Cheaper to freeze dry your fruit or buy it?
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
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You can fd the peels to make banana peel powder for an organic Potassium source.
Thank you. Good to know. Love learning to make new things😘
Great tip, thanks for sharing
One could also factor that into the cost!
I have found that an egg slicer works great for slicing bananas for the freeze dryer. I get the same thickness and it saves lots of time.
Great info! Thanks for figuring it all out!
Hi Jill and Nathan!
I really appreciate content like this with the actual money breakdown. Especially since it is local to me too.
Thanks for the time and effort you put in for this!
Well worth the investment in our opinion
We try to eat clean and to have healthy snacks in the house and know how expensive that can be, just got our freeze dryer and looking forward to making all kinds of good healthy snacks!
Thank you for doing the research. Now only if my husband will get on board of getting one ill be a happy wife.
Nice.. I love my freeze dryer, run it non stop basically. Cheaper ..
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Banana peels are exceptional for your garden. I even use them in my compost tea for my garden. I buy more bananas in the spring and summer just for those purposes and I make a lot of banana bread. None of it goes to waste😁
Remember the pigs love banana skins, too great video. Thanks for sharing with us ❤️
Yes they do
@@WhisperingWillowFarm my kunekunes will go nuts for them 😄
Thank you for going through this process, most informative and definitely something to think about.
Really appreciate this content! Sending it to my husband now! Haha
I love the books on your top shelf - Simon Hill's The Proof is in the Plants and Dr. Will Bulsiewicz's Fiber Fueled!!! :)
Yes I like those as well
Good job Nathan and Jill !😁
I love the breakdown of costs! Thank you! Now my mind is working at asking for ones I know to go in on it with me💪👊👊
Great idea, I'm sure you will find a like minded person. Also think business opportunity 🤔
I dehydrated bananas with cinnamon and brown sugar. They tasted pretty good. I can't wait to freeze dry them the same way.
please alot more about storing food in a safe way that is not pressure canning :)
Thank you for this video! We love our freeze dryer and this makes us love it even more :)
I would love to hear more about what you freeze dry and how you use that freeze dried food later. We just got ours and can’t wait to learn more.
I absolutely love freeze dried bananas 🍌! Y'all made me feel better about using that thing. I've had mine a year too and I think my favorite so far is bone broth. It frees up the freezer space and 6 qts stores simply in 5 pints. Plus just adding boiling water cannot be easier.
Not everyone has Azure Standard, but they sell 5 lbs of dried organic banana slices for $33.35. It's slightly more than your cost but definitely less than some of the other outlets. Worth a thought for those who don't have freeze dryers. I'm the only one in my household so it's not an expense I can justify. Keep up the good work of growing and preserving healthy foods!
We have bought those before and they aren't freeze dried. They are more than likely dehydrated resulting in some moisture content and less nutritional value. They won't store as long and are chewy to taste. We bought them a couple years ago and the kids wouldn't eat them
That's so amazing to know. Thank you!
Wow!!
Hi Jill and Nathan thanks again for sharing your great video with us very helpful info ✨👌🏾
Thanks for your excellent cost analysis of the food and electric costs of freeze drying. It would have been more complete, however, if you had also tracked the number of cycles, the time you spent preparing the trays and collecting and packaging the finished product. We figure at least 2 hours of labor per cycle. (prep, packaging, and cleanup) Depending on how you value you value your time, it could add significantly to your costs, though I doubt even that would put you over the retail price of FD goods.
A figure for depreciation of the machine would also be useful, though tricky to calculate. We have a large HR machine. Based on a machine cost of $4,000 with accessories, and estimating 150 10lb of fresh food cycles per year, the cost per cycle is approximately $5 or $.50/lb of fresh food. (We have found HR's claim of a capacity of 2500 lbs per year to be wildly optimistic.) That is figuring a five-year or 750-cycle useful life for the machine. I expect a well-maintained machine could last longer.
This is really great information. Thank you
We have had a freeze dryer for about a year. We have done similar comparisons with chili and sausage gravy that we have made. It is definitely cheaper once you do the comparison. We do fruit in the summer when it is in season. My favorite is fresh peaches; it's almost like candy! We really love our freeze dryer and use it on a frequent basis.
