Thank you so much for this information. I have been using my freeze dryer everyday for the last week and wondered about FD nuts. Also nut and raisin combo that I have so much of.
This is great news - ish. It’s not completely confirmation for “long term (20+ years) storage” yet it gives me hope. If you would be willing to “sacrifice” a bag of nuts every year that would be awesome. My budget is such that I cannot sacrifice any foods I freeze dry - Thank God for showing me how to pay for the freeze dryer in the first place! I am off to the races with foods my family will eat and my heart is so happy about that! THANKS FOR ALL YOU’RE DOING FOR US FREEZE DRIERS!!
I have vacuum sealed my nuts without freeze drying and opened after several years with no degradation of my nuts. So it seems if I freeze dry them once I get my freeze drier, then vacuum seal them , & then put those in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers my nuts should easily be good for at least 25 years.
Great vid, Phil. Did all of your oxygen absorbers go flat? From my angle they looked like what I think are Harvest Right's standard, 700cc O2 absorber, which should have theoretically been overkill. Yet they seemed to have no residual capacity? Over the last two days a friend and I opened up several mylar bags of various candies and snacks, that I had packed over 5 years ago. Some of the food items seemed to have gone slightly stale, and out of about 9 or 10 bags opened, not one of the used O2 scrubbers would warm again, even though they didn't feel very gritty. I expected them to have just a little life left, indicating to me they would have used up all the oxygen they could before 'smothering'. I'm beginning to think that mylar bags and oxygen absorbers are not the panacea many believe. I have eaten freeze-dried food myself that was in fact older than 25 years....... but that was sealed in a metal can, without an oxygen absorber even. Thanks!
Thank you so much! This is my biggest worry, how do I know if my food is still safe to eat, especially meat. It this an expensive tool? Maybe I can request one for Christmas 😁 from my husband. This video is very thorough and detailed, thank you so much!
These sensors are used for working in confined spaces and they can get costly. If you remember the basics, you should be fine: No Oxygen, No Light, No Moisture, No Heat
"Raw" doesn't really apply to most plain nuts we can buy in the US. I ASSUME you mean plain nuts? Thanks! I love your scientific method and procedures!!! AND your videos!
Have you ever tried raw peanuts? I'm guessing they'd be the same. Also, do the nuts seem drier or normal after FDing? I have a FDer and know that I can't do peanut butter but I could make it if I had FDed peanuts!! I would just roast and blend! What do you think?
The nuts feel the same. The oils are preserved in a zero oxygen environment. Peanuts should work...and yes you can do peanut butter: ua-cam.com/video/sqH3RrtBgF4/v-deo.html
Hey Phil, great test. I make my own nut butter and so I buy a lot of nuts on sale. Would I need to do anything to freeze dried nuts to make nut butter?
@@Philat4800feet hey Phil I thought I had seen all your videos but I don’t believe I’ve seen that one. So I will look it up thank you. I absolutely love your channel, to me you’re everything freeze dried so I don’t even go anywhere else to learn techniques and technical information.
I love the idea of freeze drying nuts. I cannot tell you how often I have gone to get some walnuts and found them to be stale, same with almonds. If you do not eat or use them fast enough, they tend to go bad. I often store them in the freezer, but freezer space is a premium. I assume you don't reconstitute them, just use them as is?
I have wonder about the potential power interfering with the seal. You could place the powdered food into a zip lock bag and with a hole punch place a bunch of holes in the zip lock bag to allow the oxygen to escape. Then seal the bag.
They lasted almost three years and I believe they'll last a lot longer. In this environment they may not turn at all, but I'll keep track of them. This was the first time I tasted them.
@@Philat4800feet thanks for replying. Don’t think I really need the whole kit I found the sensor and tube probe thingy for about $589 or so. I think it’s a great item to have. Even if you’re a expert at freeze drying never know what can happen to stored food especially years down the road. Safe way to protect yourself and family, test it prior to eating it.
Are you using the freeze dryer process, or packin and sealin with the chamber or both. Your video does not show the freeze drying process. I really am interested in this experiment and want to be sure I fully understand . Thank you.
Quick question... Is there any concern with the moisture from the oils of the nuts, packed with an oxygen absorber, contributing to and causing botulism in the stored nuts?
How detailed should my answer be??? Oil makes a very poor moisture source, if any. First of all, we would need botulism spores present on the nuts. The spores would need to be alive at the time of freeze drying. Any spores would be placed in a cryo-stasis condition and would need moisture to be revived, and then the population would need to great enough to do any damage. In-short the risk would be low.
