Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

We ordered a Home Pro Freeze Dryer (L, Black) for our anniversary. The main reason for our purchase was that our freezer was so full and we did not want to purchase another freezer. Since we’re retired, we watch for food, especially meat, that is on sale. This was the perfect answer to that issue. The freeze dryer allows us to purchase meat and other items that are on sale and safely store them without having to vacuum seal and freeze them.

Another plus is freeze dried candy. Harvest Right unit has a candy mode which is quick and very easy to use. Our children, grandchildren and their friends really likes freeze dried candy.

We have been using canning jars and vacuum sealing most items. The few items like meat (cooked ground sirloin) we’re storing in Mylar bags, I had problem getting a good seal on the bags. I contacted Harvest Right Customer so they could help us. They had us do a video of sealing a bag. We figured we were doing something wrong and they would tell us how to correct our issue. They reviewed the video and determined it was the sealer. They shipped us a new sealer the same day. Needless to say, we think Harvest Right has great Customer Service. Plus the freeze dryer unit is great. We just wished we purchased one sooner.

We love our Harvest Right freeze dryer! We bought the medium freeze dryer and have had it running every day since we've received it. It's absolutely amazing how it works and takes all the moisture out of all kinds of foods we put in it. We've done foods from eggs, ground beef, actual meals, fruit, and then desserts like ice cream sandwiches and all kinds of candy. I would highly recommend buying a Harvest Right freeze dryer for anyone interested in stocking up foods for long term storage.

We built a sturdy cart with two shelves and a sturdy top, on wheels, to hold our Harvest Right freeze drier. Installed a dedicated 20 amp circuit outlet in our pantry off the kitchen to make it convenient.

When we installed it, it would not power on. We contacted customer service and they provided a video on what the problem could be. We found that we had more than one issue with wires not plugged in to the circuit board. Again we contacted customer service and spoke to a technician. We emailed him pictures and he helped us quickly to resolve our problem.

We have been running tests with different foods to see what works for us. So far we have found that it will come in very handy by eliminating storage space needed in the pantry and freezer.

I would suggest that most vegetables should be precooked. Vegetables such as mushrooms, onions, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower and celery freeze dry raw. Potatoes, carrots and sweet peas need to be blanched first.

We have done pineapple, lemons and red grapes-all have turned out wonderful. Skittles candy of course and currently our first batch of gummy bears.

The Harvestright freeze dryer is a game-changer for food preservation. Its user-friendly design and efficient freeze-drying process make it a valuable addition to any kitchen. With the ability to preserve a wide range of foods, from fruits to meats, it's a versatile appliance. The quality of the freeze-dried products is impressive, retaining flavors and nutrients. While it's an investment, the long-term savings on food and reduced food waste make it worth every penny.

I love kitchen gadgets and appliances. when i discovered the Harvest Right freeze dryer, I could not stop thinking about it. Yes, it is an investment, but all the things I can do with it make it worth it!

I recently had started buying freeze dried food for my fur babies, now there is an expense! I also enjoy adding dried fruit to my drinks... The thought of having homemade healthy dog food, and all the dry fruit I could ever want, plus endless other things to try, made buying this machine a must!

At first, I was nervous about setting it up, but the instructions are so easy to understand and there is a phone number to speak to a human as late as 8pm. I did also watch several YOU TUBERS showing step by step setup procedures. you cannot go wrong. I have had it 2 weeks now and so far I do a batch everyday. It came with everything I needed but, I have purchased more jars. I look forward to trying so many more things.

Bought the medium size 1 year ago and just started to have vacuum issues. i then emailed customer service and told them what was going on with machine. Tanner at the help desk helped me all the way by sending him log files and doing other testing. We finally got it back up and now its working fine. Thank you so much harvest right for having a great technician.

A Game-Changer in Food Preservation: Harvest Right Freeze Dryer

I purchased a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer, and I couldn't be happier with my decision. This machine has not only met but exceeded my expectations in every way.

Dependability and Durability

One of the standout features of this freeze dryer is its dependability. It's a robust machine that has proven to be extremely durable, giving me peace of mind that it will last for years to come.

Quality of Product

The quality of the freeze-dried food it produces is second to none. The texture, flavor, and nutritional value are all preserved impeccably, making it a joy to use for various culinary applications.

Fun Factor

Beyond its practical benefits, this freeze dryer brings a lot of fun into the process. Experimenting with different foods and recipes has been a delightful experience, adding a new dimension to my kitchen adventures.

