Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

I have had a large Harvest Right freeze dryer for a few years now and love the freedom it give me of alternative methods to preserve my harvest. I like it for preserving meals and ingredients for my kid who do a great deal of bike packing and need small amounts of good food for meals.

Recently I started to get an error message of a "mid batch heat failure". Upon consulting with a technician with the company, they gave me instructions to follow, and a follow-up phone conference that walked me thru the update of the program which solved the issue and got me quicklyback to a working machine.

I’ve been using my Harvest Right freeze dryer for almost a year now, and it’s exceeded my expectations. I didn’t think I would use it as often as I do, but it has become a go-to for preserving all sorts of foods. I’ve freeze-dried candy, cooked meats like sausage and ground beef, breakfast casseroles, and even peppers. It’s been a great solution for making sure the surplus from my garden doesn’t go to waste, and the best part is that it frees up freezer space once the process is complete.

While I’ve encountered a few technical issues with the machine, the customer support team has always been quick and helpful, resolving any problems efficiently. If you're into prepping or dealing with limited freezer space, I highly recommend giving a freeze dryer a try—it’s a versatile and worthwhile investment.

The Harvest Right rep was so helpful in getting our machine back online after a software issue! She walked us through the process step-by-step, kept in touch with follow-up emails and calls, and just really gave us confidence that she was committed to solving all our issues. The parts we needed were shipped promptly, and the software fix was easy to install.

We love our Harvest Right machine and have depend on it for the past two and a half years to preserve produce from our large garden. Since getting everything operational again, it has worked flawlessly to process over twenty loads of fruits and veggies. Thank you Harvest Right for an awesome product and amazing customer service! We feel that buying this unit has been one of the best investments we have ever made!

Mark C.

Wellsboro, PA

My husband and I bought the large (6 tray) freeze dryer with the intent to preserve produce and meat grown and raised on our homestead. We have successfully freeze dried many things: carrots, onions, tomato puree, asparagus, herbs, watermelon, cooked chicken, raw scrambled eggs, leftover hot dishes/casseroles, etc. Having a freeze dryer has made an impact on our need to buy food at the grocery store.

We debated on whether to get the oil-free pump or the traditional oil pump. We chose the traditional oil pump. It is very easy to change the oil. Our machine tells us when it needs to be changed, and it is also easy to monitor by sight on the pump itself.

I’m glad we went with the large, despite needing to change the outlet for this size. We like being able to do larger batches.

Friends and family have asked what the difference between this freeze dryer and a dehydrator: the freeze dryer creates a different product. In most cases it retains flavor better and food is easier to rehydrate, if that is needed. Plus we can freeze dry cooked meat and raw eggs to make them shelf stable. Texture is definitely different, and some people don’t like the kind of airy crunchy texture of freeze dried foods. That only really applies to food that would be eaten as is, like apple slices, and not to things that would be rehydrated, like cooked chicken. But it is something g to consider.

We went on long road trip and took freeze dried meals that we made. Basically, we cooked a few large meals and put the leftovers in the freeze dryer. Placed in individual sized Mylar bags, each bag was a great meal-for-one. It was easy to rehydrate and heat them (right in the pouch) in our hotel room for dinner each night, and saved us some money. I wish we had this when my kids were in Scouts and went camping a lot.

Candy is a fun thing to freeze dry! It made great Christmas gifts to our family and friends.

Recently, we had an issue with our Harvest Right not freezing, and I called customer support. They were very helpful and communicated with me every step of the way as I sent our freeze dryer in for repairs. Customer service is wonderful.

On August 2023, I purchased a Large Pro 6 tray Harvest Right Freeze Dryer!

However, due to many unexpected events it wasn’t until August 2024 that I was able to begin using my Freeze Dryer.

This was no fault but my own and I only wished I would have pressed in sooner with this exciting experience that I am now on my way to freeze drying.

I am so glad that my wife and I are doing this, because we love the whole process of being able to store long term food.

I'm 69 and I like trying to do new things and always learning new ways in reducing the physical work of canning/freezing.

Okay back to my purchase from Harvest Right… I am very happy to give a Five Star Review about my experience thus far with the product and the support they offer.

I had a couple of hiccups to start with. Part of it being operators ignorance…That’s Me!

