Taste Testing Our Freeze Dried Food
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- We have lots of food that we have freeze dried that we have never taste tested to be sure it works the way we hope. In this video we do a taste test on several foods that we would likely take with us on the trail. Most worked great but we did have a couple of failures.
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Pam, With the avocados, I just powdered the dried slices, reconstitute and use it on avocado toast. The chunks actually reconstituted better with cold water. And also about the carrots, I blanch mine for 4 minutes in baking soda water. They stay very vibrant orange.
Great info❤️😇👵
I saw the same carrot info on a video and they turned out great.
That is exactly what I do and it turns out great!!
Don’t throw away the avocados! Powder them and rehydrate to a paste and make your guacamole.
What ratio of baking soda to water do you use?
With the vegetables that haven’t turned out great. I would powder them and use it to thicken soups and stews etc
That's a smart move,,, LoL 😆
How do you powder them?
I didn't read all of the comments, but my experience with FD frozen veggies is that they need to rehydrate while cooking / boiling. If you just rehydrate, they don't come back to an expected raw, crunchy state - but they work well in casseroles and soups. I've done cream of broccoli soup with my FD broccoli with success. My favorite FD foods that I use all the time are onions, bell peppers, eggs, ham chunks, browned hamburger and onions, and leftover casseroles and stews. Thanks for your videos.
The comments section here is so full of useful information. I hope people coming into this read thru everyone's statement. So many good ideas. Thank u all for sharing.
❤🏵
Yes, we love our community for exactly that reason! Thanks for contributing.
I powdered my freeze dried broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and squash and used the powder to create soup mixes that were pretty tasty. I added powdered milk, powdered cheese, some herbs and spices and the powdered veggies. Just a thought instead of dumping them.
Please keep doing your freeze dried food videos!
I am affiliated with Thrive Life Foods. They do not freeze dry carrots. They only dehydrate them. The reasoning is the color. Nobody wanted the off color carrots. I have found that the freeze dried chicken rehydrates almost instantly. Beef chunks took much longer.
I really appreciate this community for the helpful hints and thanks Pam n Jim for letting us see your results! Yay for food security.
I would love a few more videos testing results. 😊
I have freeze dried commercially frozen broccoli (Walmart brand in the bag) MANY times and it rehydrates PERFECTLY by pouring boiling water over it. I'm not sure what their process is prior to packaging but I PROMISE it is delicious!
I wonder if she blanched it before freeze drying it?
@@ddavis78ive made the mistake of just freezing raw broccoli from Costco UNBLANCHED & that was DISGUSTING! Blanching cruciferous is a must, apparently. Ive tried just freezing fresh Brussels sprouts with disappointing failure as well. The Sulphur compounds are strong and bitter if frozen and not blanched.
I always blanch
I got the jar sealer, and it is wonderful. I don't have a freezer dryer, but I still enjoy watching your demonstrations. We watch your videos often. Sometimes, I just let your videos play just to hear your voice. Like a familiar family member. 😊 Bless you both!
Some meats are best if left a few hours or overnight in the fridge. Don't dismiss the beef. I did lemon wedges and was able to squeeze out lemon juice which was awesome. Our guacamole turned out perfect, just like fresh. Glad you are showing this process.
I was very surprised by the veggies, byugrad13 had a very good idea about boiling them. I would absolutely love to see more of these types of videos. Thankyou so much for all of your time and effort you and Jim put into these videos, it is greatly appreciated.
I have freeze dried numerous bags of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn and green beans) and I've never had my carrots turn white. I'll have to try some of my fresh carrots when I harvest them.
Love your testing it really helps thank you.
I cook my broccoli and cauliflower and carrots before freeze drying. They turn out "ok.' Except the carrots. I have had NO luck freeze drying carrots in any form. They all turn white and smell/taste like a chemical dump. We have "reconstitute Monday's' at our house to actually use some of what we store. (And we'ren not allowed to repeat a food for 4 weeks minimum.) Thanks for your videos!
I love your plan for Mondays! I might borrow that one!! Thanks for sharing. And I have had about the same luck with carrots. I now just use either frozen or my home canned carrots.
I made chicken noodle soup with sliced carrots. I peeled them and sliced them. The soup was amazing!! The carrots were delicious and held their color beautifully. The mix sat for about 3 or for days before putting into the FD. So im curious if setting in that salty broth was a preservative of sorts. It was not overly salty just tasty! Also the noodles were good too. I munched on it dry off and on as well. Just a thought.
I have done frozen broccoli by itself, and then just put it in a sauce pan with water and heated it like I was making fresh broccoli. It was awesome!
This was a very informative video. I wonder if the mixed vegetable can be put through a blender to make a powder and be used for creamy soups!
I was going to suggest the same thing!
Were they cooked before freeze drying?
THANK YOU for this. I've been freeze drying about a year and this video made me realize I need to test what I have already freeze dried so as not to keep doing something that doesn't work! Yes, I would love to see you test taste other items you have freeze dried.
Glad it was helpful! We will do more.
Avocados often become bitter at high heat. I ruined my first batch of avocados. They were disgustingly bitter! I turned my freeze dryer drying temperature down and the next batch, after a rough blend and rehydrated with salsa and a little water, was delish!
Please don't dump the food you don't feel worked well. Sometimes it is the way you try to rehydrate the food. Maybe it needs cold water or just a damp environment over night or something else. Also, You can grind it down to powder and use it in soups, stews, eggs whatever you want more nutrients in. They also work as thickeners I even bake with it like zucchini flour. I don't eat avocados so can't say about them but I would think you could do the same and turn it into guac or flavor salad dressing like a green goddess. Please do not waste all that good food and work. Best of the Best!
Great idea.
Very useful info. The taste/texture of the rehydrated/reconstituted product is VERY important .would love to see more.
Thank you--will do.
I hope you put the sirloin gravy into the blender or processor & emulsify to use as smooth gravy!
What a wonderful gift...vacuum sealer. I have one...love it...thank you for once again a wonderful video
So glad you enjoyed it!
"Yuckamole" 😂 Made my day!
We are challenging ourselves to include freeze dried foods into meals every other day 😋.
Great video! I would love to see an additional video of reconstituting. I would turn the Avocados and the broccoli mix into powder and use it that way. No need to toss it out!
I like to use my lemons in tea and water.
Thanks for the suggestion.
You could powder the vegetables for vegetable broth
Would love to see you try other foods from your shelves. I am fascinated with the idea of freeze drying food, but have never seen anyone else on the internet actually use it after it’s been dried. So helpful! Especially like the guacamole idea as avocados are so hard to catch at their peak. It would be great to be able to rehydrate guacamole whenever we would like some.
We will do more. I was thrilled to find out our guacamole worked so well with freeze drying!
correct me if I am wrong, but I thought if it was cooked, reconstitute with hot water, if it's uncooked, reconstitute with cold water.
I heard that too
Yes I would love to see more of this!
Couldn't you use the broccoli in cream of broccoli soup? You are actually eating only blanched broccoli if you just rehydrate it and eat it without cooking it. Wouldn't it be like taking a piece of frozen broccoli and defrosting it and eating it? I rehydrate my broccoli by cooking it in water, drain and add salt and pepper and butter. It's not like fresh steamed broccoli. But still good.
Yep. You're correct
I hope you’ll do more of this kinda video . Very helpful . Just got my freeze dryer I’m so new I wanna learn more .
Thank you 💕
Broccoli is wonderful! I cut them into little florets. I have made broccoli cheese soup, added to casseroles, and even added to the marinade on a stir fry. i only use them to cook with. Odd that you carrots turned white. I Julianne mine and they are orange.
I reconstituted my meats in broth or watered down steak sauce and it was wonderful! I have heard that the veggies need to be blanched. I do blanch my potatoes because they turn black if I don't. I will try the other veggies to see how they work blanched.
I would pressure cook the London broil to get it tender and then make your gravy and freeze dry it. That way you'll get tender chunks of meat.
I agree with the other commenter's about powdering your mixed veggies fail to add to soups and stews. Same with the avocados. Powder them to make more instant guacamole.
I'm glad that you showed us this video, it is nice to learn about how foods react to the freeze drying process. I hope to get one some day. Perhaps when my dad's estate finally finishes with probate. It's been a very long process that's been going on for over 2 years.
I have had the same issue with my carrots turning white and won't FD any more carrots. And similar outcome with FD beef stroganoff. We used our car oven and even 4 hours of rehydration under warmth gave us a cross between cooked and beef Jerky chunks. Such a disappointing dinner on the road! We decided ground beef is probably a better way to go with FD rather than beef chunks, sadly! Thanks for the video!
Rose we reconstute the veggies is in cold water. we did not blanch the veggies before dehydrating . works quite well. I use my I fd Avocados and I use the avocados in cold water not everything needs to have hot water. Lemons i freeze dried lemonsin cold water dehydrate as is. my son freeze dried carrots after smoking them.
Yes Pam, I would love to see you test the freeze dried food that you put up so we can all see how it turns out. Thank you very much always following you and Jim.
Ok will do!
I would love to see you freeze dry chicken breasts, chili, fruits like peaches, apples, berries… Thank you for doing these videos. I just ordered a freeze drier yesterday and I’m so excited to use it.
I have videos on some of those--check the freeze dry playlist. Nothing is easier than peaches--peel, slice, process--nothing special to do. So happy for you getting a new freeze dryer! They are wonderful!
@@trailgrazers3690 I don't think anything is better than fdd peaches eaten right off the tray!
This video was VERY helpful. Great information - so thank you. I am curious about the possibility for the broccoli and cauliflower. We absolutely adore our purees as a side dish. (butternut squash being our favorite but broccoli and cauliflower are close seconds.) I'm wondering if you could make the purees and then bring them back to life. (like the guacamole comparison to the avocado) Just in case you get adventurous, just know that with broccoli puree you have to add a small cooked white(ish) potato to the puree to get the right texture. (just in case you didn't know) We like the cauliflower light and airy with no tater, but we know plenty of people who add the tater. Just a thought. Love y'all. Keep cooking :)
With the Normandy blend you made, if it wasn't cooked before you freeze dried it then maybe do like the sirloin and put it in a pan on the stove and actually cook the veggies not just rehydrate them. Going forward maybe you can pre cook them some and freeze dry them and then be able to just rehydrate them.
So so happy to see this video. Thank you both for doing this. It was so helpful..I have a pantry full of freezer dried ‘stuff’, and much of it, I am uncertain of… I did pea and ham soup, which tasted really weird once reconstituted??? No idea why ??? We use ham bones to make ours, so, maybe too much fat in the bones??? I would love to see a second video. Thank you
You can powder the avocado slices and make a green salsa.
That might work.
I also wasted tons of avocadoes in freeze drying - mine had such a metallic taste but the guacamole was very nice. Lots of money just gone - now Caroline at Homsteading Family twists limes over her slices and says it's good - but I'm not wasting my time - guacamole only. I find that in freeze drying I cut all meat 1/4" or so so that it all rehydrates the same time as the rest.
Sounds great! I am with you on only doing guacamole!
Yes loved the video and you always make me laugh and always informative .
Thank you so much.
So glad you did this video. I’m wanting a freeze dryer but always wonder if the food will be good. You have helped me make a decision on getting a FD. Thanks for your info and caring enough about others and their knowledge
Hi Pam/Jim
The comments reflect what I would try with veg and avocado. I would use your high speed blender and make a powder... The veg powder could be used to make a cream of vegetable soup with stock as your liquid.. The beef stew, I would pressure cook with a little more stock as liquid then reduce or thicken dependant on flavour.. or leave over night or use the sous-vide method with a little more liquid. Just a great video. Kindness your ways Lochness Scottish Highlands
Please test the additional FD foods. Thanks-love your videos!!!
Can you do a video on your carnito recipe? Thank you for all you do.
Thank you for making this video.
I have also noticed that everything with an orange color turns white after a while. I freeze dried butternut squash, stored in a mason jar in a small closet. Even though I may open this closet only once a month, the color changed. Starting at the side of jar that was facing the closet door. Next time I gonna store in Mylar bags to see if it’s just the light exposure that’s causing it.
