How to Make Homemade Baby Formula (With a Freeze Dryer!)
Buying a freeze dryer for home use is a big decision to make & honestly might not be the tool for everyone. However, it came in handy in our little 1-bed apartment. My husband & I bought a Harvest Right freeze drying machine to turn 1400+ oz of breastmilk into shelf-stable powder (otherwise known as baby formula). Here’s the story about how it all went down & how you can do the same thing too!
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We welcomed our first child in at home in winter 2021. And thanks to my fourth-quarter (or postpartum) food regimen, I produced so much excess breastmilk that we didn’t have space to store food for ourselves after a few short weeks. Our standard refrigerator freezer was no match for the stash.
Being the old-fashioned couple that we are, we agreed I would breastfeed. And being the ladder-climbing girl I was at the time, I didn’t plan to store away a “stash”.
The plan was I would negotiate a work from home situation with my company after my maternity leave ended. So, I didn’t think it would be necessary to have a stockpile of breast milk.
I also naively thought that a stash would only happen if I pumped. And for several reasons, I had no intentions of doing that either. At least not via electronic means.
The biggest reason was that our standard refrigerator/freezer combo didn’t seem practical since we’d just purchased 1/8th of a cow. Not to mention the other food items we keep on hand.
Spoiler alert: Almost nothing went according to plan…
Not quite 3 months later, we were overrun with breastmilk.
With nothing but my trusty Hakkaa (a manual breast pump) catching let-downs, I built a stash of over 1400 oz.
Completely unplanned. But now we had to get creative and move to Plan B.
But we’d come across the concept of freeze drying at home before. So I started reading blog posts & Reddit threads, articles & website service pages to understand our options. And just what freeze drying was (compared to dehydrating or any other method).
So, can you even buy a freeze dryer for home use? Yes. Yes, you can.
While there are commercial and pharmaceutical grade freeze dryers, there are also home-use freeze dryers too. They differ in cost, of course but also in size & function.
Home Use
Suitable for everyday use by homesteaders, campers & FTMs too. Units vary in size & can process 6-27lbs of food per batch.
Commercial
Larger in size & capable of processing 65-90lb of food in one batch. Excellent for entrepreneurs, businesses & women like me with lots of kitchen shenanigans.
Pharmaceutical
Ideal for herbalists & those looking to preserve other organic compounds. Very fine process control settings & capable of handling 1-2.7 Gal per load.
My research on freeze dryers happened long before we considered purchasing one for the breastmilk. But as things go, life happened and it got moved to the back burner.
I knew there were many benefits to owning one. But the price tag didn’t make the most sense at the time. So, the plan was to revisit the purchase later down the line.
Now I’ll just stop here to say – if you’re considering buying a freeze dryer of any size/level, but it’s not in the budget you can work around having one. A temporary fix is keeping food frozen but adding freezer space with a small chest freezer.
The benefits of buying a freeze dryer for home use
This equipment is a pretty unique piece of machinery. Buying a freeze dryer for home use has so many options beyond simply preserving garden (or market) abundance.
The majority of home uses I saw at the time were people using the units to preserve what they grew themselves. More use it to freeze dry leftovers from batch meal preps as MRE meals.
They can be used for survival if needed or things like hiking and camping trips. I even discovered a subset of people using their machines to freeze dry candy.
Nowadays you’ll find lots of people making their own supplements too!
Freeze dryers are great because the finished product is a shelf-stable food that keeps for 10-25+ years when stored properly that is. So it’s a dream for having exotic fruits or avocados year round. Emergency supplies at the ready.
Freeze-dried food is so lightweight too. Because the process removes all of the water content, food tends to be airy while flavors are concentrated. This means it takes less space to store than home-canned food for instance.
When you freeze dry food like produce items, you also don’t have to rely on electricity any more! No more playing Tetris with your freezer space. And no more sorry-looking, fungus-growing berries in the fridge.
But we weren’t growing food. And yeah – I was stocking up at markets, but I also strategically prep meals so there aren’t tons of leftovers. Meaning I didn’t feel the cost justified the purchase at the time. Nonetheless, we started saving for one.
As milk increased, I moved all the table food to the freezer door – the only place I wasn’t going to store the breastmilk.
Taking more and more of the shelving real estate for more (and more) 6-oz filled Lansinoh breastmilk storage baggies.
It was only a few days later that I realized it didn’t matter how quickly we ate the rest of the food. Milk was going to explode out of the freezer before anything else.
Why not just use the milk to feed baby?
Well, primarily because we weren’t ready to switch to bottles. Even three years later, I am (and was then) a feed-on-demand mama.