@@Philat4800feet Thanks for the answer. I figured that was the case (low risk, but of course an outside possibility). I didn't realize that oil was a low moisture risk. That's kind of where my question stemmed from. I didn't know as much about the botulism spores needing to be present first. Your detailed answer, was sufficient enough to help clarify the answer to my question. I only asked because I know I was warned about packaging my popcorn kernels with oxygen absorbers, due to their moisture content (which is like 14 or 15% of internal moisture, or something like that). In fairness, they weren't freeze dried first, just the raw seeds. All I knew was that the lack of oxygen and the presence of moisture could cause botulism to develop. Thanks again for helping clarify. Keep the vids coming, sir. 🤯😄
I had the same question a few months ago, and after some research My understanding is that for the botulism to form, it needs to have 10 percent or more humidity present. Freeze drying process brings the humidity below that. I am thankful for Phil for making this video and confirming that nuts can be freeze dried safely.
We're new to freeze drying (just got our machine a month ago), but found your channel and really appreciate everything you've shared. You've saved us from making several "beginner" mistakes. We have the new software loaded on our large machine, so it automatically does everything instead of having access to some of the individual cycle times that were available on the older models. Our question is...because we have a ton of nuts we'd like to freeze dry...did you just put the nuts in as if you were running a normal batch of food to go through the normal cycles? Or did you do some customizing?? Our options would be normal mode or candy mode. Thanks!
Hi, I have the same size bags with 300cc and what ever I put in the bags ..the bags do not shrink in like that. What am I doing wrong and is the food ruined? This happens quit often.
They are used in confined space work. They are costly. If you keep to the basics: No Oxygen, No Light, No Moisture, and No Heat you should be fine. : www.amazon.com/BW-Technologies-XT-XWHM-Y-NA-CS-GasAlertMax-Confined/dp/B00ANVEQM4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19T01GM2SNYIP&keywords=honeywell+confines+space+air+monitor&qid=1668561132&sprefix=honeywell+confines+space+air+monitor%2Caps%2C356&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.765d4786-5719-48b9-b588-eab9385652d5
Sorry, no. My wife is required to be gluten free. I can't see any problem with doing ravioli. I've done lasagna. Could the problem be the meat inside the pasta?
@@Philat4800feet there are no safety guidelines for canning pasta so it's not recommended. One would think that if manufacturers can can ravioli so can private citizens. But, their equipment is more powerful than a pressure canner and can reach higher Temps. It's sad because that's part if a go to meal for many people. I'd rather be safe and not get botulism.
Can you freeze nuts? Was thinking about vacuum sealing and freezing some. 2 1/2 years is still pretty good to keep them fresh. Also, You are not actually "Freeze drying" the nuts rather using the machine to pull a vacuum. I can just use my chamber sealer and get the same result. I would like to try running some nuts through a freeze drying cycle to see what happens.
Using the chamber sealer only, will not have same results. When I freeze dried several batches of nuts, there was always some ice/water extracted thru the freeze drying process, which the chamber / any vacuum sealer by itself cannot do.
I was led to believe you could not do long-term storage on nuts because of their high fat content, apparently that's not entirely true based on your tests. Let us know in another two and a half years how they fare. Thanks
I hope freeze drying extends the life of these nuts but I have a bag of almonds that I bought in 2019 that I just opened and they taste normal too. It’d be nice to do an A/B test over the years to test how they do freeze dried vs non-freeze dried.
Cite the source on the walnut claim, I can't corroborate it. Pulling material from the Torah and all sorts of esoteric sources and still can't find anything on it.
Just a question? Been trying to freeze dry, did you have all the trays of nuts or just a couple of trays? Have all of my trays 5, of nuts, the machine will not move on out of freezing mode. 😢
@@Philat4800feet I am brand new to freeze drying. Have large HR. How do you put food in at lower temp? Do you open vent first? Thx! I make soup with chopped cooked chestnuts in it. My families favorite. I’m scared to try freeze drying it. Do you think it might work without exploding? Thanks!!!
Phil you have all the best toys 😄
Thanks Phil! I have 6 pecan and 3 walnut trees. I have a few in the freezer😂 Now I will start freeze drying them!!
I have two walnuts. Such a pain to crack the nuts.
@@Philat4800feet yes they are!!
I have both almonds and pecans that need to be freeze dried. TY for doing the research.
very interesting tests. Thanks for all your work on this!
Thank you so much for this information. I have been using my freeze dryer everyday for the last week and wondered about FD nuts. Also nut and raisin combo that I have so much of.
