Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

I’m happy with most things concerning this high dollar $$$ freeze dryer appliance. In my eyes HR is lacking at the attention to detail. In a brand new freeze dryer I had stripped screws, out dated manual that was not applicable to the version they sent me, and some pieces that where broken right out of the box. Not sure how a QA department of HR doesn’t catch a lot of this before shipping. I almost feel like a beta tester, knowing that I’ll have to work through issues.

We've been using our freeze dryer for about 6 month and have had great results. We bought ours to keep our long term food supply out of the freezer to avoid needing power in the wake of extended power outages. Over 70 runs with mixture of raw food, leftovers, even dog food. Some care is needed choosing foods to freeze dry - avoid oils/high sugar. Issues have been with 3rd party storage bags and rehydration rather than the unit. Result is not always same as fresh but much better than dehydrated.

Christmas present. When I set it up I discovered the control panel had an internal crack. Contacted HR . Took a day or two but when staff came back from their holidays my ticket was handled promptly. New part was shipped out. Repair was simple. Bread run passed. Winter squash and sweet potatoes turned out great. I have zucchini, beets, and other veggies prepped and in the deep freeze to start on Monday morning.

Great for long term food storage. Had some problem with holding vacuum at first. But Harvest Right had some problem solving videos that got us up and running. Did 5 batches and screen went white. Filled out a ticket and got with a tech that gave me some troubleshooting tips that didn't solve my problem. So they sent me a whole new module for a simple fix. A big THANK you to David Morely. Have done 2 more batches so far and it's doing great. The customer service is absolutely awesome.

On my 3rd year freeze drying. We have had very few problems running it 4 to 5 times a week. Did have a vacuum error and a heater relay problem. Thier service department was great. Got us what we needed and most of all their follow was consistent until we were happy.

J Wells

bought the large Harvest Right freeze dryer to make my own backpacking meals…- it is huge!! It is also very steady! I feel it will last a long time. Know that it does require a dedicated 20 amp 110v outlet (in my older horse that meant hiring an electrician). The premium pump is much quieter than I expected! My order did arrive with incorrect trays and power cord (meant for the medium size), but customer service was very polite and shipped the replacement parts within hours!

This review is for Harvest Right Vacuum Pump (Model: OP-VLU11060-PREM) and Freeze Dryer (Model: HRFDL). Continuous and successful batches started around the end of 06/2022 and we were impressed with it's performance.

Around 10/21/2022, we experienced Inadequate Vacuum Pump. The pump was not achieving an MTORR rating lower than 500. I followed all of the instructions in the manuals, to include viewing the HR videos., in addition to many more related videos to learn more about the system. Although I followed HR's links to the videos, it was difficult to tell which videos were HR's. Based on the videos suggestions, I filled the epoxy plug with pure silicon with no significant change. After many followed steps through the manuals and videos, I called HR and started a ticket around 11/14/2022. I exchanged many emails with Austin Merrit (HR Technician) and performed many steps over the course of the following 3 weeks. Through my own research and based on HR videos, I checked HR's drain valve which was corroded. Through many of the videos, I changed out the drain valve to a plumber's drain valve from Home Depot. The vacuum pump was able to pull the MTORR rating down an additional 300 units from 530 to 230.

Around 01/05/2023, I started to work with Brandon Coover (HR Technician). I no longer received Inadequate Vacuum Pump errors. However, the machine experienced Mid Batch Heating / No Heat Detected errors. The shelving unit trays were not heating up. I followed the trouble shooting steps in the HR manuals:

1: Hit the continue button

2: Hit Defrost and check for heat

3: Check the wire connection from the Freeze Dryer to the back of the shelving unit

4: Check the Relays

I completed these steps and there was still no heat. Before consulting with the technician, I took the panel off the back of the shelving unit to check the wires to each of the heating trays. There is a black button called a thermal overload switch. (I later found out the name of this button from Brandon and he said it shuts off heat to the trays to prevent the trays from getting too hot). I pushed this button in and the trays heated up. I have completed one successful batch since.

If I had to rate my entire HR Freeze Dryer experience, I would use 3 categories with the following ratings:

1: Customer Service - 5 out of 5: Exemplary! Brandon Coover and Austin Merritt were polite, professional, patient, informative and prompt in their replies/answers to the information/questions I was emailing them. Brandon served as an effective liaison between his HR Supervisor and I to compensate me for my time and efforts to troubleshoot the freeze dryer, with his help.

2: Freeze Dryer Performance - 5 out of 5: Excellent! Since 06/2022, the machine has been running constantly and has produced an astounding amount of sustainable food. The food, in it's freeze-dried state, tastes just like it did before the process began. The freeze dryer was an expensive purchase, but based on the customer service and it's performance, it is worth the money.

3: Harvest Right Troubleshooting Processes - 2.5 out of 5: Frustrating!

The URLs in HR's Firmware Troubleshooting Guide are specific enough to bring one to the exact video to troubleshoot; it becomes quite confusing which video HR intended for one to view.