Thank you so much for this wonderful breakdown. I was wondering why you weighed the bananas, as it would tell on your grocery store receipt how many pounds your bananas weighed, because they charged you by the pound. (Also, you can use the $16.29 total and divide it by .69 per pound.) I loved your video, but I would not put the banana peels on the cutting board where your banana slices are going to be, unless you have washed them first. The peels have a lot of bacteria, plus have probably been on the floor and other dirty surfaces. They have also been handled by filthy hands. Just a suggestion for people. Thanks again for the great video!
I really enjoyed this video😁. Thanks to you both as always.❣️❣️
Love that Nate dressed as a banana for the vid. Commitment man!
🤣I'm glad someone noticed
I noticed that too 😂.
Can’t wait to get a freeze dryer.
Such great info! Thank you
Great video, very informative. It would not take long to, pay for a freeze dryer doing home grown veggies and buying fruit on sale.
Thank you for sharing this.
We ordered a freeze dryer last month on layaway and can't wait to get it! I have a great niece that will be born in the next week or so, so I plan on making her all kinds of little snacks for the summer!!!
Congrats and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have
@@WhisperingWillowFarm I'm definitely ready!!!
Great video and information. Thank you for your thoughtful analysis and sharing what you've learned. Freeze dried fruit is an expensive habit our household. 😅
Not sure if this has already been mentioned in previous comments but it would be interesting to compare price of purchasing fresh fruit/veggie/etc weekly/monthly compared to bulk purchase on sale and freeze drying.
Great Video! Thank you!
Hi Guys, missed you. 😔 😂 to see you again. Wish we had dehydrator.
Excellent video!
Ordered a Harvest Right freeze dryer through home depot. Cheaper than going through the company on shipping (Alaska). Will arrive in Jan to store. I'm so excited to try different foods & my summer garden veggies! ❤
You will absolutely love it
AWESOME GUYS!!! I just LOVE 🥰 you guys to pieces! Well, maybe not pieces.🙃, but I love you like my own Kiddos, and keep you in my prayers! 🙏 Your girls are also so sweet and precious! 😘 This info is very timely, as I've been hinting to my husband that it would be so nice to add a freeze dryer to my preserving arsenal, AND theyre on sale still!!
Well thank you 😊. The sale lasts a couple more weeks
Jill, do you have a favorite book on Freeze Drying that you would recommend? Our freeze dryer just arrived today and I can’t wait to get started! Thank you and Nathan for being willing to share your knowledge and experience.
We don’t own a book but there are lots of great Facebook groups and blogs around Freeze drying. Harvest Right just came out with a cookbook but we don't own it yet
That's the main reason I got one is just fruits from my small orchard, plums and pear wedges turn out wonderful.
Fruits are our favorite thing to freeze dry
@@WhisperingWillowFarm They turn out so tasty
We invested in a freeze drying back in May. I have made chili and soups for camping and we also made cantaloupe which was awesome! Tastes like cotton candy 🍬 😋
Sweet onions are great too! I tried kale chips but they are too fragile.
Onions are on my list and now I'm going to add cantaloupe
@@WhisperingWillowFarm And btw...thank you for doing the breakdown for cost. That was definitely a question of mine.
I know someone who freeze dries kale, spinach and zuchinni to add to other dishes, like soups, pasta sauce, etc., to add extra nuitrition. Maybe an idea for the kale?
@@anitalee3289 I actually do this and make my own green powder as well. Thank you for the suggestion.
My freeze dryer is supposed to be here Tuesday! 🎉❤
🎉 congrats, that's exciting
Awesome thank you
Try pineapple it's the bomb!! love bananas also great in cereal, my mother love apples.