Just a great nerdy video. Always enjoy your content.
Much appreciated!
Phil, thank you for making this video , testing the product, and confirming/ verifying the nuts can be safely freeze dried.
You are welcomed
Thanks Phil, great work…
Great story. Love your videos. You have really helped me.
Glad to help
Thank you helped immensely!!!
Such good info! Thanks!!
Great video. Thanks
This is great news - ish. It’s not completely confirmation for “long term (20+ years) storage” yet it gives me hope. If you would be willing to “sacrifice” a bag of nuts every year that would be awesome. My budget is such that I cannot sacrifice any foods I freeze dry - Thank God for showing me how to pay for the freeze dryer in the first place! I am off to the races with foods my family will eat and my heart is so happy about that! THANKS FOR ALL YOU’RE DOING FOR US FREEZE DRIERS!!
I will try
I have vacuum sealed my nuts without freeze drying and opened after several years with no degradation of my nuts. So it seems if I freeze dry them once I get my freeze drier, then vacuum seal them , & then put those in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers my nuts should easily be good for at least 25 years.
Agreed
Awesome tools! Thanks for doing this video.
Great info thanks! More things to FD :)
Thank You for all your very valuable information. Feel like a nut👌😁👍😁👌
Great video. Where do you pick that machine up at ? Thank you for the information.
Machine? Are you referring to the freeze drier?
Great vid, Phil. Did all of your oxygen absorbers go flat? From my angle they looked like what I think are Harvest Right's standard, 700cc O2 absorber, which should have theoretically been overkill. Yet they seemed to have no residual capacity?
Over the last two days a friend and I opened up several mylar bags of various candies and snacks, that I had packed over 5 years ago. Some of the food items seemed to have gone slightly stale, and out of about 9 or 10 bags opened, not one of the used O2 scrubbers would warm again, even though they didn't feel very gritty. I expected them to have just a little life left, indicating to me they would have used up all the oxygen they could before 'smothering'.
I'm beginning to think that mylar bags and oxygen absorbers are not the panacea many believe.
I have eaten freeze-dried food myself that was in fact older than 25 years....... but that was sealed in a metal can, without an oxygen absorber even.
Thanks!
I would say my OA were normal (flat) and hard. However, I vacuum pack most of my food, and found many OA still with some life left.
Thank you so much! This is my biggest worry, how do I know if my food is still safe to eat, especially meat.
It this an expensive tool? Maybe I can request one for Christmas 😁 from my husband.
This video is very thorough and detailed, thank you so much!
These sensors are used for working in confined spaces and they can get costly. If you remember the basics, you should be fine:
No Oxygen, No Light, No Moisture, No Heat
"Raw" doesn't really apply to most plain nuts we can buy in the US. I ASSUME you mean plain nuts? Thanks! I love your scientific method and procedures!!! AND your videos!
Have you ever tried raw peanuts? I'm guessing they'd be the same. Also, do the nuts seem drier or normal after FDing? I have a FDer and know that I can't do peanut butter but I could make it if I had FDed peanuts!! I would just roast and blend! What do you think?
The nuts feel the same. The oils are preserved in a zero oxygen environment. Peanuts should work...and yes you can do peanut butter:
ua-cam.com/video/sqH3RrtBgF4/v-deo.html
Hey Phil, great test. I make my own nut butter and so I buy a lot of nuts on sale. Would I need to do anything to freeze dried nuts to make nut butter?
Have you seen my video on freeze drying peanut butter?
@@Philat4800feet hey Phil I thought I had seen all your videos but I don’t believe I’ve seen that one. So I will look it up thank you. I absolutely love your channel, to me you’re everything freeze dried so I don’t even go anywhere else to learn techniques and technical information.
I love the idea of freeze drying nuts. I cannot tell you how often I have gone to get some walnuts and found them to be stale, same with almonds. If you do not eat or use them fast enough, they tend to go bad. I often store them in the freezer, but freezer space is a premium. I assume you don't reconstitute them, just use them as is?
Yup, eat as is.
Can I vacuum the milk and egg powder in the pouches like that as well? Thanks
I have wonder about the potential power interfering with the seal. You could place the powdered food into a zip lock bag and with a hole punch place a bunch of holes in the zip lock bag to allow the oxygen to escape. Then seal the bag.
Thank you for the test. Would you please link the video where you originally did the freeze drying of the nuts? If you have one.
Wasn't doing videos back then. Just run the nuts in a normal batch and vacuum package with OA when done.
One more question. If the nuts are freeze dried, do they need to be rehydrated?
