Freeze dryers are best known for the fun food items they can be used to make like astronaut icecream, but they're actually really useful tools. From ideal sample preservation, to the preparation of useful cryogels, freeze dryers are used all throughout science.
As machines go, they're actually really simple with only a few parts, so in this video I demonstrate how to make a freeze dryer in an afternoon.
Parts list:
1 gallon vacuum chamber - www.ebay.com/itm/SVac-1-Gallo...
2 quart vacuum chamber - www.ebay.com/itm/Best-Value-V...
2 gallon stainless steel cooking pot - www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-St...
1/4" flare union - hardware store
5/8" barb splicer - hardware store
foam sheets (I used styrofoam) - hardware store
Glue (spray adhesive is ideal but most will work) - hardware store
Dry ice - grocery store
Denatured Ethanol - hardware store
Svg2 field piece vacuum gauge - www.ebay.com/itm/Fieldpiece-S...
2 stage rotary vane vacuum pump - cheap models likely won't work. Invest in a decent pump
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top 10 ways to make your neighbors think you have a meth lab
Well.. you don’t have to set it up in a window. 😂
I need them to know where to get it
Hah…so true. Can’t imagine the in-laws or a landlord seeing this set-up sprawled across the kitchen, with no explanation.
😂
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh it is weed stuff I swear mam I just separated the resin from the plant
awesome project! buying a lyophilizer is expensive even used...it's cool to see this done so cheaply (other than the vacuum pump). ill have to give this a try!
Thanks :) Ya I was looking at buying a used one, but the price was insane. Was so much easier to just build it.
@@thethoughtemporium how well would it work to use a used refrigerator compressor for the vacuume pump?
@@davidmontoya3997 not at all. needs a better pump than that.
@@thethoughtemporium My second question is do you think it would be possible to modify a deep freezer to hold the required vacuum and have a separate water trap compartment built in as well?
@@davidmontoya3997 No, typical deep freezers are not built with vacuum sealing in mind, You would likely end up swapping out the entire interior compartment and the door along with all sealing elements. By the end it would likely just be cheaper and easier to build a vacuum chamber that size from scratch and then to cannibalize the refrigeration system from the deep freezer to cool the vacuum chamber. That is effectively what you would end up with anyway if you tried to convert the deep freezer into a deep vacuum chamber.
I just found this. Very good and informative. As an owner of a lyophilizer service company I only have 1 criticism. You keep stating that no heat is applied. This is against the criteria of sublimation. Heat is ALWAYS used in freeze drying. This is how you achieve sublimation and desorbtion in time. Heat is applied either radiantly, or more common, through conductance. Other than that, very informative.
Considering you need a vacuum of at least 611 pascals to reach the triple point of water, where it goes directly from ice to gas at 0C or higher, do you still need to apply external heating to the vacuum chamber? Is the freeze drying apparatus being in a room temperature environment not enough, seeing as theoretically the ice sublimates at 0C and above anyway? I've read that for the tail end of freeze drying things like fruit or other organic material you sometimes need to apply a small amount of external heat to overcome the molecular attraction between that last bit of water and whatever it is locked inside of, but for the first 90-95% external heat should not be necessary I thought?
I just watched the King of Random do something with freeze drying. I was a bit curious on how the process was done so I googled it and you were the second video. The first being basically and ad for a freeze drying company. This was really neat. I figured it had more to do with a vacuum considering the cost of the pre built machines. Thanks.
You are just like an young version of Ben from Applied Science, someone who I have a lot of respect for. I hope you continue to make such great videos on diverse topics!
Thanks! Glad you enjoy
i am really interested in hearing how your carbon foam turns out this was very helpful, Thank you good Sir!
awesome build. wish there was a affordable home/mini sized freeze dryer on the market..
Agreed ! I’ve been searching for years for a mini kitchen one and they are all large and expensive
@@gina248 even the "home" model harvest right is 3000$ and it doesnt even come with the software id need for my applications (hash lol) needs the pharma grade software . the pharma grade HR is 7000$. to rich for my blood. air dry it is haha
Dude your videos are really cool and interesting, and im glad that I found your channel. Keep it up.
