What’s Required In A Freeze Dryer?

A freeze dryer isn’t like other types of freezers. When shopping for a freeze dryer, you want to keep certain requirements in mind:

The collector coil of your freeze dryer must be at least 15 to 20 degrees colder than the freezing point of the types of foods or concentrates you want to freeze dry. Conventional freezers can’t compete here.
You’ll need a vacuum pump that can reach a minimum 0.20 mBar. This is how you achieve the necessary vacuum levels to remove the sublimated water vapor from the chamber and into the collector coil.
Each freeze dryer should contain a manifold, tray dryer, or other drying accessories.
When breaking down your needs on an individual level, consider the following:

Temperature Needs
First, it helps to know the freezing point of the material you’re freezing. For instance, a lot of fruits have a freezing point between 10°F and 32°F, but it’s generally recommended that fruits and vegetables be stored at temperatures below 0°F.

In any case, your freeze dryer will need to reach temperatures that are 15 to 20 degrees colder than the freezing point of your sample. If you’re freeze-drying bubble hash, the customary freezing temperature is -30°F to -50°F. Most quality freeze dryers can reach temperatures around -50°F, which is suitable for most applications. It’s still important to check the product specs, though.

Purpose
If you just want to freeze-dry foods for personal use and for long-term food storage, go with a home model. If you’re using it to dry ice water hash, a pharmaceutical model will serve you well.

Pharmaceutical and scientific models like the Freeze Dryer System also work well for other herbs, oils, and medicines. If you need maximum control over the times and temperatures for each drying cycle, scientific models work best.

Capacity Needs
Freeze dryers vary substantially in their capacities, from small home models to large commercial models.

The first step is to determine how much surface area you’ll need for each drying cycle, depending on the quantity and size of your samples. Then, as you compare freeze dryers, you can calculate the total surface area therein by multiplying the tray size by the number of trays. Extra tray kits are available for some models to expand your capacity.