I'm so thankful for all your videos. you are so admirable, intelligent, humble, you share your mistakes with us, you are our best teacher for us beginners.
Great tip on the blueberries! We harvest about 6-7 gallons each year and since we've had our freeze dryer I have struggled with them, finally opting to puree them for freeze drying (which is still fine...I can powder them) but keeping them intact is preferable. Thanks for this series on freeze drying.
Prick blueberries with a corn holder. The little plastic handles with two prongs for poking into corn on the cob. Easy to find and perfect for the job.
Would you prep the same way to dehydrate frozen fruit? I as many others can't afford a freeze dryer. Thank you so much for all your work and wonderful teaching, you and Jim are awesome!
This video is exactly what I've been waiting for LoL...seriously! Trying to find ways to short cut my prep in food storage and in freeze drying. THANK YOU my Angels Pam & Jim! Your efforts are very much appreciated. Be blessed and much love ❤️ -PJ
My game changer to filling containers with freeze dried foods is to use a long piece of parchment paper. I dump all the tray onto it and fill the bags or jars. It works wonderful.
I learn alot from you, and depend on you for the science behind safe food storage. I'm a logical thinker so I go for the science every time. However, can we see some videos on using our ovens to dry things too? Most of us can't afford a freeze dryer, maybe a dehydrator....but after my husband's stroke I'm going with what I've got for now. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us.
Looks great 👍 👍.. Store bought tropical frozen fruit would be the easier way to obtain my ready to freeze dry fruit! I just spent 2hrs cutting up pineapple!!
Well I am sort of the poor cousin on this. Way outside my financial position but I did get a great benefit from your hard work. I haven't put aside much variety in my storage. I have just been online to buy a variety of more exotic tinned fruits, so that I can substitute tinned fruit in any recipes that you present to us, using the freeze dried beauties. Basically dropping off all the other prep type youtubers. You two take the cake in presenting healthy helpful content. Thanks very much.
Thank you for all of your informative videos. The freeze dryer is beyond my price point so I skip those, but I love the ones on canning and dehydrating. Thank you again!
We have freeze dried pineapple, which we sliced extremely thin and it will freeze dry- it just takes longer. I do it with other trays of pineapple or other things that I know will take a long time to freeze dry- over 45 hours probably. I do not drain of any juices when I freeze dry- I want all of that flavor inside my fruit. We did have the issue of chewy yummy pineapple that was not entirely freeze dried and we enjoyed it quickly and did learn it was possible. One of those chunks was probably cut 3 times, but it was worth it!
Man this video was a life saver, I put in batches of pre frozen fruit, it would NOT turn out it would be all hard and almost like a honeycomb chewy in the middle, but after letting it thaw fully, rinsing it then re freezing it it comes out absolutely perfectly, it like night and day
You continue to make me so happy & eager to try your methods of food preservation! Thank you! Your videos are priceless to me in these tough times. God bless you!
Oh this news is wonderful. I've purchased freeze dried blueberries from two different sources and they were nasty. It's such a headache to puncture fresh blueberries individually so I'd given up the idea of freeze drying blueberries. Costco still carries those frozen wild blueberries and now I'll buy extra to freeze dry. Thank you for doing all the leg work.
This is a great video so glad u shared it. I checked your Amazon store for the utensil u used to scrape and scoop up the blueberries but I did not see it. did u purchase it from Amazon or Harvest Right?
I've had good results with frozen blueberries by pulsing them in a food processor a few times to rough them up a bit before putting them on the trays to FD.
Great video! Wish it had been two weeks ago before I went through this sugary mess alone … days of dehydrating while it remained gloppy and not drying 🤨 Now I know what to do next time.
Thank you for your videos and all the effort and planning that goes into them. For a few minutes of content there can be hours of your time and energy and it's much appreciated. I know you and Jim put time and creativity into your intro but I have to say I much prefer the videos without them. It's lovely but for someone who watches every single video you produce it gets repetitive and I find myself just wanting to get to your excellent information. Also glad you're sticking to the curls-it complements your features so well.
