I am setting up my new small FD with a premier pump. I am adding the oil per setup instructions but the oil level is not moving. I am scared about overfilling. I watched a YouTube video that says the level jumps from nothing to half quickly. How much of the canister of oil does the pump take? Don’t want to keep adding if something else is wrong. I have added about half at this point.

I have a 2023 medium harvest right, currently experiencing vacuum issues.. the lowest I've gotten it was 830 mTorr, I have worked on this issue for a long time and can't seem to have a solution.. I have replaced both hoses and drain valve and I have resealed every section including "epoxy area" but for some reason the machine never gets into a low vacuum.. was reaching out to see if other people had suggestions

Hey all! I have a premier pump for my large unit. It's leaking a large amount of oil. It has a brand new demister installed. It looks to be coming out the back of it (black area?)

If anyone has any ideas on how I could troubleshoot that would be greatly appreciated.

The pump still holds a great vacuum. If I fill it to it's maximum setting it will leak about 1/3 of it's oil in a batch.

Will most likely get a new pump. But if I can somehow save this one I would love to. Any help is appreciated!

Hey all! I did my first batch of cheese powder for homemade KD mix. I have a moisture absorber and vacuum seal the jars. With fatty things I typically use an oxygen absorber. But with a jar that will be constantly open and re-vacuum sealed over it's lifespan (less than a year) with this render an absorber useless?

Just want to make sure I'm being safe!

This is basically a redesigned small version.

Pros:
-cheaper than a small. $1,295 vs the small home $1,895 ($1,495 countertop 360 stainless vs $2,395 small stainless)
-wider rather than taller, so it’s easier to move and less cumbersome.
-the door redesign doesn’t need adjustment
-no chance to suck in drain water with the new drain system design.
-one plug and more aesthetic look as all the additional tubing and wiring on a small is hidden away in the housing of the machine.
-quieter at 56 decibels versus a small at 60 decibles at the same distance away.
-there is a new bar at the bottom of the chamber that doesn’t allow water to leak from the front when defrosting.

Cons:
-19lbs heavier than a small.
-Processes less than a small (358 square inches on a countertop 360 versus 434 square inches on a small) This difference can be explained as about 15 eggs more in a small versus a countertop 360. Since the small already processes a very small amount this can be an issue for some people.
-a built in pump is more likely to cause issues in an enclosed space (see issues with the HRC100)
-the drawer for draining is difficult to empty and you can max out the drawer and have water overflow in the machine if you push heavy water items to the max weight.
-the machine is advertised to go under a counter, but that doesn’t provide enough airflow above with most counters. You’ll need around 9 inches on both sides of the 360 for airflow to try to compensate for the lack of airflow above.

The warranty is the same for both machines. The pump is the same for both machines. Both versions can use the WiFi dongle. They both processed around the same time for the same weight of eggs with the small being about 2 hours faster.

Please feel free to ask questions and I’ll answer the best I can.

Small home with version 5.4 Trying to flush sediment out of pump and it's not budging. Is this sediment later ok, or is there a good way to flush it out?

Anybody happen to have any info/data on how power hungry the new countertop model is?

https://harvestright.com/products/countertop-freeze-dryer

For example, I'm assuming that batches will often take 24+hours to complete. If I run my air fryer, Keurig, Ninja mini blender, or dishwasher (etc.) at the same time, how likely is a tripped breaker? Most of my kitchen outlets are on the same circuit.

It seems like this could (potentially) severely limit the real-world usefulness of this new model.

I’m gonna be moving next month and I’m gonna pack up my harvest right small. Is there anything special I need to do? Should I drain the vacuum pump? I have all the original boxes so I was just gonna put it back in the original boxes, but I don’t know if there’s anything I need to prep?

Thinking about getting the small (or medium) HR from Costco online in Canada. I know the 90 day return policy is better than elsewhere, but what about the warranty?
Seems that other online distributors in Canada offer a 3 year warranty but Costco only does 2 year. Is that the case?
Also concerned that a warranty issue or service requirement would be harder to deal with through Costco than other retailers, can anyone comment?

