Warm Autumn Ending and Freeze Drying Trout

The weather has decide to stream storms from the central Pacific which means warm storms and all rain for the end of Autumn and beginning of Winter. The hillside is completely clear of snow and the little remaining in the flats is nearly gone. The first day of Winter we are going to have nearly 50F temps and rain most of the day. This is the northern tier damn it, we are supposed to have snow not rain for Winter. This isn't the first time this has happened so I shouldn't be surprised.

One of my tasks was to find the wire for the power cord for the 220v heater. I finally found the right length in a box on a shelf behind the old studio. It is about 9 feet long and I installed a 20a 220v plug on the end that will plug into the outlet I have in the wall below the breaker box. The heater will be getting a box built for it and a stand to sit on. Once I get the wire run I'll be able to kick the thing on, but I only have 120v to the new studio currently.

So, first thing in the morning the freeze dryer cycle stopped at about 16 hours. I checked the fish and they were nowhere near done so I put them in for another 8 hours. After that 8 hours was up I again checked the fish to ind them still not done. Being the evening I figured it best to then put it on for another 14 hours. It turned off about 7am this morning and having just checked them they are finished. Each of the fish is solid, light weight, and dry feeling. Curious how well they will store now. I think I will be putting some of them in a mylar as a test of shelf life.

This was them before going back in for another 14 hours. The total cycle too almost 41 hours to finish them. It would have been way shorter if they had been cut in half lengthwise or filleted. But gotta learn somehow, right?

It rained most of the night and will likely most of the day. I'm changing the vacuum pump oil while the freeze dryer is thawing now and then I will be putting in another load. This time it will be a variety of things. Tofu, Greek yogurt drops, shredded cheddar, avocado, and maybe tomato to name a few.