I want a freeze dryer …. Goals
Hands down I agree a freeze dryer is a wise investment for people who grow and or want to preserve food. Especially, large families! When we pressure can or water bath food we don't calculate the price of the stove and canners! Why does it keep coming up about freeze dryers? We just need to decide if it is something we would use enough. I have dehydrated 🍌. I dipped them in lemon juice or syrup. It didn't look like you needed to for freeze drying? I LOVE HOW YOU ARE SHARING SO MUCH DURING THE GARDEN LAG TIME! THANK YOU! Thanks Nate it's always fun when you two post together. How are your animals? Take care you two! 💜💙💚💛😊😎
Animals are doing well but maybe a little saturated. We have had rain every day for a week it seems. I agree with what you said about the freeze dryer. It is a large commitment but well worth it in the long run
Oh Jill and Nathan great job on this video great info everything I'm glad you put it out and I hope you do more like them I am a regular viewer of yours I enjoy all your videos but this is important I believe that people need to know get you a freeze dryer LOL.
WOW! I honestly didn't expect it to be THAT much cheaper. That's literally insane. I usually calculate doing things myself, And it's always cheaper...but not THAT much cheaper (sometimes). Depends on what it is though. Some things are way more than worth it and some things are soso. This definitely sold me on the freeze dryer! Now to save up for it 🤣
You won't regret it especially if you are growing your own food. Maybe find a friend or family member to go in with you
Amazing comparison. Thank you for spending the time to do it. How doe you use the bananas after?
We eat them as a healthy snack and they taste amazing. Kind of like a banana chip
It's probably worth noting that you chose some nice bananas for the job. No company is freeze drying their good fruit. Good fruit goes to market. Shit fruit goes to market at a reduced price or a bulk sale. Less than shit fruit goes into frozen products and wholesale lots for smoothies and whatever. Then there is the absolute bottom of the barrel, mushy black crap that they can't sell to anyone that is used for value added products such as juices and flavour additives and such. At least doing it yourself you can determine the quality of fruit going in, organic or not.
Great point
Can you please make a video about how you use freeze dried products? Thank you 😊
Coming soon 😉
I have a few questions: Is the process a dehydrator? Are you freezing the food? Do you rehydrate to eat the bananas or eat them as a snack? You worked so hard to get the actual price. Kudos!!
I encourage you to look up freeze dryers. They are magnificent tools for food preservation
harvestright.com/how-it-works/
👍👍👍👍👍
Share some recipes for EATING said freeze dried items…can you compare taste/feel of say a soup/stew fresh and then reconstituted?
Those are definitely videos we will do in the future
Man, I bet that engineer that figured out the electric cost for you is a real good looking guy 😜
😂 he's a handsome fellow for sure
I think it might have been more accurate to subtract the weight of the peels. Since they weren't in the finished product. I liked the video though.
I know you have to consider the cost of the freezer dryer. However, when we consider the cost of a meal we make we never consider the cost of running the fridge while the food is stored, or the cost of the oven to cook it, or the container we store and cook the meal in. So, I liked that you mentioned it but didn't focus on the initial cost of the freezer dryer. To me it's like any other appliance we have.
Great point
Great video overall! I would suggest just weigh out your produce of what you are going to be freezedrying ie not peels & ends of bananas. What are some of your other favorite things to freeze dry?
A majority of what we freeze dry is leftovers. We try and not waste any food. Freeze dried leftovers are great for 1 person quick meals
We freeze dry all fruits and most veggies
@@WhisperingWillowFarm That's a great use for the machine!
Thank you for the video. I was a little confused by the weights and costs. If you bought $16.29 worth of bananas at $0.69 a pound I am not sure why you have to weigh them. They were weighed at the store to get the your cost. Some of the numbers are a little off but it really doesn’t matter all that much. 25.7 pounds of bananas at .69 a pound is $17.73. Looks like you either got a deal at the store or someone’s scale is off.
Anyway, liked the video and appreciate the content.
Jill's giving pirate vibes 😊😊
But, what does a freeze dried banana taste like and do the kids really like them, plus wouldn't it be better a n d cheaper to give them the fresh fruit instead of freeze dried
These freeze dried bananas won't last a month. They are really good and a perfect on the go snack plus we always keep regular bananas on hand
Did u freeze your bananas first in your freezer? Did you put oxygen absorbers in each bag? I have large on 5 trays. Do you vacuum seal your glass jars after you put your freeze dried food in
We did not pre freeze the bananas and they turned out perfect. We do use oxygen absorbers in each bag. The jars are for eating right away and don't last long around here
I want to know what freeze dried foods are like? What kinds of foods can be freeze dried and how do you use them? Are those banana rock hard now? I have so many questions. For someone who hasn't had freeze dried foods, can you explain further?
