A New Amazing Way To Preserve Your Garden Produce

 

For many years canning, freezing, dehydrating, smoking and fermenting have been effective ways of preserving food  .....freezing being the most recent and best preserver of nutrients...until now that is! The process of Freeze Drying is the new kid on the block and can preserve food for much longer periods of time than the older methods.

 

 Commercially prepared freeze dried food can last up to 30 years retaining most of it's nutrition, color and flavor, as long as it is stored properly. Home freeze dried foods, stored in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, are said to last up to 25 years.

There are a growing number of companies that sell food already freeze dried and sell them for convenience and emergency storage. I started out by buying the commercial products which are often very good and amazingly shelf stable for years... but it can get quite expensive. 

 

After a couple of years of using this commercial freeze dried food I thought about my fairly large garden and how having my own freeze dryer at home would be very practical. We decided to buy the medium size freeze dryer and so far I am not sorry that we did.

 

If you are interested in preserving food while saving freezer space and retaining the most nutrition and flavor over any other preservation method, freeze drying your food is something you may want to consider. Buying bulk foods on sale, supporting local farmers, or stocking up with your own garden produce and then freeze drying it is very practical, especially considering that we may have future food shortages. 

 

A centralized food system is not a good idea. Just one glitch in the system can cause a disastrous outcome. Our ancestors always stocked up for obvious reasons. To be somewhat self sufficient helps to allay fear during pandemics, trucking strikes, food shortages, weather disasters, job loss, etc.

 

The types of food that can be freeze dried at home are almost endless....and it is so much fun experimenting. You can freeze dry meats, dairy (even ice cream), eggs, vegetables, fruit, and whole meals and desserts. You can also freeze dry herbs but I find that dehydrating the herbs is more efficient.

 

Some of the foods I have freeze dried so far are my garden spinach, squash chips, yogurt, peaches, pineapple, frozen mixed berries, blueberries, chicken, turkey, chopped tomatoes, string beans, sliced roast beef, and different types of shredded cheese.

 

 I have yet to freeze dry whole meals, however, I am on a FB freeze drying group where people talk about freeze drying left over lasagna, chili, soup, taco filling, scalloped potatoes, and chicken fettuccine....and lots more. There is a little bit of a learning curve but joining freeze drying groups is very helpful so one can avoid certain mistakes and share fun ideas. Here are just a couple of photos featuring the foods I have preserved by freeze drying.

String Beans and Chopped Tomatoes From The Garden

These Are The Mylar Bags With Added Oxygen Absorbers That I Store The Freeze Dried Food In

Large Bags of Frozen Blueberries and Mixed Veggies From Costco

Cooked New Zealand Spinach From the Garden and Peaches From A Local Orchard

If you notice in the photos above, the food retains its shape and color, unlike dehydrated food. Buying a freeze dryer is not the cheapest way to preserve food but I am finding  our machine to be a very good investment. Just knowing that if the power goes out, much of my stored food will be safe for a long time...up to 25 years.

 

 This method of preservation frees up freezer space and allows you to choose the quality of your food and the ingredients that make up your freeze dried meals. It's amazing how most foods, when rehydrated taste just as fresh as when they were fresh! Many of the foods such as flavored yogurt bites, fruits and cheeses, flavored veggie chips, etc are delicious as snacks in their freeze dried state. As I experiment with more foods I will share what works great and what doesn't.

Learn More About Harvestright Freeze Dryers Here