Blue Alpine Medium Select

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The Blue Alpine Medium Select is a medium home freeze dryer with 5 trays and a published batch capacity of 12.5 lb of fresh food. It ships with an oil-sealed vacuum pump. The base tier of Blue Alpine's medium cabinet, built in Idaho around five quarter-sheet-pan trays and sold with the Premium oil pump in the box; the same cabinet with a touchscreen and per-shelf sensing is the Medium Elite. At 12.5 lb per batch it sits 5th-smallest of the 20 home units here that publish a batch figure, where the median is 20 lb.

Batch: 12.5 lb
Trays: 5
Pump: Oil
Approx. price: ~$3,095

Best for

A first freeze dryer on an ordinary kitchen circuit

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Specifications

Manufacturer-published figures, read from bluealpinefreezedryers.com. Rows marked est. are arithmetic on those figures; energy at $0.17/kWh, the 2025 US residential average.

Batch capacity: 12.5 lb
Trays: 5
Tray size: 9″ × 13″
Tray area est.: 585 sq in
Per tray est.: 2.5 lb
Pump: Oil
Voltage: 110 V
Circuit amps: 15 A
Power draw: 1,560 W
Energy per batch est.: 25.0 kWh · $4.24
Cycle time: 12–20 h
Dimensions: 20″ W × 21″ D × 30″ H
Weight: 110 lb
Touchscreen: No
Wi-Fi app: No
Smart sensing: No
Colors: Midnight Black, Sky Blue, Blazing Orange, Alps White, Forest Green, Orchid Lavender, Tropical Teal, Berry Pink
Warranty: 1 year full warranty; 3 years on refrigeration system; vacuum pump 1 year
Country of origin: USA
Approx. price: ~$3,095
Price per lb of batch est.: ~$248 / lb

Power draw is the maker’s peak, per manufacturer ('13 Amps Maximum Power Draw (1560W max)'); average '9.0 Amps Average Power Draw (1080W average)'; '120V, 15A Breaker (Normal Wall Outlet)' figure.

Batch capacity: maker: 'Up to 15lbs of food per cycle with 10 lbs being a normal 24-hour cycle'; 10-15 lb range, midpoint recorded.

Features

5 trays
Oil pump
110 V
Under 20″ wide
Multiple colors
Made in USA

From the spec sheet

Points for and against, drawn from the published figures — not owner reports.

In its favour

Runs on a normal 15 A wall outlet — no dedicated circuit in the maker's spec
Trays are standard 9 × 13 quarter-sheet pans, so spares are a restaurant-supply item rather than a proprietary part
Maker publishes a 12–20 hour cycle range, the shortest of the home units here
Eight colour options at little or no extra cost
Three-year warranty on the refrigeration system

Against

No touchscreen or per-shelf sensing at this tier — that is the $600 Elite upgrade
The maker's 15 lb figure is a ceiling; its own copy calls 10 lb 'a normal 24-hour cycle'
Wi-Fi hardware is installed but the app was still in development when recorded
Oil pump: expect oil changes or filtering every few batches