Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

I purchased a Large Harvest Right Freeze Dryer in August 2023. It's been 8 months now and I've been able to freeze dry a variety of items and can now confidently say, I love my Harvest Right Freeze Dryer. I have also had experience on several occasions to need to contact HR's customer service. They are so easy to get in touch with and have always either answered my questions or helped me resolve an issue. They are consistently and friendly and helpful every time I have called. When making such a large purchase, for a product that I’ve never used before, I am so thankful I chose Harvest Right because it works beautifully, and their customer service can't be beat!

I bought a medium size HarvestRight Freeze Dryer four years ago. Right away I began freeze drying berries, fruits, vegetables, meats and eggs. I have food security for my family.

My HarvestRight Freeze Dryer has been reliable other than failures I had with the premier pump. The warranty covered a defective pump after it stopped working during the first year of use. The warranty also covered a second pump the following year as it failed. (No pump failures since).

My point is that HarvestRight promptly replaced the defective pumps with no hesitation. Harvest Right’s customer service is second to none. They are hands on when it comes to customer service.

The purchase of a freeze dryer is a substantial financial output for many households. I recommend that you do your research before purchasing. Check out the web and YouTube; learn from others who own a HarvestRight Freeze Dryer. Call HarvestRight if you have questions, be an informed buyer.

I Highly recommend HarvestRight.

I am so excited to have this. As an avid gardener and home canning pro, this just adds to the possibilities of food preservation. I buy in bulk and finally get to take.

advantage of sales. I am so excited to use it. I have freeze dried fruit, meats, vegetables and even ice cream!! I and can’t wait to use it to make meals to eat for camping this summer. Best part is this saves foods that would otherwise spoil if not used in time. Learning you can freeze dry just about anything.

We have owned our Medium Harvest Right Freezer with the premier pump since May 2020. We have been able to easily upgrade new versions as they become available; thank you Harvest Right. Between our garden and Costco

bulk buying we keep our freeze dryer humming. We enjoy being able to freeze dry according to our personal tastes and recipes we love. We use our freeze-dried foods daily for convenience; but also knowing we have long term storage for future use is priceless.

I bought my freeze dryer in the summer of 2021 and periodically have had issues with it achieving a vacuum. While searching the vacuum issue, I discovered I had an additional problem. I was unaware that ice should have been building up in the entire drum and my machine from day one only had ice build up in the front of the machine. I contacted Harvest Right and opened a service ticket for this issue and I was assigned a tech. I was asked to remove the back of the unit to see if it was the fan. Removing the back was a nightmare, whoever put my freeze dryer together over tightened and stripped six of the screws. During my next phone appointment, my tech determined it was a refrigeration issue, so my machine would need to be shipped back. If you are considering purchasing a freeze dryer, please know that if you have issues with the refrigeration unit it is under warranty for three years, but you have to pay the shipping fees which is expensive. My tech sent me shipping material, except the pallet, and arranged with Fed-ex to pick my unit up. The repairs were done quickly. My freeze dryer was gone about three weeks and my tech kept in contact with me on a regular basis to let me know what was happening and answered all of my questions. I’ve had my FD back for a little over a week now, and so far it is running properly.

We purchased our Harvest Right Freeze dryer about two weeks ago from Big R. I have seen other reviews that mention challenges with delivery and time windows but since we purchased directly from a local retailer, we did not have any of those types of challenges.

We have wanted one for about a year now and finally decided to make the purchase. The financial decision was easy after looking at how much we would be spending on acquiring a full year worth of survival food for our family of four from online survival food companies. It would be almost impossible for our family to ever buy a year supply for four people, but by owning our own freeze dryer and making our own survival food it is definitely now an achievable goal. As I mentioned before we have only had the dryer for about 2 weeks but we have kept it going almost non stop since receiving it. And we have already made a good dent on building up our one+ year supply. The machine is very easy to use and we have had zero problems with it thus far.

When we opened the box everything was in great condition except for part of the Oil filter counter was broken. I called up Harvest Right on a Saturday morning and was very surprised to get to speak to a real person. He was extremely knowledgeable and professional. He immediately put in an order to replace the broken oil filter and I should be receiving it soon. I am very impressed with the customer service I have received from them thus far and I strongly recommend others to purchase a Harvest Right freeze dryer if they are in the market.

