Freeze Drying - The Next 50 Batches - 30 lbs of Molly's Kitchen Macaroni and Cheese 

👍 😁

Thanks! The dividers are printed to fit the pan, in fact the different batches of pans that we have bought (over the past 20 years) have had slightly different side slopes, which would require a slight change in the divider shape. That's why some of our pans have an "X" on them, so we know which pans won't fit the dividers.

The new machines are actually a little easier and you will not have to mess with much. I do the same technique and even have downloaded his sheets that he uses in the video. He provides them for free. It makes everything easier to keep track of.

@@TPD605 yes ive printed a couple of sheets out for myself ive been a follower for a little while now :) he learns a new Aussie word every now and then lol

It definitely looks promising. Thanks for the idea! Some more blocks of something, (I'd have to go check - rice and something else?) with the pre-made holes, are going into the freeze dryer today. They are some more of the first round of tests, from months ago, that I froze with the rods in them. I then removed the rods and replaced them with a little piece of parchment (so I could find the hole again) and left them in the freezer in zipper bags after popping them out of the pans. And there they have waited for 3 plus months!

Thanks!

Indistinguishable, in my opinion. (and number 1 child's, too)

Thanks. If I did do that it would skew the results. It is sped up, so maybe you missed it; it's only on screen for about 10 seconds on this video. I do all of the beginning and final weights without thermometers. I remove the thermometers before weighing for the final weights at 17:40 before doing the weight calculation.

Sorry, I guess RU-vid didn't share my response with you yesterday when you asked. (On the Beef Stew video) Here it is again: 👍 Thanks for watching and commenting! The dividers are just something I made. The dividers are designed to fit the pans we got at a Dollar Tree store. The pans are a near perfect fit ** for our medium freeze dryer trays. (Turns out they have them online too www.dollartree.com/cooking-concepts-square-cake-pans-75-in/10065 ) The file is on Thingiverse. www.thingiverse.com/thing:3848619 (Some people feel that it's wrong to have food touch plastic - it's low on my personal risk list) I've updated the Thingiverse listing to include a new version of the divider that is slightly narrower at the bottom to fit more of the pans. ** Clarification on the 2 1/2 pans per tray; it only works IF the divider is the thickness I use. (or thicker) The freeze dryer trays actually fits about 1/2" less than 2 1/2 pans; that's one reason I made the dividers that thick, that and to fit the magnets. For those without a 3D printer, here's my best ideas for getting some 3D printed dividers. Lots of areas have Maker's places with people that would love to do it for you. Or, better yet, some schools have 3D printing labs. Check with a the local charter school that has junior high or high school age students. I taught 3D Design and Printing for 3+ years at a local 6th - 8th grade charter school. We loved it when we could find/were given a real-world project with a real need. I did make a couple of the dividers without using the 3D printer a short time ago. It turns out it's an easy craft project and my sister says they are working well. (I will be making more non 3D printed ones, they're easy, cheap, and work!) Making Dividers for My Pre-freeze Pans Without Using a 3D Printer (For Our Medium Freeze Dryer) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XNsbWn29xdE.html Stay tuned. 😁 I'm going to show another way using 1/2 thick cutting board. (For people with more tools and/or skills)

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Thanks for watching and commenting! There is no reason (that I know of) the thermometers couldn't be frozen in the slabs of food. I Have tried it and it worked fine, but it took more planning ahead for me. We often have many dozens of the blocks (up to 150+ blocks) in the freezer waiting for the freeze dryer, so we would need oodles of them.🤣 With the way we prefreeze in the small pans we use, we need 10 blocks per freeze dryer load (8 whole blocks and 4 half blocks) but only 4 thermometers. Another viewer suggested using stainless steel nails and prefreezing them in the blocks (instead of drilling) and then pulling them out and putting the thermometers in before putting them into the freeze dryer. I'm trying this with some stainless steel rods instead of nails. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vtr786DcVi0.htmlsi=-voxMhdWD6sEyHij

Yes I did. The machines don't NEED the disc. However, for us it's a useful addition because of two related things: condensation and heat transfer. First, while it's cooling, but before the vacuum pump starts, it helps with heat transfer. Second, because I often (very often!) don't get to the machine right away when it finishes, it just sit there chilling. Sometimes it waits 12 hours or more. Very chill, -40 chill. By the time I get around to it, without the front disc and seal insulation, the entire door and seal would be covered with condensation, both liquid and frozen. And then it melts and makes a mess. For people that stay right on top the the process, ready to take it out and check it the minute it beeps, all this is much less needed. The front disc is 0.075" thick acrylic (1.9mm thick) I would probably use 1/8" (3mm +) next time. Once the machine is under vacuum the pad or disc probably don't matter, but while it's freezing it seems to help. (think airplane window) I love how good of a job it has done and have not experienced any downside. It also works when I want video inside the chamber while freeze drying. Here is how I made it. Making an Acrylic Disc Front for a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-erH1VDqNi80.html If your freeze dryer is like ours, (2017) the opening is not quite round. For my first test piece I cut a very accurate circle out of a piece of foamcore and it had gaps of 1/8"+ (3mm +) around the edge. My sister's new (late 2022) machine has a chamber that is very round. We will be making a disc for her machine and I think the fact that it's round will make it easier. Her machine is a medium and I think hers is just a simple 11 7/8" diameter actual circle! I should mention the silver stuff around the seal too. The silver stuff is metalized film bubble stuff that is used for shipping cold stuff. We got our bubble stuff when it arrived wrapped around some frozen food, (a cake, I think) with frozen cold packs, from Harry & David. I saved it knowing that a use for it would show up. And Voilà! (Viewers have told me that it can be found on Amazon and local building stores as bubble foil insulation wrap) I put this on to better insulate the seal area because the seal would freeze and end up with ice and frost on it. Then, when the freeze dryer was defrosted, the ice would melt and water would run down the front of the freeze dryer. I measured the space between the door and the front of the freeze dryer and cut strips of the insulation material that wide. Next, I cut enough to wrap around the seal 3 or 4 time, taped them together end to end, and finally, wrapped it around the seal and taped the end. This has to be done a differently on the newer machines, I'm working on it (and a video) for my sister's newer machine. Adding Front Seal Insulation To A Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LA1sHVUqKts.html