Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

I I love my Freeze Dryer! My experience with Harvest Right tech support has always been timely, helpful and pleasant.

It has been a great hobby that allows me to use my imagination in preparing gifts that are practical, healthy and delicious!

WE have had a Harvest Right Freeze Drier for 7 years and even though there have been some low points with my experience with the company and their products, the machine has been a great investment. In comparing the price of freeze-dried food from commercial retailers, I have determined that I have paid for my investment several times over.

While we have had some issues with the early pump, Harvest Right has been helpful in trying to get things right for us. We currently have the standard pump, and it is working well.

We are a family that loves backpacking. Before we got our Harvest Right, we would buy Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry foods to take with us. But now, we are able to make and take whatever foods we want, without having to rely on a limited menu, lots of ingredients we may not want and portion sizes that don’t fit our needs. For example, we backpacked in the Wind River Range in Wyoming and one of our meals was home FD pot roast with gravy and potatoes and that was one of the best meals ever after a long day on the trail!

We also love being able to take our freeze dried food with us when we ski. We take a thermos full of hot water and our bags of FD food and we are good for a hot lunch that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg like ski lodge food does.

We also give bags of FD fruit or goodies as gifts to friends and neighbors. Apples, peaches, etc., make a great unique treat for gifts.

Prep is easy, just put the food you want to FD on the trays, or leftovers that you want to freeze dry and pop them in your freezer until you have a whole batch to freeze dry–for the medium, that is 4 trays. Make sure your oil is clean, push a few buttons and in a day or so, you will have a long lasting version of whatever you put in your machine.

While running a batch of Parsley, the system failed in drawing an adequate vacuum on 2 attempts. Call to support at HR was answered quickly and time setup with a tech by the name of Chase within a day. Chase reviewed the issues and provided initial first steps on testing. Both HR and Chase were excellent in providing support sessions and "next steps" in the trouble shooting process.

Although the whole process to fix took a few weeks as the problem proved troublesome and I had to wait for parts to be shipped to Canada. Perseverance by Chase paid off and we solved the issue with a sliconing of the tray electrical plug.

We purchased our Harvest Right in 2020. They were back ordered, but we bought it just before the rush, so we were freeze drying while the rest of the world was still waiting. We bought a medium oil free pump (the low profile one that they are no longer selling). They replaced the first pump, and when we again had trouble with the second pump, replaced it as well!

Jonathan was especially great to work with. The front desk people were also very helpful and the owner even came out to speak to us one time I came up to replace a heater relay board. We had a lot to learn about drying certain foods (removing fats from foods, etc.) but we have dried 20 + bushels of fruit, lots of meals, and we use it for a wide variety of purposes, gifts, shipping food to others, and preserving foods for food storage. It preserves the flavor and nutrients and allows us to feed our big family for low cost on vacations.

We just bring a little collapsible kettle for hotels and a Jetboil when we camp. We are able to eat our leftovers so we don’t waste food, but we also spend less time and money feeding our family of 8. I am a celiac with dairy and sesame allergies, so eating from home can be tricky. We even dry ice cream, pies, skittles and more for fun and delicious treats!

I have had my large Harvest Right home freeze dryer for 3 months. It is November 30th and I have about two more batches left to do from this summers garden harvest.

Then I can begin to experiment with meals and year round products such as eggs, dairy and meats. I have found my freeze dryer to be very user friendly and easy to use. I am enjoying diversifying my food storage methods and sharing with my friends and family.

I have done nearly 50 batches and so far have only disliked one or two items that just didn’t freeze dry well (blackberries and gummy bears is all that comes to mind at this point). Overall, keeping myself very busy and entertained with my first freeze dryer!