That has lead to me making my own lactose free Greek yogurt and freeze drying it to use for yogurt and sour cream for my son. We also freeze dry lactose free milk for traveling or for any other time we need it. It reconstitutes very well.

Be aware that it is very important to drink liquids when eating freeze dried foods that haven’t been reconstituted.

. We have some really great 'techy' type guys here who are, as they have been exploring the FD mechanics and sharing that in their posts, writing what is turning out to be a 'troubleshooting manual' for us less capable folks.

One of the reasons I like the small freeze dryer is the size. At the same time, my large freeze dryer takes up space equivalent to a clothes dryer—the small one doesn't.

•Control of the amount of time a material is held at the ultimate freeze temperature before the drying cycle is started.

If you or a family member has Celiac Disease, you know it’s not easy to come up with a last-minute meal. My freeze dryer has made this so much easier!

•Operation allows for recipe customization (up to 10 Thermal Treatment and 12 Drying steps). Control of the rate of freeze. This means that the rate of freeze can be speeded up or slowed down. 

The unit can also connect to and communicate the freeze dryer cycle data to a nearby PC through an ethernet cable.

We sold a grainmill also, hyped by a friend who had several. Used it some also. Nothing happened and other things incl food was donated or tossed. Now retired, who has time or money to throw away again? not me.

Based upon your work experience you probably know more about vacuum pumps than most of us. Chasing a vacuum leak can be frustratingly difficult.

Never allowing the unit to heat up to ambient temps - Quickly removing the ice from the chamber and starting the next cycle while the chamber unit is still very cold.

Another best practice is website to set up a station. This will take space. Having a freeze dryer, freezer, prep table, and processing area all together has been a good decision. It can all be done in a large kitchen, but the machines are noisy and a freeze-drying project can take up a lot of space.

Forgive me for the extremely long post but I thought other southerners may also face this problem and could use this information.

And, as I write that, the “more is better” side of my brain is freaking out. After all, bigger means better, right? Not always, but read on to learn my thoughts on why the small freeze dryer may be the way to go.