Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

First time getting and using a freeze dryer and it was so easy and simple to use. Great investment and so worth it. I would recommend getting the large if you have a more than 2 in your family.

The only thing I would mentioned is check the machine throughly when it arrives as our machine was missing the shut and release valve, but when I reached out to Harvest Right they sent a replacement quickly and with ease.

Excellent machine

I purchased a medium freeze dryer in February. A bit of a learning curve, but an excellent experience. I had one problem and tech support was great, solving the problem quickly with a download. Recently, I decided to buy the XL because I realized it would be better suited to my needs. It arrived ahead of schedule and I love it. I would highly recommend either unit. I definitely recommend Harvest Right freeze dryers. They've been excellent to deal with and their technical support is first class. My background is in designing, building, and repairing equipment.

We have owned a 4 shelf medium sized Harvest Right freeze dryer (FD) for a few months. The shipment came in about 2 weeks and was packaged well. The setup directions were clear and easy to follow. Everything that was needed to get up and running with the FD was supplied. Running the machine using the factory settings worked well; sometimes needing a few extra hours to completely dry the food. It was interesting and fun trying out different foods to see what was our favorites. The latest version of the software had a candy mode setting which worked well too. The food was really amazing… more intense flavor. We also used the FD successfully for various herbs. We were focusing on using the FD for another way to preserve our food, especially from our garden, as well as a way to produce healthy snacks, and to start emptying out our freezer and to have shelf stable food. The Harvest Right freeze dryer also worked well for our summer surplus of chicken eggs! We initially only stored our food in mason jars, as we were still trying different foods out and experimenting. Once we finally started using the mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, and impulse sealer, we found that the bags were not getting fully sealed. Contacting Harvest Right customer service, we were promptly assisted with our problem. The first step of sending out replacement sealing strips and a helpful video on how to change them out did not resolve our issue. Harvest Right then shipped out a new impulse sealer that worked well. We were happy with their service and assistance that was provided. We would highly recommend the Harvest Right freeze dryer as we are very satisfied so far!

We have owned a 4 shelf medium sized Harvest Right freeze dryer (FD) for a few months. The shipment came in about 2 weeks and was packaged well. The setup directions were clear and easy to follow. Everything that was needed to get up and running with the FD was supplied. Running the machine using the factory settings worked well; sometimes needing a few extra hours to completely dry the food. The latest version of the software had a candy mode setting which worked well too. The food was really amazing… more intense flavor. We were focusing on using the FD for another way to preserve our food, especially from our garden, as well as a way to produce healthy snacks, and to start emptying out our freezer and to have shelf stable food. When we used the impulse sealer, we found that the bags were not getting fully sealed. Contacting Harvest Right customer service, we were promptly assisted with our problem. The first step of sending out replacement sealing strips and a helpful video on how to change them out did not resolve our issue. Harvest Right then shipped out a new impulse sealer that worked well. We were happy with their service and assistance that was provided. We would highly recommend the Harvest Right freeze dryer as we are very satisfied so far!

We purchased a medium sized Harvest Right freeze dryer. The shipment came in 2 weeks and was packaged well. The setup directions were clear and easy to follow. Everything that was needed to get up and running with the FD was supplied. The food was really amazing… more intense flavor. The impulse sealer did not work. Harvest Right customer service promptly assisted. Harvest Right shipped out a new impulse sealer that worked. We were happy with their service and assistance. We would highly recommend the Harvest Right freeze dryer!

Our medium sized Harvest Right freeze dryer came in 2 weeks and was packaged well. The setup directions were clear and easy to follow. Everything that was needed to get up and running with the FD was supplied. The food was really amazing… more intense flavor. The impulse sealer did not work. Harvest Right shipped out a new impulse sealer. We were happy with their service and assistance. We would highly recommend the Harvest Right freeze dryer!

My Harvest Right Freeze Dryer is almost 10 years old and still working great. Harvest Right has made a lot of improvements over the years. Luckily, I have been able to upgrade my machine quite a bit along the way. The biggest improvement is with the Premier vacuum pump over their original standard pump. The Premier pump is much quiter and much more dependable.

Anyone thinking about purchasing a freeeze dryer should know that that aren't real quiet. I originally had mine in a spare room next to our bedroom. It was loud enough to heare it through the wall. Most of that noise was from the standard pump though. The dryer itself sounds about like an air conditoner running.

One fairly new improvement is with the addition of "candy mode". This mode greatly reduces the time it takes to do batches of candy.

Drying a batch of food can take anywhere from about 16 hours to over 40 hours depending on the water content. A batch of candy only takes about 2-3 hours now.

The electrical cost per batch of food has been estimated at between $1 and $2 depending on the batch and your electric rates.

For long term storage (up to 25 years) the food can be kept in mylar bags or jars. There are even online videos that show how to use the freeze dryer to vacuum seal them if you want.

These machines aren't for everyone and there is some general maintenance you need to do to keep them going but if you want another method for long-term food storage, the machines can't be beat.

I purchased a large, 5 tray, HarvestRight Freeze Dryer in April of 2023 and have loved using it. I thought I would mostly use it for putting up leftovers and camping meals and as a supplement to my home canning and dehydration. But, as I have used it, I am finding it is my favorite way to preserve foods. From fresh mushrooms, to spaghetti sauce, to candies, to sliced strawberries and more, I have tried it all and love my HarvestRight.

I recently had an issue arise with the software. I was able to contact HarvestRight customer service. They responded quickly to my request and were able to fully resolve the issue within a few hours. I am so pleased and have loved my HarvestRight experience.

My husband and I decided to increase our Food Storage emergency needs. Noticing the change in our diet as we have aged, we decided that fruits, vegetables and meats were the most needed.

