For some reason, I thought the squash in the freeze dryer was going to be done this morning so I went over there about 6:15 this morning and it still had 10 hours remaining. Dang it . . I think I could have slept in this morning but I knew I needed to get the next load in the freeze dryer.
At 3:45, I stopped the freeze dryer to check the squash. You don’t normally think about squash having a lot of water in it but there was a ton of ice in the freeze dryer. I weighed the squash as I was putting it on the trays and knew that each tray held about 2 pounds of sliced squash. Each tray filled two quart jars so, according to my calculations, each quart jar has about 1 pound of squash.
By the time the freeze dryer defrosted and I changed the oil, it was after 7 before I got the next load going. Also, I had to shuck 24 ears of corn, the cut it off the cob so that took a while. There’s approximately 12 ears of corn (cut off the cob) on each tray. Two trays of corn and two trays of jackfruit.
My guess is that this will be ready either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. The jackfruit is pretty juicy so it may take longer. I set the amount of time for it to freeze – usually between 10 and 12 hours. I set the final dry time – usually 12 – 14 hours depending on the moisture content but there’s an initial dry cycle that the freeze dryer determines and I have no idea how it knows what to do. Based on my manual setting of 12 hours for freezing and 12 hours for final drying, that’s 24 hours. I’ve had things be done in 36 hours and I’ve had things go 50+ hours.
Next up:
- Cantaloupe – three large cantaloupes were cut up and are on trays in the freezer.
- Squash – There are four trays of squash in the freezer.
- Hatch Chile Peppers – Tomorrow Vince will roast those. We’ll peel them and remove the seeds, put them in jars and they’ll be the third load, which probably will not happen til next weekend.
Marilyn Smith says
Last year I bought fresh Hatch Green Chilies. We were disappointed with them. We roasted them on the BBQ, peeled and removed the seeds. Chopped some to freeze and froze some whole and used some fresh. They tasted no different than the Anaheim chilies we get here in CA. I use alot of Chilies in my cooking. I always use Poblano or Pasilla Chilies for my rellenos. Anaheims, I only use fresh and chopped. Use lots of Jalepenos and Serranos in my sauces and salsas. I did purchase two packages of hatch chilies driied. One mild and one hot. I also use Guajillo and other chiles that I reconstitute. Fresh are still our favorite.
dezertsuz says
That’s a lot more good food going into your storage. Yum!
Nelle Coursey says
You are soon going to have so much food freeze dried that you will not have to go into town for a long time except for some essentials! Good thinking on your part. I think that freeze dryer has already paid for itself!