My Harvest Right machine required regular repairs from the time I purchased it. Ultimately after 14 months, it failed to a point that it had to be returned to the factory for repair at my expense even though the freezer components were still under warranty. When I received the machine back, it was severely damaged and I was able to prove that the damage occurred at their facility prior to return shipment. I was able to further prove that they attempted to hide some of the damage and then tried to fraudulently blame it on the shipper FedEx. The machine is so severely damaged that it is inoperable and they continue to deny responsibility and simply ignore the evidence. Harvest Right sells poor quality machines and they have little to no quality control. Their dishonesty is systemic and I strongly recommend that buyers go elsewhere. I gave them a 1 star rating only because I could not give them 0 stars.

I like the Harvest Right freeze dryer. It's a great idea. The product has issues with which seem to be across the product line. I have talked with several other owners and they seem to suffer from various issues all around vacuum.

When it comes to getting the repair, repaired. This is a very long process which I was told it was expedited for me. The have different levels of support which all is great. However there is only so much they can do. I had a technician come to the house to do what I already had done. A total waste of time! Then I was told to ship it back. Ok send the package material. 3 times and still could not have the correct material sent. Made adjustments to the packaging to even ship it. Weeks later it finally arrived back. It was working. After we bought the best they had to offer, I would have never thought we would have suffered from this.

As a side note if repairs is weeks out, maybe they should change the design!

I purchased a Medium Harvest Right Freeze Dryer in the fall of 2020. It has been running perfectly after an initial pump glitch after 4 months (they don't sell those anymore). I purchased this unit from a re-seller in Canada. Harvest Right is providing great customer service and assistance. It is so easy to use (after the initial learning curve.) I like how the software to run it can be so easily upgraded as they make improvements. You are never stuck with an "old" machine.

This unit is a game changer if you: have a garden; have access to discounted foods, don't like wasting leftovers, prefer to do large quantities of meal preps and have it on hand for later; want to make your own pet food; want lightweight camping food; the list goes on and on.

Be brave and splurge on this machine you will find its value grows and grows the longer you have it as the amount of food you have preserved increases.

I have owned my Harvest Right medium freeze dryer for almost a year now. I absolutely love the ability to make my own freeze-dried meals for camping, long-term food storage, as well as quick meals and healthy snacks. Everything I have done so far has turned out great and reconstituted perfectly. The ability to control what goes into my freeze-dried food is completely worth the investment!

The initial set up of the freeze dryer was fairly simple, though, the machine is very heavy and requires a very sturdy stand and a helping hand. If I could have asked for anything further as a new buyer, it would be more detailed instructions on the various settings (temperatures, times, etc.), a list of what the factory settings are, and what food would require you to change those settings.

I did experience some issues after about 7-8 months of use. I was unable to achieve an adequate vacuum. During the process of trying to resolve this problem, I ran into another default of my machine: many screws on the panels being stripped. After trying all the troubleshooting suggestions in the manual, I ended up having to put in a support ticket to get assistance with repair of the inadequate vacuum.

Please be aware that you will need to do most, if not all, of the repair work yourself. What made this process the most difficult, however, is the fact that all the consultation with the technicians is done either via phone, email, or video call. Many of the instructions were also sent via a YouTube video to do on your own time without the technician. This makes it extremely difficult to ensure you are doing the repair properly and leaves a lot of room for error. In the end, we found that my inadequate vacuum was likely due to O-rings that were too small and sitting loosely in the hoses and/or small tears in my door gasket. All of these had been previously checked by two technicians and myself multiple times but were easily missed because of doing everything over a video call.

I did have a rough experience with the repair process that took several months to complete, multiple technicians/managers, and spotty communication. I am satisfied, however, that the vacuum error did get repaired, and we were able to agree upon a satisfactory resolution for the multiple months of downtime I experienced coupled with the frustrating customer service.

Overall, I would recommend a Harvest Right freeze dryer, but would want to make sure other buyers are aware that the repair process can be very lengthy in time, aggravating, and require you to handle most of the work. Do a lot of research on the machines, get to know every inch of the machine, what is normal and what is not, because you may be faced with doing a lot of your own maintenance.

I recently purchased a small Freeze dryer from Harvestright.com I received my freeze dryer on March 29th. I didn't turn it on until the next day. I had some help setting it up with a customer service girl Juvy at harvest right. I did have a problem with the vacuum on the freeze dryer. I contacted harvest Right, They set an appointment up with a support Team 2 Chase Turner Helped me with the Vacuum pump. I sent over a video of the pump. When Chase Turner looked at the video he replied that the turn on switch was in the back of the pump. He said it was a common mistake. I was doing everything wrong until Chase Turner helped me get my freeze dryer up and running. Thanks to the team over at Harvest Right for helping me setup and get my freeze dryer running once again. I give the freeze dryer a 5 star rating. I love making freeze dried food. I'm on my new batch now. It's not loud, it does get a little warm right now I have only a fan in the room where the freeze dryer is. I will put the air conditioning on when it gets Hot. I live in Las Vegas where the temperatures get really hot. I put the freeze dryer in a spare bedroom I have the window open today because its a little breezy out side to help my freeze dryer get a little bit of air. This is the best thing I have ever bought. Thank you

I’ve had my freeze dryer for over a year now, and I absolutely love it! The only reason I didn’t give it five stars across the board is because when I first received the freeze dryer, it had a vacuum leak. It turned out that one part had not been installed correctly in the factory. The troubleshooting was lengthy and a real pain, however, the technician I worked with was fantastic and helped me work through the issue. Overall, I highly recommend this product!

I've had my freeze drier for less than a month. My machine displayed vacuum sensor not found when first turned on. The Harvest Right service department quickly responded and expedited a new vacuum sensor. The freeze drier works fine now thanks to Tyler, my service agent. The product is robust and the software is easy to use. Although I had an issue at the beginning, the service team quickly resolved the issue. It was a pleasure working with Tyler who was very courteous and professional.

To begin, I love our Harvest Right freeze dryer and believe it was a worthwhile purchase. I have a long list of things that I look forward to using it for. That being said, I'll give my honest review in hopes that it will be valuable to others.

We purchased our Harvest Right late last year, so I am a relatively new user. I agree with another online review that stated there is a definite learning curve with the freeze dryer. Before I began, I watched a video on YouTube created by Harvest Right. The presenter showed how to do a batch containing four different products. When the cycle ended, she opened the door and voila! all the products were dried and ready to store. Based on my experience so far, this seems like an oversimplification of the process.

So far I have done ham, apples, bananas, and ground beef with success. I have also done raspberries, milk, and eggs with some issues. With each of the latter batches, I had one tray that still had moisture. You can open the unit and take out what is dry and continue processing what still has moisture. It took me a few batches to figure out how to do this. I am keeping notes on all of the items I do and expect to have much more success the second time around.

We purchased the medium size freeze dryer and although it didn't look that big in the store, it does take up quite a bit of space. We put ours on a rolling cart in order to be able to move it around, but right now there is not a good place for it in our kitchen. We plan on designing a dedicated spot for it in the garage this spring. The unit is noisy and it can be an issue if it's in the main living area.

I was surprised to read about some of the issues others have had with the unit. The only issue I have had so far is a software update. It was easily resolved with a call to customer service and an email.

Again, I don't regret our purchase and look forward to using the freeze dryer for years to come!

Purchased a 5 tray lg FD from HarvestRight 2 years ago. It’s in use almost year round, we do soups, herbs, meals, vegetables and berries from our garden, our chicken eggs, grilled salmon, beef burgers, and chicken. Everything tastes great and we are well satisfied with everything. Game changer on saving time putting up our harvest, beats canning and freezer storage by far. We had 2 issues that were minor which customer service resolved quickly. We highly recommend a HarvestRight freeze dryer.

We got it all ready to run and realized the trays were too big. We bought the med. dryer and the lg. trays were included.

My husband called and talked to Dallas who said ”no problem” they would send them out. A week later, no trays and no response to an email from us.

I called and talked to Daniel who let me know the trays are back ordered for 4-6 weeks!. He tried to be helpful and said that Dallas did not order any for us.

