it taste much better to kids, at least that's what we've found. Keep up the great work.
@@Darenator1 I suppose you could, BUT then you're kinda limited to what you can use the milk for as far as cooking other things. I mean for example, do you want to make mac and cheese or an Alfredo sauce with vanilla flavored milk?
I have the premier pump and put the fan in front so air goes over the entire pump. It now is warm to the touch and that is a huge improvement. Thanks for the tip and all your videos.
I'm saving up for a Harvest Right unit. Your videos are super informative and I thank you for sharing your experiences with your freeze dryer with us!!
Hope you can get yours soon. I feel it's a wise investment. Personally I bought the large unit with the oil less pump. I love the oil less pump and for me it's worth the extra money. All I have to do for maintenance every 10 batches is pour 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol 2 or 3 times down the hose with the pump running to flush out any gunk build up. So easy to do. I love doing all kinds of foods and packing them away. Ben running it almost 24/7 since December of 2018. It will be nice to have more than just rice and beans in my preps.
Admiral Preparedness I took out a loan 1 year ago and started drying everything I could. Get it quick because food prices and availability will get tight. Now I have a great stash. The interest on the loan I consider an investment. Time is your enemy.
Glad I came across your video before trying this...no need to reinvent the wheel. Look forward to seeing what else you have done. We use our freeze dryer a lot and your fan tip alone was worth the time of watching
I fit 4 cups of whole milk in each small tray. Then I crush the powder up really good and put each tray into 32 oz ball jar. Just fill the ball jar up to the 32 oz line and it's the perfect ratio.
This was the nudge I needed. I've been living off powdered milk for several years now. I like fresh milk, but mine always goes sour too fast. Powdered milk is my coffee creamer, my creamed soup base, for mashed potatoes, for smoothies, for 'sour cream' in cheesecakes. It's about $40 for a large can - approx the same as 3 dried qts from the freeze dryer -- which I can make for about $4 and use freely instead of carefully?? I wonder how long it would take to recoup the $3000... Maybe not long, what with everything else I can freeze dry.
The yellow is likely the whey. I’ve watched people make mozzarella, and the whey has a yellow tint when it separates. I’m new to your channel, but enjoying your videos, and learning more about freeze drying.
This is great! We have goats and swim in milk during spring and summer. I can most of it bc we can't keep up just drinking it. I would love to store it this way! I'm definitely buying one of these machines. Thanks for all your videos!
When my kids (human 😉) were small, we gave them goats milk from the grocery store instead of cows milk. I remember the first winter searching for milk and being told that the goats don’t give milk in the winter. My city brain was blown. I would have bought freeze dried if it was available.
Would you say it taste better than store bought powder milk? Update. I bought one and made some I’m happy to say freeze dried milk taste exactly the same a regular milk. Raw milk drinkers rejoice
I started a FACEBOOK GROUP for members to share tips, suggestions, etc. Once we get the group rolling it will be a great resource and any questions you have can be answered there. Just post a question and you will get multiple peoples opinions. facebook.com/groups/retiredat40livelifesimple/
Yeah me too. I want to go commercial with some meals. Just read some FDA requirements for the kitchen etc etc...sounds like am gonna need some capital and test the market for some months....I read somewhere that the market for freeze dried meals or meal components....is drying yp..pun intended...but I scratch my wellhead cos..at Costco...all I see is frozen foods ..so what's the article saying?....is the market really growing or crashing... smh..guess I gotta do some more research
Love your videos. One of the reasons I'm getting one. Paid mine off today. Now it's going to take around 55 business day's to get. What's the old addage. Patience is a virtue.
