Teach Them To Grow Food: But Then They Don’t

January 6, 2023 Sarah

Thoughts from the prepper/self-sufficient corner of my mind.

When I look back at the year that has passed by, one thing that really saddens me was the time I spent in trying to get others to be better prepared. I had good intentions for sure, and I had many hopes about it. Last year at this time I was on a high about it. We were going to change our area locally, I truly believed.

But let us slide back in time to explain it, and how it all went.

It was mid-2021 and people were very nervous about supply chains (which are even worse now) and inflation was just starting up. Our island has been a flaming dumpster fire since March of 2020, While other areas of the United States have no supply chain issues, our grocery stores are constantly barely stocked. Barren shelves are the norm for us, going into the 3rd year. Prices go up weekly. We are not average for sure.

Knowing many people who are similar in mind locally, a small group of us set out to help others grow food. Not by doing it for them, but rather educating them. All of us had experience in growing food, working in agriculture and other similar backgrounds.

As part of the group, I worked on monthly what to do lists, who to buy seeds from, and very detailed methods of when to plant, what to plant, and how much to plant. I hosted a well attended seed swap, with people excitedly chatting about their garden plans come spring and summer of 2022.

We had so many people say they wanted to grow food. They showed up. They took flyers, took seeds, and listened. They talked.

And then the majority did nothing.

I should not have been shocked though. I let my excitement get to me, and I wanted to believe that everyone would become (more) self-sufficient. That they would have the same level of drive as I and the other teachers do in planning and prepping. That they would take supply chains and inflation seriously. That they wanted to eat healthy, and have access to clean food.

Instead we got apathy and laziness.

For it was great to fantasize about, but in reality they “were too busy” to do it. They lost their excitement quickly.

I knew that partly this came out of the year we had in 2022. For what boded to be a good year, turned hard after Tonga the volcano blew in early 2022. It left us with a long winter, no spring and an early cold summer. Days were dark, with the UV Index low. It was just….darker than normal. It reminded me of when I was 7 and the winter after Mt. St. Helens blew upriver from us.

Tonga definitely had a hand in how hard it was to grow food last year. It was a very trying year, but I learned new ways and methods – and shared them. Like how to deal when you can’t plant your tomatoes till mid June outside!

I was in some ways very sad because I had opened up what I do to people – and they saw how we did our work. Coming from a prepper background this left me nervous in ways. The people who didn’t want to do the work, they knew where food was growing. But I also realized that in the end, that was OK, as we have run our farm/homestead rather openly.

But there was a light in it all. A few stuck with it. And those people really stuck to it. They worked hard. So very hard. They asked questions, looked for advice, and worked daily on it. And it wasn’t the people you expected it to be either. One was a retiree who uses a walker. Who only has a small patio to grow on. Yet, they grew food on it! They cared enough and had the drive to do it.

This year even the library system got into promoting homesteading and gardening. Someone pays attention at the end of the day.

This year we started again, but I have to admit I am very jaded over it. It’s hard to give energy to people who take, but then squander that energy. For I know my energy is better given to my land, to my crops, to my animals.

But then….my fortune cookie told me I should. I found it interesting how dialed in that advice was.

But I will continue to teach, because maybe 1 or 2 will listen, they will learn. And maybe will become better in it! And maybe 1 of them will join the teachers, and find their 1 person to teach.

Because as disappointing as it was, I won’t give up.

Because this is my motto. It is what I live by.

Seeds are everything. They hold your future. Treasure them. Grow them.

~Sarah

Prepping

Prepper Viewpoint: The Power Outage Kitchen

November 27, 2022November 10, 2024 Sarah

A few weeks back Western Washington State had the first big windstorm of the fall season. And you’d think that these never happen – most people seem to have no memory of how it happens every single year, in October or November. As with every year, all the dead or damaged trees came crashing down in late fall, and dawn brought some real carnage to deal with. Then the cleaning starts, and assessments on what needs to be done. And most likely, no power.

Being that we live on an island, repair work takes time (which is something that you start noticing that some cannot handle that it will take days for recovery). In particular this storm cut the island in half, in the narrowest section of the island so many trees came down the state highway was closed for nearly 2 days as crews worked around the clock to get the highway back open.