Please keep these videos coming. We appreciate you two a lot.
Thanks for sharing that info. I will try mylar as well! That may be the solution.
Yes please do another one!
Thanks for another great video
Great video! So informative! Would love to see more like this!
Thank you. Will do.
I have a vacuum sealer like Pam’s. I love it.
Glad to hear it! LOL!
Enjoy your clip. Thank you. ❤
You are welcome.
1st let me say Thank You to you and Jim. I learn so much from you. My freeze dryer will be here this week. I see your food in 1/2 gallon jars which is what I want to do. Will it store well in my pantry? I am in Florida so the garage is out and we don’t have cellars. Thanks again.
This was fabulous information as always thank you again
The veggies and avocado that failed, just powder them up. You could add the vegetable powder to soups and stews for vitamins and the avocados powdered could also be added to your guacamole or reconstituted for an avocado spread for toast with fresh basil
I usually do that, but the food needs to be of good quality first, and these had sat on the shelf too long to be good that way.
Hi,Pam, with broccoli I would suggest cooking it first and then freeze drying it and I would powder those avocados
Thanks for the tip!
Thats odd that your carrots turn white - I have done FD carrots the traditional ones and no issues with them turning white they do go a shade lighter - love eating them FD,
I did some blanched fresh broccoli rehydrated then used in a stir fry it was good
Use the avocados in smoothies
Please do more taste testing, that was alot of good info.💞🌻🦋
Will do!! Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks so much for doing this possibly the vegetable mixture powdered then turned into a creme soup hearty for those colder nights might work beautifully thinking I will grind up my avocado’s and hope they will work for guacamole …question…did you make your guacamole first then freeze dry it ???guess I better get busy testing!!! As always much appreciate the time and efforts …by the way just packaged the cream cheese from the freeze dryer that I learned on your site ITS AMAZING! As are you both … stay safe stay blessed 😇
vegetable work in recipes and soups, the avocado you can powder and make guac with it. Some things do much better rehydrated with cold water.
And some with hot water. Just takes experimenting.
This as fun seeing how things came back to life! I use my FD avocados in green salads. Adds a crunch and they taste great. Just an idea 😉
Good idea. Thanks.
Yes. Please let us see other things. I’ve freeze dried for about two years and love to preserve foods like this. However, I’m afraid I have some avocados I need to check on. 🙁. Also. Can you tell me if an induction burner could be plugged into the larger Bluetti? I’m pretty uninformed about the energy usage of these things. Thanks so much. Love your programs. And they have been so very helpful!
I would put the vegetables in a high speed blender and make vegetable bouillon and the avocados into powder and try making the guacamole. Will be interested to know how it works.
I might try the avocados that way, but not the other veggies--too far gone.
Great video!
You could powder the veggies. Or, maybe pressure cook them in a soup.
powder the mixed veggies and make a Cream of Veg soup, or use it to flavor pasta almost like a pesto (reconstitute the powder then blend w/oil, garlic, herbs, & nuts). again, powder the avocados and make guac from them.
We have done both of those in videos on RoseRed but thanks for mentioning the ideas here!
great video thanks 🙂
, I freeze dry veges then powder them to add to soups and all things I want vegetable flavoring in. Don't throw it away! It's very useful.
Some are useful--these were terrible and I would not use them as powder. I have done videos on powdering veggies and using them for soups, etc over on our other channel.
I hope someone can answer a question. Could you freeze dry vegetables uncooked and then cook them.? Maybe like a soup or stew, the cauliflower and broccoli in a soup.
That was great. I usually find my fried and sturdy fried chunky meat ends up tough. I often cook in the Instapot and add them at the last moment. I have been told that slowcookers do a great job too. I would guess the water penetrates into the meat and breaks down the connective tissues.
I usually soak for a bit and then boil my FD veggies, especially the ones from frozen, and have not had the problems you had. I will break open a bag of mixed c&b but I have done OK individually. BTW peas and carrots take a while to tenderize too.
Thanks for sharing.
