My issues with the toilet paper roll is the amount of oil needed to saturate the paper to get it to start filtering. The other is the amount of fibers that are sluffed off from the tissue paper. Although the fiber count can be high, they're not as harmful as the water that often mixes with the oil and is reintroduced back into the pump. Just a part of being a freeze drier.
Someone is buying a lot of those filters and reselling them high. I call them product scalpers. You can find brita filters at Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, Homedepot, Lowes since I remember seeing them there when I was in the USA. I am abroad abd got stuck here when covid hit. I will be returning this summer at the latest. Two thibgs to worry about is the oil viscosity and particulates.
Thanks Phil, I feel like a celebrity. You nailed the name, as you can imagine how the kids would butcher it as a kid. Very informative, I had a hard and couldn't find one for any price. I appreciate you doing this video. While I have your attention, any advice on storage of mylar bags to easily find, store and rotate stores goods. I have tried totes, file cabinet and trying to find and use my stock is a pain in the u know what
Hi Phil Thank you for all your great content. How often should the filter be replaced? Should it be replaced regularly or only when it gets blocked or the filtered oil remains cloudy?
That's an unknown question for me. I have used my HR filter perhaps 100 times and it still works. I filter my oil after every batch. The filters will eventually plug up from food particulates and coliform bacteria (non-harmful mold growth). Once the oil stays cloudy, it's time to change it. The cloudy oil is moisture that can't be separated any longer.
The Britta filters (even latest ones) do release a visible amount of carbon filtering water for first few fills. Would excess particulates not be from that?
Unfortunately, carbon was not tested in the bank of elements. If carbon was present, it would show up as a particulate. The Brita filter did reduce the particulate count on 4, 6, and 14 microns. Could carbon powder be left over from manufacturing? In my testing, one out of many, I didn't notice any dark (carbon) residue. I will be retesting the oil after 100 filtering cycles. I will check with the lab to see if carbon can be tested.
Sam's had some in stock about 4 weeks ago. Also they had some off brands they had about 10 filters to a package don't know how well they filter, but they fit. and they are reasonable in price at that time.
Harvest Right is also out of Medium Silicone tray mats - I ordered a 4pc set on Dec, 20 2022. When I ordered them, it didn't say they were out of stock. Apparently they became out of stock after I ordered them & they allowed continued orders for them anyway (from the email reply I got from them about my order). It seemed they were telling me that they keep the orders coming in for out of stock items for a period of time to create a pool of orders for a product that is out of stock until they deem it necessary to shut off the valve for that particular product.
In one of your videos, (which I can’t find right now), you showed doing your oil change, and had the measured amount of oil all ready to go. With your premium pump, how much oil do you put back in? I’d like to get into the filtering every batch, but don’t know how much to pour back in. Can you share how much you use? Thx
I don't have the precise amount. You can pick up a measuring cup at the Home Depots paint department. Enter the amount of oil you wish on the sight glass, then empty the oil back into the cup and mark the amount.
I would reused until it plugs up. As the filter medium catches more particulates, the "micron size" will decrease only allowing smaller sizes to pass. In an odd way, the filter plugging up will work better, but take longer to work.
I would be interested to see what the new oil tested out. I filter mine twice. I use my old filter and my toilet paper one then I run it through the new filter. It sure looks clear when I am done. I may be wrong but it makes me feel like I am giving the HR filters a longer life.
Phil, I have tried everything to remove the de-mister cap so that I could remove the filter in the oil pump cap and clean the filter. I’ve rocked the cap back and forth and used every tool I have that I thought would SAFELY help get the cap off but nothing worked. Do you have any suggestions? I love your channel and am amazed at the excellence of your skill, Thank you.
Phil, we know that (high) fats/oils dont FD well, and likely those foods wont store long or well as they are likely to go rancid.. In your technical opinion.. what % of FAT in foods would probably be reasonable to FD? Using the box'd Mac n Cheese as the example, the box says 17% fat as prepared (2 tablspoons of butter/3 Tblspn of 2% milk) I'm thinking that 17% probably IS too high and might be a food that would go rancid after FD. Any thoughts you might have on the % of fat that might be sort of the rule of thumb to stay under when FD'ing food, would be appreciated. TIA
I've been able to freeze dry many foods with high oils/fats (bacon for example). That's not the problem. Long term storage is really the issue. Oils and oxygen don't mix and will lead to rancidity and potential spoilage. Removal of oxygen and moisture is extremely important for long shelf life.
Have you heard of any problem with the filters not working? I have tried 2 out of the box and nothing will go throughthem , I tried dirty oil and new oil?
