What a process! But I'm happy to say I think we ultimately had success - at least so far. Totally worth the effort because this is an incredibly easy, delicious, and nutritious side dish! Please let me know what you do when your food isn't dry after such a long cycle and it's past your bedtime 🙂
That is something that happens to me quite often. To your point it’s all about the time of day. If it was late, I personally would’ve let it run all night and deal with it in the morning, especially because I’m more of a morning person anyway. fortunately power is cheap where I live so my freeze dryer hasn’t impacted my electric bill much at all. My guess is not everyone else has that same benefit and therefore others might have more considerations about running another 12 hours than I would. I do very often check the trays when it first enters extra dry time (if I can) and do the same thing you did to the squash where I separate pieces stuck together or flip stuff around, etc. just to help the extra dry time work even faster. I loved watching Molly enjoy her free dried snacks 😍 I also add a little bit of squash or sweet potatoes to my dog’s homemade food.
I really like having the FD pumpkin powder on hand. It’s so easy to throw into everything. I also prefer roasting to prep it for the FD. Imo it’s so easy.
Love roasted squash! For flavor, there's no comparison, imho. What a blessing to have all those beautiful butternuts! 😍 So, I have a 5-tray Harvest Right, which only has about 1-1/2 inches of clearance between shelves, so I am hyper-conscious about height when I load trays. I'm still new to this, but what I would have done is weigh all the trays as soon as I noticed they were in Extra Dry Time. Then wait at least one hour, ideally at least two if things seem iffy. Then weigh them again. Tray warming may be needed before the second weight, as colder trays seem to add a couple of grams. And if the weight continues to go down, you can get a sense of how much more time may be needed. I have gotten into the habit of adding 12 hours EDT to every load, mostly because I am still figuring things out and with a day job, the routine can get wonky for sure. 🤪 Anyway, that advice about weighing trays has worked really well for me to make sure that all of the moisture is gone from the product being freeze dried. I keep the scale and a scratch pad near the FD, then just write them down in order, in a column. I hope the rest of the processing went more smoothly. Thanks for sharing this! 😄👍
@@carole6779 thanks Carole! I definitely would have weighed if it wasn’t so late. I did not have it in me to do another 2 hr, or multiple 2 hr dry/weigh shifts. I do a 15 hour extra dry setting for most things (not candy or herbs) and usually that is enough. But these trays were thick! The second load seemed to process fine without any issues. And so far, everything seems good! And 100% agree with you on roasting! Delicious 😋
@@VivianMasters you don’t cook your squash? How do prepare and eat it? I really love the enhanced flavor after roastings but definitely more vitamins and minerals before cooking so I’d love to know what you do!
@ No I just cut a big slice and throw it in the microwave until it is soft. I love to eat it for breakfast on cold days. I didn’t know when you freeze dry you have to cook the food first!
@ you don’t have to cook food before freeze drying, not at all. But for squash you’d definitely need to cut it down. Freeze drying preserves the food in the state it is currently in. If you freeze drying preserves it raw, it will be raw when you “un-freeze dry it”. So maybe you can microwave it after you freeze dry and rehydrate it? Do you have a freeze dryer? I’d love to know the results if you try this!
@ I haven’t got a freeze dryer yet but I really want one because my chickens produce about 49 eggs a week. We eat a lot and I freeze them but a jar of freeze dried egg would be so awesome! Freeze dried vegetables from our garden would store so well and add nutrients to soups and stews. A freeze dryer is something I have up high on my wish list!
@ I so envy you for your eggs right now! Prices have once again skyrocketed and shelves in my area are restricted to 2 per customer. I don’t have chickens 😩 The food I freeze dry “pre-cooked” makes it easier to “prepare” for consumption when I rehydrate or reconstitute it. I have a good amount of eggs freeze dried and am so thankful for them.
@@CynthiaBay-eh7dt I can send you my spreadsheet, which is customizable for your dog(s). But you might need to watch my video for it to make sense. It’s in my “for the dogs” playlist. Please email me at kelly@abchomestead.com if you’d like it.