After reviewing, and having used, a variety of ways to store these items we decided to purchase a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer. It has been a miracle.

After following the directions to set up, we began—at first, for a whole year, we processed 3-4 batches a week. We bagged so many foods and the following year began to branch out with some candies, and alternative items like soy/cow/almond milks, yogurts, soups, various potatoes.

We have been blessed to build and strengthen our supply, AND send ready to eat foods to tornado victims, sick persons, and assisted living homes so our families and friends could survive the variety of storms we have endured.

We are beginning year 3 soon and have only needed to call customer support once where they sent a video to teach us how to resolve our problem. Their online videos have been beneficial to learning and finding joy in the Freeze Dry Process! Thank you Harvest Right!

I started out with a frustrating issue with my new Harvest Right FD, the first unit I received would not freeze. After several easy test it was sent back to the company. They made the process easy by sending me the packaging materials and setting up the delivery driver side of it. They sent me a new unit after the original one was picked up. I did have an issue of the original unit being the 4 shelf and the new unit being 5 shelves. That was easy to fix and Jake sent the extra tray I needed immediately. The new unit had an issue with ending the drying cycle which was a fix in the newest update. After an easy update install, I have had a few great runs and no problems.

I will say patience is needed when dealing with these machines. They are complex and the service technicians are busy. Overall it’s been a good experience and I would make the decision to purchase again.

After looking into freeze drying for nearly a year I finally convinced my wife it was an important investment. I not only wanted to store food away long term but I was tired of throwing away food that was going bad (expiring, left overs, etc.). Once the Harvest Right arrived my wife found that she was enjoying the process as well.

My Harvest Right came carefully packaged. Apparently this is an improvement according to the delivery guy who stood by a few minutes as I did a quick inspection. It’s heavy so a friend helped me carry it in and put it on a 3’ X 2’ rolling cart that I picked up from Harbor Freight. This turned out to be the perfect size (don’t go smaller) as the unit, the pump, and all connections fit perfectly. The only optional modification was drilling a hole in the top and running the drain tube threw it into a bucket on the lower shelf.

Then the learning curve started but it was kind of fun. Reading all the material that came with the Harvest Right and watching a ton of available videos by users on YouTube was all helpful. There are also a number of users that have formed groups on different social media platforms. These folks are really nice and helpful for a newbie. Once I found these I did not feel alone in needing to ask what I felt were really basic questions that I did not necessarily want to call “Support” over.

After experimenting with lots of different things (Try the skittles) I got down to freeze drying some substantial foods. Following advice from many of the videos I pre froze almost everything prior to placing them in the Harvest Right. This seemed to help speed the process.

Mistakes? Oh yah. One rookie mistake I guarantee I won’t make again was opening the valve and sucking dirty water back into the unit. It seems most people do that at one point or another. It’s more messy then anything and ruined my batch.

I had concerns about the software and contacted Harvest Right service. It was a weekend and I had to wait until Monday to get a response. I was concerned that my unit would be damaged so I had to finally just unplug the unit to play it safe until a representative could respond. Harvest Right provides their service through on line communications. Was not crazy about that method as I would prefer to speak directly to a representative. However, once communication started they were very helpful and informative. I had figured out the initial software problem but ran into another issue that concerned me. They did not make me go back to square one to solve my secondary issue but took care of it right away. It turned out not to be a major thing but more of an informational issue for this newbie.

Overall I am satisfied with our purchase. Most of my issues have been simply me being overly cautious or operator error. We look forward to many more years of successful freeze drying.

I have had my HarvestRight medium, 4 tray freeze drier for almost a year. In this time I have run over 90 cycles. I have freeze dried many different items in this time. I have freeze dried over 70 dozen farm fresh eggs, I can do 6 dozen per batch. It's great to have my own farm raised eggs in the winter when chickens are no longer laying.

I did have a problem after about 9 months where my controller screen would lock up. Tech support was very responsive and was able to resolve this issue with a software update.

HarvestRight does not appear to be resting on their laurels and is continually improving their product. Newer software to improve efficiency with the freeze drying process as well as new hardware to improve reliability and funtionality seems to be released at a steady pace. I'm very happy with my freeze drier and the ability to preserve the produce from my garden.

I bought a large freeze dried unit in August of 2021. The week before it was delivered I received a phone call that said I had an ill mother and I needed to come home. The day my machine was delivered my kids inspected it for any damage. It sat in the crate and wasn’t plugged in for 22 months.

I ran the machine a total of 5 times and had a few issues and called the Technical support team. I was immediately given a tech named Jacqueline Winegar who was very patient and understanding my frustrations with me.

We realized that I needed a new part and asked if it could be shipped overnight. 
The following morning we received the part and Jacqueline made sure that she called us and walked us through how to put the part in even tho she had sent us a video to review.

After the frustration of not being in an operating status has gone away and the machine is up and working I now realized just why I chose Harvest Right. Customer service has been out of this world making my machine up and running.

Thank you Jacqueline for all of your devoted attention to me while I wasn’t probaby the best person to work with.

Happy with our purchase

We have had our freeze dryer (small unit) for 2 years now and have run it pretty constantly that whole time. We have had some issues with heat, and even in the air conditioned laundry room might still get a warm batch mode. We have also had some vacuum issues but tech support has always been very helpful and got us back up and running with update or very inexpensive parts. All and all we are very happy with our purchase and with their support!

After about 6 years and countless videos, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a medium Stainless Steel freeze dryer.

There are instructions and videos from HR and the community on every step. From receiving your freight to you first break-in batch. It really can't be easier.

The HR tech support is top notch too. I called with a few questions and they took it a step further to make sure everything was working properly. We are super excited to be making our own freeze dried foods now!