Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

I love this machine. I encountered a vacuum error, contacted HarvestRight and was put in contact with a tech. I was given a very simple solution and it took care of the problem. I have freeze dried meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables. It is so rewarding to have food preserved in the event of an emergency.

Bought a harvest right freeze dryer. My main goal in buying this was to make more nutritious treats for grandkids, and more cooking options with less food waste. It was delivered right after I had hip surgery. At least a week before we could set it up and start. Bread run was great. Pineapple took five days and still not dry. Scrapped it and tried cooked shredded turkey – it was fantastic. Next batch wouldn't dry. No error codes. Contacted harvest right and set an appointment with the tech and was contacted at appointment time. Took me some time to get the information to perform the tests. In three days I had an answer from the tech with a solution. Followed the tech's directions and got my first batch of yogurt drops. Next time put in fruit and got an error code that the heater failed midway. Looked in the book, followed the directions and got to step two - it said I needed to call my tech again. Contacted customer Service and had a call back within three hours. After 15 minutes on the phone problem solved! Since then I've gotten several batches made. Scrambled eggs, peppers, yogurt drops, strawberries, and I can't wait to keep going!

Had a technical issue with my freeze dryer, thought I had broke it, but called tech support and they walked me through what needed to be done and it was fixed in less than 3 minutes. I was so relieved.

Bought a medium unit back in May. Had multiple problems, which the Technicians attempted to help me correct. I have some problems that it took so long to identify that there was a problem. Usually because there was a time delays between the steps to attempt to mediate the supposed problem.

I would submit a ticket. They would send me information on how to fix a problem; then I would review and attempt to do as the corrective action advised or await the parts to fix the problem (this may take a week or so). I would then speak to the technician or await for the technician to get back to me and try something new. The technicians were always polite and very helpful. It was decided that the unit I had needed to be replaced (along with the vacuum pump. The new unit arrived in November and the old unit returned. I am still awaiting the pump as it had to be back ordered.

This new unit has functioned without any problems after 3 weeks of almost constant use. If this was the unit I had originally received this review would be a 5 Star and not a 3 star.

Great way to empty and unplug your freezers. We have been running our Medium sized model since Dec. 2021. We freeze dry a 10 gallon stock pot of soups/stews every few days then switch to meats then veggies then juices. Totally regret not going with the Large unit. We have been freeze drying our garden harvest as well. The finished product is only as tasty as you make it so have a decent spice pantry to compliment your preparations. And yes, we also pressure can as well.

this machine is amazing for preserving my garden harvest!!

We enjoy freeze drying our fruits, vegetables and meats in the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer. Freeze dried Skittle's are everyone's favorite!

So excited to have this Freeze Dryer!!

I love my Harvest Right Freeze Dryer,

I bought the medium one. It has 4 trays.

I definitely could have bought the large.

But product description is true to word

Very impressed so far.

We love our freeze dryer. We use it a lot!!! It has freed up a lot and f space in our freezer and we have lots of ready to eat meals that taste the same once they are rehydrated. The customer service is VERY GOOD!! Problems are fixed right away. We are very happy with HarvestRight.

Have had the large freeze dryer for about a year and a half and have been pleased with it. Needs a new relay board but hopefully that is all before we are up and running again.

I was so happy to see Harvest Right offers an interest free payment option. We were able to make a down payment the make payments as we were able until paid off and we could pick it up(since we are local, otherwise they'd have shipped it to us). It made it possible to get a freeze dryer.

While we did have a small repair needed to get up and running, HR customer service was easy to get ahold of, the tech was really nice, knowledgeable and good to work with. They got our unit fixed up quick and checked on us a week later to be sure everything was good to go. And even though small, they sent us some free Mylar bags and OAs as a way of acknowledging and apologize for the inconvenience.

I’m really happy with our purchase. So excited to make our own food storage and preserve our harvests!

