This was a really interesting video. Your testing was easy to follow too. I hope Harvest Right see your video because it speaks to their commitment to quality for their customers. All the best from the UK 🇬🇧
Wow! What an education that I kinda knew I needed but didn't know how or where to go for the information. You explained your process and results very well! Thanks again
Hi! Glad to be here. So informative. Could you do a comprehensive episode on botulism? Regarding canning etc. I would love it and I bet others would too. Maybe you have one could you refer me to it. Thank you for all you do!
Thank you for doing this. There are so many of us that are unsure of what companies are good and bad. Keep the videos coming. So appreciate you sharing ur knowledge.
Yup Christ Jesus says love and care for one another. Power to the people. Thanks for taking the time and efforts, several other channels do testing products oil additives , j.b. weld , glues etc, That helps the public alot to make informed choices with rates of $ to quality , budgets.
I don't need my o2 absorbers to come in a box. An expensive box no less, gloss coloring, die cut box with window. I don't need a design on Mylar bags either (of food in a jar). All adds to the cost. I suspect they are more for advertising when you get them with a new machine. Thank you for doing these videos.
@@marycanfield1974 Harvest Right does offer a bag that has the bottoms that allow them to stand on their own. They are also resealable - with a plastic zip-type seal. (One also uses the sealer to seal the top of the bag above the zip.) They are a smaller size; without looking and measuring I'm estimating they are approx 6" x 9or10". Very handy. For my circumstance with storing small portions they are terrific.
I recently puchased the large freeze dryer from Harvest Right. I used their 300cc oxygen absorbers and 7mil mylar bags. The absorbers didn't work at all. After 24 hours, I cut the bags open and placed two 300cc absorbers in each bag. 24 hours later, no change. Each of the bags were double sealed with the impulse sealer set to 7. I cut the bags open again and used an off brand, 300cc absorber. Within 24 hours, there was an obvious vacuum on each of the bags.
Oxygen absorbers work by "burning up" or oxidizing the oxygen in the air. This is done with powdered iron. The rate of oxidation is controlled by salt and carbon. Some OAs take up to 4-5 days to work. Some 12-24 hours. Not all OAs will pull a vacuum on a bag. If you're interested in vacuum sealing, your FD can perform this task. One cup is 237 cc. This will give you an idea of how much O2 will be absorbed out of 1129 cc (nearly 5 cups). However, as it "absorbs" oxygen, the absorbers produce other gases, primarily carbon monoxide.
you can make your own oxygen desiccant from a few common house hold items. rice or natural clay kitty litter also natural clay "oil spill" clean up "safe t zorb" its usually sold as. also called turface..
I buy from pack fresh USA... They recently changes the look (maybe different supplier??) of their oxygen absorbers. They used to sell genuine Dupont Mylar bags that were awesome. Now they sell a different brand that seem good too. Maybe check them out for testing... TY
I just bought a freeze dryer and it was the first time using Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. I don’t think the ones I got with the machine work that well. I do everything they tell you to do but some bags form around the food but most did not.
If you want the bag to form around the food you'll need to do two things: 1. Place warm food in the bag and seal it. As the food cools down it will form a low vacuum. 2. Vacuum seal the bag with your freeze drier. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nHM2cnf_FY8.html Try folding the top all the way over on the food. You need to get as much air out of the bag. While the bag is folded over raise the top up enough to seal.
@@Philat4800feet This is a good point. Also, the bags forming around the food doesn't mean the absorber worked or didn't work. Oxygen is about 19% of air and my understanding is that an oxygen absorber only removes oxygen (not the other gasses)
How can you tell your Mylar bags are polyester film and not a genuine Mylar bag? I've ordered Mylar bags from Amazon and it's 14 ml thick and made in China. I am wondering whether this is genuine Mylar bag.
DuPont sells very little Mylar to China. In their words "if it's coming from China, it's probable not Mylar" real 2.0 mil Mylar out performs 7.0 mil bags. See this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tKdjv-ly03Y.html
@@Philat4800feet The one I bought is very thick and stiff since it claim to be 14 ml. Which bag do you recommend? Do you recommend Harvest Right bag as the best option?
