II have had the pleasure of using my freeze dryer now for fruit and vegetables with 100% satisfaction. During my learning curve I reached out for help and Jason with StayFresh answered my questions promptly. I am so glad I went with StayFresh and not one of their competitors!
When I ordered my Stayfresh I was concerned that the vacuum hose might not be long enough to put the industrial pump on a shelf below the freeze dryer. I emailed Stayfresh and got an immediate response from Tim that they would send a longer hose, which was shipped with my unit. I couldn’t be any happier with my Stayfresh FD after 15 successful loads.
BEST Home Freeze Dryer EVER!!
I did a ton of research and this is an excellent product, well built with quality parts!
Stay Fresh is absolutely the best on the market. From design to build, SF has done it right and have done things the way I would have. I've used mine non stop since I got it a month ago and I am very very pleased with it. Don't settle for cheap, go for quality- go for Stay Fresh!
We had done quite a bit of research before pulling the trigger on buying. We have a local dealer that sells the typical brand, but luckily we went with the Stay Fresh and industrial pump, due the poor reviews and lack of good customer service experienced by customers of the typical brand. We are most pleased with Stay Fresh at 4 months in, running almost non-stop and producing great food for long and short term storage. The machine is well made and pretty much works perfectly right out of the box. Tim, the owner/designer was a great help each time I reached out to the company. I look forward to many trouble free years ahead!
This machine just works and is well built….. unlike the harvest right I bought that was non functional right out of the box.
I’m loving my stayfresh 7 tray! I have so far only done candy within the first couple of weeks.
I can’t wait to start food preparation.
As a first-time freeze dryer user, using one seems highly technical and intimidating. The support I received (provided manuals and contact with the owner) was more than enough to get me started and also learning more of the intricacies and algorithms of StayFresh's freeze dryers.
Back I was comparing freeze dryers, freeze dryer brands, and owners. Based on my location, the type of communication with the owners, and online communities, StayFresh has a strong start right out of the gates compared to other freeze dryers where the StayFresh owner has a PhD in Computational Materials Science. Some owner's/competitors seemed to have unrelated degrees but their religious backgrounds indicated it was for religious/stockpiling reasons at first which grew into a business. Another owner strongly communicated they were created to spite another company due to the complaints and quality issues.
Candy, meats, fruits, vegetables, herbs, the freeze dryer is capable of doing all. Other options like pharmaceuticals or other non-food applications, definitely seem doable with the StayFresh Freeze Dryer. All in all, I feel that I have done a thorough research of the available components of freeze dryers, the owners, the companies, and their locations with StayFresh, again with being the best for my situation.
Worth the wait.
Worked right out of box did not have to do anything.
I love my new Stay Fresh FD. Works flawlessly. No more vacuum errors, added time and countless other issues that I had with the HR. The Stay Fresh takes about half the time to FD a larger amount than the Harvest Right. Better Quality by far. Pic is Apricots
Everything is going good with the dryer. Cleaning the shelves is tough they are close together. Other than that everything has been good.
You won’t find a better freeze dryer company. High quality product with unmatched customer service! I highly recommend this company!
The Stay fresh has been really good and very easy to use. I run it almost daily.candy is awesome in it.
Received my SF in the time limit listed upon ordering. Love it. I'm a little gunshy not gonna lie. This is my 4th FD- you can guess why I'm here. So far- it's been great!
Got it in the 8 week mark almost to the day. Still figuring things out getting a feel. Ran fruits for our first cycle and the process took about 18 hours putting some things back in for extra time. No problem. Came out fantastic. Can’t wait to try candy. Machine is made very well and sturdy. So glad I went with the industrial pump. Came already filled with oil.the trays are a bit tight in the holding rack. But other then that we love it! I had a couple simple questions about the unit and Tim replied within minutes. Exceptional costumer service. So far so good.
After experiencing lots of problems with my current freeze dryer (different brand) I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a Stay Fresh Freeze Dryer. It took 5 weeks to ship (due to high demand) and after receiving my unit I can assuredly say that it was worth the wait!! This freeze dryer is built with quality in mind. I love the commercial feel that this unit offers as well as the different options for trays. I ended up buying the unit with the 7-shelf system, but I also bought the 4-shelf accessory so that I could have more space between the shelves if I need them. Overall, I've pretty much run this unit nonstop since receiving it and I am very happy with my purchase. The few times I called Stay Fresh I was able to actually speak with the owner/engineer (Tim) who designed this unit, so my questions were answered perfectly and quickly. I could go on and on about what makes this freeze dryer better than the current options available but here's just my top 5 favorite things about the Stay Fresh.
