Food Storage · Harvest Right
Harvest Right Countertop 360 Freeze Dryer
New: the first freeze dryer that fits on a kitchen counter, up to 1,500 lbs a year
Options at harvestright.com
- Black$1295
- Sage Green$1295
- Pale Blue$1295
- Stainless$1495
Buy first
Why it's on my list
The new one, and the first Harvest Right that sits on a counter instead of a cart: 25.8 inches wide, 17.7 tall, 110 lbs, with the vacuum pump built in rather than beside it. Five to nine pounds of fresh food a batch, up to 1,500 lbs a year on a standard 110 V outlet, the same freezing and vacuum drying as the full-size machines, and the same 25 year shelf life on what comes out. For an apartment, a small kitchen or a first machine, this is where I'd start.
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- Price read from the brand's page; checked yesterday
What it is
Harvest Right's Countertop 360: a freeze dryer with the pump built in, 25.8 x 18.5 x 17.7 inches, 110 lbs, four stainless trays, 5 to 9 lbs of fresh food per batch and up to 1,500 lbs a year on a standard outlet. Black, Sage Green, Pale Blue or Stainless, with 25 Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, a sealer, oil and a filter in the box. Three year limited warranty.
What it is
The first freeze dryer built to sit on a kitchen counter: pump inside, 1,500 pounds a year, a standard outlet
Every Harvest Right until now has been a floor machine with a pump beside it, which is why most of them live in a garage or a basement. The Countertop 360 puts the vacuum 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. It's the same process my freeze dryer page describes, freeze, vacuum, dry, and the same 25 year shelf life on what comes out; what it gives up is batch size. Mine is the full-size machine I bought in 2016. If I were starting today in an apartment or a small kitchen, this is the one I'd start with.
The numbers
What fits in it, and where it fits
Why it matters
Four trays and 358 square inches of tray space, a little under the Small Pro's 434, in a box two thirds its height, because the pump that normally sits beside the machine is inside this one. It runs on any standard 110 V outlet, so there is no circuit to add. The 110 pounds is the thing to plan for: it is a counter machine, but it is not a toaster, and it stays where you put it.
The numbers
- 5 to 9 lb of fresh food per batch; up to 1,500 lb a year
- 4 stainless steel trays, 7.11 x 12.6 x 0.75 in; 358 sq in of tray space
- 25.8 in W x 18.5 in D x 17.7 in H (24.9 x 15.5 x 17.7 without the door and vacuum fitting)
- 110 lb; ships at 151.5 lb in one 28 x 24.7 x 21.4 in box
- Standard 110 V outlet
- Black, Sage Green, Pale Blue or Stainless
What comes in the box
Everything to run the first batch and seal it
Why it matters
Same idea as the full-size bundle: the machine, the pump, the trays, and the packaging to put the first batch away the day it arrives. The pump is oil-lubricated like the Premier pump in the big machines, and the oil change is every 20 to 40 batches, about two minutes.
What's in the box
- Countertop 360 with the vacuum pump built in, and a drain pan
- 4 stainless steel trays
- Mylar bag sealer
- 25 Mylar bags and 25 oxygen absorbers
- Vacuum pump oil and an oil filter
- Guide to Freeze Drying
- Three year limited warranty
Countertop or Small?
The same job at two sizes
Why it matters
The Small Pro does 6 to 10 pounds a batch and 1,800 a year, the Countertop 5 to 9 and 1,500: close. The Small is a floor machine with the pump beside it and a bigger tray; the Countertop is one box on a counter. If you have a garage shelf and a family's worth of harvest, the full-size machines on my list scale further; if the kitchen is the only room, the Countertop is the one that gets used, and a machine that gets used is the one that fills the pantry on my food shopping list.
Side by side
- Countertop 360: 5 to 9 lb a batch, 1,500 lb a year, 110 lb, 17.7 in tall, pump inside
- Small Pro: 6 to 10 lb a batch, 1,800 lb a year, 91 lb plus the pump, 26.8 in tall
- Both: standard outlet, four trays, the same 25 year result
What it does, and what keeps
The same freeze-and-vacuum process as the big machines
Why it matters
Freeze, pull the water out as vapor under vacuum, seal it in Mylar with an oxygen absorber. Low-fat foods keep 25 years or more; meat, dairy and fatty foods more like 10 to 15. Lean meat, poultry, fruit, vegetables, dairy and complete meals all work; butter and fatty cuts do not. My Mylar page ranks what to put away first, and freeze-dried foods covers the bought version for the gaps.
What goes in
- Low-fat foods: 25 years or more
- Meat, dairy, fatty foods: 10 to 15 years
- Retail freeze-dried meals run $10 or more each; home batches cost far less
- About $1 to $2.80 a day in power while a full-size machine runs; the Countertop's draw is not published
The freeze dryers on my list
Where it earns its place
- Harvest Right Freeze Dryer: Sizes, Prices, and My ExperienceWhat I have learned from running a Harvest Right home freeze dryer since 2016, the new Countertop 360 that fits on a kitchen counter, the fi…
- Freeze-Dried FoodsHow long freeze-dried food keeps and why, #10 cans against pouches, reading the servings and calories honestly, the water it needs, how to s…
- The Preparedness Food Shopping List: What to Buy, How Much, and How Long It KeepsThe one-page food shopping list for emergencies: what to store, how much for one person for one month, how long it keeps, why it is on the l…
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A month of just-add-water food in one order, and the freeze dryer that turns what your family already eats into 25-year food.