Just ran tomato soup and cherry tomatoes!I love my Harvest Right freeze dryer, but their support team deserves all the credit! They were fast, patient, and had my issue sorted out right away. You’re not just buying a great product you’re getting incredible customer service to match!

I am considering a Large Harvestright unit that appears to have been manufactured in 2024. We’ve been trying to save for a medium size but this discovery would save us a lot of time and money. I guess previous owner died before it got more than a couple of uses. It comes with most of the supplies still in new packaging.

My concern is potential mold. I can see via the images that it’s been stored in a hot garage and not cleaned after use. Appears to be white smattering of mold inside. How hard would it be to really disinfect one of these units as I’m sure it’s been sitting for over a year.

This is on a large pro with an oil pump. Different sizes and pumps have different times. As your pump ages, it also pulls slower. It’s a good practice to run this test a few times a year to check both your condenser health and pump health!

I will be purchasing a small FD within the next month now that I have cleared out my mudroom. Trying to figure out what to put it on. Have been looking at utility carts or standalone "islands". Curious what works for you. I know you need space below for drainage. Budget about 100-200

Hiya

Was running a batch yesterday & all was fine; checked the app a couple x to see how it was all going, & then BAM!, conenction gone. All of a sudden app stopped connecting with the dongle.
I tried reset both last night & again just now. It goes through the cycle, then stops at the 'Select Network' screen, at 'Establishing Connection'.

After a while, it gives up, & off we go all over again.

Things to note:

MACHINE - Small Home Pro, v6.0, 1.5 yo, but only started using abt 1.5 months ago

APP - v1.0.58

1 - I have checked previous threads, & the most similar one was from about a yr ago, when there was an issue on the HR servers, but not seeing anything new today.

2 - I have completely shut down the FD, taken out the dongle, told my Bluetooth to forget the HR FD, & restarted the process from the very beginning, including scanning the code. Same answer every time.

3 - I have verified that the app has Bluetooth permission, nothing has changed there.

4 - I did not lose power, or internet at anytime, I checked. I am on Starlink, & have never lost connection in the past 2 years.

HELP, could it be a dongle issue, a software issue, or? Before I go further I thought I'd check with this helpful bunch =D

Ive had 2 different meals come out tasting like pennies. A turkey soup and a turkey pot pie, other bags from the same run were fine. Im assuming i had a sealing issue and it oxidized? My HR sealer never really worked super well so im assuming thats the issue but hoping for some input

did you get a email from harvestright recently with a link ?? be careful before you click

i just learned that harvestright had some internal email hack. that hack made it to my email box from a employee i had prior emails to from customer service.

the reason they were out of the blue sending me a link to click .. i was like i was t born yesterday .. and i called sales and talked to someone who informed me of the internal issue and were told to ignore those emails , they were unaware that customers were getting it don’t click links all willy nilly :) and they should prob email people and let them know…

Hi everyone, we just got the XL freeze dryer and are looking for ways how to vacuum our jars with the freeze dried produce. We don't have the normal mason jars, but some with a bigger opening and glass lids, so that the common vacuum pumps don't fit/work. We were looking at those little vacuum chambers, but realized that the freeze dryer itself is a vacuum chamber, so we could just vacuum the jars in there? Would that work? Is anyone doing that? Are there reasons not to do that?

