You said you used 2 pounds of aspargus per tray. What size is your freeze dryer? Im trying to plan how much to buy at the farmstand. Also, is it necessary to blanche the asparagus before freeze drying. Did you try any without this step? Thank you for your nice video.
Thanks for watching and commenting! We have the medium size Harvest Right. I would be comfortable loading the trays with 2 1/2 lbs per tray, but we didn't have that much right then. We have tested some asparagus (and fresh green bean, broccoli and cauliflower) without blanching. In all cases we though they turned out better when blanched. Is it required? Probably not, but I would every time!
GREAT VIDEO!!! Can you tell me which fresh vegetables are your favorite to freeze dry? We own a farm and I really want to preserve our harvests. Which are your favorites? Does zucchini work well? Mushrooms? Eggplant? Rutabaga? Peppers?
Freeze dried corn is the best! It's like candy when still dry! (and rehydrates well) Green bean are great after rehydrating, but taste like lawn clippings when still dry. As far as does something 'work well' that depends on what you mean by that and your expectations. Most vegetables freeze dry (and rehydrate) fine, they turn out about the same as if the were just frozen and then thawed. They work, but freeze drying zucchini and eggplant still leaves you with zucchini and eggplant, which are yucky! (The others are okay)
I blanched my asparagus for 2 minutes & did not pre-freeze them. Some looked great & others shriveled up super thin along portions of the stalk. They looked like they had been dehydrated rather than freeze dried. Do you know what may have gone wrong!
Sorry, I don't really know, we've never had that happen. Could prefreezing make that much difference? I wouldn't have thought so, but I haven't tried it without prefreezing. By any chance do you have the newer machine that has the vacuum cooling?
In my limited asparagus experience, the only concern I would have is with the flavor and texture. It will still be perfectly safe to use. Try rehydrating a few pieces, there may be no issues at all.
It's a tight fitting disc I cut out of Acrylic. (I used 0.075" thick acrylic (1.9mm thick) I would probably use 1/8" (3mm +) next time) The disc seems to work better than the pad that came with the freeze dryer for lowering heat transfer. I'm basing this on the fact that the front of the door does not get as cold with the plastic disc in place as it did with pad. I love how good of a job it has done and have not experienced any downside yet. And it's better for monitoring the freeze drying items too. Making an Acrylic Disc Front for a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ua-cam.com/video/erH1VDqNi80/v-deo.html
Thanks for watching!
Want to support this work? Buy me a coffee :-) www.buymeacoffee.com/DanZm
Thanks for showing how cold water vs hot water worked. Interesting comparison.
Always put a double seal on the bags!
Fantastic! I think I have to try this! Thank you!
Thank you.
Love this experiment! It turned out awesome. Thanks! ~Sharon
Thanks for watching!
You said you used 2 pounds of aspargus per tray. What size is your freeze dryer? Im trying to plan how much to buy at the farmstand. Also, is it necessary to blanche the asparagus before freeze drying. Did you try any without this step? Thank you for your nice video.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
We have the medium size Harvest Right. I would be comfortable loading the trays with 2 1/2 lbs per tray, but we didn't have that much right then.
We have tested some asparagus (and fresh green bean, broccoli and cauliflower) without blanching. In all cases we though they turned out better when blanched. Is it required? Probably not, but I would every time!
@@SchoolReports Thank you, that is helpful. I will try blanching prior. Happy freeze drying this summer.
GREAT VIDEO!!!
Can you tell me which fresh vegetables are your favorite to freeze dry? We own a farm and I really want to preserve our harvests. Which are your favorites?
Does zucchini work well? Mushrooms? Eggplant? Rutabaga? Peppers?
Freeze dried corn is the best! It's like candy when still dry! (and rehydrates well) Green bean are great after rehydrating, but taste like lawn clippings when still dry.
As far as does something 'work well' that depends on what you mean by that and your expectations. Most vegetables freeze dry (and rehydrate) fine, they turn out about the same as if the were just frozen and then thawed. They work, but freeze drying zucchini and eggplant still leaves you with zucchini and eggplant, which are yucky! (The others are okay)
I blanched my asparagus for 2 minutes & did not pre-freeze them. Some looked great & others shriveled up super thin along portions of the stalk. They looked like they had been dehydrated rather than freeze dried. Do you know what may have gone wrong!
Sorry, I don't really know, we've never had that happen. Could prefreezing make that much difference? I wouldn't have thought so, but I haven't tried it without prefreezing.
By any chance do you have the newer machine that has the vacuum cooling?
I forgot to blanch my asparagus. Do you think it will still be good? It is in the Freeze dryer now
In my limited asparagus experience, the only concern I would have is with the flavor and texture. It will still be perfectly safe to use. Try rehydrating a few pieces, there may be no issues at all.
What’s that insert you put into your door?
That's a custom acrylic cover he made for himself - he has a video about it in his playlists, I think.
It's a tight fitting disc I cut out of Acrylic. (I used 0.075" thick acrylic (1.9mm thick) I would probably use 1/8" (3mm +) next time) The disc seems to work better than the pad that came with the freeze dryer for lowering heat transfer. I'm basing this on the fact that the front of the door does not get as cold with the plastic disc in place as it did with pad. I love how good of a job it has done and have not experienced any downside yet. And it's better for monitoring the freeze drying items too. Making an Acrylic Disc Front for a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer ua-cam.com/video/erH1VDqNi80/v-deo.html