Freeze Drying Has Changed Our Lives! (Here's How) | Pantry Chat

Though you'll still find us canning, fermenting, dehydrating and preserving our foods in other ways, freeze-drying has quickly moved to the top of the list for my favorite preservation method. And for good reason! Here are the ten reasons why we love freeze-drying.

Links Mentioned:

0:00 - Introduction
1:43 - Chit Chat
12:28 - Mold-Free Coffee
15:47 - Main Topic

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[nancyplank]

I am in my 60s now and still garden and freeze dry the bounty so that when I am in my 80's, God Willing, I will be able to still enjoy my own garden produce from my freeze-dried foods!! Thank you so much Carolyn and Josh for all that you teach us and share with us. Y'all are the best, thank you and God bless you and your family!!

[shelleylee]

A freeze dryer is definitely a huge investment but having shelf-stable food in the future will be invaluable. I really appreciate your common-sense, balanced information. We are empty-nesters but I have continued to cook family-sized meals and freeze dry the leftovers! It will be wonderful in the future to be able to eat the nutritious home-cooked meals we have stored.

[evilina]

I love my freezer dryer! Stuck with ridiculous CA electric bills, but running the freeze dryer a few days a week is cheaper than running a fridge/ freezer 24/7. My only fail is freeze drying raw meats - the texture is less than ideal, so I stick to cooked foods with the meat in it. In addition to people food, I make homemade dog food, which I also give them dry as crunchy treats. When my pups hear the lid on the Mason jar open, they all come to attention! It's a huge saving as quality dog food is going for about $80 for 34 pounds here and freeze dried treats sell for about $10-15 for a 12 oz bag.
Thank you for sharing your hearth, heart, and home with so many of us! God bless!

[carriebeard-R.I.T.S]

Yes! Water system video please. Especially on how you drain the lines so they don't freeze.

[jo]

I blend my tomatoes in a blender, never peel tomatoes. 26 plants gave me 110 quarts. Took 3 days to process, but not at the same time. Did other things while the canner did it's job. 😊 Look forward to seeing the freezedrying video to come. 😂

[alamo]

Josh I hope you are right that freeze drying will become more common in the near future. I would love to have a freeze drier but they are currently too expensive for me to jusify with our overall needs and volume of preservation. Looking forward to these becoming more common and the price coming down!

[americanadorkus]

Oh my gosh, a freeze dryer would change our lives with 8 grandkids living with us, we are trying to teach them farm life and gardening while homeschooling.

[kathleenburns]

I love freeze drying our zuchinni! I freeze dry it then powder it for flour. We use that for non yeast things like pizza dough and noodles. It tastes great and saves us on how much flour we need to buy.

[judsonbrown]

Yes on the water system! I carry buckets 100 yds to the kennel in the cold months and need ideas on how to solve for this.

[chelseal]

I grew up canning and freezing, the freeze dryer was a no-brainer for me!

[jenniferschmitt]

My husband and I bought a harvest Right freeze dryer a few years ago. And we absolutely loved it! We used it pretty much nonstop for well over a year and preserved a ton of food however we had an issue with the freeze dryer and it was no longer working. We talked with harvest Right and they at least at the time did not have people who could come out and work on your machine. So they would send you videos or talk to you over the phone or email and you would have to be the one to take the machine apart and troubleshoot what was wrong. This is not in my wheelhouse. Although I did it I was paying for parts to come that turned out I didn't need and the machine still would not work. I have heard other people have the same issue. I'm not sure if harvest Right is a sponsor or if they work closely with you because of your videos but is there a solution for just the average Joe who has one of these machines and it does not work?

[jenharrell]

This was very interesting. Ive been saving up for a freeze dryer - this just cemented the thought that I really do need one!😊

[AdventuresofacityhomesteadTheM]

We grow a garden & have chickens but as a retired military family (my husband spent 38 yrs in the US Air Force) and I was for the most part a stay at home mom because of how much time he spent deployed we do not make enough in retirement enough money to buy one. I grow a big majority of our food and can it because my husband has some military disabilities and we started using more home grown food and are feeling much better heath wise for it.

[jenniferpepler]

As much as I love your channel, I just don't have time to watch every single video but do often catch up during the winter. So I apologize if you have indeed covered this, but could you do a few videos on how you use your freeze dried food? How to re hydrate them and cook with them? I would appreciate even just quick tutorials, doesn't have to be longer videos. Thanks for your input on this.

[melissavisconti]

I bought a freeze dryer it's set up I haven't started yet but very soon I'll be trying it. I am so excited for the book to come in I'm sure it'll be extremely helpful. I work full time and time is short for preservation

[celiahilbrand]

Good morning Josh and Caroline-
What hope the master class covers is, updating the settings on the FD- not only the food prep.
My other frustrations are reconstituting and STORAGE! How to organize all these Mylar bags! I speak for those who don’t have a dedicated space in our homes- and live in the south and do not have very many cool storage spaces- are attics and garages a viable option?
I find we do not use the FD as much as I thought we would because of the stated reasons and questions.

[FineFeatheredHomestead]

Way beyond most budgets. I agree they may decrease in cost and come out in smaller sizes through time. For the average family, there is no need, and yearning for one often leads to overspending and brief use, then leaving it next to the Peloton bike. Glad they are more available for large families and emergency supplies companies. Still, it's great you created a cook book for freeze-drying, since nobody really knows what to do with them, how to resolve problems or handle maintenance safely. That is a valuable asset for those who do use them.

[MK-tioo]

We've had 4 days in the high 30°s already this week here in NorCal in the high Sierra, it's definitely time to think about and plan for winter!

Edit, i should've said nights, those were our lows.

[LittleKi]

Costco just started selling freeze dryers. If I didn't already have a large, I'd buy one of the newer mediums through Costco. I have had mine for a full year now. It will EASILY have paid for itself in two years. My canning is down to pizza sauce, meat, stock, and a couple preserves and pickles, which are all legitimately good. Once you've made tomato soup from homegrown tomatoes, freeze dried it, powdered it, and then made an amazing mid-winter meal in five minutes by rehydrating it on the stove....you'll understand the value. The options for creativity are endless.

[tesshomestead]

Good info guys ❤❤ . I love my freeze dryer so much . Wish I had the room and money for another freeze dryer but I’m happy with what our Lord helped us get . Thank you Lord . Godbless you all