The consistency of most freeze dried foods is similar to a cheese puff. If you squeeze it, it crumbles. Some food you will reconstitute with water, some you will add to soups, and some you eat right out of the bag. It all depends on what you are using it for. I would encourage you to purchase some freeze dried fruit or food to try.
Your time is worth something too. How much would you calculate that into it?
OK i watched the video and it is freezing. Wow never heard of such a gadget. But do you dehydrate. How do you choose which process? Do you rehydrate the bananas and for what use? Thanks
Since we've had the freeze dryer, we don't dehydrate as much. Freeze dried foods store a lot longer and retain more of the foods nutritional value. We eat the bananas just like they come out. They taste like banana chips. Healthy snack for the kids
I want one. Seeing how it works with solar is my thing due to the length of time especially not a generator thing like the dehydrator lol. Also I worry due to mechanical issues I'm hearing are you experiencing any issues? We looked into small one.
We haven't had the first issue
@@WhisperingWillowFarm good!! I want the fruit especially!
Great video, love y’all ❤
Curious why you wouldn’t cut up and freeze all of the bananas and then freeze dry over the coming days? I thought freezing first helps the freeze drying process go faster, then you don’t have to worry about it going bad and you save energy.
It would turn the banana brown before we could freeze dry them. Not as appealing to the kids eyes
Hi all, can you make turkey/beef jerky with a freeze dryer?
We haven't tried it yet
This is pretty misleading since the folks weighed the bananas with the skin on and that's the heaviest part. I'd like to know how much their bananas weighed after they were freeze dried so they can be properly compared to other freeze dried food.
All together after freeze dried, the weight was 4#. Not sure how this is misleading you
When it comes to actually using the freeze dried produce in recipes etc, this is where I get stumped and convince myself it's not worth it. How do you use it?
It depends on the item. These bananas are just a healthy snack eaten as is. Most everything we freeze dry is preserved for a rainy day for food security except fruit. Most all the fruit is eaten as a snack 😋 We have lots of freeze dried vegetables for soups, ground meat for chili or tacos.
@@WhisperingWillowFarm do you have to reconstitute the veggies for the soups? Or do you throw them in when you're making the actual meal? I maybe over thinking this!
Great question. Some veggies are just thrown in soups as is but will reconstitute in the broth. We reconstituted some taco meat and it was delicious
why dont we want to put bananas straight onto the trays? We've done it and I don't think we had problems? What am I missing haha
Sometimes they stick and crumble when we take them off
Great video. I am wondering what freeze dried fruits taste like. Are they chalky? Powdery? What's the consistency like? I have had dried fruit lots of times, but can't wrap my head around what freeze dried would be like. Thanks!
Anything I've had was lucky charms marshmallows. Don't have freeze dryer.
The taste is much fresher than dehydrated. I wouldn't describe it as chalky. Just lighter weight. We put freeze dried fruits in our cereal and oatmeal and they rehydrate great. We also use them in pies and baking and can't tell the difference from fresh. Most things we freeze dry are meals and vegetables and we rehydrate those. Eggs and milk to really well also.
They are sweeter than a normal banana. We love them as healthy snacks
Shouldn't you peel before you weigh?
Yes we should have
What was the weight of just the edible part of the banana?
4#'s
Plus the cost of the freeze dryer?
I was doing the math- if they can save $200 a week, times 4 weeks in a month, times 12 months in a year...you tell me- & that total is way more than the total of a freeze dryer but It would most definitely pay for itself💙
Well worth the investment. Hopefully after 2023, it will have paid for itself. Plus we could turn this into a business if we wanted
I have freeze dried fruit that I have purchased in bags. Should I open those bags and put the fruit in a jar with an o2 absorber and store it on my shelf? It would be better for me that way because with wouldn’t take up so much room! I’d love to get your opinion on that! I can also vacuum seal the jars with my vacuum sealer. Would I need to do both or would either be fine or one better than the other?