We were out for 3 days, which for me was not horrible. When it hits a week, that is when it sucks. My first winter on the island was the 1989/1990 winter, and it was bad. We lived in a tiny shack, between the 2 transmission lines that come over from the mainland and watched the massive poles fall from the sky, wondering if one would land on us. That was a bad storm. This recent storm….wasn’t that bad. We had about 20 trees go down, but thankfully none landed on anything but on other trees, and one part of our chicken coop fencing (but it didn’t break thankfully). Although I do realize it comes down to perspective on if a storm is bad. For many people even an hour without power is scary and overwhelming.

And December nearly always brings a power outage as well.

One can angrily shout at PSE (Puget Sound Energy) for incompetence, but the truth is…it’s an island. The power lines won’t be buried, and our island is covered in tall evergreen trees that will come down. Instead, we should work on our prepping. We need to look at these storms/events as a way to work on being able to get by. Take what works, note it, and expand on it. And if one chooses to live rural, they must accept the bitter pill that you will be last in line, long after the urban areas are repaired. It’s on us to be prepared.

The day after the storm I encountered a young family, who were not used to storms/losing power. They lived in an apartment. No running water, no toilets, no way to heat water. Most homes don’t have gas cook tops anymore (which you can light with a match or lighter when the power is out). They had come out to the one coffee shop that has a massive solar array on the roof….and a hidden generator, and the place becomes insane as so many show up to charge phones, use their laptops (because the building is owned by the local telecom company it has wi-fi that still operates). It can get mean in there, with limited ability for everyone to charge stuff, but also so many just wanting a hot drink, or a hot breakfast sandwich. I only showed up because I was bored and wanted to check my email/messages (the tower near us dies within 2 hours of no power).

But back to the family. They had a young child and no way to feed the child with what they had on hand. I had to break it to them they’d need to toss the deli meat, and possibly all their frozen meat soon. As I said, they had no way to get hot water, much less to cook all that frozen meat (and just feed the apartment building outside!). So I chatted with them to give them ideas for the next power outage that was extended.

The biggest issues I see in extended power outages are:

Lack of power
Lack of water (directly related to to power because many homes are on wells)
Lack of functioning bathrooms
Lack of heat
Lack of fuel
Lack of communications (cell phone towers go down within hours unless they have a generator, no internet – T-Mobile brings in generators often 2 days out)
The inability to heat water or make food

I could go into depth on all of the above, but today I will talk about being able to heat water and cook food. For if you can do that, you will be far happier. You can wash your hands and faces with warm water, make hot drinks and have a warm dinner. And not once open your refrigerator or freezer (every time you open it, you are quickly cutting down how long it will stay in the safe zone).

Building a kitchen for power outages, in what you need on hand for gear:

Small camping stove that is reliable
A 2 burner stove can be more attractive to some, as it sits low to the ground and has built in wind protection.
Fuel canisters (Find at Wal-Mart, sporting good stores like Cabelas, REI or hardware stores) (have at least 4 on hand at all times, tall ones are not necessarily better, the lower ones are more stable)
Fuel can stabilizer (this allows you to use wider pots with less risk of knocking anything over)
Matches (Keep plenty on hand, store in a plastic bag or container to keep dry)
Lighter (long handled is easiest/safer to use)
Pot set (sized for backpacking or camping, while I don’t use nonstick at home, it is far easier for emergencies if it is for cleaning up. A 1.5 Liter and 2 Liter pot set are usually good enough for a family up to 4, a 3 Liter pot will allow more room for big soups and cooking pasta.)
A small hiker’s tea kettle
Disposable utensils (forks, spoons and knives – look for compostable brands) or wooden sets (they burn)
Disposable paper bowls, small plates and large plates
Disposable hot cups
Plastic cups for drinking (ones with lids mean less spills if you have kids or are known for being clutzy)
Paper towels
Garbage bags (both kitchen trash bag size and grocery store size)
Disposable gloves (food grade) (If you wear gloves, you cut down your chances of making others sick quite a bit)
Baby wipes, unscented, for cleaning hands and faces
Clorox wipes, for sanitizing counters and the hands of the cook
Bottled water (1 gallon per person, for at least 3 days worth, cycle through it periodically)
First Aid Kit. Need not be big, but it’s good to have stuff for cuts, burns and similar.
Source of light that is safe: A flashlight or lantern that doesn’t get burning hot when you use it. Use candles only under direct supervision! Point the flashlight above you and put it above your head for more light. Headlamps suck because you tend to blind your family if they are helping. Keep the headlamps for other duties.