I had lots of request for Wallaby. Here's a disturbing issue. Look at the packaging for Wallaby: wallabygoods.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwgr6TBhAGEiwA3aVuIZMRa7hW3F4rA8G5TOq6Viu7kVscDBrThdxkNeGRox1J6X34TSqSdBoCSZsQAvD_BwE Compare this to the Fulseal Brand I made a video for false claims. The packaging and product description is nearly the same. I think it's the same company. It looks like FulSeal has disappeared from Amazon only to be replaced by Wallaby. Coincidence?
@@Philat4800feet so at this point i cant wait 2 to 3 weeks for Mylar bags.....do you have a second choice behind harvest right.....i have 200 on order from them but they told me at least two more weeks🙄
@@Philat4800feet we have Wallaby bags and O2 absorbers... i dd not by any means test them with this rigor! but they seemed to work, and the bags stood up to my rather ham handed maneuvering better than expected. if you do want to test a wallaby bag or o2 absorber, i think i have some i can send you?
I disagree. I had some probs getting the door to seal at the beginning. After seal attempts to adjust, HR ended up sending a new door. Things work fine now. They followed up with me several times.
Excellent video sir. Boy I wish more people made these kinds of videos. Nothing wrong with keeping companies honest. And well done harvest right. Hard to find a company these days that’s honest.
My old science teacher from high school just rolled over in his grave! I literally watched the whole video! You made science FUN! If you're not a teacher, you need to be! You're amazing!
Yes, agree wholeheartedly that everyone needs a science teacher like Phil. Not many go to these lengths with such patience and clarity. That really was FUN.......Retired and still learning. Keep it up
I feel like this title is not fair to Harvest Right. If you didn't watch the video you would assume there was an issue with a HR prodcut, where there is not. The research involved in this video is impressive, and I wish the title was more representative...and fair.
I thought that too in the beginning. I did let HR preview the video before release. They liked the clip and approved. I kept the title to peak peoples' interest. Thank you for the comment.
There is a problem with Harvest Right. We bought one, we have had to work on it and nurse it along to keep it running. Now the touch pad that you use to turn it on and off and select functions, doesn’t work. We have had it two months. I truly can not recommend this product and I know unfortunately they are one of the only companies out there, but if they would tell you up front that you have to be a mechanic and an electrician to keep it running, at least that would be the truth.
@@markforee7693mine lasted a year before the first self induced oops. HR was on it, told them it was my fault. They sent me a replacement part free of charge that was built wrong and fried my machine. Worked with them 2 months and got my machine running again at no cost to me. It was kinda long but I have no complaints against HR customer support. Contact them. Also I feel your pain at 2 years, it seems my machine doesnt work as quick as it use to. Idk if it is software or what. Watching mine, but I still recomend HR customer service. Best of luck to you!
I would never us a 7mil bag. 10mil minimum. What they advertise is both sides. a 7 mil advert is only 3.5 each side. Not bueno amigo. However, this is the first time I've seen the advertised mil is for only 1 side. I've never seen this in all the bags I've bought. Maybe I should switch to this brand. I'll do a little more research, but looks promising. Thanks for all your work brother
This is great and makes me feel better since I don't know what to look for! I'd love to see you do an analysis on the Wallaby bags. I bought them and have enjoyed the thickness and what seems to me as a great quality bag, but wonder about the OA's since they seem smaller than the Harvest Right ones.
Yes ,we as consumers can benefit greatly for more,tubers, producing content like this,,and hold brands to better standards towards wholesome consideration.#Jesus
Over my head in some areas, but totally was able to follow. Very interesting. Best thing, it made me take time to devote to thinking about this. Subscribing and watching more videos.
That was amazing. I always wondered if 02 absorbers were just as advertised so I did the overkill thing and used 500cc just in case. I guess I have trust issues! Thanks for sacrificing your time, expertise, the bag and 02 absorber for the cause. Much appreciated.