In my freeze dryer right now I have whole milk and I thought it was taking too long until I watched your video. When I checked the milk 1\2 way through milk looks amazing and also looks white again 😀
Great video, I just subscribe to your channel. I have an answer to your measurement question for freeze dried milk. 3 tbsp. powder + 1 c. water = 1 c. milk 3/4 c. powder + 4 c. water = 1 qt milk 3 c. powder + 16 c. water = 1 gal. milk
@@live.life.simple. If used for drinking, best chilled overnight... here is the metrics measures.1cup of power =(100g ) with 4 cup of cold water (1 L) ratio 😋 👌
TO CONVERT THE POWER TO A LIQUID WE WOULD USE 3.5 CUPS POWDER TO 1 GAL H2O. That's rather a bulky ration. What if we want just a bit? We could convert it to Tablespoons (US). There are 16 Tablespoons (US) to a cup. So, the conversion ratio in Tablespoons is 56T powder to 256T H2O. That's a fraction of 56/256. Using the basic math we all learned in school :-) we can reduce that fraction down or up to anything we might want or need. At lit lowest, you have 7/32. 8 Tablespoons is a 1/2 cup, so you have 1/2 C minus 1T (easier to measure than 7 if you pour a level 1/2 cup into your container then take out a level Tablespoon.) 32 is a multiple of 8 (8T=1/2C). 32/8=4 so, 4 *1/2C = 2 Cups. For about 2 Cups milk it would be the 7T powder to 2C water.
I have freeze dried eggs and my next project is raw milk. After freeze drying the raw eggs, I put the chucks in a food processor and the result was a fine powder. I plan on doing that with my milk. Thanks for the videos. Freezing ahead of time would also cut down the freeze drying process. Doing most of the freeze drying in my garage in the winter also cuts down on the processing time. I also like the fan idea.
One thing we discovered about powdered milk is that if you reconstitute it the night before bed and then drink it in the morning, it tastes much closer to fresh milk. It seems to need time to fully reconstitute.
have you ever tried Heavy Cream? If it would freeze dry well and be able to turn to a shelf stable powder I'd think that would be absolutely AMAZING for cooking! I can't say how many times I wished that I had heavy cream on had but would need to go to the store to pick some up -- its just one of those things that you really need it when you need it, but also dont need it ever day or week... so that one item store trip just sucks! Same with whole milk. To have quality shelf stable whole milk on hand would be absolutely amazing!
i always try to freeze my foods or liquids first,becuse the freeze drying time is much quicker which in turn puts less strain on the machine.Thats how I do it not to say its the best way
From my experience and keeping the product in a cool dark basement it will last for 20 years. Keep yur temp at between the 50's n abt 69 if possibe. Nice video
Since I live in nice, hot, humid Florida, where no one has storm cellars, I won't be able to store the FD milk as long. But you did answer my question -- thanks.
You should get a large restaurant bowl to quickly dump your trays.. They make them extra extra large. It would save so much time. Also if you need to put it into jars or bags, they make giant funnels too. I paid $20 for a 20 qt bowl on Amazon. But also just a large plastic dishpan from the dollar store works too. I've used both for dehydrating. Bowl is best.
I use the long plastic bags that my trays came in when removing the various foods: Slip tray into the bag (good fit 😏), dump or scrape goodies- super fast, and keeps everything contained!
@@nancysala7769 that’s what they say, but you can purchase FD butter in cans so they are lying to you. Once I saw FD butter available for sale, I tested it and started making my own. It just takes longer to FD pre-frozen butter.
1000 grams of organic horizon milk in each tray and pre-frozen in our chest freezer tray 1 weight after freeze drying = 128 grams whole milk tray 2 weight after freeze drying = 123 grams whole milk tray 3 weight after freeze drying = 126 grams lowfat milk tray 4 weight after freeze drying = 123 grams lowfat milk total of all 4 trays = 500 grams average weight = 125 grams each tray Ratio of liquid removed to powder = 8 to 1 or 1 gram of powder to 8 grams of liquid removed from the milk. So to re-hydrate it would be 1 gram of powder milk to 8 grams of water and I have seen a 1 to 1 ratio used. Everything is weighed in grams because volume of dried goods can vary depending on if its pre-sifted or packed and pressed down so all my formulations are done by weight, not volume. I hope this helps
Having never used metric for cooking until recently, I am now thoroughly a fan of metric now! It's so much easier to extrapolate quantities and ratios for things just like reconstituting milk! Thank you for laying this all out like that!
