This evening the current load (raspberries and eggs) will be done . . probably about 4 p.m. It will take a couple hours for the freeze dryer to defrost and then I’ll load it up and get started again.
Bananas
I bought bananas at Aldi. I’m still learning how much of anything it takes to fill the freeze dryer and I never want to run it unless it’s full. I think I had about 15 bananas. They aren’t the best but they were the end of what was left on the shelf at Aldi and they didn’t have any more and I didn’t want to go all the way into town.
There are four trays in the freeze dryer and I can put down a layer of food, place a piece of parchment paper on top and place another layer. So, with four trays, I can actually get 8 trays worth of food if I double layer it. For things that are taller (meat loaf, lasagna, etc.), I can only use one layer because technically, the food isn’t supposed to be taller than the shelves.
These 15 bananas only filled three layers so I could have used about three times as many bananas as I had! That’s a lot of bananas.
To fill the freeze dryer, I sliced up all the frozen storebought cheesecake I had.
Cheesecake
The cheesecake took up three layers so that, along with the bananas, filled three trays.
Zucchini
My plan for the zucchini was to slice it and sprinkle it with Ranch Dressing popcorn salt and some with cajun spices so we could eat it like chips. I didn’t want the spices to migrate or the odor be absorbed by the bananas and cheesecake. Ranch Dressing flavored cheesecake sounds worse to me than the Maple Bacon Coffee!
So, I sliced enough zucchini to fill two layers and left it plain. I’ll just use it for cooking and can season it then.
All that will go into the freeze dryer tonight. It’s all sliced, on the trays and in the freezer waiting for a turn in the freeze dryer.
dezertsuz says
I’ll be interested to see if any of that flavors something else.
Swooze says
I know you’re trying new things right now but I’m curious what your goals are. Do you want to get enough food freeze dried that would cover a certain period of time? Where are you storing everything?
Joyce says
This time of year Trader Joe’s has dried okra snack. They are so yummy I could eat the whole bag in one sitting. Last year I tried dehydrating some on my regular dehydrator, but they shrank, and were not nearly as good. I imagine they probably freeze dry theirs. My okra is still producing quite a bit. I kind of wish I had access to a freeze dryer so I could try some that way. I don’t think I would use a freeze dryer enough to justify the cost, but it would be fun to play with one a little.