With these items, you have the ability to get going and not be as miserable.

Basic Safety Thoughts:

The #1 reason people get sick during power outages related to food is….unwashed hands. And the gross part is it’s under the fingernails that is the worst offender. It’s the same when you hike/camp.
Keep it to one chef. Control how many hands are in the mix. Just say no to cute kids in this case. Don’t let anyone stick their hands in communal bags like chips, candy, jerky. That’s how you get sick.
Wash your hands with foaming soap/wate,r if you can, after using the bathroom. Always. And before handling food.
Go one step farther and use a Clorox wipe to clean your hands, and get under your nails. Don’t be shy. Hand sanitizer doesn’t do much of anything, the wipes rather, they use friction to get it off. Similar to hand washing. I hand wash, and wipe. Or wear gloves.
When using ANY gas powered stove, be it your cooktop in your kitchen or a portable stove, you MUST have ventilation. Our house is propane run, and we have a propane stove. But in power outages, I always open the window next to the stove, cold be damned.
When you use a small portable stove, you should be doing it outside. Please. Do. It. Outside. In a sheltered area, of course – even a porch or under your front door will work. Do not use them inside unless you have no other choice, and then, it better be by an open window. Ventilation is everything. NEVER USE THEM INSIDE WITHOUT PROPER VENTILATION.

Onto the Prepper Pantry:

If you plan it out, you can eat full meals with no refrigeration needed. It doesn’t have to be a 5 gallon tub of Mountain House meals you bought at Costco that no one wants to eat. Nor do you need to live on energy bars. You can have hot meals with minimal cooking.

If you can produce a hot drink in the morning (and again in the evening a few hours before bed), people just tend to be happier. They get warm twice – from drinking the hot drink, and holding the warm cup.

When thinking out meals, try to plan everyone eats the same thing. That just makes cleanup a lot easier. Then you only get one pot dirty. Pro-tip? As soon as you are done with the pot you cook in, wipe it out with paper towels, getting any oil left out. In nonstick pans this is far easier. You can boil water in it to sanitize it. You don’t need soap if you remove any food before. I don’t use nonstick at home, but I sure do for emergency cooking. The cast iron that we use 99% of the time gets ignored when I cannot wash dishes properly.

Things to have on hand?

Instant Rice
Precooked and dehydrated pasta
Instant couscous
Stuffing mix
Freeze-dried and dehydrated meat, beans, vegetables and fruits.
Dry cheese powders/freeze-dried cheese
Jerky
Crunchy cheese crisps
Crackers
Canned or in pouch chicken, beef, tuna and salmon
Canned food such as beans, vegetables and fruit
Olive and avocado oil
Instant espresso powder
Hot cocoa, chai mix, tea bags
Powdered milk and other dairy like sour cream and butter powders
Freeze-dried eggs
Powdered drink mixes (be it sugar free or full sugar, having lemonade, fruit punch, etc improves moods)

Sources:

We use Amazon to buy freeze-dried ingredients, that we don’t freeze-dry ourselves. Amazon carries many ingredients that are freeze-dried for easy cooking.

The grocery store. Just go wander a store and look for things that only require water added. Don’t be shy. Buy 4 serving packets of instant mashed potatoes, stuffing mix, and instant rice. Single-serving cups of instant cup of noodles (yes, we all know it’s a crap food, but whatever, it’s not like you eat it daily! Don’t be a food snob), ramen, couscous (the tiny type, not the big Israel type), powdered soup packets (these you can add canned veggies to to make a bigger batch of soup). Look for single-serving packets of oils, nut butter, and pretty much anything that is shelf stable (for example, you will sometimes find cheese that doesn’t need to be chilled with “Refrigerate after opening” on it, but it’s sold in the cheese area cold. Always read the fine print!)

Amazon – Augason Farms and NutriStore are both good brands to start with, for ingredients used in recipes.

Learn to dehydrate your ingredients. You can do quite a bit at home and have stock year-round.

Recipes:

On Never Free Farm, Pantry Staples is a mix of recipes, where many are good for planning.

As is “Long Term Meal Storage” which has lots of recipes designed to be prepped dry before hand, and sealed in mason jars. Also see “Instant Mug Meals“.

Think how easy it would be if you had a box of mason jars where you could offer Deluxe Hamburger, Beef Fajitas, Italian Chicken and more – and all you needed was boiling water. You can even cook the meals in the mason jars and serve them that way (after eating, wipe out with a paper towel, put the lid on, and pray you get water soon to clean them 😉 )

Visit our sister site, TrailCooking. The page, Freezer Bag Cooking Recipes, is what you want. These recipes only need hot water added and 10 to 15 minutes to wait. You can prepare them in a freezer bag, a small pot, an insulated mug, or a bowl—you have options. Also, see “no cook” for more ideas.

Deluxe Hamburger is a really good meal – serve it in a bowl, or on tortillas. It’s got lots of protein to keep you happy.

Prepping doesn’t have to be over whelming. At all. Every step you take, is one step more ahead you are. It means you are taken care of in emergencies and one less family the government must help. It means you can stay home and stay safe, instead of going out to try to find food. It means you can help neighbors – especially those with young children or the elderly – if they have nothing “Hey, we have a little extra, was thinking maybe you could use a hot drink or food? Need to clean up?”

Don’t put it off. Start today!

~Sarah

Freeze Drying · Prepping · Preserving · Recipes

Freeze-Drying versus Dehydrating: Frozen Peas and Corn

November 16, 2022 Sarah

We have been running comparisons with Freeze-Drying versus Dehydrating with various ingredients, to see what the outcome is. This has meant that we are running both our Harvest Right freeze-dryer and our dehydrator running nearly non-stop of late. We have the large size Harvest Right freeze-dryer for reference.

This post is on drying frozen petite peas and sweet corn. Both are blanched, so pre-cooked. It’s as easy as taking a bag out of the freezer and processing it. No hard work doing any prep this time.

Freeze-dried on the left, dehydrated on the right.

Dehydrated on the left, freeze-dried on the right.

Now then….what is the actual difference between dehydrating it, versus freeze-drying it? In each method I weighed out the frozen product in both ounces/pounds and grams, measured it in cups, and then after cooking it, and then after it was dried.

Dehydrating Frozen Green Peas:

Frozen weight – 16 ounces / 454 grams
Frozen measurement – 3¾ cups
Dehydrated weight – 3.2 ounces / 90 grams
Dehydrated measurement – ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp

Placed on 3 dehydrator trays, dried at 153° for about 4 hours, till fully dry. Let cool on counter, then weighed and packaged up.

Freeze-drying Frozen Green Peas:

Frozen weight – 16 ounces / 454 grams
Frozen measurement – 3¾ cups
Dehydrated weight – 2.9 ounces / 82 grams
Dehydrated measurement – 2¼ cups freeze-dried

Place frozen on freeze-dryer trays, lined with silicone mats. Put into the machine, which was set on the pre-freeze mode. Took 18 hours 36 minutes to run batch. Processed immediately upon being done, into glass mason jar and sealed to remove air.

Dehydrating Frozen Corn:

Frozen weight – 16 ounces / 454 grams
Frozen measurement – 3 cups
Dehydrated weight – 4.9 ounces / 137 grams
Dehydrated measurement – 1¼ cups

Placed on 3 dehydrator trays, dried at 153° for about 4 hours, till fully dry. Let cool on counter, then weighed and packaged up.

Freeze-drying Frozen Corn:

Frozen weight – 16 ounces / 454 grams
Frozen measurement – 3 cups
Dehydrated weight – 4 ounces / 113 grams
Dehydrated measurement – 2 cups freeze-dried

Rehydrating:

We broke down the weight to what was ¼ pound when fresh. This way it was equal even though the size of the product wasn’t. We weighed by grams, converted to ounces, and then measured in a dry measuring cup.

Freeze-dried on the left, dehydrated on the right. As you can see, the dehydrated is much smaller in appearance. The color gets more intense as well.

However, you can only eat the freeze-dried in a dry state. The dehydrated needs to be soaked to be edible.

Freeze-dried on the left, dehydrated on the right.

Each item was weighed and measured out into a bowl. I covered each item with boiled water, stirred it, and covered it for 10 minutes. Checked for visual appearance, and taste/texture. Then let sit for another 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes.