First, totally enjoy your videos on all aspects of preserving food. I've canned for over 50 years and dabbled in dehydrating. Recently purchased a freeze dryer, my son and his wife have been using it double time to preserve the produce from their garden. I'm planning on using it to freeze dry fruits (to start with) for the great grands as they love freeze dried fruit and it's so expensive in the store for the amount you get.
I don't know why it hasn't occurred to me to dehydrate fruit 🤔. I dehydrate carrots, celery, peppers, peas, and onions. I use the onions and peppers most. My favorite cereal is Special K with strawberries. I just love the dried strawberries. They are more intense with flavor I think. I think strawberry season is here so I will give dehydrating them a try. Maybe pineapple too. Thanks for the info.👍
I'm so excited, we just got a freeze dryer yesterday! I'm watching all your videos! What do you do with all the juice you put into the pitcher from draining the juices? I hate throwing anything out.
Hi Pam. Great video. I saw you struggling a little with removing the fruit from the trays. Might I suggest that you use a n 11" food saver bag cut a little longer than your tray - seal one end at an angle and leave about 4-5" opening. I use one to funnel foods into Mylar bags or mason jars. Much cleaner and faster. Slide the tray into the prepared bag, insert the end into the Mylar bag or mason jar and slide your product off the tray. Love your videos. Keep up the good work. We all appreciate it!
If you have to finish drying the pineapple in the dehydrator, do you treat them as dehydrated or freeze dried? I'm just curious. It seems to me that with the naturally acidic and high sugar content of pineapples, even when dehydrated only they probably keep longer than many fruits, especially if properly packaged and stored.
Thanks for the great information I would never have thought to defrost and drain off the juice, great idea. do you place an oxygen absorber in the jars and vacuum them shut? Do you re seal the jars after every time you take some of the fruit out?
Karen: Normally, we do one or the other, other times, we will do both for the same jar. If we use an item on a regular basis and keep it in the house, we tend not to vacuum it. Thanks fr watching our channel. JIm
I wonder why we have to thaw, rinse and then freeze again I wonder why this has 2 be done, bit they justvdont freeze dry right unless these steps are taken, mango especially if these steps aren't followed they turn very hard and almost honeycomb looking and not right, but after the steps they turn out perfect I wonder if it something 2 do with the flash freezing the fruit companies do or what, I've tried just rinsing and that doesn't even do it, they absolutely need 2 be thawed and rinsed to be successful, we have a lil freeze dried candy/fruit business and thank.god we found ur video I would have never figured this 1 out thank you
Hi ,I'm new to the dehydrating and I've done some frozen peas,carrots, broccoli, kale , seasoned tomatoes ( which I just love to snack on. ) onions and mushrooms. I've turned some of these into powders as well. Your video's are great and clear and so helpful. I would like to know can you take the frozen shredded potatoes and dry them or will they turn black? Thanks again for all your knowledge and sharing it. it's a wonderful blessing. Judi from Ohio
Oh that scoop your using looks awesome! I’m so excited about trying blueberries this way, I had given up bc didn’t want to spend the time puncturing every berry! You are the best! Thrilled to see you freeze drying! I’ve got kids coming to the farm this weekend for an Easter egg hunt and hate giving them candy, but just had the great idea to freeze dry some fruit for the eggs! Freeze dried fruit is so delicious and unique and I think I will have happy kids (I’ve used raisins in the past and kids we’re definitely not impressed, lol hopefully they will enjoy these healthier treats!) Love and prayers to you and yours!
I only have a dehydrator and have successfully dehydrated frozen vegetables but haven’t been successful with fruit. I put the still frozen on the trays and what a mess. Will your method of thawing, draining work in a dehydrator? What is the purpose of refreezing?
Pam, did you say that you placed the pineapple directly into the dehydrator from the freeze dryer? Do you remember how much longer it took in the dehydrator? I have some prefrozen strawberries (from Costco). I wonder if those will be likened to the pineapple results since they are so sugary.... Thankyou so much on being so detailed and informative! 😎
What do you do with the rendered juices from thawing and draining? Can you dehydrate it as well for powdering? Love your videos. So very helpful. You are my go to as I trust the science you bring to protect my family when storing food. Thank you!