I have noticed that new filters may take 20-30 minutes to start working, but I have never had a filter that won't allow oil to pass. Here's an option: th-cam.com/video/62dIzwn07FU/w-d-xo.html
That's an unknown question for me. I have used my HR filter perhaps 100 times and it still works. I filter my oil after every batch. The filters will eventually plug up from food particulates and coliform bacteria (non-harmful mold growth).
Every time I used a Brita filter for filtering water, I got small carbon bits on the bottom of the pitcher. Wouldn't this be a problem with the pump oil too? I would probably wrap some "coffee filter" paper around the Brita filter before installing. Or maybe not.
Unfortunately, carbon was not tested in the bank of elements. If carbon was present, it would show up as a particulate. The Brita filter did reduce the particulate count on 4, 6, and 14 microns. Could carbon powder be left over from manufacturing? In my testing, one out of many, I didn't notice any dark (carbon) residue. I will be retesting the oil after 100 filtering cycles. I will check with the lab to see if carbon can tested.
I've used my filet twice now and my oil looks yellow. I wouldn't use this in my equipment at work. Am I over cautious, and is this normal, or do I need a new filter?
@Phil no, what I am asking is after oil filtered and before running a new load, do you condition (can't remember correct word) the vacuum pump or do you just plug into fd and run load??
I got them as an emergency cleaning of my pumps. I couldn't find my old one. They only worked for one filtering each. And then they quit filtering. The second one it took 4 days for it to filter the oil. I don't like them. I'm wondering of I could take them apart and see what's clogging them. I paid 90 bucks for the picture with one filter and a box of replacement filters. 90 dollars down the drain.
Dude! You are THE MAN! Thank you for testing this so thoroughly.
My wife says the same thing ;)
Great experiment and presentation!
I have been using the DYI Brita toilet paper method successfully for or years. Ignorance is bliss! :)
My issues with the toilet paper roll is the amount of oil needed to saturate the paper to get it to start filtering. The other is the amount of fibers that are sluffed off from the tissue paper. Although the fiber count can be high, they're not as harmful as the water that often mixes with the oil and is reintroduced back into the pump. Just a part of being a freeze drier.
Someone is buying a lot of those filters and reselling them high. I call them product scalpers.
You can find brita filters at Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, Homedepot, Lowes since I remember seeing them there when I was in the USA. I am abroad abd got stuck here when covid hit. I will be returning this summer at the latest.
Two thibgs to worry about is the oil viscosity and particulates.
Thanks for the tip
Now you finally know why we have a toilet paper shortage 😂
That's funny.
Thank you for the belly laugh. I needed one of those!!!!
Thanks Phil, I feel like a celebrity. You nailed the name, as you can imagine how the kids would butcher it as a kid. Very informative, I had a hard and couldn't find one for any price. I appreciate you doing this video. While I have your attention, any advice on storage of mylar bags to easily find, store and rotate stores goods. I have tried totes, file cabinet and trying to find and use my stock is a pain in the u know what
I use totes and this method:
th-cam.com/video/I1itN-iyjus/w-d-xo.html
I seen the brita filters at Costco in Texas today
Hi Phil Thank you for all your great content. How often should the filter be replaced? Should it be replaced regularly or only when it gets blocked or the filtered oil remains cloudy?
That's an unknown question for me. I have used my HR filter perhaps 100 times and it still works. I filter my oil after every batch. The filters will eventually plug up from food particulates and coliform bacteria (non-harmful mold growth). Once the oil stays cloudy, it's time to change it. The cloudy oil is moisture that can't be separated any longer.
The Britta filters (even latest ones) do release a visible amount of carbon filtering water for first few fills. Would excess particulates not be from that?
Unfortunately, carbon was not tested in the bank of elements. If carbon was present, it would show up as a particulate. The Brita filter did reduce the particulate count on 4, 6, and 14 microns. Could carbon powder be left over from manufacturing? In my testing, one out of many, I didn't notice any dark (carbon) residue. I will be retesting the oil after 100 filtering cycles. I will check with the lab to see if carbon can be tested.
I like my old Harvey style filter. A coffee filter and cotton does a great job. I do have an original Harvey filter from before HhR sent anything.
Necessity is the mother of invention. I applaud your "out of the box" thinking
Sam's had some in stock about 4 weeks ago. Also they had some off brands they had about 10 filters to a package
don't know how well they filter, but they fit. and they are reasonable in price at that time.
The issue could come down to long term exposure to oil.
I would like to see you compare the brita to the HR filter
I did a review on the Harvest Right Pitcher and filter last year. The Brita is similar.
Harvest Right is also out of Medium Silicone tray mats - I ordered a 4pc set on Dec, 20 2022. When I ordered them, it didn't say they were out of stock. Apparently they became out of stock after I ordered them & they allowed continued orders for them anyway (from the email reply I got from them about my order). It seemed they were telling me that they keep the orders coming in for out of stock items for a period of time to create a pool of orders for a product that is out of stock until they deem it necessary to shut off the valve for that particular product.