The customer is burdened with performing the leg work for troubleshooting errors. Living in Western Massachusetts, there are no local HR Technicians to come to the house for troubleshooting/repairs. After roughly 75+ days of troubleshooting, I was told that HR would send a mailing kit with metal straps to send the Freeze Dryer and Vacuum Pump to HR for repairs and they would send both units back to me. I would need to provide my own pallet, package up the unit and wait for FedEx, coordinated through HR, to ship the units back to HR in Utah, free of charge. In the midst of the 75+ days of troubleshooting, an overabundance of wasted and rotted vegetables and packaging up a very large and heavy unit, this process is a foul on HR. My suggestion: Hire someone, fly them out to HR HQ in Utah for a 40 - 80 hour course on fixing HR Freeze Dryers and Vacuum Pumps, fly them back home and they can work, per diem, by going to the consumers residences/businesses local to the technician. This prevents the consumer from performing the leg work and saves much time.

Inadequate Vacuum Error: The HR drain valve is of poor quality. They should upgrade to a plumber's grade drain valve found at a local hardware store.

Mid Batch Heater Failure: Check the Thermal Overload Switch before the relays. It is 4 screws, remove panel, hit the switch. This switch is not mentioned in their manual. The relays are remove back/top panel and digital screen, unplug/plug one relay into the next; it takes longer to do.

An overall rating of 4 out of 5.

My favorite thing when I was younger was school trips to the Planetarium just so I could go to the gift shop and buy the neopolitan "astronaut" (freeze dried ice cream. Now I have a machine that makes me all the astronaut ice cream I could ever want! I can't believe how well my Harvest Right Freeze Dryer works. Extremely happy with my purchase and Harvest Customer Service and Technicians have been more than helpful! You can freeze dry almost every food you can think of.

I have had my freeze dryer for over 2 years now. I purchased a large, white freeze dryer with an oil free pump. At that time they were out of the oil free pumps so they sent me a free oil pump to get me started until my oil free pump arrived, which was about 2 months later. Excellent service. I do a freeze dried batch of food just about every week and have augmented my food storage substantially with fruits and vegetables - exactly what I was missing in my food storage.

If you are in the fence, do it. It’s so wonderful to be able to long store and preserve your own foods.

Instead of having a meal that you have to throw away or hog up space in your freezer. You can freeze dry it, store it and know that you have a homemade healthy homemade meal you can eat 15 years from now if need.

I actually feed my dogs raw, so it works awesome for me for traveling with their foods or if they have a sitter, so they don’t have to mess with the raw and portions. All ready to go

I had been looking at getting a freeze dryer for some time. Put one on layaway back in 2017 before hurricane season. Our house got flooded during hurricane Harvey. I didn’t think I would be able to complete my purchase but things worked out and I was able to get my unit in November of 2017. My unit sat, still boxed up in my garage for the next four years as we worked on getting our house put back together. In July of 2021 I was able to finally get it unboxed and set up. I was afraid that the unit would not work after sitting for so long but I was pleasantly surprised. It powered up and has worked great so far. I have ordered the new smaller hose and upgraded the software. I also replaced the drain valve. There has been only a few errors (mostly operator) since I started freeze drying. I have done much canning and dehydrating before and I am glad that I have been able to begin the journey of freeze drying.

Thank you Harvest Right for making this possible.

We have the large freeze dryer and love it. As we were moving it today, we broke part of the vacuum pump and needed replacement parts. Their support is exceptional.

Harvest Right Medium freeze dryer. Purchased approximately 4 months ago, no issues, easy to use and so convenient. I freeze dry meals according to my families preferences, even different meats with gravy for our cat. With the potential food shortages looming in our future this gives me and my family peace of mind.

my wife and i primarily use to freeze dry EGGS and vegetables works great. makes great omlets when using them.

I have had so much fun already! I’ve freeze dried ice cream sandwiches, candy, adobo chicken, cheese, corn, peppers, and more. Everything has turned out amazingly well. The machine pretty much takes care of itself. I learned I need to be patient and trust the machine and it’s very important to READ THE DIRECTIONS!!

I looking forward to using this to preserve the harvest from this years garden. I’m saying goodbye to canning! Yay!

Thought about this purchase for a long time, now I am glad I decided to buy! Saving so much freezer space now.

I love my medium freeze dryer. I have had no issues with it and the I have had great response when calling in with a question.

Seriously an awesome product that’s become my favorite hobby. Food storage and preservation has never been easier. Ideas are limitless on what to freeze dry.

I received my medium sized freeze dryer and it didn’t work at first. I contacted customer service and I hey were able to help me get it working with a series of steps. Thanks to Jenn. Now I’m freezing like crazy and loving my machine.

I purchased a medium, Harvest Right, home use, freeze dryer. The instructions and operation of the unit were very easy to follow. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make a batch because there was a temperature sensing error. I was able to call and get a tech support ticket scheduled for the following day. Jon (the Service Tech) called on time and walked me though some additional troubleshooting steps. We were able to determine that the temperature sensor leads had come unplugged from the PCB during shipping. With Jon's help, I was able to disassemble the top panel of the unit to be able to access the leads, reconnect them, test the functionality and get up in running. Harvest Right's costumer service is leaps and bounds better than anything I've experienced in the last several years. They really do help you, instead of making you ship your product to them for service at the slightest hint of a problem. It's nice to be able to be making batches already.