Hi Pam, I was really interested in this video. I was surprised that you thawed the pre-frozen fruit, then refroze it after draining off the liquid. I thought you couldn't refreeze things. I trust you to know what is safe. Please let me know your thoughts on this method. Also, what did you do with the saved juice? Thank you and Jim for all your tips and tricks. Oh, I put fresh blueberries in the food processor just to break them up... then they freeze dry beautifully. I pre-freeze everything now before freeze drying since it reduces the time the freeze dryer runs.
-10 , +2 hours pre freeze, 125 degrees, and add at least 2 hours extra dey time (u can never over freeze dry so u can add as much extra dry time as u want especially if u may be sleeping when the cycle ends)
Thank you for this video because I did 4 trays of blueberries, straight frozen out of the bag and they went for about 40 hours… most came out like they were dehydrated and were a little sticky. I was discouraged because I wanted them long term. We will try to eat them up, but how long do you think they’ll store for in this state…a year?
Throw em out thwybwill go moldy, just do a new batch, thaw em ri se em re freeze em then put em in the freeze dryer, -10 +2 hours freeze, 125 degrees +2 - 3 hours extra dry time ur good 2 go
I’m new to freeze drying and LOVE your videos! My question is why you didn’t just add more time to all of the fruit. I was told that you can’t over dry your food. Is that true??? Thank you!
There are many times we have extended the times because the items are not completely freeze dried. The FDZR program offers the option to extend the cycle by two at a time. Many times, when we dehydrate we have to extend the times. Jim
Thank you for sharing. Can you please explain or share how you rehydrate these foods? I have seen dehydrated powdered orange peels used on ice cream but not fd. TYIA
Robert-can you describe the matching bowls? Do you mean the clear glass bowls? If so, those came from Costco about 5 years ago and I haven't seen them since.
You make extremely good videos....thank you, I've learned so much. I have a question about pressure canning...I do understand all the principles that you have outlined about pressure, heat, time etc....my question,.... If you cook ie a soup or stew in a pressure cooker, using those same principles, then transfer the food straight to jars for sealing ....will this have the same effect as cooking inside the jars in the pressure canning pot....thankyou
I bought bags of frozen, sliced strawberries with bananas from Aldi and bags of frozen mango chunks from Costco. Would you recommend this same process (thawing, then refreezing) for those as well?
Shelby: Place the frozen items into the freeze drier and progress through all of the stages as the is programmed. We have found that if we skip a step, the process takes longer. Jim
@@RoseRedHomestead What I was wanting to know is whether ALL store-bought fruit should be thawed, drained, then refrozen before freeze drying? I was hoping to just dump my bags of frozen mango chunks and frozen sliced strawberries and bananas directly on the trays after opening.
No u can't, u have to thaw everything, rinse it then freeze dry it from there believe me I've done most every fruit and failed, until this thaw/rinse method it's a 100% success rate now
Is there a way to load frozen foods in the freeze dryer? We have a new version and can’t seem to find the setting on how to start a load when is already pre frozen. I would appreciate all your help
There is no setting u just put it in after uve pre frozen it the machine will 1st go down to the set temperature (-10 or -20) and it will detect that's the products are frozen it will then kick in and start the drying process
Hello. Just found you :) I went to your Amazon store but did not find a freeze dryer on there. Others on here seem to know about the cost of them. I'm researching to see if it is an option for me. What freeze dryer do you use? Great video and info!
I've been freeze drying for over 4 years now. So hopefully you'll find some of my suggestions helpful. It isn't necessary to thaw your frozen fruit before freeze drying. You are actually saving your freeze dryer time, by keeping the fruit frozen and/or pre-freezing all your foods. By putting in unfrozen foods in your FD you are creating longer batch times In regards to the pineapple. I've found success in adding additional freeze and dry times in the customized menu of your freezer dryer. Harvest Right suggests adding an additional 12 hours of freeze and dry time. I can attest the extra time is needed in order to freeze dry pineapple successfully. You can't expect your pineapple to turn out completely freeze dried sub 45- 50 hours. It's just the nature of it. Knowing that a batch of pineapple is going to take a long time going into it. Helps to ensure You avoid ending the batch to early. Also as all types of foods dry at different rates. I suggest not mixing food types. