Unfortunately, freeze-dried food can often be very expensive. We’ve seen this first hand as the only company that sells both frozen beef boxes to store in the freezer for up to a year as well as freeze-dried beef cubes to store in the closet for over a decade. Our “Big Ribeye Box” is on sale for $249 (plus 15% off with promo code “no crickets”) and comes with nearly 10 pounds of All-American beef. Meanwhile, our four-pack of freeze-dried beef cubes is on sale for $360 (same promo code) even though it’s far less meat.

Are we trying to rip people off? On the contrary, our beef cubes are actually an exceptional value considering the four-pack offers 48 adult servings with 24 grams of protein each. Other companies sell “beef crumbles” or other versions of scrap beef that have nearly as much fat as protein, and they often sell for more than we do.

It’s not us. It’s the freeze-drying process being so challenging that’s driving up the costs.

This is why so many people are buying their own freeze dryers to use at home. The market is essentially cornered by Harvest Right, which isn’t a bad thing since their quality and customer service are both superb. We’ve bought six so far with two more on the way. But families and individuals considering getting their own can and should as long as they go in with their eyes open.

The pros and cons are easy to understand. In fact, there really is only one pro and it’s a huge one. Those who are willing to spend the time and money to freeze dry their own food should do so as long as they’re going to be committed. For the price of a large home freeze dryer one can buy 20 buckets of high-quality freeze-dried entrees with 1440 meals by using promo code “jdr”.

And therein lies the cons to buying a freeze dryer. It takes time to make them cost effective. Depending on humidity in your area, a single run can take up to two days to complete. Granted, most of that time is the freeze dryer doing all the work, but the process is not without effort. Once the food is ready it must be put into appropriate containers with oxygen absorbers and sealed properly so they can last.

So the bottom line is this: If you can afford the money and time to spend on freeze-drying your own food and you believe the need for the food is many months or years away, then eventually the Harvest Right freeze dryer will pay for itself. If you don’t have the time or money, or if you believe the food crisis will hit hard very soon, then it makes more sense to buy freeze-dried food instead.

Of course, one could always eat well today and eat well tomorrow buy getting the Big Ribeye Box COMBO with Freeze-Dried Beef Cubes all together.