[yuleeyahoo]

With our problem with the tattlers, and the shortage of normal lids; we took the plunge and bought the medium sized Harvest Right freeze dryer.

My wife loves it and has kept it running 24/7 for the last 2 months. If you can afford it, I highly recommend it for ease of use and for saving storage space. It removes all the water from whatever you are drying and gives it a shelf life of up to 25 years, without sacrificing taste or nutrition.

[metmom]

I dehydrate herbs and have only done garlic slices for dried garlic, to save the crop. The bulbs were beginning to sprout and get discolored, so I saved what I could that way.

However, dehydrating garlic requires either a door to close off the kitchen or windows to open. The first day just burned our eyes out.

[Ellendra]

Awesome!!!

I lucked into a freeze-dryer that the local research university was auctioning off. They do that every time they upgrade their equipment. Usually bidding gets pretty fierce, but I must have hit a lull because I got it for less than $150! I haven’t tried using it yet, partly due to lack of a permanent space for it, and partly because I’m still tracking down a users’ manual for it. But I’m looking forward to being able to freeze-dry my own stuff!