What a process! But I'm happy to say I think we ultimately had success - at least so far. Totally worth the effort because this is an incredibly easy, delicious, and nutritious side dish! Please let me know what you do when your food isn't dry after such a long cycle and it's past your bedtime 🙂
That is something that happens to me quite often. To your point it’s all about the time of day. If it was late, I personally would’ve let it run all night and deal with it in the morning, especially because I’m more of a morning person anyway. fortunately power is cheap where I live so my freeze dryer hasn’t impacted my electric bill much at all. My guess is not everyone else has that same benefit and therefore others might have more considerations about running another 12 hours than I would. I do very often check the trays when it first enters extra dry time (if I can) and do the same thing you did to the squash where I separate pieces stuck together or flip stuff around, etc. just to help the extra dry time work even faster.
I loved watching Molly enjoy her free dried snacks 😍 I also add a little bit of squash or sweet potatoes to my dog’s homemade food.
I really like having the FD pumpkin powder on hand. It’s so easy to throw into everything. I also prefer roasting to prep it for the FD. Imo it’s so easy.
@@Mel-vu9ss I totally agree! Easy to prep and so easy to “make” for dinner.
Love roasted squash! For flavor, there's no comparison, imho. What a blessing to have all those beautiful butternuts! 😍
So, I have a 5-tray Harvest Right, which only has about 1-1/2 inches of clearance between shelves, so I am hyper-conscious about height when I load trays. I'm still new to this, but what I would have done is weigh all the trays as soon as I noticed they were in Extra Dry Time. Then wait at least one hour, ideally at least two if things seem iffy. Then weigh them again. Tray warming may be needed before the second weight, as colder trays seem to add a couple of grams. And if the weight continues to go down, you can get a sense of how much more time may be needed. I have gotten into the habit of adding 12 hours EDT to every load, mostly because I am still figuring things out and with a day job, the routine can get wonky for sure. 🤪
Anyway, that advice about weighing trays has worked really well for me to make sure that all of the moisture is gone from the product being freeze dried. I keep the scale and a scratch pad near the FD, then just write them down in order, in a column. I hope the rest of the processing went more smoothly. Thanks for sharing this! 😄👍
@@carole6779 thanks Carole! I definitely would have weighed if it wasn’t so late. I did not have it in me to do another 2 hr, or multiple 2 hr dry/weigh shifts.
I do a 15 hour extra dry setting for most things (not candy or herbs) and usually that is enough. But these trays were thick! The second load seemed to process fine without any issues. And so far, everything seems good!
And 100% agree with you on roasting! Delicious 😋
Great advice on how to help if your food isn’t all the way dried! I will have to try some squash now!
@@carissa-explains-it-all Roasted is the way to go if you have the time (60-90 mins) vs 10 mins in the instant pot. The flavor is so much better!
Oh that is so good for your eyes! I would eat it for breakfast! I am surprised that you need to cook it first!
@@VivianMasters you don’t cook your squash? How do prepare and eat it? I really love the enhanced flavor after roastings but definitely more vitamins and minerals before cooking so I’d love to know what you do!
@ No I just cut a big slice and throw it in the microwave until it is soft. I love to eat it for breakfast on cold days. I didn’t know when you freeze dry you have to cook the food first!
@ you don’t have to cook food before freeze drying, not at all. But for squash you’d definitely need to cut it down. Freeze drying preserves the food in the state it is currently in. If you freeze drying preserves it raw, it will be raw when you “un-freeze dry it”. So maybe you can microwave it after you freeze dry and rehydrate it? Do you have a freeze dryer? I’d love to know the results if you try this!
@ I haven’t got a freeze dryer yet but I really want one because my chickens produce about 49 eggs a week. We eat a lot and I freeze them but a jar of freeze dried egg would be so awesome! Freeze dried vegetables from our garden would store so well and add nutrients to soups and stews. A freeze dryer is something I have up high on my wish list!
@ I so envy you for your eggs right now! Prices have once again skyrocketed and shelves in my area are restricted to 2 per customer. I don’t have chickens 😩
The food I freeze dry “pre-cooked” makes it easier to “prepare” for consumption when I rehydrate or reconstitute it.
I have a good amount of eggs freeze dried and am so thankful for them.
Can I have your dogwood receipt please
@@CynthiaBay-eh7dt I can send you my spreadsheet, which is customizable for your dog(s). But you might need to watch my video for it to make sense. It’s in my “for the dogs” playlist. Please email me at kelly@abchomestead.com if you’d like it.