One of the only video I could find. Thank you. Was trying to see if I could build a big one like almost walk in. And how they actually worked. Thanks great video.
That's a lot of -pressure in a huge area, basically a bomb if it fails. Unless you're working for NASA, it's going to cost about a Mil in steel and labor for welding the structure alone.
Wow. I used to use freeze-dryers (Edwards) for lyophilization of pharmaceuticals from both aqueous & non-aqueous solvents. Our shelf temperatures within the lyophilization chambers were on a separate temperature control circuit so we could drive the process by adding heat to the subliming vials of product. I also used the chambers to add a special gaseous headspace to a liquid diagnostic product that is on the market today. I was actually given a product that I had performed pre-approval development work on. Of course most of the products I worked on were for cancer or HIV, so I am quite glad I never needed those. BUT, I never got to lyophilize STRAWBERRIES!!!
So many of your videos are in my projects playlist. Thanx for your awesome videos as always.
If you ever need to make more cryo insulation I would recommend closed cell polyethylene foam. We use it at work for LN2 plumbing and it works a treat. If you stick with the polystyrene though I would recommend investing in some nichrome wire, a 12V battery, and either a high power pot for voltage splitting or, for more efficiency and less heating, a variable buck converter to adjust the voltage across the wire. Basically I'm describing a DIY hot wire foam cutter. A lot better than using an exacto, I can tell you that much.
Every single time I want to learn how to diy something super cool, you have a video! Haha thank you!
wow, this is so cool. I'll try to build one of those by myself. Thanks for the video :D!
I'm gonna use this to make magic mushrooms last super long without being leathery.
That's a good idea
Did it work well?
Do you regularly read minds from afar?
ima have ta hop on this wave
That is just godlike!
I've always been interested in making one of these myself, very nice. The only thing I would change is get rid of the styrofoam and get some closed cell foam, like the sheets of insulating foam you can get at the big box hardware stores. Easier to cut clean edges with.
I was considering it but the styrofoam was half the price and fit in the car haha
Couldn't you just tube it up into a deep freezer?
@@chancetolbert4852 I think the temperature needs to swing a bit to entice the sublimation, but I have always wondered if just sealing up my deep freeze and putting a vacuum would work for some foods. I know it's worked on a few steaks I forgot about at the bottom of mine.
I think keeping the drying chamber below freezing during the entire process is preferred. That is to say, below freezing and not below zero F. Sublimation still occurs and you don't have to worry about the cellular structure getting smushy.
they do sell heating mats for them. i doubt freezing is the best.. after all temp differences are used to move gasses, or to make gases liquid or liquid into gases.. (and that is what we are working with in this method) the importent thing is probetly the temp diffence, and not the temp. as long as you stay within where nothing usefull is destroyid in big amounts.. terpens can be collected with freeze drying (with the right temps), so you can also collect the taste and smell to some degree. (and those are not collected when the proces is at its coldest point) probetly not anuff to taste any difference, but you would be able to collect some very tastefull and nice smelling aromas
Thanks for the video. Now im definatly just going to buy already made freeze dried food even though its very expensive, which i can see why
youve just got a new sub and you are the 2nd channel where id ring the bell i really like your content
Fun fact: "Astronaut icecream" have never been in space and have never been intended to be eaten by astronauts.
If I ever become an astronaut, I know what I'm bringing with me then
En Person The comment should read 'has' in the places it now reads 'have' as 'Astronaut Cream' is singular. Now if you said Astronaut Creams, flavors, types, or varieties, 'have' would be appropriate
Astronaut bacon is a thing And it needs be known
En Person You're only half right. It never went to space. But it was developed under a NASA contract for the Apollo missions. So it was very much intended for them to eat it. The problem was it was found to be to crumbly, so it didn't get to go.