I did that also I used to as overkill in each gallon bag ; the thing is the bag did not shrink or look like the air was removed at all, the bags still look inflated like pillows so I am now worried that the absorbers were ineffective. Even though i used two of the oxygen absorbers and they were brand new out of their package. So i kind of gave up on long term storage. lol
@@sunnysummer7309 Remember you can change an element, you can't make it disappear. Some of the oxygen will be replaced with Carbon Monoxide. That's a good thing.
@@sunnysummer7309 An easy way for peace of mind is to vaccum seal your bag. That said, I think there is a very large safety margin as far as how freeze dried food will keep even if you only heat seal the bag and nothing else.
Great testing video. I just ordered Wallaby Mylar bags, but ordered the Harvest Right O2 absorbers. They did take quite awhile to arrive, it seems worth the wait now based on your testing! 😃
Hi is there a reason you did not use the wallaby oxygen absorbers? reason i ask you is because the wallaby bags i used their oxygen absorbers but my bags still look inflated as though the absorbers didn't work?
Thanks for your excellent scientific analysis of the Harvest Right bags and oxygen absorbers. It was fascinating and inspired confidence when I package my freeze dried products.
Subscribed! Very good videos on mylar bags and O2 absorbers! I appreciate the technical approach to your tests. I am returning recent purchase of mylar bags from Amazon sellers. They advertise the bags as 9 mil but that is a double layer measurement. Their O2 absorbers are also very sketchy.
Great video mate, Harvest Right is a company that I had planned to purchase from once I get a block of land and this shows that the company is well worth doing business with!
Thank you! I have wondered about quality of the items I buy, I am so not a math person when I was younger. I am pretty much house bound as a caregiver and have taken up reading books on finance, that was life changing. This example is like a person telling me how great he/she is without a resume. Thank you again.
Thank you for all of your videos. It really helps when someone explains the how and why and doesn't just provide an answer with no real reasoning behind it.
I just asked fellow subscribers this evening for recommendations for the best mylar bags and absorbers. I never see anything showing material thickness and wanted to be able to compare.
Many thanks for this video and so many others. Hubby and I learn so much from them and sincerely appreciate all your time and expertise to produce them. If memory serves, it seems you recommended to someone in Canada - who was facing difficulties obtaining Mylar bags during COVID or even during more recent shipping/supply stagnations - that a possible place to obtain Mylar [polyester] bags would be a local Home Storage Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since Harvest Right sometimes takes 3 weeks or so to send supplies - especially if they're temporarily out of stock - hubby & I are curious to know if you've ever tested the Home Storage Center's Mylar [polyester] bags and O2 packs and how they compare with those sold by Harvest Right. For years, we've used the bags and O2 packs from the Home Storage Center for other basic dehydrated food storage items so I'm thinking they most likely are high quality. While we realize the Home Storage Center isn't a commercial enterprise and exists to help folks with basic food storage items, it's always good to explore all options for purchasing bags and O2 packs. Thanks!
Harvest Right is the slowest company I have ever dealt with. I get stuffed shipped from China faster than from Harvest Right. I stopped using Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers altogether as vacuum canning my freeze-dried food into jars is considerably less expensive. we do have mylar, just in case we are forced to move but nowhere near the amount stored in jars.
@@Philat4800feet, Hi Phil, I'm Joe at sea level. (Florida) Pantries are dark for a reason. We have an Lrg Freeze dryer, and a Food Saver Vacuum system and the spouse wants to start canning from watching "Simply Alaska" on RU-vid over the years. Each system offers different advantages for food storage. Mylar is good for two of the three systems but Jars can be used for all three. Thank you for the great video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7pigeSJX-94.html
@@ashyslashy5818 - my freeze dryer also had issues of inconsistency but in the end HR sent me a replacement vaccum hose and now it works fine. Maybe I was an early adopter and they were not so busy but I find it always helps to excalate and ask for a manager or the president of the co. Sorry to hear your dissatisfaction
Last night I took some Oa's out of my small jar and put into the product I was FDing. I always take the jar with the OA packets and seal it in my chamber sealer to keep the packets nice and fresh. Last night I forgot to do that. The lid was on tight, but this morning it was NOT sealed even though it had about 10 packets in it. I assumed those OA's were no good so I tossed them in the garbage. I'm bummed because I now wonder if I just wasted a bunch of food. I am fortunate enough to have use of a #10 can sealer and #10 cans. What do you think? Have I just ruined some food? Should I open those cans and use new ones on the last 6 can's of food? I really don't know if any of the OA's I used from that bunch are any good.
