Thank you for the reply, it appears I need to go back to edit that and add the word hours. Yes, its a long process to freeze dry something. Initially it takes 8 hours just to get the temperature down below zero.

Without question they're cost prohibitive. The price point has come down by almost $1000 since we bought our unit. Harvest Right does have scratch and dent sales, as well as selling some remanufactured units at a good discount. Most months they offer a give away where they draw a name for one of their small units. You get added to their email list, but it gets you into the drawing.