@@dedramcdade9603 Very little moisture in nuts. I would use as is.
One additional question … do I freeze them before I put them in my FD?
Wondering how long before they turn , when you use them?
Have you used them before this video
They lasted almost three years and I believe they'll last a lot longer.
In this environment they may not turn at all, but I'll keep track of them.
This was the first time I tasted them.
Hello Phil. New to your channel. That nifty little gadget you have, what is it called and where can I get one?
Hmmmm. I so many gadgets. If you're referring to my BW MCXL-XWHM-Y-NA-KIT GasAlertMicroClip XL 4 Confined Space Kit they can run around $1500.
@@Philat4800feet thanks for replying. Don’t think I really need the whole kit I found the sensor and tube probe thingy for about $589 or so. I think it’s a great item to have. Even if you’re a expert at freeze drying never know what can happen to stored food especially years down the road. Safe way to protect yourself and family, test it prior to eating it.
Did you choose these nuts for a reason? What are your thoughts on Macadamia nuts and pistachio nuts?
No preference, just what we use a lot and was on sale. Love macadamia and pistachios. Should freeze dry as well.
What was your process time for nuts? Any special HR settings required?
Nope, Just let the machine do its thing.
Are you using the freeze dryer process, or packin and sealin with the chamber or both. Your video does not show the freeze drying process. I really am interested in this experiment and want to be sure I fully understand . Thank you.
The nuts were ran through a standard freeze dry cycle and regularly packaged. I vacuum packaged them after the video.
Any info on about how long nuts take to freeze dry? I would guess less time than many other foods.
They go pretty quick
So these nuts are freeze dryed and not just thrown in a bag with an absorber? do you rehydrate them before use?
I just eat them as is. No need to add water. They feel and taste extra crunchy
Quick question...
Is there any concern with the moisture from the oils of the nuts, packed with an oxygen absorber, contributing to and causing botulism in the stored nuts?
How detailed should my answer be??? Oil makes a very poor moisture source, if any. First of all, we would need botulism spores present on the nuts. The spores would need to be alive at the time of freeze drying. Any spores would be placed in a cryo-stasis condition and would need moisture to be revived, and then the population would need to great enough to do any damage. In-short the risk would be low.
@@Philat4800feet Thanks for the answer. I figured that was the case (low risk, but of course an outside possibility). I didn't realize that oil was a low moisture risk. That's kind of where my question stemmed from. I didn't know as much about the botulism spores needing to be present first. Your detailed answer, was sufficient enough to help clarify the answer to my question.
I only asked because I know I was warned about packaging my popcorn kernels with oxygen absorbers, due to their moisture content (which is like 14 or 15% of internal moisture, or something like that). In fairness, they weren't freeze dried first, just the raw seeds. All I knew was that the lack of oxygen and the presence of moisture could cause botulism to develop.
Thanks again for helping clarify. Keep the vids coming, sir. 🤯😄
I had the same question a few months ago, and after some research My understanding is that for the botulism to form, it needs to have 10 percent or more humidity present. Freeze drying process brings the humidity below that. I am thankful for Phil for making this video and confirming that nuts can be freeze dried safely.
Have you tried to freeze dry almond flour? Would that even work?
I don't think almond flour has much moisture, but It wouldn't hurt. I have FD bread crumbs.
We're new to freeze drying (just got our machine a month ago), but found your channel and really appreciate everything you've shared. You've saved us from making several "beginner" mistakes. We have the new software loaded on our large machine, so it automatically does everything instead of having access to some of the individual cycle times that were available on the older models. Our question is...because we have a ton of nuts we'd like to freeze dry...did you just put the nuts in as if you were running a normal batch of food to go through the normal cycles? Or did you do some customizing?? Our options would be normal mode or candy mode. Thanks!
Just ran a normal batch. I keep my shelf temp at 130 degrees
Hi, I have the same size bags with 300cc and what ever I put in the bags ..the bags do not shrink in like that. What am I doing wrong and is the food ruined? This happens quit often.
Heat of the food is key:
ua-cam.com/video/Md8Jk38zCFs/v-deo.html
Those bags were vacuum sealed
I’m sorry I didn’t see, were these processed in a freeze dryer?
The nuts were packaged 18 months prior to the video. The nuts were being tested for rancidity (shelf life). Nuts have a lot of oils and fats.
@@Philat4800feet thank you.
Were the nuts pasteurized or fresh?
Out of the bag.
Phil, what is that meter and where can I get one?