Excellent video, thank you for your hard work making this. It's funny, because just today I was loading some bags and thinking to myself, "I wonder if these o2 absorbers are any good?". Now I know and feel good about it.
interesting testing methods. I should point out that air will readily dissolve (and diffuse) into water. it is likely that your results for oxygen volume is off because of this. The one package was probably somewhat better than your test would indicate.
I was thinking a light, nonvolatile oil could be used in place of water. I will retest in a year or so. Since I started with water, to be consistent and fair, I needed to use the same test method.
A quart jar holds 946 cc. The air we breathe contains 21% oxygen. (946 cc x .21 = 199 cc). A standard oxygen absorber is rated to "absorb" (oxidize) 300 cc of oxygen. Many OA will absorb two to three times this amount. After 1-2 hours the oxygen in my jar will be gone, absorbed. The surrounding fluid around the jar will be sucked up into the jar to fill the oxygen void. The water stops at the 199 cc level, the amount of available oxygen. The thermochemical process stops because there isn't any more oxygen. This is when I exchange the air to allow the process to continue until the absorber can't absorb anymore oxygen. The total amount of "sucked up" colored water is added up for the total capacity.
Great video. thanks! You may want to consider using more than one 'significant figure'... for example, 1g on your scale could be as low as 0.5g and as high as 1.49g (and the scale could be rounding the measurement to 1g and you wouldn't know it), and so ideally you should be using a scale that has a minimum increments of 0.1g or even 0.01g for the amounts you are using.
You’re freaking awesome ❤️ Every day I check your channel to see if you’ve uploaded The main thing I’m keeping an eye on is exactly this, Mylar bags oxygen absorbers and freeze drying I’m thinking about freeze drying ground beef but not sure which beef I should buy 73/27, 80/20, or 90/10 I know the beef with less fat costs more but fat doesn’t freeze dry good and I need to make sure to remove as much as possible but I also want good flavor not cardboard taste lol I love the McCormick taco seasoning but is that good for long term? Which beef would you suggest?
Fat is flavor. With that said, I've done 90/10 and 80/20. I've cooked it well, and then I used a clean towel, placed the beef on the towel, rolled it up, and then wringed the towel. This got almost all the fat out of the beef. I hope you found the problems with your FD.
@@Philat4800feet I should be freeze drying by the end of this week Electrician is going to install a dedicated outlet for my freeze dryer Really stressed me out to have to hire someone to come into my home and see my stock and freeze dryer They should be back tomorrow to finish that and do other electrical work in my kid’s rooms I hope in the future I won’t regret this decision but we really needed it done 😥 First thing I’ll freeze dry after my bread run will be beef because I don’t think I want synthetic beef in the future lol
I got a Harvest Right FD two weeks ago and it came with 50 count of 700 cc oxygen absorbers. They did not feel warm at all to the touch when I opened a package of 10. So I put 10 in a quart size jar and it cannot seal the lid. I have some very old oxygen absorbers that were barely warm to the touch. I then put in them in a quart jar and they sealed the jar. So now I need to order oxygen absorbers, but not from Harvest Right.
@@Philat4800feet yes and interrupts videos with the idiot in the woods with a tote of food or ask if you still want a solar generator...the packages sometimes delaminate too. Not mylar... plastic.
To keep the absorber out of the water. I don't think the tape would have moisture, but the environment, within the jar, would have an increased level of humidity.