Final Thoughts

If you're in the market for a reliable, high-quality freeze dryer, look no further than Harvest Right. It's a worthwhile investment that delivers on its promises and then some. Highly recommended!

Jeff

I love my medium freeze dryer! It is a great way to preserve food and keep the quality and be able to store for long periods of time. I had trouble setting it up but I got onto Facebook and Madison right from harvest right Facebook responded very quickly and stayed with me and helped me through the process and got me up and running if you need help with your freeze dry her contact her on Facebook she is amazing and helped me in every way she could no matter what time of day or night it was she would get back to me. The screens dryer has worked wonderfully ever since and I can’t wait to keep storing food!

I own two harvest right freeze dryers for my business. I have had several vacuum leak issues with both units in the year and half I have owned them. Some leaks are easy fixes while others are more complicated. For home use I would recommend these freeze dryers. They are effective and create a wonderful finished product. For a business however they are not the most dependable.

I love my Harvest Right freeze dryer! I got the large one. It is a little heavy but once you get it in place, everything else is easy. Outside of food prep and bagging the finished product, the machine does all of the work and running the program is as easy as pushing a few buttons.

Note: Make sure you follow directions closely and complete each step in the right order. If you don't, you might mess up your food, machine, or the pump.

Harvest Right also has great customer service if you have questions or concerns.

It's a big upfront expense but totally worth it!

We bought the lg HarvestRight in March 2023, from HD. The first one was delivered to the store damaged, so we ordered another one to be delivered to our home. It worked fine at first, then it developed issues. HarvestRight helped us to do diagnostics on it and it was determined we needed to send it back. It took about month turn around. It now works wonderfully! Very happy with the product.

I research always, and something new to me and somewhat pricey I research a lot! Harvest Right had all the info I needed to help make a decision. They are the gold standard, and work hard to stay in the lead as new markets emerge. I've had exceptional customer service whenever I reached out, not just as a new customer. I continue to purchase from them for accessories because I know I'll get the same quality and care. My freeze dryer has worked flawlessly and become my favorite kitchen tool.

really like my freeze drier. I got it like two years ago from north forty, had some trouble with it that could not be fixed over the phone. Worked with Austin he was great We sent the machine in to harvest right, they fixed it and sent it back. The machine is really working great, I love freeze drying and try finding new foods to freeze dry Harvest right works with the customer I would buy the machine all over again

My machine has been "special". While we have been able to run it and get freeze dried food from it, it has not been without a lot of troubleshooting and problems. The Premier Pump was a life saver. The original pump was well... a pain.

My set up is on a platform I built. The pump runs under the machine with plenty of ventilation. I have a dedicated A/C unit for the room to keep the temperature in the room low so the machine will run optimally. The machine is on its own dedicated circuit in the house. I keep an oil replacement log on the side of the machine to ensure my pump is maintained properly. (Ya, I'm OCD in certain ways)

I bought this unit because I have 3 vegetable gardens, 1 herb garden, 15 fruit trees and 19 chickens. For us, harvest season comes on hard and fast. I have 5 trays loaded in the unit, and 5 pre-freezing right behind it. We just keep this cycle going. If we get overrun by a good growing season, we will run the 2 18 tray dehydrators to helps us keep up with the yield.

Since I've owned it, I have had the following issues:

1. 6 months into using it, the pressure value to drain the air and water failed and had to be replaced.

2. The original pump well just sucked. It was an oil hog. Oh, we did the whole oil filter thing, but it had to go. We replaced it with the Premier Pump.

3. I've had to use extra special tape recommended by Harvest Right support for all the fittings between the pump and the machine to seal off any pressure leaks.

4. I've had consistent issues with the chamber not being able to get down to the proper MTorr. As a result, it would then run longer than necessary.

5. I have kept the firmware up to date which has caused some issues because not all of the firmware versions ran right. I had to update firmware to fix firmware problems. (I'm a software engineer so this part isn't foreign territory for me)

6. Currently, I've had issues with the machine running "never ending batches". Something between the firmware and the hardware has gone wrong where the machine doesn't know when to stop. It will run and run and run if I let it. My longest run was 120 hours! I finally cried "uncle" and shut it off. The trays come out really hot, the food comes out fused to the trays almost like it was baked or dehydrated rather than freeze dried. I've burned through hundreds of dollars in high power bills ($300+ for 3 months straight) running it through our harvest season not to mention running test batches for H.R. troubleshooting to no avail.

