Freeze Drying Digest

[TJAnonymous]

My house will smell of garlic for days.

6 pints (R) of minced, uncured garlic. I used a new mincing tool, and the pieces are on the large side.

2 pints + 1 quart (L) garlic breadcrumbs - from the bread used to cover the garlic during freeze drying.

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Great idea! I didn't grow any garlic this past year because I didn't use it all the year before and it went bad. I'm definitely planting some this fall now that I have a freeze dryer!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm going to try to freeze dry some watermelon slices...

 

[Sally PB]

I'm going to try to freeze dry some watermelon slices...

Wow, that will be interesting to see what is left!

 

[Sammster]

I'm going to try to freeze dry some watermelon slices...

I've done watermelon balls. They work great! A bit sweet for me - but others who tried it really loved it! I bought another watermelon and will do some for them.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Starting the watermelon tonight. Didn't have time to pre-freeze it but I will be gone all day tomorrow so I'm hoping it takes a while anyway.

I also noticed a weird musty smell when I opened the door. I haven't used my freeze dryer in a few weeks. The last thing I did was sliced potatoes. Wondering if I should have re-cleaned it again.... Hoping it doesn't make my watermelon smell or taste funny.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Scratch that... The weird smell was making me paranoid. I canceled the process and put the trays in the deep freezer. I'll clean the freeze dryer again tomorrow night after I get back from Dallas and then start it again.

 

[Sally PB]

That's probably a good idea. Please post an "after" picture. I'm curious about what will be left of all that watermelon.

 

[WthrLady]

watermelon is 99% water, they'll be nothing lef, but very fragile foamy cubes LOL
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picked up some precooked, sliced sirloin at costco
It only takes about 36 hours to process, and boy, oh boy does it rehydrate well for reuse. A quick slice or two in sandwiches or egg burritos in the morning.
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I think I'll do up another batch of tomatoes here soon.
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FYI - for fun, two runs ago, I tossed in a handful of raisins. They do nothing in the FDer. They're already dried to nothing left but skin and sugar, with almost 0 moisture in them. And that's just how they come out.

 

[WthrLady]

Which reminded me. I picked up a package of FD tangerines (no skin) way back in October last year. They were so weird- almost flavorless and like little shards of glass making up each wedge.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Watermelon is finished. It's not bad... Very flavorful Styrofoam. I should have used parchment though because it is stuck to the pans.