So sorry
Weird, I ordered some after that and got them in no problem.
@@T4nkcommander They were backordered for a period of time, Thus the video.
@@Philat4800feet I was talking about the tray mats. Think the filters are still unavailable at this time, so was thankful you made the vid!
In one of your videos, (which I can’t find right now), you showed doing your oil change, and had the measured amount of oil all ready to go. With your premium pump, how much oil do you put back in? I’d like to get into the filtering every batch, but don’t know how much to pour back in. Can you share how much you use? Thx
I don't have the precise amount. You can pick up a measuring cup at the Home Depots paint department. Enter the amount of oil you wish on the sight glass, then empty the oil back into the cup and mark the amount.
Would you reuse the filter or is it a one-time use product?
I would reused until it plugs up. As the filter medium catches more particulates, the "micron size" will decrease only allowing smaller sizes to pass. In an odd way, the filter plugging up will work better, but take longer to work.
I would be interested to see what the new oil tested out. I filter mine twice. I use my old filter and my toilet paper one then I run it through the new filter. It sure looks clear when I am done. I may be wrong but it makes me feel like I am giving the HR filters a longer life.
The more you filter- the cleaner the oil.
Phil, I have tried everything to remove the de-mister cap so that I could remove the filter in the oil pump cap and clean the filter. I’ve rocked the cap back and forth and used every tool I have that I thought would SAFELY help get the cap off but nothing worked. Do you have any suggestions? I love your channel and am amazed at the excellence of your skill,
Thank you.
I will look into this.
Phil, we know that (high) fats/oils dont FD well, and likely those foods wont store long or well as they are likely to go rancid.. In your technical opinion.. what % of FAT in foods would probably be reasonable to FD? Using the box'd Mac n Cheese as the example, the box says 17% fat as prepared (2 tablspoons of butter/3 Tblspn of 2% milk) I'm thinking that 17% probably IS too high and might be a food that would go rancid after FD. Any thoughts you might have on the % of fat that might be sort of the rule of thumb to stay under when FD'ing food, would be appreciated. TIA
I've been able to freeze dry many foods with high oils/fats (bacon for example). That's not the problem. Long term storage is really the issue. Oils and oxygen don't mix and will lead to rancidity and potential spoilage. Removal of oxygen and moisture is extremely important for long shelf life.
Have you heard of any problem with the filters not working? I have tried 2 out of the box and nothing will go throughthem , I tried dirty oil and new oil?
I have noticed that new filters may take 20-30 minutes to start working, but I have never had a filter that won't allow oil to pass. Here's an option:
th-cam.com/video/62dIzwn07FU/w-d-xo.html
How many times can 1 Harvest Right filter be used? Brita?
That's an unknown question for me. I have used my HR filter perhaps 100 times and it still works. I filter my oil after every batch. The filters will eventually plug up from food particulates and coliform bacteria (non-harmful mold growth).
Every time I used a Brita filter for filtering water, I got small carbon bits on the bottom of the pitcher. Wouldn't this be a problem with the pump oil too? I would probably wrap some "coffee filter" paper around the Brita filter before installing. Or maybe not.
Unfortunately, carbon was not tested in the bank of elements. If carbon was present, it would show up as a particulate. The Brita filter did reduce the particulate count on 4, 6, and 14 microns. Could carbon powder be left over from manufacturing? In my testing, one out of many, I didn't notice any dark (carbon) residue. I will be retesting the oil after 100 filtering cycles. I will check with the lab to see if carbon can tested.
@@Philat4800feet Ty for everything
I've used my filet twice now and my oil looks yellow. I wouldn't use this in my equipment at work. Am I over cautious, and is this normal, or do I need a new filter?
A yellow tint is common. It's mostly oxidation from food you freeze dried.
@@Philat4800feet thank you
After changing oil do you plug pump in wall to do that test thing (can't remember name of it) or do you plug into fd and do another load?
After each load I change my oil with oil already filtered. The dirty oil is then placed in the filter pitcher for the next load.
@Phil no, what I am asking is after oil filtered and before running a new load, do you condition (can't remember correct word) the vacuum pump or do you just plug into fd and run load??
@@tammyk6708 I just continue on to the next load.
Thx, HR had me doing it.
I got them as an emergency cleaning of my pumps. I couldn't find my old one. They only worked for one filtering each. And then they quit filtering. The second one it took 4 days for it to filter the oil. I don't like them. I'm wondering of I could take them apart and see what's clogging them. I paid 90 bucks for the picture with one filter and a box of replacement filters. 90 dollars down the drain.
Food particulates is a primary cause of the filters plugging up. The second cause is mold growth from the food, water, and warmth.