It would be interesting to compare the nutrition lost in freeze drying vs dehydrating in a machine vs simple air drying in a protected environment. Freeze drying is super cool, but I think it uses a lot of electricity vs the other methods available, which could make some products unaffordable for many people. Where I live, when aronia is ready for harvest, it is our warmest and dryest month, so air drying would be the easiest method for sure.
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hell winters for us are so cold and dry, just leave them on the bush and by mid Jan. they will be cracker dry. then pick. no leaves to deal with. could use a blueberry rake to make quick work of it. ive left some on mine and they are still on the bush come spring.
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i am looking to start a retirement business, so equipment will cost more that 4.5K, you will also need:
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Commercial freezer units to store unprocessed product and they cost more than a freeze dryer. A commercial unit can cost $7K but has space for 100’s of pounds of raw product.
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Pellet machine to grind and mix the ingredients, that will cost $3K for a good unit
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Storage for finished product and packaging so another machine will be needed to put the product in bags and seal them, so $5K for that.
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You need to have an area set aside for this work where rodents and pest cannot gain access, even though the feed is not for human consumption there are health standard that must be followed when manufacturing animal feed,
i want to start a hobby business when i retire so I am working on a plan. I got the money, and time to market the product at retirement and the truth be told i do not plan to ever retire from work, just stop working for others and work for my self.
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you got a good idea with that one, naturally dried fruits seems to keep their nutrient values, like apricots and raisins, dates and prunes.
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Here is a commercial dehydrator they cost more but electric cost are lower as you pointed out. Premium 2 Zone / 28 Tray / 130 sq. ft Tray Area | Premium Commercial Dehydrators
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Commercial freezer may not be needed. A couple of chest freezers would hold A LOT of aronia and it would also be fine for at least a few days if stored in thin layers in a cool room with good air circulation while you work through drying it all.
Try to minimize your up front costs as much as possible. It takes time to build a business and putting too much money into it at the beginning before you’ve learned any of your hard lessons (which will always happen) will shorten how long you can afford to stay operational in the difficult time between start up and profitability.
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good point, chest freezers are cheap under 1K for a large unit. Amana makes good chest freezers. i already own some.
Before I’d invest in new ones I’d begin looking at Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, etc. Sometimes people literally give away working ones to make room and if you have space, it’s a good route to get started. Same thing with all the other equipment you are looking for. Used could be gathered dust in the back of a warehouse or restaurant going out of business etc.
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Sort of like Hell, Michigan…not a hot place at all, eh?
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-40s/ - 50s would seem like hell frozen over some days, I’d imagine…
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My barn is a dark green color and traps a lot of heat. With the doors open theres a nice warm breeze. I imagine such a set up with screened doors would do well for drying fruit.
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I was thinking a connex shipping unit would work well also. Im in central US so delivery can be expensive but depending where you live, it could be a lot cheaper. I bought one this summer that came blue and it got so hot in there, I was worried about leaving my ATV and stuff in there, so I painted it white, that helped a TON, but if you wanted to dry fruit, getting a dark color connex, orienting it so that the wind could blow through it, and putting vents at the front and the back to control airflow would be an option to create a HUGE solar powerd dehydrator!
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Might want a back up fan! Great idea
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would be super easy to mount solar panels on the top and fans inside also…
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