Sound like a good debate. There must be a way to test them since few, if any, manufactures want to stand behind their product with a name and rated capacity.
You know, you do the best commercials around. I use many of your products and don’t take this the wrong way, but you would be a great comedic actor. Your writers and directors are great also.🤗
I don’t know if Harvest Right sells any bags better than the ones that were included with my Harvest Right machine, but I don’t like them. They’re not ziplock, heat seal only, and they’re fully transparent on one side, leaving whatever is in them exposed and susceptible to light degradation, unless stored in lightproof containers.
@@Philat4800feet I just got my machine three weeks ago, to came with 50 bags that are printed on one side and transparent on the other side, with just a straight, open top, with no ziplock.
Funny. Literally 10 min ago I was arguing with an Amazon seller who tried to explain to me that the thickness is measured using BOTH walls together. So the Harvest right mylar bag would be 14.8mil according their argument.
Phil, this is an amazing video, but it went over my head. I am sorry I had to fast forward. The detail is amazing. Thank you for the hard work and for helping us out.
Thanks for doing this it makes it easy to understand. I would love a freeze dryer, but I'm in NZ. The shipping is expensive, and when I talk to someone with an import licence about the harvest right freeze dryer, they look at me like I've got 2 noses on my face. !! A company in Auckland I believe has started to import them, but there's a huge wait and expense just yet.
Very interesting....can you please do the wallaby product of mylar bags? I used them and i don't see not one shrinkage of the packaging after i put in the oxygen absorbers...I don't think they work!
I’ve been using Wallaby brand Mylar and oxygen absorbers……I’m having doubts if the oxygen absorbers are any good…….very few packets seem to working correctly……..very few of my preps (Mylar bags) have tightened up, as in bricks…… Fascinating topic…..thank you
So happy to find your channel! I'm looking into canning, pickling, and fermenting supplies videos but freeze drying in now on my list of ways to keep the food I grow much longer. So much of it has to go into the compost bc I have nothing to preserve my harvests. I am still new to gardening so I had to get the basics for that down well enough to move on to the next level and I feel like I'm finally ready this year!
@@Philat4800feet actually I became very depressed after my first child and I can finally say that I am the happiest I have ever been after starting this garden so I think you are 100% right!
@Phil at 4800 feet I have been using your method of shaking down product then fold over mylar bag at the lowest point and stacking them until you can do many OAs at one time. Its been working great. I had been doing that however realized later that I ran out of OAs. Can any or all of these items still be used by adding the OA at this later date? : 6/30 dried berries 7/15 Sourcream 7/22 cottage cheese Thanks
I have run out of bags and absorbers too. I'll place my food in zip lock bags for a couple of weeks without problems. or you can vacuum pack the food: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WjIa1WUmnzw.html
it should still be a water vapor proof bag. it could be using a different type of barrier material to provide the water vapor proof protection. check out it's water vapor transmission rate and compare that with the water vapor transmission rate of the DuPont mylar bag.
Good video but I would have liked for you to weigh the used oxygen absorber at the end of the experiment and possibly opened it to see if there was a difference in the weight of it's separate contents. I have heard that oxygen absorbers can be restored by drying them out in your oven at a very low temperature. The lowest my oven goes is 170 degrees F. My dehydrator can be set at 120 degrees F. Of course my next question would be, how efficient would the dried/reused oxygen absorbers be in comparison to the new ones. Lastly, would freeze drying my used oxygen absorbers give them new life? It doesn't seem sustainable or environmental to constantly be sending little plastic bags of iron, salt, carbon & sodium chloride to landfill. Thanks for your answer in advance. I am thinking you may have actually weighed the packet at the end of the experiment but just not included the info in your video.
Good idea. I still have many of those old oxygen absorbers. One (1) cc of oxygen weighs 0.001429 grams. Many of my tests were able to absorb 1000cc. So, 1000cc x 0.00149 = would equal 1.49 grams. My scale should be able to detect that amount. Some of the oxygen, instead of being absorbed, is converted to CO gas instead.