En Person “has”, not “have”
Crushing the dry ice to a powder speeds up the process and Ive used paint thinner for a cryo liquid but I was just messing with stuff cause I get free dry ice sometimes
i was looking for Harvest Right, then i find this video. thank u, sir.. i will try to make one . thank u.
This is quite late, but instead of Teflon tape, use a product called nylog on your thread fittings. It acts as both a thread lubricant and a thread sealant. It never dries or cracks. It's what I use on all of my refrigeration systems I need to evacuate. My manifolds can easily reach 50 microns Hg/50 mTorr. I have found that Teflon tends to be a bit leakier. With that said, I also only used tapered fittings or flare fittings on my vacuum setups.
I have no need for a freeze-dryer, but thanks for the insight. The cold trap will be useful for another project.
Thank you for the video. I wish you had been able to make more on freeze drying.
Hi . Thank you!I was thrilled to find this then when i went through the list, it looks like dry ice is almost impossible to get or exorbitant prices especially for lasting only 24 hrs. Anyone else in the Uk have this problem
Capacitors or that AeroGel substitute might be fun to make if I knew how🙈 It was Cool to see a phase change chart too, Going the extra step to explain beyond basic understanding, it's shown in more detail if we wanted to Learn even more🙄👌
Thanks ,now I can dry my water hash perfectly!
Excellent video brow as always... congratz!!
Thanks :) glad you enjoy
Great project. It worked. The next step is to build a box with massive insulation around the freezers. Have fun with your *freezing powwrs !*
BTW, regular J-B Weld, and long set time epoxies in general, are stronger than the quick set ones. The quick set kinds use different chemicals that result in a weaker resin.
He said that
Nice gloves for the dry ice
0:01 that building is so good it looks animated
A/C accumulator w fittings A/C oil A/C condenser HD vacuum pump Vacuum pump fitting & sealant Temp gauge Put condenser into container & seal holes, Fill w enough oil to fill condenser, Attach both lines of condenser to accumulator, Attach vacuum fitting, Apply vacuum until reaches preferred temp, Freeze w/e for however long The end
For the vapor trap, I used some stainless steel fins from some scrap 304 stainless steel to increase the surface area and help less water vapor make its way into the Vacuum pump. I learned that the hard way and ruined a $1000 vacuum pump and vacuum fittings.
huh... its much easier than i thought it would be, this was helpful.
happy to help :)
Wow only 6 to 14 hours AWESOME!!!
That is pretty cool and the fact, you can make it yourself it's even cooler (no pun intended) . I know I couldn't. Thank you :-)
This was very helpful
Great video!
Hey mate, fantastic video as always. Can you recommend an ideal pump for this project. Thanks in advance
love the video. is there something you can use in place of dry ice?
Unexpected find. Nice work. I wasn’t familiar with freeze drying, still not sure why Ppl want freeze drying or how much can be freeze dried in this device.
That’s amazing. Could you please estimate how much time and cost would it take to prepare specified amount (100 grams for example) of fruit like strawberries and other food that you tried it with?
A yield of 20-30% would be good. He says 6-14 hours after flash freezing. I run industrial multi phase freeze dryers with 1500lb capacity and takes us 17-19 hours depending on size and type of product
@@Scrotux we’re trying to make one
Great video! I was just wondering if I could make one of these!
Anything is possible if we try... Let's cohabitate and collaborate Just do it!
I saw this video on your blog page, and I thought it was funny how someone was like "Meh! You must not use super glue on polystyrene!!!" when you in fact did not use super glue on polystyrene. lol. Anyway, great video, thanks for it. It helped me out a lot with my own built.
That's really cool thanks.
Im excited for your years content 😁
Me too!
