Eugene,
Oregon.
At church, we have five (5) freeze-driers going 24/7/360°.
Our operators are dedicated while constantly mentoring new folks... but the learner's attrition is massive.
FD sounds simple, and it is not.
.
Our machines are The Big Name Brand, and this style requires a constant supply of
oil.
And that
oil must be filtered for the machines to peak-function.
With our twelve units group-purchase with two other churches, our investment was in the neighborhood of us$4,000 (four thousand fedbux) each.
Then add the oil, filters, pumps, baskets of gaskets to rest and recover, then add the substantial
learning curve.
Then add the losses from
leaks and over-heated motors.
Conservatively, we are in them for about ten grand (us$10,000) apiece.
And that was a decade ago.
.
And add the 'up-graded'
pump because our pumps went on the Fritz (aka 'toes-up') because the big
commercial version is not engineered for commercial-type constant-duty... although we bought on a
commercial account from their commercial division while clarifying our needs at our church, a commercial location.
.
Did I mention, on a good week, we have maybe four functional while at least one is waiting for
parts...
I could go on, you get the picture.
.
2014, we are in them for at least us$10,000 each.
July, 2022 -- your investment could easily be double... if any are available in chancy supply chains.
If any part comes from abroad, we wish you well.
.
.
Egg whites -- we only
work with whole eggs in scrambled form.
Watery foods such as fruits and stew do best, because the machine is designed to extract that moisture.
.
Oily food such as salmon or avocado -- dice into quarter-inch or smaller for maximum surface with minimum
interior.
Our experience is mixed -- occasionally, a salmon load molds before it gets dry.
And FD salmon can take double-triple the time of thin mango slices.
.
For your trip, I recommend working with experienced FD operators.
You might contact the kitchen crew in a church near you, Seven Day Advent or LDS.
.
I think
buying,
learning, packaging, then going on your trip but then, in the middle of noplace, discovering you flunked one minor aspect of all your prep...