Dehydrated Peas – 1.2 ounces dry equals 4 ounces fresh.
Freeze-dried Peas – 0.7 ounces dry equals 4 ounces fresh.
Dehydrated Corn – 1.2 ounces dry equals 4 ounces fresh.
Freeze-dried Corn – 1.0 ounce dry equals 4 ounces fresh.

Dehydrated left, freeze-dried right.

Both were tasty, but the dehydrated had some issues. About half the peas were perfect looking, but others were still small, as if their cells had collapsed. Still tasty, but would shine best in a soup.

Dehydrated left, freeze-dried right.

The freeze-dried are plump and look no different than before they were dried. The dehydrated though, have the look of dent corn, and while they taste good, they are just too chewy.

The Takeaway:

Dehydrating is the fastest way.
Dehydrating is the cheapest way.
Dehydrating frozen (cooked) vegetables leaves the final product very small. In the case of the peas, nearly 3 cups of water was dehydrated away.
The color of dehydrated gets more intense than freeze-dried (which often the color becomes very light when dry).
Freeze-drying preserves the size of the vegetable. It will be usually about the same size as when frozen.
Freeze-dried allows immediate eating, as a crunchy snack.
Dehydrating requires soaking to be edible for vegetables.
Freeze-dried rehydrated 1/3 faster than dehydrated.
The texture of both the peas and corn when dehydrated is “leathery”. This has always been an issue as long as people have been drying food for the outdoors and storage. When I first started writing backpacking recipes long ago, green peas were one of the few splurges I did for freeze-dried. If the dehydrated food isn’t fully hydrated, your stomach will grind on it. It’s why I use dehydrated veggies usually only in soups and stews, where it has a long time to plump up.
For long-term storage, if properly sealed, freeze-dried can last up to 25 years. Dehydrated is 1 to 2 years for storage. It will often become tougher and harder to rehydrate as it ages.

The Winner:

Freeze-drying wins with frozen vegetables. Yes, it is not the cheapest, nor the fastest method. But it produces a far superior product. Eating freeze-dried green peas is a real treat. They are crunchy, airy, and sweet as can be. They can be enjoyed as a snack, and as an ingredient in so many meals.

FTC Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that give us commissions on products purchased. These items are what we used in the recipe/method above.

~Sarah

Freeze Drying · Prepping · Preserving · Recipes

Freeze-Drying versus Dehydrating: Egg Noodles

November 15, 2022 Sarah

One of the things you cannot buy easily (even online) is “instant pasta” – outside of using ramen noodles and small couscous. Neither of these are a 1:1 substitute for actual pasta. You know it isn’t the same when you go to eat it, no matter how much the PR for couscous will tell you “It’s pasta!”. Enjoy ramen and couscous in recipes for them, and have fun prepping and storing “instant” pasta for your recipes. It’s FBC (Freezer Bag Cooking) friendly and saves a lot of time cooking on trail, no large pot needed, no messy starchy water that boils over, and as well, you use a lot less water making your meal (if you are cooking for 2 people a 2 liter pot is a must, and so is using 6 cups of water for uncooked pasta). Just boil water, soak the pre-cooked pasta and you are good to go.

You can add these “instant” noodles to soups and they will rehydrate in the broth (great if you have a too thin soup!) or soak in hot water and add to recipes. Both methods of dehydrating and freeze-drying will produce a similar product in the end.

1 pound of uncooked raw extra wide egg noodles. Bought in bulk at a US Foods Chef’s Store (used to be known as Cash & Carry), which is a restaurant supply store. We buy the noodles in 10 pound boxes. They also sell them in 5 pound bags.

– And let me say this: If you have a child who is a picky eater or has sensory issues with food, and they live off of buttered noodles with 4 shakes of Parmesan cheese, I highly encourage you to have a LOT of this in your prepper pantry. Anytime you have an emergency (power outage, weather, earthquake, and so on) the stress level of children gets bad. If you can serve them food that is a comfort food, so much the better. Happy children leads to parents with a lot less anxiety to deal with.

Now then….what is the actual difference between dehydrating it, versus freeze-drying it? In each method I weighed out the uncooked product in both ounces/pounds and grams, and then after cooking it, and then after it was dried, as well as before rehydrating and after it.

