Love mine. Saying that, they cannot ship to Oklahoma (something about their web site and the sales tax Oklahoma requires). We did manage to find a dealer 'local' to us that we purchased from. Had a glitch with it, after a few months, where it couldn't achieve a vacuum and they finally sent us all the business end (ie electronic parts), and we are back in business. I need to find a place to get good mylar bags that I can order online. If they (Harvest Right) can't ship to your area ask them if they have any dealers that may not be far from you. I know that Atwoods (farm store) has started to sell them in some stores, but don't know about the accessories/supplies that go with them yet as it was Hubby that spotted them yesterday not me.
To date, we have done ground sausage, ground beef, ham, pork loin, tons and tons of my homegrown eggs, quite a bit of cheese, and some chicken. I did do a batch of peas to see how they are, as well as some of the bell peppers that I grew last year. We ended up getting a 2nd set of trays so that we can be doing the 'prefreeze' while one is currently in the freezer.
We don't run ours during the hottest times of the year (yet), but many people just put a fan on the pump and go on.
A lot of people buy the machine and do candy to sell locally (or online where your state laws allow). Things like skittles, bit of honey, etc. We tried a tray of skittles but didn't like them, but I can see where others would purchase the crap out of them. Doing this can possibly pay for your FD in short order. Go to Etsy and search on freeze dried candy.
As we are about to get another half a cow, we are trying to freeze dry a lot of the meat currently in the freezer. At least that way I know I will have protein going forward. I love snacking on say the cheese or the sausage. I want to do enough veggies and fruits to be able to powder them up to add to baking and cooking items for additional flavor, but need to process protein first. I also look forward to doing things like fried rice, spaghetti, etc that are full meals almost ready to eat.
Also, if you really are considering one, you will need to think about storage. We are currently putting our batches in either mylar or half gallon jars and are running out of both. I've heard all of the mylar bags aren't good quality, so I need to find some that are good to purchase. I've got a local source for my oxygen absorbers, and have probably about 400 here in reserve should they get hard to find.