The comment at the end about making a carbon foam from bread in the kiln, reminds me of a video I saw from AVE. He did just that by burning the bread without allowing it oxygen. I thought it was really neat, so I've been thinking about it for a while. What if you used popcorn instead of bread? And then, I wondered if you could make high temperature refractory bricks using the presumably resulting carbon foam pellets, by misting it lightly with water, and dusting it with dry (unfired) clay, and repeating this until the pellets build up a thin protective shell of clay. Then you would pack them into a brick mold in layers, with a light mist of water and a light dusting of clay in-between each layer. I think a handheld old fashioned flour sifter would help to apply the dust evenly. I also wonder of being able to incorporate grog (crushed, fired pottery), in dust or fine grit form, to help with thermal shock, incase the version made without it has any trouble. Anyway, the brick should be allowed to dry very thoroughly, and not too quickly, so that it doesn't explode in the kiln, or crack while it's drying, from the pressure of water vapor trying to escape too quickly, or the strain of the brick contracting unevenly from drying out. I also thought about adding the clay shelled carbon foam pellets to the kiln individually, but I wonder how you'd get them packed in efficiently, without having them all stick together during the firing, if they're touching eachother. Maybe coating them with some kind of ash? But if you could fire them as individual, loose pieces, you could probably actually use them as grog for clay bricks, without actually crushing them up, like one would normally do. That way, you could create custom shaped refractory clay pieces for ovens and things, without having to try to make them from assembling a bunch of bricks.
World Theory wow
What would change if I want to build a bigger unit? Say I want to make an entire gallon of astronaut ice cream.
Great video
Great job
do you have a list of items you used to make this?
Thank you for your teaching. May I ask how much costed the material? N how many hrs do you need to make it? Thank you again.
Oh lordy.. I was looking at freeze dryers and there's no way I can afford 2 or 3 thousand dollars for one. Then I think ... Hey, maybe I could build one.. Then I see this and look at my DEHYDRATOR and tell it, Don't worry, I'm not dumping you. Holy crap on a cracker!! LOL Macgyver is staring at me with a knowing smirk like he's saying I told you so lol
Hi Thought Emporium, im gonna build a freeze dryer and i watcherd your video but i have a question: when the water sublimates off the food, does it travel thru the tube to the cold trap to condense as solid there or is that a secondary condenser with the primary collection of water happening inside the food holding vaccum chamber? im not sure if i need to keep a cold finger in the vaccum chamber with the food or not.
I’m curious to know what your final build cost was? Freeze dryers are ridiculously expensive.
Right?
Yeah how much
$180 Field Piece SVG3 $30 2 Gallon Stainless Steel Cooking Pot $100 Two 2 Quart Stainless Steel Vaccum Chamber ($50 each) $3 1/4” Flare Union $7 5/8” Barb Splicer $25 Styrofoam sheets $15 Spray Adhesive for Foam $15 High Grade Teflon Tape $9 J-B Weld $10 Thermal Work Gloves $25 Denatured Ethanol $150 2 stage rotary vane vacuum pump Total $569 Each time: $5 Dry Ice
Built on Amazon like 400
I would like to get a parts list from you and diagram on how to build this
good presentation thanks
Dollar Tree Stores have small bags of freeze dried fruit for $1.00. Strawberries, peaches, apples, mixed fruit. 70-80 calories a bag. An alternative for those of us that like freeze dried foods as snacks but don't have time or money for freeze dryer.
Hey, I have a question. I am building my own dryer, and I am just wondering if it is okay to just use regular vac hoses the entire way. I see you and some other people are using the reinforced PV tube to go from the cold trap to the vacuum. May I ask why that is? Are you doing this because it is better for the pump, for the drying process, or just because it is easier for you? My DIY trap is made from a dewaxing column, 2 inch diameter 12 inch long sanitary spool with jacket. I wanted to just run the flared 1/4 fittings top and bottom of the spool, and run regular vac hose line from drying chamber to cold trap to vacuum. I didn't think there would be any issues with this, but I just though I would ask anyway. Thanks.
Why didnt you just use spray foam to insulate the larger pot?