7. After all the malfunctioning and testing, my pump is now leaking a lot of oil from the demister (most likely) after which will cost me $70 to replace.

8. The "free" support at H.R. is terrible. That's a well-known fact. Their turn around time is between a day but more likely one to two weeks from my experience. If you actually need support, take my advice and pay the $45. The time you'll save alone will be worth it.

In truth, I think my machine is a lemon and has been since I bought it. I have friends who own the same machine and have had far fewer issues. Given all the hell I've gone through without any real resolution, that tells me I got a bad unit. However, it appears H.R. is bound and determined to make me troubleshoot this unit till dooms day. Personally, I don't believe I see a "resolution" by way of "fixing" it anymore. I've followed all the "official" troubleshooting videos you can find on YouTube. I've followed all the support suggestions. I've sent all the logs I can send over and over and over again. I've paid the "support" fee to get some personalized help... and yet. I still have an expensive, broken machine I can barely run that requires a lot of baby-sitting so my food isn't destroyed. Finally, I had to punt this year and use our two dehydrators to make up the difference and still we had to give away or throw away part of our harvest.

I certainly hope your experience isn't like mine. Granted it's an expensive gamble and you never know.

Freeze drying is a great way to preserve food. It tastes a lot better than dehydrated food and reconstitutes far better IMO.

All in all, in my experience, 3 stars for MY machine is a merciful gift. I'm giving it that because in the beginning we were been able to scrape a few batches off of it which helped our fall food processing/food storage efforts. Granted a lot of trouble and repeated $10 oil replacement bottles have been part of the process. If I was only rating it on function, I'd give it one star for effort.

I have had this machine for a few years now and am still amazed how well its works and how fun it is to watch foods freeze-dry. I love the experience of eating fruits and candies with a new texture. And being able to preserve them for years is amazing. If I had known about this product years ago it would've saved me lots of time (instead of spending time canning food) and lots of money before inflation hit.

The unit presented with an error ‘Not Sensing Temperature Properly’ after just 2 cycles. I contacted customer support, and they walked me through a trouble shooting process. I followed their directions, but the next couple cycles showed the same error, but eventually disappeared mid-cycle (and the food seemed to be fully dried). I ran multiple cycles afterwards without the error; however, a brand new piece of equipment shouldn’t be having these problems right out of the box.

’ve had excellent customer service from harvest right. I enjoy my harvest right freezer dryer. I’ve had it for 6 years. I started with the regular pump but quickly changed to the oilless pump. The oilless is the only way to go. Much easier to use. I love freeze drying fruit and vegetables. They rehydrate easily. I’ve also freeze dried chicken. It also rehydrates easily.

My stainless steel, medium harvest right is probably one of the best investments I have made. Customer Service is wonderful and the system itself is top notch. Within a few months of running non stop, I have already broke even from the savings of not buying freeze dried foods! Absolutely love it. Wish I had not waited a year to take the plunge and buy! A must have for gardeners and farmers. Preserves foods for long term during uncertain times.

I've owned my HarvestRight medium sized home freeze dryer for almost a year now and have run over a hundred cycles without issue. I've freeze-dried a wide variety of items from snacks, fruits and vegetables, to meats and whole entrees. Many items make delicious and healthy snacks just eaten in dried form. The long term costs are lower than long term costs of traditional freezer storage, plus the food far outlasts any other storage method. Extended power outages pose no threat of stored food loss as could happen with a regular freezer and no backup power source. It can also provide a buffer against food shortages as we've seen in recent years as well as rising food costs due to them. It can help greatly reduce food waste from left-overs or, if you are a home gardener and sometimes produce more than you can use in a season, you can utilize everything you produce. That's also helpful when your next season may be less productive.

I have been looking at buying a Harvest Right Freeze dryer for over 5 years and finally was able to purchase one this past May. It runs flawlessly and is pretty much auto-pilot with very little attention required as the process is pretty much automatic! I live in Arizona- no basements and garages are way too hot, and the medium-sized unit takes up very little space. I have it sitting on a cart with wheels in my kitchen and runs virtually 24X7- one batch, defrost, clean, and then the next with very little noise or interruption to our household. I have learned so much about this process, and the Harvest Right customer service goes out of their way to explain in detail and can answer all my questions – they are truly a knowledgeable asset to their company. Thank you!