Although we discussed it, my husband didn’t feel a need to bond through feeding yet. So, he supported me in other ways on our breastfeeding journey.
We used some for breastmilk baths a few times. But there wasn’t much way to quickly use up so much milk that didn’t feel like a complete waste. So, we circled back to purchasing a freeze dryer.
Plus, I’ve always wanted to keep some on hand for life’s “what-ifs”. Breastmilk has amazing healing properties & I’ve even heard of it coming in clutch for siblings born too early.
But who am I tellin’? If you’re reading this, you likely already know these things & that’s why you’re trying to preserve breastmilk too!
The plan was to use the freeze dryer at home to process the breastmilk into shelf-stable powder. Our own homemade baby formula.
And with the state of events in the world in 2022, I’m grateful we had the opportunity.
Our desire to live a self-sufficient life didn’t end because of children. In fact, it intensified.
Before our son was born, we heavily discussed infant feeding. We considered and created a plan for all the outcomes of breastfeeding we could think of.
“What if my supply isn’t sufficient?” “What if we can’t support breastfeeding 100% for as long as we planned?” And even, “what if I’m not able to work from home?”
But is it cheaper to freeze dry your own food? Or breastmilk in this case.
When researching freeze dryer home uses, I honestly didn’t find too many people freeze drying their own breastmilk. That’s likely because there are companies to do that for them.
So, I compared some services with freeze drying my own breastmilk at home. The results were astounding.
| Provider | Cost for 1200 oz (Feb.) | Cost for 1400 oz (Apr.) |
|---|---|---|
| Service #1 (Booby Food, CAN) | $2730 | $3085 |
| Service #2 (Milkify, USA) | $2290 | $2615 |
| At home processing | $2975 (includes storage bags/absorbers) | — |
We weighed the pros and cons. For instance, Booby Food required I purchase my own shipping supplies including dry ice but Milkify provided everything. Both services offered discounted shipping, but the shipping costs were still expensive considering it would have to be overnighted. And in the case of Booby Food, it would mean shipping international for me.
Perhaps the biggest downside was the order backlog. Both sites wouldn’t accept my order until up to 4 months after I’d already reached freezer capacity. That only meant more milk to process and more money on provider services.
Although donating to milk banks is also an option, we did not fully pursue it at the time. My primary intention was finding a solution that would enable us to keep the breastmilk for my baby in case he needed it down the road.
The possibility of freeze drying my breastmilk at home became the best option for us after considering the cost and effort.
Besides, having a unit would be helpful for other food related things and increase our self-sufficiency that much more.
And that’s why we purchased a Harvest Right freeze dryer.
But you can imagine my horror when I discovered there was an 8-10 week delay on receipt! That meant delivery wouldn’t be until mid-April. We couldn’t store two more months’ worth of milk but we were committed this avenue.
I returned to my onsite job after maternity leave ended for one day in March. That was the first time my baby had ever eaten apart from me & I was nervous he wouldn’t take a bottle because of any differences in nipples.
On the basis of more research, we had purchased Comotomo nipples before the birth because they were said to be compatible with our mason jars as baby bottles.
I also thought there was a chance he wouldn’t like the defrosted milk because of potential lipase issues. And let me just say, you could definitely smell the metallic-y scent in my milk when defrosted!!
So I fed him before I left & walked out the door. Sure enough, at his mid-morning feed my husband called me.
My baby wasn’t taking the bottle (probably due to a terrible metallic flavor from the lipase). Thankfully, I had freshly expressed milk in the fridge from our last feeding earlier that morning.
With that subbed out, my baby did ok feeding from the bottle. I was home by dinner time and he seamlessly returned to breastfeeding without hesitation.
I didn’t go back onsite after that. In fact, that one day onsite was also when I turned in my resignation. They let me finish out my two weeks from home.
So, milk kept piling up in the freezer. And by mid-April, I was desperate to start freeze drying, but our unit still had not arrived. And now, it was late.
By the time it came (only about a week later than expected), we had amassed a little more than 1400 oz. of milk. And there was only a handful of hodge podge items in our freezer door.
We were no longer buying any groceries that required freezing because there just wasn’t any space to put it. Things I usually stock up on and freeze began to dwindle also.
If you’re on the fence & wondering if freeze dryers are worth it, I’d say yes.
The week we received our freeze dryer unit, we tested it and began processing batches of milk. Each batch converted ~120 oz of frozen milk into a beautiful powder on average in about 40 hours (sometimes more).
The amount of time it takes to process a batch of anything depends on several factors:
- State of the item – whether frozen, liquid or solid. If not already pre-frozen, this will add time to the batch. (It typically takes my unit 12hrs to freeze liquids, less for solids.)
