Rett

What might be the cause of the freeze dryer staying in cooling mode? It doesn't go to the heat cycle. I also noticed oil spray around the pump. Oil level not over filled. I turned the machine off and turn freezer dial to zero but it goes to cooling mode and won't go to heat cycle. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you guys for responding. I will try what JimR does as I also run the machine 24/7 when I have it. My family shares the freeze drier on monthly cycles. I used O2 absorbers in Mylar bags but not in mason jars as you all recommended. Maybe scallions just don't work well as they moistened in the jars. Thanks again.

Is anyone having trouble with moisture when storing items in mason jars using the food sealer? I did some chopped onions, green onions and chopped celery and they where completely done but after two months in the jars they have softened up. Also did peaches and stored in Mylar bags but when I opened them they had softened up as well. I am not finding any cold spots when I take them out of FD. They seem dried. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am concerned I will open my bags down the road to find they are not good to eat.

Is it normal for the fruit to soften up after being opened? It comes out of the freezer drier crunchy and was bagged right away in Mylar bags with an oxygenator. When we open the bag the strawberries they aren't really crunchy and they soften up as time goes by. They taste fine but I want to Make sure they are ok to feed my family. I also did green scallions which felt completely dried after the cycle but have softened up in the mason jar which also had an oxygenator in it. Am I doing something wrong? I hate to think all my previous cycles were stored wrong. I stored a lot of raw beef patties and precooked meatballs too. I will check those and see if they are still dry.

Is there any other cause possibly for oil to be blown everywhere other than the valve not being closed?

Thanks Mike for the info. Could have been the sugar in the canned fruit. My ice cream sandwiches did not work either. They may not have been cold enough although they were in the freezer for two days. So to run just a heat cycle I need to put the food back in turn freezer to 0 and that will start the heat cycle for the 7 hour default, right? Does it need to run seven hours? Thanks again

I have run several cycles now and the only thing that got completely dry with one cycle were the bananas. Yogurt had cold spots near the berries, canned pineapple took two cycles as did the cantelope. Three pork loins had cold spots as well. I put them back in for two more hours freeze time. Is there a ratio to use for drying time? Can you over freeze food? Some of the canned fruit was done but most was not so I ran the whole tray again. What if I'm not home when the cycle is complete. Does the ice in the chamber put moisture back into the food. Do I need to run some kind of cycle before removing the food? Thanks for any advise.

I ran my first cycle today. A tray of sliced and wedged granny apples, a tray of pears, a tray of precooked meatballs and a tray of precooked breakfast sausage. I also put 2 frozen burritos on the tray. All the apple slices, most of the wedges, all the pears worked but the meatballs, sausage, and burritos had to go back in with the 2nd batch. I put the apples and pears in a mason jar with no oxygen absorber because I knew they would get eaten today. After about an hour the apples started softening up? Anyone know why. The pears still seem dry 3 hours now. The apples were not cold when put in the jar. I thought the sausage would FD with the default cycle. NO water was in the bucket. Minimal ice in the chamber. I did pre freeze all the trays before adding them to the FDer. I expected to run the meatballs twice since they were frozen and could not cut them in half. I am concerned now why the apples have moistened up in the mason jar. Will oxygen absorber have prevented that. Did not think I needed one since we were eating them today? Any suggestions on what I did wrong

Getting our FD this week! Read all 19 pages of this forum and look forward to applying the valuable lessons learned. Three questions I have since I am new to this and don't really love to cook, 1. Does every thing I FD need to be pre-frozen like fruits,eggs, leftovers or even meat? 2. Can I take prepackaged frozen meals like Lean Cuisine or burritos and take them out of the box or wrapper and put on tray to FD? 3. What is the process for FD raw eggs, are they scrambled first and just poured on the tray? Sorry for the basic questions but I did not see these answered in any of the posts I read. I am excited to get started on this new venture.