He didn't have it at the time
Because he wanted to add dry ice underneath
Awesome video thx😄
Hey, have you ever thought about making an ozone generator? They can be pretty useful for many chemical reactions. Saludos de Uruguay
Awesome video thanks you
The dry ice purchase itself is ridiculously expensive What did it cost to build this and break down cost to freeze dry strawberries? I freeze dry food now in regular freezer, lay it out on baking sheets, flip every couple days, in 10 days or so, depending on what im freezing, up to 3 weeks. Stand up freezers are great for this and a lot cheaper
Had to rewatch this video again for cold trap inspiration... Do you think this design would work for capturing methanol/VOC's in a vacuum percolation device? I'll be bubbling humid air through distilled spirits to expedite oxidation reactions and simulate gas exchange in a barrel. I have access to a diaphragm pump (not PTFE.... But I want one someday...) that can go down to 27in Hg, and I don't want too many vapors to condense in the pump itself... Is there a cold trap design you'd recommend for the budget-conscious creator?
Soldering Iron + Paperclip makes a good foam cutter btw.
Dude this is amazing. If ever there was another Renaissance Man after DaVinci, I think I've found him! How do you have such a wide variety of knowledge? Especially as an American (no offense, but the education system really encourage strict specialization at the top levels, and I've rarely seen anyone with such wide horizons). Love all the videos, please keep making!
It helps that I'm canadian, but also hated school. So I'm largely self taught. I do a lot of research before starting a project, then just dive in and see what happens. If I get stuck, I trouble shoot until it works. Rinse and repeat for 8 years and I ended up with a super weird and wide skill set. Glad you enjoy :)
Slava Ukraini! Smert voroham
Hey, love your video :) i want to build machine like this on my own and i have a 2 questions: 1. how do you prevent water from going directly to the pump from the water trap? 2. how do you know when the process is finish? and you products is completely dried? and when i turn off the pump? Thank you :)
Total cost of components used and bought to sum up how expensive this would be?
And at 16 hours per cycle, to get a decent sized bag of freeze dried strawberries, it takes how long, a week?
Well that's nice mister "I can buy dry ice at the grocer because they have that for some reason".
2001Pieps perks of being in the states haha. You can hack water coolers to do the cooling for you, I just didn't show it because I haven't tried it
Those are also quite uncommon around here (Seriously why would you need an electrical device to cool and dispence your water instead of getting it straight out of the tap?), but you can buy them second hand online. Still a cool project for the future. Are you going to try making SEAgel?
Because most tap water around the world is poison? Seriously, but a heavy metal test kit and check your water. Also you can get them from offices that are getting rid of or replacing theirs. check craigslist or w.e your local listings are. I hadn't heard of that before so maybe! Gonna do it with gelatin first because we've got a crazy cell culture thing in the works. If it works it's gonna be an awesome video.
Welding supplies stores often sell dry ice
All The Gear I can get mine straight from the grocery store. I live in washington
Great video but in the long run... the initial low cost of a DIY unit will end up costing more than a retail unit, due to the unavoidable need to replenish the dry-ice, given dry ice is a consumable and can be pretty pricey in cetain markets :( The most cost-effective solution, of course, would be to find a used retail unit for cheap or (better yet) split the cost with someone/a group of ppl, to help lower the rather steep initial cost. On a side note/for what it's worth... many people forget that DIY & retail freeze dryers typically need to operate for many (many) hours, so depending on the water content of the particular food being freeze-dried, the freeze dryer may need to run for 12 hours, or more, which (unless one lives where electricity is cheap or they have a solar system) there's going to be a noticeable increase in one's electric bill when running a freeze dryer...the point being...it might be a lot less expensive to simply spend/invest the $3000-$5000 (plus food costs) on food that has already been freeze dried by a commercial company(?)