If the bags you purchased don't have an oxygen absorber, then yes I would open and put one in or put in whatever container you choose
Anyone on here that SHARES their freeze dryer with a friend? Mind sharing the details of how it works out? Does one person store it and other just pays for electric use? or move as user needs it? Split maintenance? All the details!
It would definitely have to be stored at one individuals house. They are too heavy to move frequently
Yea but the cost of the freezer is 3.5k
Very true. For us, it will take a couple years to make up the cost difference. After that it's pure profit in our eyes. We could even use it to start a business. Just a thought
@@WhisperingWillowFarm, I just purchased a freeze dryer to sell items. HR had them on sale for Black Friday, plus I work at a store and received a 25% discount. Got the medium so I can plug into existing outlet (plus we don’t sell the large at our store ☺️). Thank you for doing the cost breakdown 😃.
Ours came in at $2,695 .... we figure after about 6 months or 35 batches it had paid for itself. The best thing for us is that this is sooo much easier and better than canning.
That's great
I enjoyed this content. What is the size of the freeze dryer?
They have Medium
We have the medium size
Do you rehydrate your fruits for eating?
No they are great as snacks right out of the bag
Not any kids here so we do not eat freeze dried food!
Besides the fruits, most everything we freeze dry is for long term preservation
I would not suggest buying from Harvest right. This company has had our brand new machine since July and have messed up our return order twice now and still haven't gotten back our machine. It is ridiculous that they outsource their customer service and just as ridiculous they've shipped to the wrong address twice now. We were pretty sure someone was scamming either them or us using our name for the return. Regardless if you plan on spending more than $4k for a freeze dry machine that only worked for a few months and they couldn't figure out why it broke in the first place I would research and go with another company. They recently are getting sued as well. Just a frustrated customer and thought yall should know.
We have loved our freeze dryer. Has been really great and never had a problem except the occasional leaving the drain valve open.
@@carolclarkson4859 yeah I don't wish this one anyone. It has been a real pain especially since we had to freeze everything so we could freeze dry it later but have yet to receive the stupid machine back
@@dreamconsultinginsurancebi4983 Darn. Yeah, I'm sure you will love it as soon as you get it back. That is a pain though.
I'm so sorry you have had issues. Most everyone I know has had great experiences. Hopefully they will make it right soon and you can enjoy all the benefits of your freeze dryer
Question is, would you ever consume 4lbs of FF bananas if you didn't own a freeze dryer? We keep thinking we need one but can't figure why.... We eat almost solely meat and veg. What would we make or do? I am asking sincerely!
We were buying freeze dried fruit for our kids weekly at the grocery store it’s a snack they really enjoy, so yes, we would :)
@@WhisperingWillowFarm there you go!
@@WhisperingWillowFarm You're just a nicer Mom than I am. Lol. I'd never buy that for my kids!!!
They are healthy snack alternatives. If your kids are like mine, they would rather snack all day than eat 3 meals so we try and find healthier snacks. Healthy snacks are always more expensive in the stores
@@WhisperingWillowFarm I am certainly not being critical. Just not financially situated to be able to buy that ilk of snack.
Nathan another channel today said you have to change bearings or anything on their freeze dryers . Is that true?
We have had one for 4 years and never seen anything like this. The new pump is almost maintenance free. Every few months we drain the oil and put it back in. Takes about 3 minutes.
We haven't had any issues. We do the same as Carol
Not sure if The Whispering Willow Farm is you. Received an email for ordering gifts and when I saw The before whispering was unsure.
That’s us. Our website is the whispering willow farm
@@WhisperingWillowFarm thank you, I know about scammers on here
Do you freeze dry meats?
We have done lots of ground beef in different ways. Taco meat, chili meat
OHhhhhhhhhh... way cheaper to FD your fruit. Those companies that sell the FD fruit in the #10 are totally jacking the consumer.. Especially now 11/17/23.. Get as much fruit now as you can and get FD'd.
🩵👍
This is totally nonsense, you completely leave out the 1500 dollars or whatever it is, for the purchase of the freeze dryer itself, and also the oil that thing uses. The price of store bought stuff includes machinery and labour as wel, but your's does not.
With the cost of the freeze dryer, we will have made our money back in less than 2 years. I would say it's well worth the investment
Un. Be. Lieve-able.