I know I'm late to the party, but I did milk by putting in baggies to freeze, 2 cups per baggie, laying 3 on a medium tray. (I say I DID milk but my FD hasn't even arrived yet, I have it in the freezer ready to go!) Ended up with 24 cups, which is 1.5 gallons just like you got by pouring on the trays. Was much easier to manage and freezer spot didn't need to be perfectly level and no spillage. I actually used the HR lids, which divide into 3 portions on the tray so worked well. I will take out of baggies and lay on trays to freeze dry. Will be in 2 cup portions already when done. (I didn't think this up, saw another RU-vidr do it and decided that's how I'm going to handle liquids.) I've been using dehydrated and freeze dried milk for a long time. To reconstitute dehydrated and freeze dried milk, I use 3T per cup of water, which is 3/4c per quart, 3 cups per gallon. Aerate or blend, pour through a strainer if too much foam, refrigerate overnight and no one can tell the difference. I use mostly for cooking, occasionally for cereal or coffee. If kids are picky, add 1/4-1/2 t. of vanilla per quart and they will be happy....
If you found a way to lower your trays inside your deep freezer, I think you'd find that not only would they freeze much quicker, but they'd be more solid and colder as well. Heat rises and cold sinks so being up near the lid, the trays don't cool off nearly as quickly. You could also fix this by putting a small computer fan inside the freezer to circulate the air to prevent the thermal stratification. You could probably cut your freezing time in half.
As long as it freezes overnight and gets solid, i am not too concerned about the freeze time. If i keep freeze drying for a couple more months 24/7 (like i have been), there won't be anything left in the deep freeze😉
@@live.life.simple. once I get my freeze drier I'll be doing the same emptying out my freezer. I'll also be freeze drying most of my pressure canned meat that in my pantry.
@@live.life.simple. We're up to around 6000 lbs of food stored. About 30% of that is freeze dried stuff. I estimate its a 2 year supply for family of 3.
Could you share your cheat sheet for your times? That would be great for newbies :-) love your videos! You are an inspiration and have made me so excited for freeze drying! Oh and I LOVE the pre-cut parchment sheets & the tray stacking pieces you sell! They are amazing! Makes this process so much easier!
I am a industrial HVACR mechanic those vacuum pumps a pear to be off the shelf stuff we use to dehydrate refrigeration circuits.Yeah those pumps run warm but boy they do run .We will have those things running on 100°f + roof tops for hours or days ( system size dependent ) .That fan is not needed
My FD is on order. I almost bought a bunch of #10 cans of powdered milk today, then saw this! I'm looking forward to doing this in my FD, IF it ever gets here, lol!
Thank you for this.I just got my Harvest right and am wanting to make milk powder.As we are lactose free it's almost impossible to get LF milk powder here so being able to make our own is great.
Same here - and you can use that FD Lactose Free milk to make Evaporated Milk for cooking too (think Pumpkin Pie). Just use 1/2 the water to reconstitute for Lactose Free Evaporated Milk.
Raw milk blows around a lot but freeze dries well. Some have complained that it goes rancid in storage, because of fat content. Ours hasn’t yet. We prefreeze though, in ice cubes.
Where I live there are no flavored coffee creamers. I really miss my favorite flavors. It occurs to me this would be a great way to make your own. Adding vanilla flavoring to the milk (or any other extracts) and *maybe* a little sweetener. In powdered form this would be great for rehydrating right in your coffee cup.
I pour the egg (that you spoke of) on the tray while they are in the freeze dryer. I place the trays in the slot and let them stick out a little and pour the blender container of beat up eggs in the trays. Then no spillage. I will do that with the milk also. I have no room in my freezers. None.
Just trying to help you, I have a harvest right freeze dryer and I freeze dry milk all the time, you DO NOT NEED TO PRE FREEZE BEFORE HAND. I put my trys inside the freeze dryer, then take my milk and pour into trays. It does not spill. It is so easy and it works great. Comes out powder and perfect.