I have only done the initial bread run but so far I am pleased with it! The bread was perfectly dry. I have an issue with the door seal, and the customer service was a little less than helpful (though they were very kind) is the reason for 4 stars. The rep sent me links to youtube videos to compare the door seal to, but the links did not work. Still not 100% sure if not having a seal prior to vacuum is normal, but it did work (after an error or losing seal during the run).

We’ve had our freeze dryer for about 2 years and absolutely love it! We’ve freeze dried fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk, ice cream, salsa, full meals and the list goes on and on!

I used to can everything from our garden but now I use this instead. So much easier and I don’t have to follow any certain recipes like you do with canning. The shelf life with this is so much better too!

I’ve had to use harvest right customer service a couple times for minor things and they were awesome!

I finally got a freeze dryer and have been using it non-stop I love the harvest right freeze dryers because it comes with so much extra stuff. The bag sealer that it comes with is commercial grade made out of metal. You also get a bunch of mylar bags and 50 oxygen absorbers. Harvest right freeze dryer is extremely easy to use and program. Anybody can do it. I have been freeze drying mainly candy and ice cream. I have had to call customer support in the beginning and they were amazing. They sent me videos to help me with what I was needing help with. The harvest right medium freeze dryer used to only have four trays, now it has five. I can fit a whole carton of ice cream on one tray. So you can actually do five cartons of ice cream on one run. There is also a harvest right Facebook page. You can get tips and tricks from there. You also get a small recipe booklet with your machine. It has easy to follow recipes with great pictures. I plan on using my machine to make some extra money. There is not much freeze dried candy in my area so everyone is excited for me to be selling it now. I forgot to mention but you should also get two different bottles of oil with your harvest right freeze dryer. The oil is for the vacuum pump. Another neat item that comes with your harvest right freeze dryer is an oil filter container. You can actually filter the oil so it can be reused. I have probably done at least 30 runs and have not changed my oil yet as it has not gone down at all. There is also a 3-year warranty which is pretty amazing. Everything extra that they give you for the harvest right freeze dryer is worth over $700. I don't think any other company gives you all of that. I was nervous at first because my house is not very big. I was worried about the noise that the harvest right freeze dryer would make. I had to put it in a room right next to my living room and figure that way I could at least shut the door when it's running. But I don't even have to do that it is not very loud at all. That room smells amazing when I'm freeze drying candy or ice cream in it. One of the features on the harvest right freeze dryer is it has a candy mode. You can do all sorts of different candies in around three to four hours. I thought in the beginning that it would take a whole 24 hours for each batch that I did. But when you're in candy mode it takes a lot less time. I can do a couple different runs on candy mode a day. I honestly wish I could get another freeze dryer but I don't have very many outlets in my house. I plan on selling my freeze dried products at craft fairs. There are so many neat items to freeze dry. I even freeze dried jello. Everyone loves it it's amazing. I have done whole fudgesicles and different flavors of ice cream. That's probably one of the most popular items. You can freeze dry hard candies and chewy candies and candy bars. I also freeze dried pudding. I would love to do some yogurt drops also. It's amazing that freeze dried food can last 25 years. So the harvest rights freeze dryer machine is great for preserving all types of foods. You can make a batch of chili and freeze dry it and bring it camping with you. All you would have to do is add some water and heat it up. It's supposed to taste just like it did before you freeze dried it. You can actually freeze dry whole steaks. Freeze dried food is great for backpacking because it doesn't weigh anything. You could bring some freeze dried fruit with and you can eat it freeze dried or add water to it and reconstitute it. I'm going to be freeze drying banana cream and chocolate cream pie. There are some things that you can not reconstitute because it just makes a mess. You have to use your common sense on what you can reconstitute or not. They're already few items that you cannot freeze dry. Are many facebook pages that have tested recipes. Harvest right even has a facebook page. Can do a search on many different food items to see how to freeze dry them.

I really like my freeze dryer; however, I have had issues with the vacuum from the beginning. Tech support has been great and customer support has been polite. I am extremely frustrated because my machine is now out of warranty and will cost for tech support. I would understand having to pay but as the has happened a minimum of three times since purchased (August 2022) and I do not have very many hours on the machine, I would like them to take responsibility for the root cause of the problem vise charging me to repair something that has been an ongoing issue. I have an appointment with a tech this afternoon. We will see how it goes.