After reading reviews and evaluating our needs, and talking with a friend who owns one, we made the decision to purchase a HR Medium size Home Freeze Dryer. The delivery went as scheduled (we ordered directly rather than a retail outlet). It was easy to unpack and assemble the system. We followed the supplied directions and ran the setup test.

The required vacuum could not be achieved. I began the process of working with the very polite customer service and technical support departments. It turned out to be a leaky connector on the vacuum hose. A new one was sent and we were able to pass the setup test and proceed to run our first batches which went flawlessly. It did take many hours to run various tests and supply data logs from the removable SD card to the technician to proceed to the next step.

One of the steps was to run the unit in heating mode for 24 hours to burn in the glued heating pads to address outgassing issues that affect the pressure reading. Improved manufacturing process is needed to avoid that step for the consumer. I believe the vacuum hose is not tested with the FD unit, but should be (the factory run-in data indicated the FD unit met pressure - likely on a test rig that does not include the provided hose).

I am happy that I was cheerfully compensated somewhat for the energy costs and my time in supplies for use with the unit. An improved site support model is needed for sure. I was told by the service tech that HR is working to establish a mobile service team, which I hope is true and successful.

The machine works great once you work out the bugs. When we first got our machine, there was a very strong smell, and we were not able to reach the proper mTorr for the machine to finish the cycle. The customer service rep walked us through many various tests to diagnose the problem. It took us the better part of a month, but we finally were able to use our machine, and now it works great.

There seems to be some issue with the manufacturing process on the newer machines from ~October 2022. The main issues with ours were 1) the strong odor coming from the tray compartment which required several rounds of off-gassing to remove, and 2) the epoxy inside the top of the machine required re-sealing to fix. Customer Service was excellent in helping us resolve those issues, though it took a month to finally figure it out. However, the rep was prompt and helpful and provided as much information as she was able.

What I didn't like however, was having to be essentially a field technician for the company. I do understand that with a machine like this which can take hours and hours to determine whether there is a malfunction, would limit the ability to simply send out a technician, however, there should be a better method to diagnosing and fixing issues without so much hassle.

I think also think they need to address issues with their manufacturing process that is resulting in the issues some machines are having.

Overall, once the machine was fixed, it has worked fantastic. The food is coming out perfectly freeze-dried and the quality is excellent.

I would still recommend these for anyone in the market for a home freeze dryer, but make sure you do your homework on them first as they are a big investment and they can have some mechanical issues that you will have to try to solve with their help.

I purchased my medium size 4 tray freeze dryer in June of 2022. Fruits have been fun and tasty. Included have been peaches, watermelon, pineapple, blueberries and strawberries. The flavors are enhanced after drying and people I have shared them with have loved them. I freeze dry leftovers and I have freeze dried whole milk and made powder. Most recent was my orange juice which I turned into powder as well. I have had one problem with the screen that froze and quit working. A completed ticket generated an immediate email and within a couple of days my assigned technician had determined the problem, sent videos for the repair and put the new screen in shipment. Problem solved and the machine is busy with more orange juice. I have found customer service to be responsive and friendly. I understand the orders have increased tremendously and I appreciate that they could solve my problem so quickly. Thanks to all who worked on my problem, especially Katie.

If I could leave no stars I would. I am so frustrated with this company. I purchased a small freeze dryer in July. It was shipped out without a vacuum hose. When I called, Harvest Right said they were out and would send a vacuum hose when they received them. But there was no notice with the package, or email alerting me of this fact.

Then I had problems with the test run. I downloaded the information on a thumb drive and forwarded it to Harvest Right. Their solution was for me to take the freeze dryer apart and look at the wiring inside the freeze dryer.

I refused and brought the freeze dryer and vacuum pump to Harvest Right for repair. I left the freeze dryer and vacuum pump for repair on October 27, 2022. I received a call right before Thanksgiving that the freeze dryer had been repaired and I needed to pick it up. At the time, I was ill with pneumonia. Then the next week, I received another call and an email threatening to charge me a $10 per day storage fee.

