First a little basic science -- from online sources: "At pressures less than 0.00604 atm, therefore, ice does not melt to a liquid as the temperature increases; the solid sublimes directly to water vapor. Sublimation of water at low temperature and pressure can be used to “freeze-dry” foods and beverages. The food or beverage is first cooled to subzero temperatures and placed in a container in which the pressure is maintained below 0.00604 atm. Then, as the temperature is increased, the water sublimes, leaving the dehydrated food (such as that used by backpackers or astronauts) or the powdered beverage (as with freeze-dried coffee)." The partial pressure of water vapor in the atmosphere is about 4.3 mm Hg at the freezing point. To evaporate, it has to barely exceed the atmospheric pressure of 760mm Hg. To do this, either reduce the pressure, or increase the temperature....or add other substances that can evaporate and contribute the rest of the pressure needed. This is where dry ice comes in. It will sublimate (i.e. -- go from solid to gas without first becoming liquid) at -78.5 C. A stream of CO2 flowing over a fixed source of ice will allow the water to sublimate. The key is to have the CO2 "flow." This is where a vacuum with discharge to atmosphere comes in, or a "sink" for the water, such as a dessicant. Clearly, a small blower will not come anywhere close to procucing a suitable low-pressure: It needs to be a pretty good vacuum. Even then, if the source of the CO2 is dry ice, you will need an awful lot of it. You can see why. Divide 760 mm Hg (total pressure) by 4.3 mm Hg and get the ratio 177:1. So if you have 0.1 lb-mole of water in the food (1.8 lb), you need 17,7 lb-mole of dry ice (779 lb). Alternatively, if you have a frost-free refrigerator, you can freeze the food and let the refrigerator do the rest. It will sweep atmospheric air over the food, drawing moisture from it in equilibrium with what is in the air. After a few MONTHS the water in the food will likely all sublime. If you have ever put a tray of water in the freezer, and left it, you would come back to find the tray empty, or mostly so. You can spend your money on freeze-dried foods made by someone else, you can run the refrigerator for months and pay the electric bill, you can buy dry ice and a decent vacuum pump (with other equipment), or you can do air drying or home canning. For emergency foods with long shelf-life and break-resistant containers, commercial freeze-dried foods are the way to go. For everything else, home canning and air drying is cost-effective and pretty healthful. As to the vitamins lost in processig, take supplements separately. By the way, these home vacuum sealers? Yes, they remove oxygen in the air that can otherwise react with food causing flavor and nutrient changes. They don't appreciably change the amount of water so if there are spoilage organisms (there usually are!) that can survive low temperatures in the absence of oxygen (anarobic bacteria), they will continue to grow. One "trick" I've taught is to take steel wool -- maybe a cigarette-sized twist -- and wrap it in a coffee filter. Put it in with the mostly dry food to be preserved, in a very tightly sealed container. The steel wool will react with the water and oxygen inside the container forming rust. The filter paper contains the rust particles so it doesn't mix with the food. As the water and oxygen react, the inside pressure drops. You can see this in a flexible container as it appears "squished." CO2 will not be removed, nor will nitogen or other fixed gases. Since all organisms appear to need SOME water, and that has been converted to hydrated iron oxide, this shouldn't be a problem

I was also sure I wanted the Bosch until I got on this forum and decided for me I wouldn't like it. I called my sister in law as she just got a new Bosch and she didn't like it either. Her complaint was after each load she had to open the door and let it dry. I decided to go with the KA no disposal and heated dry if you chose to use it. I haven't got it yet so not sure how it works. Check on this forum for all the comments on the Bosch and see if for your needs it works.

