HARVEST RIGHT AFFILIATE

I am now a Harvest Right Affiliate! Here’s my link.

After having our own freeze dryer and sharing lots of videos on recipes, tutorials, reviews, etc. Harvest Right freeze dryers are definitely a product I love and feel comfortable promoting.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I will only promote products or services that I feel are good or helpful in some way. I will tell you all the pros & cons and give it to you straight with no hidden agenda or alternative motives.

Even though I am a Thrive Life consultant, I also have my own freeze dryer. Why? Because there are products that Thrive Life doesn’t offer, and I also enjoy freeze drying my homemade meals for quick meals on the go or for camping/traveling etc.

Thrive Life vs my Harvest Right machine

When it comes to my own freeze dried foods these are the qualifiers I personally do:

• Is the item on sale?
  • Unless the local stores are having an awesome sale on an item, the quality and nutritional value wont be as good as I can get from Thrive Life. However, if my local stores are having a fantastic sale I will stock up and freeze dry a bunch of that item- something is better than nothing! (for example: my local Smiths/Kroger currently has asparagus for sale 88 cents/lb. That’s an amazing price so I’ll be freeze drying a lot of that!)
• Is the item from my garden, or fresh picked/ripened on the vine?
  • Foods that are allowed to ripen on the vine have that extra time to absorb more nutrients from the plant and it can make a huge difference in the nutritional value. So if I have food from my garden, or a source that I can pick my own, or buy fresh picked I know they will have ripened on the vine and have the highest nutritional value. (this isn’t always the cheapest option however, but it is the highest in flavor and nutrition)
    Thrive Life’s foods are ripened on the vine so I know their quality and nutritional value is there.
• Is the item available from Thrive Life?
  • There are some items that quite frankly aren’t worth my time to freeze dry myself and I prefer to just purchase it from Thrive Life. Good examples would be diced onions & minced garlic- the time it would take to dice all the onions or garlic, then have the stench of onions & garlic in my machine for a couple batches isn’t worth it to me, I’d rather just purchase them from Thrive Life.
  • Thrive Life doesn’t offer everything- some items that I want in my food storage freeze dried aren’t available, or at least aren’t available anymore so those are things I do myself- examples are: avocados, guacamole, homemade meals/soups/casseroles/etc., banana bread bites, seafoods, specific meats or meats cooked a certain way like hamburger patties or our smoked meats.

Issues

We’ve had our freeze dryer for almost a year now and have used it a LOT. Until recently we haven’t had any issues at all- then last week our pump started leaking oil- a lot of oil. After cleaning it up and my husband checked the screws it was still leaking so we called customer service and they sent us out a new gasket right away at no cost. As long as you take care of your machine, change the oil when it needs to be, and treat the machine right you should be fine.

I’ve heard of some people having software issues, but we haven’t had any of those issues. Our experience is that customer service is great to work with and they want their customers happy.

The Investment

Yes purchasing a freeze dryer is a big financial investment. But if you are serious about food storage and preparedness it’s worth every penny.

If you want to offset the cost of your machine, there are many people who make and sell freeze dried candy and snack foods. Some people have even made a business out of selling freeze dried candy that paid for their machine and kept them busy enough to purchase a second machine! Your local farmers market is a great place to go. Be sure to check your local laws and regulations.

If you’re in the market for a freeze dryer, or you need supplies such as oil, Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, extra trays, etc. I’d love it if you would shop through my link! Thanks!