The other hiccup was that the freeze dryer seem to be taking to long to compete the process, so I contacted customers service and was very pleased with the rep that I was working with… (Victoria Clayton Tier 2 Technical Support Agent) she is so hands on and would call me back to see how things were working out for me and was so very helpful with all my questions and was able to help me get a faster process time by walking me through a software update that fixed the long process time of completing a batch.

I have processed several batches now and am totally enjoying the outcome.

Thank you so much Victoria and Harvest Right for an amazing product and support!

Jack & Jackie

Harvest Right freeze dryer review:

Bought a medium size freeze dryer in 2022, it was For about a year when I had to replace the drain valve. Six months later I had to replace it again. After having multiple vacuum issues, which I worked on with customer service, I just bought a new premier pump which took care of all my vacuum problems.

I use my Harvest Right freeze dryer a lot, and if I had my choice, I would buy it again through Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Tractor Supply, then you have the big box store to stand by the product, if you ever have any problems with it.

The quality of the food produced with this machine is excellent, however when the machine quits working properly, it's frustrating

I bought a four tray version in 2018 and we have used it a ton enought that we recently had the compressor replaced. We also invested in this 5 tray model as well in March. We have preserved fruits, vegetables, meats, fresh herbs, ice cream sandwiches, yogurt, scrambled and raw eggs, dog treats, etc. It is great for on-the-go snacks with a long shelf life.

I love the versatility of freeze drying and the quality of the end product. My husband has been much more interested in helping preserve food since we made this purchase. We can be creative and know exactly what we are putting into our food storage.

We have chosen to store most of the items in glass 2-quart, quart and pint jars. When we are ready to take a snack, we transfer the food to a ziploc bag and then reuse the jar. However, the mylar bags are great for backpacking and having a satisfying meal away from home.

This machine is worth the investment if you have a good supply of home produce that you can use throughout the year.

Bought the Harvest Right freeze dryer a little over a month ago. Have had it running pretty much non-stop since then. Never used one before, but after a few batches we are getting the hang of it.

We had a small issue with the trays not heating, but contacted support and we were able to troubleshoot with them and figure out the issue. Once we got to the level 2 or whatever support he was great!

With the pump and main unit running it pulls around between 6 -7.5 amps on average.

The machine runs great, and it does what it is supposed to do. Would recommend.

The customer service with Home Depot is GREAT!!!

It's the manufacturer has terrible customer service. They expect you to be a technician instead of sending out a knowledgeable tech to resolve the issues. We sent ours in for repairs and it took 3 months for them to "find the part" and then ship it back. This cost us thousands of dollars in revenue.

The only thing positive I can say is that you are safer buying it through Home Depot, Lowe's, Tractor Supply, etc,

I have had my Harvest Right Freeze Dryer for a few years now. Right away, it exceeded my wildest expectations. Along with preserving my excess garden produce for winter use (and my emergency preparedness supply), I was able to make babyfood, have a super lightweight meal collection for hiking and biking trips, and improve my family's wellness with preserved food that retains micronutrient levels way beyond traditional preservation techniques. I was super happy! With my support, our "Feed the Homeless" community garden even bought their own freeze dryer and continued to feed the unhoused in our area with freeze dried food through the winter months.

Then my family went on a months long trip and after leaving the freeze dryer for too long unused, I hit a bump and the pressurizing process did not work properly.

I called customer service, anticipating the worst. I expected a long wait, delayed response, different representatives every time....except that isn't what happened! Landon was my first and only rep from beginning to end. He was patient. He didn't laugh at my endless list of questions nor make me feel bad! He followed up to check on my progress and to make sure I had the support I needed. I felt like I had a real partner in to work through the process. The hands on troubleshooting was...wait for it....FUN! I felt successful even when a particular step didn't fix my problem. I can honestly say it was the best customer service experience I have ever had.

A freeze drier is not a toaster...it is more like a motorcycle. Super fun but you have to learn to take care of it and to trouble shoot common problems that arise. I am a happy customer because this is a great, game changing product....with customer service that also way exceeds expectations. Thankyou Harvest Right and thankyou, Landon!