Does it make the freeze drying stage shorter? I thought it might be cheaper if you already have a freezer running save doing it all in the freezer dryer
I prefreeze to reduce cycle times and wear on the freeze dryer. Also, if you have a deep freeze already running, you might as well take advantage of it.
I keep my vac pump in one of the plastic bins with the attached 2 interlocking doors from Costco. Put an old bath towel or two on it and makes it so much quieter. Run hose between doors in top. Either clamp fan between doors or cut hole in side of bin. Makes it quiet, cool and contains any oil mist. When it’s time to change oil or clean out pump just lift vac up and turn bin over and you have easy access to valve and screws. Swap screw valve with easy turn toggle valve and add a tube so you can easily drain oil. Small engine shop should have the right valve. Or replace valve with coupler that goes to a tube that you attach easy open valve to so you can empty oil without reaching under pump at all. The tube can also be run outside bin through wall so it’s super easy. A small engine shop should have suitable parts, usually $5 or so. Much easier.
A gallon of milk weighs 8.6 lbs. A gallon of water weighs 8.33 lbs. A difference of 0.27 lbs per gallon. Amount used for each type was 3/4 gallon which should yield around 0.21 lbs.
I dry froze orange juice twice, two different brands. The sweeter brand didn't dry freeze as well because of sugar content. . It took much longer to dry freeze the sweeter juice.
I have dairy goats. Have had no milk (fluid) since 2002 but raw goat milk. Milk flow is seasonal. Have been wanting to get a freeze dryer to do the milk. One source recommended 1 qt./tray. To me, that sounds like a starting point. Also remember........ if the milk is not standardized through the fornication (deadly pausterization, horrid homezination) then milk can weigh different!
Wish I would have watched this before I freeze dried milk....oh my goodness what a mess!!! Thanks for the video! Oh yeah I tried eggs also...geeeez! lol
What about specialty items, cream, creme fraîch, clotted cream? If one uses raw does it need to be pastureized? What about freeze drying cheeses like Brie and blue?
Glad you got to try the milk. I am doing coffee in my machine this week I am traveling internationally in a few months and I want to take my own coffee with me so I am Brewing Peet's Coffee and I'm putting it in the freeze dryer. I will let you know how it turns out. I'm sure it will be the same consistency as milk and just add hot water. I'm taking my own milk with me to just to be safe at least a bag or two
I'm planning on getting one and using it to freeze dry my extra breastmilk, I can never use it fast enough just frozen in the freezer because I very rarely use my pumped milk
If I am ever to where I can get a box truck to live in and move out of my van....I hope to get a med or large unit with the premium pump and make a sound suppression system boxing in the pump with an inline duct fan....which will also be part of environmental controls.
Awesome video! I have been really curious how milk would turn out and have been looking forward to this one for a while. I was surprised how it stayed. I thought it would shrink down on the tray leaving a thinner layer when it was finished
Yeah it looks great. I need milk for my food storage and do you know if it would be worth it price wise to freeze dry my own or is milk? It’s something I need to look in to
I'm not sure of the price of commercially freeze dried milk, but in the meidum size i can fit about 1.5 gallons and you r electricity costs are going to be about $2-3
Question I have for you what is the mathematics or what have you to figure out how much water to put into rehydrate freeze-dried stuff weigh the food before freeze drying and then add the water by weight or cup
This might be a dumb question but .. why not just buy powdered milk from the supermarket and rebag it in mylar bags? Seems to me that it would save a LOT of time and effort and be far more cost effective.
I have done a lot of milk. So easy and love having it on hand. I am so glad I do not have to buy that awful tasting stuff from the store any more :) Nice video.
I live on a farm & recently got my medium HR FD! I just subscribed to your channel & love it! Watched the milk video & just wondering if anyone has fd whole goats milk? Its different from cow's milk in that it's almost homogeneous naturally.
I enjoyed your video & reading the comments. I noticed the price of the FD machine is expensive,. My thoughts were a couple of households could purchase it together to share.