For best results cook the pasta for the shortest time on the package. Make sure you rinse the cooked pasta very well, with cold tap water, shaking it well while doing it. You want to remove the starch off of it and to stop the cooking. The pasta will finish cooking upon rehydration.

Work quickly and don’t let the cooked pasta sit in the colander longer than needed, as it will start clumping up. Wearing disposable gloves (food grade) helps you break up clumps quickly, and keeps the food clean. No sticking to your fingers.

A small digital scale was used for the weighing.

Dehydrating Egg Noodles:

Dry uncooked weight – 16 ounces / 454 grams
Cooked and drained – 2.26 pounds / 980 grams
Dehydrated weight – 13.8 ounces / 391 grams

Boiled large pot unsalted water, cooked extra wide egg noodles for 6 minutes (shortest time on package). Drained, and rinsed well with cold water, shaking off well.

Placed on 3 dehydrator trays, dried at 153° for about 6 hours, till fully dry. Let cool on counter, then weighed and packaged up.

Rehydration:

1 cup dried noodles ( 1.5 ounces/ 43 grams)

Add 1 cup boiling water, cover and let rehydrate for 15 minutes.

Rehydrated weight: 3.9 ounces/ 109 grams

Rehydrated and ready to eat.

Freeze-drying Egg Noodles:

Dry uncooked weight – 16 ounces / 454 grams
Cooked and drained – 2.23 pounds / 972 grams
Dehydrated weight – 13.2 ounces / 375 grams

Boiled large pot unsalted water, cooked extra wide egg noodles for 6 minutes (shortest time on package). Drained, and rinsed well with cold water, shaking off well.

Spread out onto 2 parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheets in a single layer, froze fully in freezer.

Transferred to freeze-dryer trays, lined with the silicone mats you can add (or use parchment paper cut to fit). Put into the machine, which was set on the pre-freeze mode.

Freeze-drying time was 18 hours 36 minutes for the run (we also did peas and corn alongside).

Rehydration:

1 cup freeze-dried noodles ( 3 ounces / 34 grams)

Add 1 cup boiling water, cover and let rehydrate for 10 to 15 minutes.

Rehydrated weight: 3 ounces / 85 grams

Rehydrated and ready to eat.

Side by side. Dehydrated on the left, freeze-dried on the right.

The Takeaway:

Both methods produced a usable and good quality product.
Both are perfectly tasty, and both rehydrate great.
The dehydrator wins in time, in just a third of the time of the freeze-dryer.
Weight-wise the freeze-dried wins by just .4 of an ounce.
Size-wise though, the dehydrated takes up a lot less room. The freeze-dried pasta is full size. So if space is a concern, then dehydrated wins.
The freeze-dried does rehydrate quicker. It only needed 10 minutes (I checked and tasted both at 10 minutes in). The dehydrated really needed all 15 minutes (though you could soak and add to a meal, such as chicken noodle soup, and it would continue rehydrating).
The freeze-dried noodles can be dropped right in a soup with no presoaking and will rehydrate quickly in a boiling broth. The dehydrated ones need to be presoaked.
The freeze-dried noodles are lighter in color and have a different texture when in dry state. They would be far easier to crush than the dehydrated ones.
If properly stored, the freeze-dried noodles can be stored for up to 25 years (sealed air tight). The dehydrated should be used up within 1-2 years max.

Is There A Winner?

That’s a hard one to quantify, to be honest. Both are good, in their own way. I would say the freeze-dried egg noodles come back in appearance and chew of the freshly cooked the best. But in this case, it’s still pretty close in who wins.

For many, it will come down to cost – a dehydrator is affordable compared to a freeze-dryer. It also takes a lot less space.

But what can I say…a home freeze-dryer is just so much fun.

FTC Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that give us commissions on products purchased. These items are what we used in the recipe/method above.

~Sarah

Freeze Drying · Homesteading · Prepping · Preserving

We Bought A Freeze-Dryer For Our Homestead

November 14, 2022April 11, 2024 Sarah

When at home Harvest Right freeze-dryer units started showing up a few years back I really questioned if it was worth buying one. I’d think to myself “for the initial cost we could buy a lot of already freeze-dried food“. I said that over and over.

