Freeze Drying Digest

[WthrLady]

Btw, the freeze dried green beans are very good.... Very addictive.

Ya, if you like green beans

 

[Sally PB]

Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables! FD garlic/onion green beans...

 

[Sammster]

Eating them dry. Before freeze drying, I put them in a gallon ziploc bag with a small amount of olive oil, a 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of sea salt, and a 1/4 tsp black pepper. Shook it up really well, then spread out on the pans and popped into the FD. Ate a bunch because they are very addictive.... Kinda like Veggie Straws if you have ever had those. Stored the rest in a air tight container.

Ooo.... veggie straws are my favorite! Thanks, TJ!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Ooo.... veggie straws are my favorite! Thanks, TJ!

Just a tip... The younger and more tender the green bean, the more closely they resemble veggie straws. I had some that were getting old. They were still good but the more developed bean inside made for a crunchier result.

 

[Sammster]

Just a tip... The younger and more tender the green bean, the more closely they resemble veggie straws. I had some that were getting old. They were still good but the more developed bean inside made for a crunchier result.

Got it, thanks!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm officially annoyed...

I have a bunch of lemons from my harvest. Getting tired of making lemonade so I decided to freeze dry some lemon slices. Took nearly 2 days but finally managed. I need to pick up some moisture absorbers. For now I have them in mason jars with oxygen absorbers.

But that's not why I'm annoyed. I have 2 dozen lemons left to do something with... I was going to freeze dry the zest and juice. We do a lot of lemon pepper meats so DH likes to use my FD zest. However, these lemons simply DO NOT want to zest. I don't know why... Maybe the peels are too thin? I thought maybe it was because the peels were wet after washing. When I run them over the grater, none of the peel comes off. It's like the lemon just greases over the grater? Sometimes I can catch the grater but it just tears the peel - pith and all instead of actually grating.

I haven't had this problem when zesting before... I've tried 2 different graters and had the same problem with both.

 

[Minanora]

I'm officially annoyed...

I have a bunch of lemons from my harvest. Getting tired of making lemonade so I decided to freeze dry some lemon slices. Took nearly 2 days but finally managed. I need to pick up some moisture absorbers. For now I have them in mason jars with oxygen absorbers.

But that's not why I'm annoyed. I have 2 dozen lemons left to do something with... I was going to freeze dry the zest and juice. We do a lot of lemon pepper meats so DH likes to use my FD zest. However, these lemons simply DO NOT want to zest. I don't know why... Maybe the peels are too thin? I thought maybe it was because the peels were wet after washing. When I run them over the grater, none of the peel comes off. It's like the lemon just greases over the grater? Sometimes I can catch the grater but it just tears the peel - pith and all instead of actually grating.

I haven't had this problem when zesting before... I've tried 2 different graters and had the same problem with both.

Try a micro grater? You can also just peel the whole lemon. I do that a lot with my mom's Myers because there's so much oil in the rinds I use all of it instead of zesting. I just freeze dry the whole bits and crush them up later. Thin skins on these lemons.

Last week I freeze dried my home made refried beans. What a great investment!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Try a micro grater? You can also just peel the whole lemon. I do that a lot with my mom's Myers because there's so much oil in the rinds I use all of it instead of zesting. I just freeze dry the whole bits and crush them up later. Thin skins on these lemons.

Last week I freeze dried my home made refried beans. What a great investment!

I have a micro grater but am getting the same problem with it too. At this point, I think I'll follow your suggestion and just peel them. Maybe cut up the peels as best as I can.

I'm more interested in FD the juice but I hate wasting the peels by throwing them out.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Try a micro grater? You can also just peel the whole lemon. I do that a lot with my mom's Myers because there's so much oil in the rinds I use all of it instead of zesting. I just freeze dry the whole bits and crush them up later. Thin skins on these lemons.

Last week I freeze dried my home made refried beans. What a great investment!

BTW, THANK YOU!

After ditching the grater and deciding I'd just slice the peels, I discovered it was MUCH EASIER AND FASTER to simply scrape the inside with a spoon. Got all the pith out easily and actually had less waste than grating. I assume they were impossible to grate because the oil content in the peel was high.

Anyway freeze drying now. I can mash or cut them into smaller pieces afterwards.