We have been having fun using a Harvest Right freeze dryer to prepare really yummy and exciting backpacking meals since we got one a year ago! Some of our favorites so far are pasta salad, tater-tot casserole, guacamole, not to mention the pies pictured above! Freeze-drying makes food lightweight and non-perishable for up to 25 years, so it’s perfect for backpacking but also useful at home.
Freeze dryers are super fun and useful, but they’re complex machines and unfortunately that makes them a little pricey. We’ve met tons of backpackers that do meal-prep like us, but we’ve also been really surprised by the diversity of applications people have told us about for preserved food: we met a truck driver in a grocery store who told us it helps him eat healthier on the road, we heard from a teacher who rehydrates food quickly during her lunch break, many people have told us that they wished they had prepped food just to keep in their cabinets before natural disasters hit, gardeners use them to extend the life of their harvest, and so much more.
We want to share the fun we’re having freeze drying with more of our community, so we teamed up with Harvest Right to GIVE ONE AWAY! To enter, click here and register by March 3, 2025!
For fun, comment on this post letting us know what you’ll freeze dry if you win!
PS: If you win but buy a freeze dryer between now and the end of the giveaway, your purchase will be refunded! Use code THRUHIKERS100 for an extra $100 off!
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I love your video’s and I love u
Hi guys! My family and I have a trip in the summer of 2026 so this would give us time to freeze dry all sorts of meals and see what are favorites are.
I’m on the quest to make a savory type of electrolyte powder, but not like bullion. I think a freeze dryer would be the best tool to do that!
Cool! That sounds amazing!
You two inspired me to start dehydrating, and now I make all our adventure food! I would love to start freeze drying as well. My husband and I are vegan, and making our own meals has been so convenient for on and off the trails (and motorcycle trips)! We love your recipes and book.
Hi guys ! Thank you for sharing your journey, I really love your book and enjoy learning from you! Keep it up! I would freeze dry pretty much everything, and worry less about food preservation. It would be a great addition for keeping all my garden veggies and fruit longer
I’d start with you pumpkin chili Mac & cheese recipe! Your book is great! So much great information for all hikers.
Definitely start with strawberries my kiddos love them. Next experiment with lots of veggies from the garden. And then probably anything else I can think of that I want to save for later convenient use 🙂
I’d freeze dry anything and everything year round and definitely keep a special stash for when I take the kiddos camping, it would be way more convenient to make the kids favorite meals in advance and take them on our adventures 🙂
Longtime ultralight guy here and have just begun getting my 9-year old autistic son into backpacking with me, and we have our first multi-day hike coming up this spring! He’s a picky eater under the best of circumstances so a freeze dryer would be a great option to make his favorite foods more accessible on the trail. I’m thinking waffles with syrup, pie, fresh berries, mac and cheese, curry, and similar foods will be a hit!
YUM! Have fun on your upcoming trip!
Lots of fruits and snacks for the family
I love following you guys and your book. As a vegetarian, I’ll be working on making your recipes this weekend, for my upcoming PCT thru hike, then dehydrating them. I would love a freeze drier, for one the food looks more appealing and for another, the nutrients are better than dehydrating.
I love your book, I would freeze dry produce from my garden.
I eat a Keto diet and it is always a challenge to prep foods for longer trips say over 30 days. Back in the 70-80’s we used to buy freeze dried food for backpacking but obviously it was cost prohibitive so for $ reasons dehydrated foods became the norm.
Can you easily freeze dry multiple items and reconstitute and then heat. Say I wanted to use cooked shrimp, broccoli, and a heavy whipping cream and cream cheese sauce with spices. Should I freeze dry each item individually and combine in pouch then reconstitute with water and heat, or combine all ingredients cook and then freeze dry and break into individual portions? Is it best to just make the meal with sauces and then freeze dry entire meal? As far as meats go can you cook the meat first then freeze dry? Seems like all the videos on Harvest right showed raw meats like pork chops, uncooked?
I eat a Keto diet and it is always a challenge to prep foods for longer trips say over 30 days. Back in the 70-80’s we used to buy freeze dried food for backpacking but obviously it was cost prohibitive so for $ reasons dehydrated foods became the norm.
Can you easily freeze dry multiple items and reconstitute and then heat. Say I wanted to use cooked shrimp, broccoli, and a heavy whipping cream and cream cheese sauce with spices. Should I freeze dry each item individually and combine in pouch then reconstitute with water and heat, or combine all ingredients cook and then freeze dry and break into individual portions? Is it best to just make the meal with sauces and then freeze dry entire meal? As far as meats go can you cook the meat first then freeze dry? Seems like all the videos on Harvest right showed raw meats like pork chops, uncooked?
I love backpacking and my dream is to thru hike the PCT one day! Right now I’m an EMT and work at a hospital. I would love to freeze dry fruit and other snacks to get through long shifts! Also, I’d love to learn new recipes to freeze dry on backpacking trips!
Hello! If I win (and, oh I hope I do, as I have big, big plans for a freeze dryer!) I would start with Skittles, then move on to Starburst candies just to see what would happen. Seriously, though, I would freeze dry fruit, and then a variety of fresh vegetables to make into a mixed veggie powder that I add to almost everything I cook. Currently I dehydrate those veggies, and they are good, but I think they would be even better freeze dried. Thanks so much for offering this giveaway – I love watching your videos, and your book is great!
Love y’all’s content, truly inspirational! I’d love to try freeze drying fruit leather and any kind of soup 🙂
Freeze-dried chicken gnocchi soup would be the ultimate backpacking comfort food on a rainy day!
I’m on a medical diet, so having the option to dehydrate my food makes travel so much more fun! I enjoyed your book and the variety it brought to my menus (and I learned a thing or two about hiking!).
My 2025 goal is to save up for a freeze dryer. Even if I don’t win, I know that any dehydrator that can keep up with the ThruHikers can keep up with me!
I can’t wait to recreate your coffee experiment.
I’m doing the PCT this year.
Amazing!!! Have fun!!!! The PCT was life changing for us 🥰
OMG I would love love love a freeze dryer. I dehydrate and make my own meals for camping and tried most of your recipes in the Thru Hikers book (fav is the creamy PB noodles) – which I read cover to cover. Although my backpacking days are over, I still enjoy hiking and camping out of my Subaru or paddling to a remote destination and camping out of my kayak for a few days. These kayaking expeditions require food for several days and preparing a meal for up to 8 people on one day. I don’t have room for a cooler or bulky food like the canoe paddlers and so dehydrating is the only way to go. Freeze drying would be even lighter!!!! At the end of a day of hiking or paddling, having a delicious meal ready to eat in just minutes fits my style.
My kids are dying to get a freeze dryer to freeze fruits and other snacks for our hiking trips and for school lunches.
I have dehydrated food but not freeze dried my own and would love to learn, I love freeze dried fruits. I love your channel and learning from you both!