Load thin, pre-freeze, run the cycle, then check the batch is genuinely dry before you seal it. Those four things, in that order, account for nearly every good or bad batch.
Step by step
- Prepare and slice. Blanch vegetables, cook what needs cooking, trim fat, and slice at 10–15 mm. Uniform thickness matters more than any particular number, because the whole tray finishes at the pace of its thickest piece.
- Load the trays evenly. A single layer, spread to the edges, no mounding in the middle. Weigh one tray before and after and write both numbers down — that record is how you learn your own machine.
- Pre-freeze overnight. Not required, but it shortens the cycle noticeably and reduces the load on the compressor. A domestic freezer is fine.
- Run the cycle. Use the machine’s preset for the food type on your first few batches. Custom pressure and temperature settings are worth learning later, once you know what normal looks like.
- Check it is dry. Details below. This is the step people skip.
- Seal immediately. Finished food is hygroscopic and will pull moisture out of the room air within minutes. Bag it, add the absorber, seal it, label it with contents and date.
How to tell a batch is actually finished
- Snap, do not bend. A finished fruit slice breaks cleanly. If it flexes, it is not done.
- No cold spots. Feel the centre of the thickest piece. Any residual chill means ice is still sublimating and taking latent heat with it.
- Weight has stopped falling. The reliable test. Weigh your test tray, run another two hours, weigh again. If the number has not moved, you are finished.
- Cut one open. Sacrifice a thick piece and look at the middle. A translucent or darker core is water.
When in doubt, run another two hours. Over-drying costs a little electricity. Under-drying costs the whole batch, three months later, when you open the bag.
Rehydration
Add roughly 80% of the water you removed, warm rather than boiling, and wait. Most foods are back in two to five minutes; dense cooked meals take longer. Adjust upward rather than starting too wet — you cannot take water back out.
The mistake nearly everyone makes twice
Sealing a batch that was almost dry. It looks finished, feels finished, and eighteen months later the bag has softened and the food is off. The weight test takes two minutes and prevents it.