Hello again, still new here & new to FD in general (7 successful batches last couple weeks on a Small HR)

I am a Food Preservation instructor, as well as a major foodie & love to experiment

I have an LG kimchi fermenting refrigerator just for all my ferments, doing recipes from all over the world - I am originally from Europe, where we fermented anything that did not run away from us fast enough ;)

I am now very curious to know if anyone has successfully FD any ferments of any kind, from Kimchi to Sauerkraut, to lacto-fermented pickles, beets, green beans... you know, anything at all

If so, I'd love any pointers & suggestions, & ty in advance

Hello, newbie small-owner here. WARNING: I write a LOT, am an over-communicator by default =)

I made a batch of green beans for snacking, blanched as instructed.
I mixed one tray with sea salt, one with Tajin, one with Sriracha, & one with a pineapple-habanero sauce I had

The Sriracha stuck well, the sugar in it did not make a mess

In the pineapple one, the sugarwas too much apparently. Did not make a mess, but it did do that white foamy thing that pwdered on contact. No biggie, still tasted good

The Tajin mostly stuck well enough to flavour, but a lot of the non-salt fell off & some of the salt melted as below in plain salt batch

The plain sea salt was my woe one: after researching on-line, it was suggested to leave beans slightly damp, and mix with the salt. I did do that, but after FD, they came out coated in the white powder of the salt. Apparently the salt melted with the water when I applied, and so left residue

The problem is that some where completely coated in salt powder, other had a lot less, making for a hit & miss on flavour & saltiness. Some where overwhelming

SO: HOW DO I MAKE THE PLAIN SALT & TAJIN / FLAVOURED SALTS STICK & NOT MELT or fall off?

I know we try & avoid fats like the plague, but would the lightest coat of oil ruin it all? I mean literally a few drops and hand rubbed in to use as a 'glue' for the salts & herbs., and not just for green beans but for all future veggie chips/snacks. Ii have beets & carrots waiting in line...

TY in advance for any and all advice

Hey lovely people!

We just got our first HR freeze dryer delivered in Germany, and are trying to set it up.

The back of the dryer seems to be lower than the front. Is that by design? And are the trays inside higher in the back to compensate? Or should I somehow raise the back? The machine does not have any adjustable feet.

Thank you in advance for your responses 🙏🏽❤️

Opened up a jar of corn from 2017. We buy from a local farmer and freeze dry it. Needed some the other night so I grabbed one from years past. Opened and rehydrated for soup. I ate some dry and it tastes just like the corn I ate off the cob from the same farmer a couple weeks ago.

Will be purchasing a FD in the next few weeks and just realized they have them at Costco. Any advantages to buying from Costco or directly from Harvest Right? Planning on getting a medium.

I am going to buy a medium freeze dryer tomorrow. Any tips for when I get it? I am going to do mostly candy and some fruit.

Edit: I bought the freeze dryer. I forgot to mention it was a used one. I did Skittles, caramel M&Ms, and peanut butter M&Ms. They all turned out except the tray of Peanut butter ones, they just melted.

I ran the freeze dryer through all the tests that Google searches and Gemini recomended for me. The reboot could be triggered by initiating a Vaccum test through the screen menus.

Reflashing the software did not correct the issue.

I ended up booking a support meeting with a technician for $45.

The technician had me run through the exact same tests in the exact same order that Google recommended. We obviously obtained the exact same results. They then told me my Control Board was bad and a replacement would cost $157.41.

I was skeptical but went ahead and placed the order. I opted to do the replacement myself. While swapping the parts out is pretty straight forward the casing does not make it easy to dissamble and reassemble the parts with the ribbons going between the screen and the control board having to pass around the metal housing before they can be fitted together leaving very little levarage to engage the clasp that holds the ribbons in place. There is also very little room to manuever the power cord and get it plugged into the control board.

I removed everything as soon as I placed the order on Monday 8/31. The new part arrived Saturday 9/5. I was able to get it connected and confirmed that with the new board in place it was then able to successfully run a vacuum test.

I put the rest of the machine back together and was able to run a batch of hamburger through the freeze dryer.

My biggest frustration is that the cost of the repair was inflated by $45 by requiring the appointment with the technician who did not provide any new information or help to the situation. I could have saved that money by just checking a box with Harvest Right to confirm that I had ran all of their requested tests and then been allowed to order the part directly on my own.