My MIL used to arrive at our house by airplane with a big tote bag full of food, all of which had been solidly frozen when she left the house more than 6 hours before she arrived at ours. It was all still frozen, so we always transferred it to our freezer! (It used to irritate the bejeebers out of my FIL, to go onto a plane with a tote bag full of food. I guess the security personnel would always chuckle and say something like, "Don't like airline food, eh?") DonnaR/CA

Lukkiirish, the problems with your cats was not due to wet feeding. Dry food is made to shatter IF the cat bites down on it. Of course, when it does, it's nothing but mealy grit that easily lodges in the gingiva. This leads to periodontitis, resorption, and other painful conditions. The only way to care for cat teeth at home is to brush them. Your claim that dry food is good for feline oral health is no different to claiming that eating saltines will clean your own teeth. If you know the anatomy of a cat's mouth, you can see that there are no chewing surfaces, ie., the molars are high on the outside and low on the inside near the tongue. This facilitates shearing action, which, rather than chewing, is what a cat's mouth is evolved to do. Chewing animals have flatter molar surfaces, so that food can be kept in place for chewing. Imagine the action of a mortar and pestle. The tool is designed to hold stuff in place for grinding. That's what your teeth are made for. Cat teeth are shaped to provide a scissor-like action. So, on that alone, you can understand why dry food is useless for feline oral health. Next, dry food is by nature very high in carbohydrates. It must be, since the plant matter is needed to glue the meat meal grit into kibbles. If you're reading labels, good-but if you're not translating them, then you have no idea what you're feeding your cats. Any claims on dry food labels of "50% protein" are utter hogwash. Firstly, any plant matter that is useful protein in any other animal feeds is also considered useful protein in cat food, despite the fact that cats cannot utilise plant protein. You need to know how much animal protein is in the mix, and manufacturers are not always going to tell you that if you call them. Secondly, you need to calculate dry weight to get a grasp of how much of ANY protein is in the mix. If you're lucky enough to get facts from the manufacturer, then you still do the maths. The best dry food on the market is probably less than 20% animal protein, which is grossly insufficient for obligate carnivores. Then you need to consider that cats are not particularly interested in drinking water. Everyone claims that "my cat drinks plenty of water!" But no one can tell you how much water "plenty" is! A cat's natural diet is prey, which is about 70%-80% water. So is wet food! Dry food? Under 10% water. Cats will drink, but are not thirst-driven, so are unable to know if they're getting enough water to function. The dry-fed cat will walk away from the water dish long before it has consumed sufficient water. As a result, dry-fed cats have undue strain on kidney function, digestion, urinary function, and who knows what else because they are always dehydrated. Dry-fed cats are also far more likely to be obese and to develop diabetes and hypertension. Oh, and let's not forget how many dry-fed cats end up with an excess of urinary crystals or even blockages! This is almost always due to dry feeding, which leads to concentrated, alkaline urine. Cats need the sufficiency of wet food fluid intake in order to reduce urine's concentration and to flush out crystals. The higher animal protein in wet food helps to maintain appropriate urine acidity. Another interesting thing is that so many people are completely hoodwinked by the"grain-free" movement! It doesn't matter! Grain-free does NOT equate carbohydrate-free! Grains are often primary suspects in food allergies. The grain-free bandwagon needs to be halted for the sake of our cats. Grain-free dry foods contain as much carbohydrate as do grained foods. You'll frequently see claims that cats in the wild will eat the stomach contents of their prey, but this is not fact. Cats are not keen on stomach acids needed for plant breakdown and carefully avoid eating any part of prey digestive tracts. I suppose that laboratory cats who are only fed digestive tracts will consume them in hope of avoiding starvation, but not cats in more normal surroundings. Lastly, I'm always hearing from people who claim to have cats who were dry-fed only, and lived to be 32 and never had a problem. Well, genetics can make some cats lucky enough to slip past troubles, but these are very much the minority. I also suspect that some of the owners were lying about the cats' longevity, or the cats had outdoors access so supplemented their dry food with nice juicy prey. It is also likely that the cats were never taken to the vet so any problems they may have had were never diagnosed. It's like the centenarian who, when asked the secret to his long life, answers " booze, cigars, and unrestrained sex!". Does that mean that EVERYONE should live like that in order to become a centenarian? Of course not. I see no problem with using dry food in place of cat treats. It's less expensive. Ten to twenty pieces of dry food in a day are amazing as training rewards. But there is no real benefit to dry feeding.