I explained the pneumonia and made an appointment to pick it up on December 5th. I picked up the freeze dryer. It is 182 miles round trip from my home in Nephi. When I got the freeze dryer home, it was missing the power cord. I called on December 6th and was promised that they would send a replacement power cord right out. They didn't have the power cord picked up by FedEx for the delivery until December 12th.

When I picked up the freeze dryer Harvest Right mentioned that my vacuum hose was defective. I guess they don't test the dryer, pump and hoses before selling them! Now in looking at my freeze dryer I realize that the drain valve has been removed from my freeze dryer. I took the dryer in for repair with a drain hose, and it is returned without a drain valve. How long will it take to get a drain valve now? I purchased this freeze dryer in July, and I have yet to be able to use it.

I can't rate how the dryer works, because it never worked. I should have just set fire to my money to the $2,246.89 that I spent on the dryer. Harvest Right is a joke!

I purchased my freeze dryer and immediately encountered an issue. But calling customer support was actually rather surprising. Everyone was so attentive knowledgeable and helpful. And thankfully they overlooked how grumpy I was. My first issue was resolved with a replacement pump, and I was good to go. About a week later, my 2nd issue was related to the software, which ended up being an easy fix once we located the problem. The customer support staff went over and above. Every time. They do initially ask you to set an appointment for them to call you back and then you go from there. I received my phone calls on time, along with follow up emails. And then they checked back in again a few days later to make sure that everything was running smoothly. They are very attentive! I would recommend that when you purchase one of these machines that you are mentally prepared to deal with issues due to transit. Stuff simply gets jarred and jostled around while in a truck. Make sure that you are also physically prepared by having a thumb drive on hand in advance, so customer service can figure out any problems by reviewing your machines files. While working through my issues I made friends with my customer service agent, Luis, and would bake him a cake if I lived closer to their offices in Utah! Thank you so much!!!

Let me begin by saying that Harvest Right seems to to try to please its customers through its customer service center and they have helpful associates; however, there are some problems with their products when it comes to quality control/engineering.

I have not yet been able to use my unit because the pump was shipped with a little bit of oil in it. This caused the demister to flood with oil and now I cannot use the unit until I clean the demister. The problem is that when I went to clean the demister it would not come apart as instructed, and it ended up breaking when I tried to unscrew it to take it apart. They were prompt to order a new one for me, but it is not in stock so I am still waiting on the part.

I recommend you read the reviews with the least stars as they offer a good picture of what issues people are having with these freeze dryers. For me I think its important to emphasize that the machines are not perfect and the engineering is not the best.

One of the biggest issues that exists in my opinion is the fact that the unit apparently gives off water vapor mixed with ionized mineral oil particles from the demister and the only solution given by Harvest Right is open it up and put a piece of paper in a small hole where a bearing sits and remove the bearing like ball. This is like some crude bandage or duck tape like fix that I often wonder might cause performance issues and undo the premier pump's performance in separating water from the oil. I do not know this for a fact, but I wonder what could happen from it in terms of oil life.

I think the engineers should have engineered a real solution. Just look up in a search engine "Harvest Right fog" or "Harvest Right Demister misting" to get an idea of what I am talking about. Overall I think the machine is great concept and, if it works, the idea of freeze drying food is an unmatched method of preservation. I hope to try my machine soon, but I am still waiting on parts right now.

I absolutely love my Harvest Right Freezer Dryer! We have the medium size, 4 tray. We have had it for almost one month. The setup was not difficult. First batch we did a tray each of skittles, marshmellows, strawberries and bananas...delicious! We have also done apple slices, green beans and bananas. We are learning as we go. I have called customer service twice, both times I got right through and my questions were answered. Looking forward to our next batch.

We have a medium Harvest Right freeze dryer and we love it! We've been freeze drying leftovers, hiking meals, and surplus from our garden. Maintenance and cleanup are easy and with the Premier Pump Ive only had to filter the oil after 20 loads.

The Harvest Right Medium Freeze Dryer is a wonderful machine! Great quality, quiet while operating, and they have outstanding customer support if you have any questions. I highly recommend.