Dry ice is so cheap I think this would be great for home growers that only harvest a couple times a year
Also freeze drying food stops histamine growth completely making it the ideal food storage method for those suffering from gastrointestinal discomfort.
can an aluminum pressure cooker be used instead of the stainless steel chambers?
nice video!
pretty cool
Hi, So i kinda wanna do this but not really i have a pump but its one stage and wont get near that pressure level i still wanna build a chamber to evaporate water with but don't care if it maintains its shape or flavor i simply just want to evaporate water with it since i dont need to freeze dry it i dont need the freezing stuff, can it work with or without added heat? if so how at what rate? thank you i love your videos
I love it.
Looking at the phase diagram, I have a question about temperature, why do we need to deeply the items that much? Wouldn’t regular household freezer temps be ok with -5 C° for example? As the line between 10 mBar and 1 mBar is crossed, water will sublimate. No? Second question is about the pump. Isn’t there a pump able to release water into the air without rusting? Of course the gas will turn to liquid water as soon as it leaves the pump and hit 1 Bar.
one small point, don't use regular spray adhesive on polystyrene, the propellant and the solvent in in dissolves the polystyrene, same is true for a lot of plastics, you need the one that's specifically made for plastics though to pay through the nose for it
tigoda85, 3m brand super77 contains acetone, and that eats most foams. Yet if you take said adhesive and spray thin, light coat from a distance of 16 inches approximately on both surfaces to be bonded, it won't melt foam. Acetone evaporates before it reaches the surface. You'll tear the foam apart well before you tear the glue seam. Great adhesive for using a hotwire cutter on laminated foam
Very interesting. Thanks! :)
Glad you enjoyed :)
Super cool
Bravo!
Overall, how much did this all cost you? And how much would every run cost everytime you need to replenish the dry ice and alcohol?
Very good.
Wouldn't a Sprengel vacuum pump work? A simple pump is much cheaper to buy and run. Nerd rage built one for $50 and achieved with water and a 100psi pump almost the pressure you want. Changing to mineral oil or vacuum oil to improve performance further would mean you can boil off the water at sub 25C without the need to freeze the fruit. The water that comes off can be separated through a simple oil water trap made with a sheet of plastic. So you can cycle the same fluid around, and it doesn't require cooling. This would be lower investment cost and lower running cost. However I've not built or tested this, so I'd appreciate any information as to why this wouldn't work.
Do you mean a water aspirator pump? A Sprengel pump is what Cody's Lab made, it uses mercury falling through a small capillary tube to evacuate the air. It pumps far too slowly to do the job. However, as far as I can tell an aspirator pump will work. I found this paper images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1976/1976-30(4)277-Hedges.pdf talking about doing exactly what you describe. The drying process was very slow using water as the working fluid but as you say, could be improved by using mineral or vacuum oil.
How much dry ice (and alcohol?) per hour is used would be interesting to know
Double the hose clamps with the screws opposite each other for more even clamping pressure.
Can i use a rolled ice cream machine to sit the big pot on instead of dry ice? Will it be cold enough or maybe that plus dry ice? I would think the rolled ice cream machine could help maintain the temperature? I know this is a old video but can't find a answer to my question anywhere. Thank you to anyone with information
When I was searching for DIY Freeze drying, I was really hoping I'd find a video that said -- "Stick desired freeze dried item in the very back of the freezer and wait"
pro tip always point your micron gauge up, water vapor will damage the sensor over time
Could frame out around your pot and then use spray foam (just an idea from the hive mind)
nice shatter vac!!!
Do you use dry ice around your drying chamber as well? Or just the vapor chamber
What kind of savage slices strawberries with the stem on?
bro i just wanted to freeze dry raspberrys not end up building a rocket 😂 Jokes beside, great Video 👍
RRRRIIIGGGHHHHTTTTT. LOL I simply bought a Harvest Right home freeze dryer back in Dec 2081 - I run it almost 24/7 and have processed a lot of foods for long term storage. Compared to buying commercially produced FD foods - my dryer has paid for itself many times over. It will also process up to 20 pounds of foods in a single batch. Good luck with your DYI dryer.
Wouldn’t a canned spray on foam insulation have worked better than styrofoam? Also, that is one of my favorite folding knives!