Pam: The carrots turning white may have something to do with the sugar content of that particular vegetable. Have you tried steaming or blanching the carrots prior to freeze drying? You might try blanching your broccoli, cauliflower and yellow squash? Also I agree that using freezing veg mix may be the problem. Keep up the good work and do another video on the other freeze dried foods.
I have tried everything I know and they still turn white. Puzzling....
Cook the vegetables. Did you just blanch them, if so then that’s the problem you rehydrated them back to the blanched state. Now you have to cook them 😊
Do whatever! I will watch!!! Promise
LOL! Thank you.
Dont dump the avacados just eat them as crunchy snacks. They raste just like fresh avacados but crunchy
Could you powder the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots to add to your compost pile? That is what I would do. Sorry about the sirloin gravy I was really looking forward to that dish. Thanks Pam and Jim.
I just tossed them as is on the compost! I will try the sirloin gravy with ground sirloin next time and I bet it will work fine.
I fd broccoli both blanched and unblanched. The unbalanced fd quicker, but would not re hydrate(the chickens loved it). Blanched broccoli took much longer to fd but seconds to rehydrate and tasted fresh. I fd the broccoli 5yrs ago. Before throwing out the avocados, i would powder and see how they rehydrate. If that works you could make glocamole with it
Thanks for the tips.
Could you powder the avocado, broccoli and use in soups or other dishes.
Since neither tasted very good, I would not want to do that.
Id try powdering the avocadoes and broccoli mix in a blender. Then you might make a broccoli soup and guacamole.
Thank you.
I would powder the broccoli and put it in a creamy soup. Still good food it's just the texture you don't like.
Thanks. I have done powdered veggies before.
Say-Pam-what if you were to make some vegetable powder with your freeze dried broccoli mix? You could add it to stew or soup....hhmm...just a thought.
I have done lots of veggie powders and did a couple of videos on them on our other channel. These were beyond help!
Question: were your carrrots parcooked before freeze drying? Very curious about loss of color.
I did not blanch that batch prior to freeze drying, but I have done a batch of just carrots that I did blanch, same story.
Powder everything that failed
For the veggies, can you powder them up and add to other dishes? Same with sliced avocados, powder and add to dressing or quacamole?
Thank you for doing this taste test! I love the fast beans so that's next on my list!
Great opportunity with those nasty veggies ... Blend them to a powder and mix them with what you'd need in order to make some kind of cheesy, creamy soup. Wouldn't that work? Same with the avocados. Blend it to a powder, and when you want to make guacamole, measure spoon by spoon for the fresh and add the rest of the ingredients with just a smidge extra water. I hate to see food go to waste!
This is such a useful video. Thank you for doing it!
I freeze dried frozen Walmart brand carrots. They are losing color but they also have a chemical-like taste. They are larger carrots in diameter. I wonder if this could be part of the taste. But immediately after freeze drying, I ate some dry as a snack and they were sweet and good.
I have also been mixing preservation methods. I can the meat and use freeze dried vegetables to make soup. This is a quick meal.
One other thing. My peas are a bit strange, too. Some rehydrate beautifully while others have shriveled skin and are a bit tough. I put them along with the other vegetables in a sauce pan to rehydrate and cook at the same time. I need to experiment with just putting water on them for a few minutes without the heat under the pan.
Thanks for the video!! I look forward to you recipe book.
Thanks for your comment. I don'g FD peas for the very reason you state. They are very strange!
I add my freeze dried avocado to my smoothies
Blend the broccoli, squash, carrots, and cauliflower. They might make a good soup base.
These were awful. I am sure that would work with better quality veggies.
I believe that some of the things as broccoli would work well if they were cooked into something.
Yes, they might.
Try grinding the avocado into powder and make a small batch of guacamole
These vegetables that are not rehydrating, can they be ground into powder and added to other recipes like noodles or in breads or casseroles?
I wonder if the avacados could be rehydrated and then allow them to become brown and then extract the oil from them since they taste so bad
I am not sure about that.
The vacuum sealer for the jars worked great. Who makes it?
Here is the link: amzn.to/3NHkLza
Could you take the freeze dried avocado and pulverize it through a blender?