They are used in confined space work. They are costly. If you keep to the basics: No Oxygen, No Light, No Moisture, and No Heat you should be fine.
:
www.amazon.com/BW-Technologies-XT-XWHM-Y-NA-CS-GasAlertMax-Confined/dp/B00ANVEQM4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19T01GM2SNYIP&keywords=honeywell+confines+space+air+monitor&qid=1668561132&sprefix=honeywell+confines+space+air+monitor%2Caps%2C356&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.765d4786-5719-48b9-b588-eab9385652d5
@@Philat4800feet thanks! I did find some low cost versions with split pump and sensor.
I'm confused. Are these nuts freeze dried or simply packaged as is with OA?
Freeze dried then packaged with OA. There is some moisture in there.
what is the tester you are using?
BW Technologies XT-XWHM-Y-NA-CS GasAlertMax XT II Confined Space Kit about $1500. Not cheap
@@Philat4800feet wow , yeah not cheap
Have you tried freeze drying pre-made ravioli? I can't can them using regular methods and am trying to find someone who has had success with them.
Sorry, no. My wife is required to be gluten free. I can't see any problem with doing ravioli. I've done lasagna. Could the problem be the meat inside the pasta?
@@Philat4800feet there are no safety guidelines for canning pasta so it's not recommended. One would think that if manufacturers can can ravioli so can private citizens. But, their equipment is more powerful than a pressure canner and can reach higher Temps. It's sad because that's part if a go to meal for many people. I'd rather be safe and not get botulism.
@@josephinecunningham5998 Looks like you're correct: extension.psu.edu/foods-that-are-not-safe-to-can
I guess it will only freeze dry.
Oh and can you mix the nuts.
Can't think why not
Did you freeze dry your nuts before the original packaging and if so, what was the process? I can't find a video.
The nut were removed from the original package, FD, and then vacuum packaged with an oxygen absorber.
@@Philat4800feet Thank you Phil for such a speedy answer. You are the best resource for all things freeze drying and I am so thankful for you.
@@Philat4800feet Getting ready to run a load of pecans and walnuts. Do they need to be in a single layer or can they be piled high?
What if we don't have any device's or to freeze dryer? Can I just use zip lock bags to freeze my nuts?
It would be better then leaving them out in the cold
Can you freeze nuts? Was thinking about vacuum sealing and freezing some. 2 1/2 years is still pretty good to keep them fresh.
Also, You are not actually "Freeze drying" the nuts rather using the machine to pull a vacuum. I can just use my chamber sealer and get the same result. I would like to try running some nuts through a freeze drying cycle to see what happens.
I was able to pull some moisture, but not alot. I highly recommend vacuum sealing.
Using the chamber sealer only, will not have same results. When I freeze dried several batches of nuts, there was always some ice/water extracted thru the freeze drying process, which the chamber / any vacuum sealer by itself cannot do.
@@alfonse5043 duh
I was led to believe you could not do long-term storage on nuts because of their high fat content, apparently that's not entirely true based on your tests. Let us know in another two and a half years how they fare. Thanks
I wish I had a time machine
I hope freeze drying extends the life of these nuts but I have a bag of almonds that I bought in 2019 that I just opened and they taste normal too. It’d be nice to do an A/B test over the years to test how they do freeze dried vs non-freeze dried.
...ide
Cite the source on the walnut claim, I can't corroborate it. Pulling material from the Torah and all sorts of esoteric sources and still can't find anything on it.
The book of Phil chapter 2 verse 9. It's a very rare book dating back to 1985.
@@Philat4800feet Ah yes from Phil Publishings, I'm familiar. Shux. I kinda wanted that to be true.
Just a question? Been trying to freeze dry, did you have all the trays of nuts or just a couple of trays? Have all of my trays 5, of nuts, the machine will not move on out of freezing mode. 😢
I think it was all nut, but I prefreeze my trays before placing in the FD. I don't load my trays until the temp is around 20 below.
@@Philat4800feet thank you for getting back to me
My fd is in drying mode, now.😃
All trays with nuts
@@Philat4800feet , hi again.
Success with the nuts, it took 7hrs and 34 minutes.
Thanks so much
@@Philat4800feet I am brand new to freeze drying. Have large HR. How do you put food in at lower temp? Do you open vent first? Thx! I make soup with chopped cooked chestnuts in it. My families favorite. I’m scared to try freeze drying it. Do you think it might work without exploding? Thanks!!!
@@loririchardson6744 I have all the menu functions explained on this video:
ua-cam.com/video/FJTjZcbZQLg/v-deo.html
at time stamp 3:32