- Temperature of the environment – these units operate best in cool, dark areas where they do not have to work against heat (or the sun) to cool, freeze & dry foods. If your unit sits in a hot, humid area (like an un-insulated garage), it will likely alarm & take longer to process.
- The amount & spacing of food – the more food, the longer to process (generally). Likewise, food should be spaced out nicely. If the trays are crowded, it will take longer to process too.
Once it was successfully dried, I pulsed the dried breastmilk powder in our food processor to break it up into fine powder. I stopped using that method now to not denature the proteins further. Now I just use my hands to crush it inside a silicone bag.
But I store ready-to-use portions in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and seal them with the impulse sealer that came with our freeze dryer.
Labeled and stored in a 5-gallon bucket, we’ve been able to extend the use of nutritious breastmilk. We’ve also recouped our freezer space! Just in time for our local farms butchering season.
The freeze dryer unit is a big financial investment, but has a small learning curve. This part of our journey started as one couple fighting against a newborn and new-Mom’s body for freezer space. But now the possibilities are endless.
Is this a move we would likely have gotten around to? Yes.
Do I regret having sped up the process though? Not at all.
We regained some balance now that we have a freeze dryer. And for that I’m extremely thankful.
I’m also glad it’s not as noisy as I feared considering the small space and paper-thin walls of an aging city apartment!
Maybe you’re unsure if buying high priced machinery is right for you. And that’s a valid concern. But if you’re in a position to make that kind of move, consider it an investment in yourself, your family and your future. This experience was crazy for sure! But, now that we’re on the other side of it, the possibilities are really endless.
But I realize that everyone isn’t able to jump to from standard freezer to home-use freeze dryer. And that’s ok. If you’re in this position, consider purchasing a small chest freezer or an upright freezer if you have the space.
Either would serve the same purpose of preserving your breastmilk until you found other uses for it. And the bill on that would be significantly cheaper!
Wow Baby Traditional is eating good! I’m enjoying your journey. It is apartment now, but many acres in the future for you all. Wish you the best!
Thank you so much! I appreciate the support.
How cool! Another great use for a freeze dryer!
Thanks for the post!
Thank you for sharing. Where did you purchase the dry freezer?
We purchased our Harvest Right home freeze dryer from Tractor Supply although the Harvest Right company may price match if you find a better deal elsewhere.
How do you reconstitute your breast milk? What’s the ratio?
Reconstituting is a bit of a math game, but it goes like this. If I freeze dry 6 oz of milk into 2oz of powder, to reconstitute, I add enough water to get it back up to 6oz. You may also choose to do this by weight. If the 6oz of liquid milk was actually 3 servings worth for baby, then the 2oz of powder needs to be cut in thirds (and this is when having a kitchen scale is helpful). Then I’d add water to the 0.67oz of powdered milk to get up to 2oz of reconstituted milk. However, once my baby is weaned, I’m not very concerned about “overfeeding” so I eyeball any of my freeze dried breastmilk into the dishes. Just a few dashes of the powdered milk into smoothies, oatmeal & even veggie purees and neither of my toddlers ever seems to notice.
What were your settings for freeze drying? And do you have any tips to make it successful? I’m currently working on a batch right now and not sure if I’ve done it right. So nervous.
I lowered the dry time temp to 90 degrees F so because I didn’t want to cook the breastmilk. Shooting for keeping it similar to normal body temperature but accounting for a potential rise in temp from my unit. (This wasn’t actually as much a factor as I anticipated.) Occasionally I had to increase the extra dry time, but generally the dry time was set to 8 hours & that worked for me. If your environment is hotter, your unit will not be able to keep temps cool enough during the freezing stage, this is why many people have their units in a basement or temp controlled garage.
Do you have a recipe of sorts anywhere for your specific process for freeze drying breast milk? How do you take safety precautions to make sure the milk is safe when reconstituted?
Once fully dried after the freeze drying process, I store the powder in mylar bags with Oxygen absorbers & heat seal them shut. Because they are stored in such small bags (vs storing them in glass jars or larger Mylar bags like 1gal or larger), I can monitor various bags by site. The bags I use for storing breastmilk have windows so I can visibly see if anything goes bad. While this is not something I do for other foods (because exposure to light can cause deterioration faster), I value knowing immediately if any batch of milk has been spoiled. When reconstituted, I only reconstitute what should reasonably be consumed in 1 sitting & use immediately. Any not consumed is used for baths. I don’t hold on to it.
Can I get a link to your favorite Mylar bags you use?
