Harvest Right Freeze Dryer: Sizes, Prices, and My Experience

I bought my Harvest Right freeze dryer in 2016 and it has been worth every penny. After years of continual use it still works exactly like it should. The only change I made was scrapping the original pump in 2023 for the premier industrial pump, which now comes standard. If you want long-term food storage made from food your family already eats, this is the machine.

See the Harvest Right freeze dryersCountertop, Small, Medium, Large and X-Large; prices change often, so check the current list

Every Harvest Right until now has been a larger machine with the vacuum pump beside it, which is why most of them live in a garage or a basement. The Countertop 360 puts the pump inside the box and shrinks the whole thing to 25.8 inches wide and 17.7 tall, so it goes where a microwave goes. Same freeze-and-vacuum process, same 25 year result; what it gives up is batch size. If the kitchen is the only room you have, this is the one that gets used, and a machine that gets used is the one that fills the pantry.

See the Countertop 360The least expensive Harvest Right; layaway at $250 down with no interest; allow up to three weeks to ship

A freeze dryer freezes food, then pulls the water out as vapor under vacuum. Primary drying (sublimation) turns the ice straight to gas, and secondary drying (desorption) removes what is left. With the moisture gone, bacteria, mold, and yeast cannot grow, so the food stores at room temperature with no refrigeration.

The food keeps most of its nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, along with its color, shape, flavor, and texture. It rehydrates more fully than dehydrated food. Properly packaged and stored, low-fat foods can last 25 years or more; fatty foods, meat, and dairy are more like 10 to 15 years because the fat still slowly goes rancid.

Before I bought mine I hesitated over the steep price and whether the equipment would last. It has. My only complaint about my aging model was the pump, and pump technology has improved massively since.

It's a better investment than a cheap dehydrator. It also covers more than emergencies: job loss, inflation, camping and backpacking food, and special diets.

A Small or Medium suits most homes. If you have a lot of food to preserve, get the Large. On a tight budget, get the Small, or the Countertop if counter space is all you have. Per batch is what you load at once; per year is what the machine can put away at four batches a week. The Large wants a dedicated 15 amp circuit and the X-Large a 20 amp one, and all of them are heavy, so plan the spot before it arrives. These are Harvest Right's current figures for the Pro line.

What comes with every size

• Freeze dryer
• Premier industrial vacuum pump (built in on the Countertop)
• Vacuum pump oil and an oil filter
• Stainless steel trays
• Mylar bag sealer
• Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers (50 of each with the Pro sizes, 25 with the Countertop)
• Guide to Freeze Drying
• Three year limited warranty

An oil-free pump is an upgrade Harvest Right sells by phone. The Wi-Fi module is sold separately. Layaway on every size: $250 down, no interest, and it ships when it's paid off.

Harvest Right is a Utah company with excellent customer service and, relatively speaking, affordable machines. It sells three lines, and the home line now starts on the counter:

• Countertop 360: the new one. Pump built in, 5 to 9 lbs a batch, fits where a microwave goes.
• Home Freeze Dryer: for family food, garden harvests, emergency storage, camping meals, special diets, and pet food.
• Pharmaceutical Freeze Dryer: for herbs, plants, and delicate extracts that heat would damage. The trays are shorter, so it fits more of them.
• Commercial Freeze Dryer: for preserving business food stock or selling freeze-dried food.

Restaurants, university labs, growers, pet food makers, herbal producers, and candy and snack businesses all run these same machines.

The freeze dryer plugs into a standard 110-volt outlet; the Large and X-Large want their own circuit. Depending on where you live, expect about $1 to $2.80 a day in electricity while a full-size machine runs. Pump oil is changed every 20 to 30 batches (20 to 40 on the Countertop), a two minute job.

What to put the output in is on Mylar bags, foods ranked; where bought freeze-dried food fits beside a machine is on freeze-dried foods; the pantry it feeds is the food shopping list.

Check current Harvest Right pricesEvery size ships with the pump, trays, sealer, Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers