How much does frozen corn cost to freeze dry in the 3-tray Harvest Right dryer?
$0.58 per pound.
We experimented a lot with corn because it’s a freeze-dried food item that is available through even basic stores like Walmart. Even with the cheaper prices of Walmart, we were surprised to find that freeze drying corn yourself was still cheaper overall.
This batch went fairly quick at just 28 hours 50 minutes.
Adding $0.58 per pound isn’t much to add to the cost of the corn, storage materials, and everything else that goes in to home freeze drying.
That being said, corn is not something I would regularly freeze dry at home, because corn can be purchased somewhat cheaper than other freeze dried foods in bulk. Also because both the medium (4-tray) and large (5-tray) freeze dryers were much more efficient than this cycle in the small (3-tray) unit.
Leftovers, on the other hand, are a great use for the smaller 3-tray freeze dryer because you aren’t always going to have enough food to fill the 4- and 5-tray units.
The pressure and temperature graph is always interesting to observe. Each stage of the freeze drying cycle can clearly be seen.
Download the PDF of the power cost analysis: Corn – 3-tray – Freeze dryer cost comparison
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