And any tips you have on how much to put in one bag for a single serving?
Thanks for this article!!
I used these Mini Mylar bags with window to store my freeze dried breastmilk in the past. The only downside to them (long-term) is that the window on the bag would cause deterioration quicker than if you use bags that don’t have windows. Hence why I keep them in 5-gal buckets in a dark closet/area when not in use. I’ll be using the Wallaby Mylar Small Pouches going forward although they’re slightly larger because I feel confident in my process that I don’t need a window anymore. (You can get a discount using that link on the Wallaby website with my affiliate code: CLAIRE5). I use Wallaby for everything these days.
For single-use servings, you’d need to do some math but it can be simple. (Keep note of the number of servings in the amount of milk you plan to process for later. In this example, let’s say you’re freeze drying enough ounces to make 8 bottles of milk. Whatever size bottles is irrelevant at this point, the gist is you’re processing enough milk to make 8 single servings).
Take the weight of what you start with. Once processed fully, take the weight of the freeze dried breastmilk. Subtract the finished weight from the starting weight to get the amount of water lost. That water loss amount is what you need to add to reconstitute the entirety of that specific batch.
Having those 3 values, divide the finished dried breastmilk weight into those 8 servings we’re working off of. Transfer that amount to each Mylar bag. Divide the amount of water lost by 8 & note it on the mylar bag. This is the amount of water needed to reconstitute a single serving.
You can make single servings for like on the go this way. But I like filling my bags which usually gets me a couple bottles for itty bitty babies (so the whole bag usually just lasts the day). As baby gets bigger & takes less but bigger sized bottles, I end up using more bags of milk per day.
I deeply enjoy your story and learned so much but I’d love to learn more about the process of how to freeze dry. I have some frozen Breastmilk that’s eventually going to reach its expiration and I’d love to preserve it. Can I just stick it in already frozen?
Yes, if it’s already pre-frozen, you can add this to your freeze drying machine. You do not need to defrost it first. Depending on the freeze drying model you have, it will likely detect that the items are already frozen & will shortly jump to the drying stage. Starting with pre-frozen foods (of any kind) save time on processing!
I’m searching all over the internet for what settings to use in my freeze dryer during this process. Do you hAve recommendations on how to do it? Time, temp, etc? Thank you!
I recommend lowering the temp settings for drying to keep from overheating the milk (& destroying ALL the beneficial, sensitive properties). If you can program your machine to 97-98F. As for time, this will vary by batch because the unit is affected by the surrounding conditions. If your machine is in a main area (like ours was in the apartment), incoming sunlight & warmer temps during summer can cause it to have longer run times. Keeping the freeze dryer somewhere cooler will help it not work too hard & you’ll have shorter run times. Run times also depend on whether you start with pre-frozen or liquid milk. In general, when the machine has to do the freezing this adds 12-16hrs to the run time.
Great article. Wondering how much your freeze drier is and how big it is ? What else do you freeze dry? Unfortunately I never have enough milk to dry or patience to pump 😉
That’s ok! Everyone’s breastfeeding journey is as unique as our babies. ☺️ Our unit was ~$2800 I believe with freight & all (in 2022) & it’s not much bigger than a college dorm room fridge I think. We now use it for freeze drying bone broth, raw milk, fruits (perfect for snacks), leftovers & whole meals, meats, veggies & herbs too! Pretty much everything at this point.
This is a great idea!
Does the freeze dryer HAVE to be an industrial or heavy duty one? There are a few options available on Amazon and was wondering if those would work for those who do not have the budget for a 2k worth freeze dryer.
That’s a great question. I haven’t looked into those but be certain it’s a freeze dryer & not a dehydrator. But for the sake of anyone else reading this comment too – a dehydrator is NOT the same as a freeze dryer.
You should make sure the unit is capable of achieving the right temperature settings (which I think is the most important part for keeping the nature of the breastmilk intact). And consider the warranty, maintenance & any reviews too. Freeze dryers aren’t a cheap piece of equipment ahahah so I get why anyone would look for alternatives. Consider community-sharing with other family members or a neighbor or two. It makes it more affordable that way. In fact, there may already be someone in your community with one or considering buying one – ask around!
Also look around at local home improvement stores (Tractor Supply, Home Depot, etc.). At the time, we purchased ours through TSC. Even big box stores like Costco – they supposedly have starting appearing there. I stand by Harvest Right of course, but one other thought is to track sales. Harvest Right usually has a Black Friday sale in November & occasionally a spring sale too. They’re currently running a summer sale (Jun2025) which makes the small unit less than 2k. Best to you on your journey!