1. Motorized Ball Valve (on the vacuum port) to prevent oil vapor from contaminating food
2. Temperature sensor to monitor the temperature of the food resulting in faster drying and less energy consumption
3. A control panel that offers basic and advanced functions.
4. Very quiet industrial pump that delivers an exceptional vacuum during the freeze-drying cycle
5. Quality internal parts (relays, GTM wiring harness, stainless drain pipe).
This unit does not have lots of accessories at the time but in a recent conversation with Tim, he mentioned that accessories are right around the corner.
Great unit and worth the investment
For context, we use this freeze dryer along with two others for a small candy business.
Pros:
- Extremely high-quality components, especially when compared to competitor units. The PSU is computer-grade with a very clean output. Relays are solid state and replaceable (without soldering skills). Compressor is beefy for chamber size and achieves a colder trap. No plastic tubing (except the PVC vacuum hose) and very high-quality fittings hold the vacuum very well, and I can usually hold the vacuum pressure lower than 500 mTorr with the pump off for 24 hours.
- The industrial pump is a BEAST! Only downside is the demister isn't designed to channel collected oil back into the unit, so you periodically have to drain off the collected oil and top off the oil in the pump.
- Excellent manual mode (all I use, the regular software looks decent, too) that allows modifying tray temperature during cycle.
- Full tray temperature range available, unlike a competitor that requires you to pay for the "pharmaceutical" model to unlock that feature.
- Truly flat trays that make good contact with the racks and prevent hot spots, unlike competitor trays that are embossed with a logo that distorts the surface
Cons:
- The chamber is relatively small, compared with a competitor "large" unit with similar tray capacity. This unit achieves the extra space by having much lower clearance between shelves. Not a problem if you are preserving food, but for candy, this is a real issue when you are doing candy that poofs up a bit. It hits the heater for the shelf above and sticks. I ran a batch of Jolly Ranchers where I had to pull out the entire tray and use thin cardstock to slide between the top of the candy and the tray heaters to remove the candy without destroying the batch. I think SF has a tray unit available with more head space and less trays, but I don't have it and it lowers the capacity, so I just use our competitor unit for that kind of stuff
- The top and bottom tray slots, especially the bottom, run cooler than the rest. This is, of course, due to proximity of the cold trap, but it has a serious effect on candies that are very sensitive to precise temperature to achieve the desired result. Often times when running those, I don't even use those two tray slots. My recommendation here would be individual thermostats and heater wiring/relays for those two tray slots, then a single thermostat/relay for the rest. Those two definitely need to be regulated differently.
- The stainless steel trays themselves need folded-over edges. I've cut myself many times on the sharp metal edges.
The only thing I would like to see on the trays is if they were stackable. Other than that, they’re great!
We are really enjoying our Stay Fresh freeze dryer!! It does a super job and we have kept it busy for months now. The Stay Fresh freeze dryer is intuitive and is virtually foolproof. Customer service has been excellent when we’ve had a question. We couldn’t be happier.
This Company is Amazing!! The customer support, (Tim) is "MILES" ahead of the rest. I own another freeze drier and after a week of owning it and dealing with the customer service of that company, I decided to buy a Stay Fresh machine and can't be happier. Being in the refrigeration and high vacuum system business for more than 40 years I can tell you that this equipment was built with much thought and quality components to be sure. Maintenance and serviceability are a key focus with this machine, and that is important if it ever needs repairs. Thank you, Tim and your amazing team of experts that produce and " SUPPORT" this this product. If and when I need another freeze drier this will definitely be my first choice. All the Best, Jim C :))
I would highly recommend a SF FD to anyone who is looking to invest in one. Tim is the best not only only do you get quality product but exceptional customer service which is very difficult to find these days. I own 3 and would buy another.
I’ve had my StayFresh since xmas running non stop without any issues at all. The customer service is outstanding. Every email I’ve ever sent has been answered by Tim without fail. I would highly recommend!