I wasn’t wrong though for thinking that. A freeze-dryer is an actual investment. It’s not like buying a dehydrator for your counter, where you might spend $65 to $500 dollars. Instead, to get a freeze-dryer unit, it is thousands of dollars. That might sound like a humble brag, and it’s not meant to be one. We saved up, using money the business made, to invest into it. But even with that, it was hard for me to sign off on getting it. Dropping nearly $4,000 is a lot of money (we bought an extra set trays, tray covers for the freezer and silicone liners for the trays. Then you add in extra oil, oxygen absorbers, mylar bags….and you really start wondering if it was the right choice!)

A couple months ago, after a very long wait (we ordered right when they were backed up with orders), our machine showed up. We purchased the Large unit, knowing we would easily fill all the trays to run a batch.

Now here’s something to ponder. The units are not small. They come very well packed. We live rural, on a country road. This particular FedEx driver would not back up our long driveway (many 18 wheelers have to drop off farm equipment). It was good we had a tractor with fork lift tines, as Kirk had to get it off the back of the truck and take it up the road. If you live in town, they dump the pallet the unit is on in your driveway. You will need a couple helpers to get it into your garage or house. Especially if it is raining. So keep that in mind when they call you for delivery.

Finally we got it set up. If you buy the Small or Medium unit, it’s a simple plug into the wall and go. The Large unit requires 110 volt (NEMA 5-20) outlet and a dedicated 20 amp circuit is required. For us, this came down to Kirk having time to install that on the panel. If you are not handy with that, you will need to get an electrician out to do it. So the smaller sizes will be far friendlier for those who don’t want to mess around.

We had to run an update before starting (the update has the fabled candy setting).

They suggest you do a first run of bread or something cheap. Ironically I had found chopped fresh broccoli that week, and it was cheaper to use that than bread. This first run you toss. Then the gates are wide open.

A suggestion though: Don’t jump into the deep end. Learn the basics first. We did a lot of fresh vegetables, trying to get the homestead harvest processed.

For these we didn’t pre-freeze. We let the machine do the work. It takes a lot less time if it goes in pre-frozen. We hadn’t gotten the tray covers yet – I HIGHLY recommend them. Then you can stack the filled trays in the freezer and be ready to go. This changed our efficiency.

Freeze-dried broccoli.

The computer screen walks you through.

Close-up of the products freezing.

It’s done. Or at least you hope it is. Sometimes it has to go back in for a bit longer, but most times the machine senses it right.

We do our research online for each new item, and look at what others are saying about dry times, does it need more time from the start. Usually we hedge it’ll be 24 hours or more for a batch to go through. Candy as noted down below goes quickly, and is only a couple of hours.

How do we store our freeze-dried food after it is finished?

We split it up.

Some of it will fill 1 quart mason jar, wide mouth preferably. We add an oxygen absorber to each jar. Then we vacuum seal the jars to ensure it stays fresh (see below for the sealer we use).

The rest we pack into mylar bags with an oxygen absorber, then we seal the bags using an Avid Armor Ultra Series Model USV32 Chamber Vacuum Sealer.

Carrots, these were sliced thin.

Sliced green bell peppers.

Now where it gets really easy is finding frozen vegetables on sales. We can get 5 pound bags for around $5 at the restaurant supply store. Frozen vegetables are blanched, so pre-cooked. Spread on thickly, and pop in frozen. It takes minutes to do.

And the product is exactly the same as the ones you buy commercially freeze-dried. We did petite sweet peas, which are so good to just munch on.

Sweet corn, blanched and frozen.

Long green beans, blanched and frozen.

Tri-colored carrots cut on the bias, these were blanched and frozen.

For fresh we freeze-dried many cherry tomatoes. Opinion is split on this. There are some who argue about the seeds (because yes, seeds can hamper the drying process). We put them on for extra time at the start to combat this. They came out perfect and have not changed since.

Tucked away for storage.

Chopped green bell peppers. I found chopped was a better than sliced for packing up.

Mixed vegetables, blanched and frozen.

Egg noodles, for truly “instant” pasta. They just need water to soak in – you can throw them right into soup and are ready in a few minutes.

Precooked chicken strips.

Garlic cloves.

And yes, the fabled chewy candy. They are fun to do, to just watch the candies split in front of your eyes. Candy goes quickly as it isn’t frozen like other foods.

Gummy bears…while cool to do, I’d not again. You have to get them VERY dry or they collapse overnight and become sticky again. If dry though, they are freaky to eat as they are crunchy.