Potatoes are one of the things I had not yet tried to freeze dry but it seems that many people were doing them this year. I kept seeing blog posts and Facebook posts about freeze dried potatoes so I figured . . why not? We got those 10 pound bags of potatoes for $2 each from Food 4 Less so I didn’t have a lot to lose. Most of the people who had already tried them said they preferred to use them as mashed potatoes.
I used peeled and cut up 10 pounds of potatoes, blanched them, spread them out on the freeze dryer trays, stuck them in the freezer til it was their turn in the freeze dryer.
I realized I had not taken a picture of the potatoes and had already put them on the shelf so you can see one of my freeze dried food shelves. From 10 pounds of potatoes, I filled two half gallon jars and a little over half of a quart jar. I read online that it takes 1/3 to 1/2 pound of potatoes per person. That seems like a lot but maybe not. So, if Vince and I were both eating mashed potatoes, 1 pound of potatoes is probably what I should cook so from what’s in those jars, I should get enough to fix 20 servings. Just looking at the jars, and thinking about the pile of potatoes I peel, and cut up to make mashed potatoes for the two of us I’m thinking 10 servings would be pushing it but we’ll see.
This year I will play around with them and see if we really like them. If we do, I’ll get them when I can and freeze dry more next year.
On the shelf, there’s Vidalia onions, then frozen mixed veggies, then celery. I keep bags of storebought frozen mixed veggies and when I have a spot in the freezer dryer that isn’t full, I throw in the contents of a bag or two of mixed veggies. I have a medium freeze dryer, which is four trays. When I got to the last batch of onions, I only had enough to fill three trays so I added two bags of frozen veggies. It takes two bags to fill one tray.
In the winter, when I’m making soups and stews, if I don’t have frozen veggies in the freezer, I can dump in half a jar or so of freeze dried veggies and they will be perfect!
Joyce says
My mother’s rule on potatoes (for mashed potatoes) was always 1 potato per person plus one for the pot. So if we were having mashed potatoes, for the 3 of us she would cook 4 potatoes. It also depends on the size of the potatoes, and the appetite of the diners of course! If I’m fixing mashed potatoes for myself and I want to have leftovers to make potato pancakes the next day, I’ll cook 3 potatoes and it comes out about right.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s how I feel – always need leftovers for potato patties. I’m not so concerned about making sure we end up with just the right amount, but making sure there are leftovers. With potatoes being all over the scale when it comes to size, I just cook however many looks like enough to give us plenty and leave leftovers for another meal.