The unit I have I less than 2 years old, has not been overworked. I started a batch of fruit, I always prefreeze to lessen work time. Unit shut off as pump kicked in to vacuum unit. No power at all, checked my power source all good. Went onto Harvest Right's website to send in support request. Was I instructed to pay 45 bucks US before they would even advance the request. Was e-mailed a time for a phone call, had to leave my work to accommodate said call. Support person told me to go on YouTube and look up no power to unit. I missed work and was held for

ransom for 45 bucks to be told to look on YouTube? After paying so much for this machine and that’s the support? Pretty fricken cheesy, shame on this company. Power switch was the cause, was told now to pay 65 dollars US for a 7 dollar switch, 53 dollars shipping charge for a part that weighs less than a hummingbird , what an utter rip off

We purchased a medium sized 5 tray Harvest Right freeze dryer a few months ago, and waited to review it after we had used it several times. We had an issue with it shipping; something fell threw the cracks somewhere, but once it was pointed out that it had been more than 6 weeks since it had been ordered, the people at Harvest Right got it shipped that week. When it arrived, we had FedEx open the box as is recommended by Harvest Right and found the dryer had been dented. On Harvest Right's recommendation, we refused the shipment and had to wait a few more weeks to get the second unit. The second box was also damaged, but thankfully, the damage was to the lower part of the box and only affected the pallet that it was on and not the unit. All of this was Fed Ex's fault, not Harvest Right's.

The set up was easy and straight forward, but I noticed that the door wasn't making a good seal on the rubber ring; called Harvest Right and was sent a link to a video on how to adjust it, which was also an easy fix. I did the first run on bread, as advised, and everything worked perfectly.

These are the things that I am not happy with:

I have an issue with the documentation that comes with this unit. I feel that it is way too simplistic and doesn't address what reasonable expectations could be on how long run times could be for different things.

They also don't provide much information on how to adjust the freeze times and dry times and how these things will affect the food you are drying. They do include directions on how to change settings to do candy, but no guidance on things like wet foods or things with high sugar content like figs or cherries.

I also think they should include more information on the actual process and what happens at different times during the cycle. For example, the mTorrs that the unit should be pulling during the process should be below 500 while it is vacuuming; it doesn't have to remain constant, but should be reaching those levels sometimes.

I also think that instead of advising people to simply test things by feeling for cold spots or snapping the food to see if it seems dry isn't as good as weighing the trays after the cycle has finished and writing it on the outside of the tray with a magic marker (as the writing can be removed with rubbing alcohol), rotating them in the chamber and drying an additional 2-3 hours and weighing again to see if they lost weight is more accurate. If they lose weight, I run them an additional 2 hours and weigh again. I started doing this after finding the tomatoes I had done seemed dry, but actually weren't as they got soft in the bags after a few days. After I started weighing, I haven't had these issues.

The rubber ring often has to be adjusted and slightly pulled out to make a proper seal. You need to check this every time you open and shut the door.

I live in an area with high summertime temperatures and high humidity which increases run times. I set up fans but couldn't keep the unit cool enough to not get the notice of “warm room temperature; run time may be extended”. I had to move it to a room with a small window air conditioner to keep it cool enough to run properly. In the winter, this probably won't be an issue, but for people in any of the southern states it may be problematic in the summer.

They say to clean the unit every time after it's used, but don't tell you that the trays unplug from the cord inside, or where the cord should be positioned when you put the trays back in.

The times that are required on the loads I have run have ranged from 25-43 hours. I'm telling you this so you can manage expectations and also plan your day around when the loads are likely to be done. Anything wet can take a long time; the drier things take far less time. The reason why this matters is that once things are done (and still warm) they need to be immediately bagged with a oxygen absorber and sealed, so you don't want this happening in the middle of the night. If it seems like that might happen, I add an additional 9-10 hours of dry time so I don't have to worry about it.

Also, be aware that if you change and save the settings, that's what they'll be the next time you start it; it doesn't revert back to default settings.

Overall, we're happy with the unit and the customer service has been outstanding. I had an issue which seems to have resolved itself, but weeks after getting a technical support ticket got a call from a representative to see if things were working properly. I have done14 cycles so far, and the only problem I had was probably due to an insufficient vacuum because of not pulling the rubber ring out. In other words, user error. I really wish that the manual had provided much more information and hope that, in the future, it is included.