Commercial freeze drying operation

I'm looking for information about freeze drying technique and the the equipment that is best suited for the task. I'm a Seattle resident and with the new recreational legalization coming online here I'm trying to determine the feasibility of buying a commercial freeze drying unit and getting in on the ground floor with a processing licence. I have experience with home grows but never using freeze drying equipment. If I got up the coin to buy something like this http://www.wotol.com/1-northstar-i3680-freeze-dryer/second-hand-machinery/prod_id/668846 would it do a good job. Anyone have ideas about how much a cabinet like that could process in each load and how long a load would take. Really being a total newbie to freeze drying any information would be welcome. Peace.

maybe this is a stupid question idk, but wtf would you want to freeze dry weed for?

It leaves more flavor and cures it better, never heard of this technique but its really interresting for the future

I'm thinking the fact that it's like 0% rh is going to be an obstacle to good flavor

Freeze drying is used to preserve flavors - not develop them. It works be removing all moisture, which would be bad for weed.. who wants bone dry weed?

What is freeze drying

DoseOfReality said:

What is freeze drying

Click to expand...

Material is frozen at sub-zero temps under a strong vacumn which removes all water and volatiles (terpenes, etc). Not sure ya want to do this

Nope. I wouldn't.

I would think a curing barn similar to what tobacco growers use would be more useful for large scale curing. Small private tobacco growers make and use cabinets with mechanical environment controls...that's the ticket for ganja!
JD

http://www.coffinails.com/curing_tobacco.html

Some people claim they grow weed in a negative pressure(vacuum) room and it does just fine. I say let's move all the ops to the top of mount everest and find out!

The RCMP told me that after weed is stored for a year it has already started to seriously degrade, no matter how it's stored. They prefer the weed fresh and properly dried.

From a buyers perspective the weight would be a huge issue. Your product has no water so its going to be far lighter than something that has 65%, So you selling me a 16gram bag saying its really a ounce at 65% is going to piss me off or you selling a ounce that is actually two ounces at 65% is going to cut your profits.

if you're asking about freeze drying weed you're not ready for a commercial op...

There is an ideal moisture level for bud, so lets assume we do not intend to dehydrate beyond this point. That said, freezing tends to form ice crystals that burst trichome heads leading to rapid oxidative degradation. I am not a fan of freezing nugs unless I am promptly doing an extraction.

Freeze dry that shit and send it down to Mexico ! Let the Mexicans have a taste of their own medicine !!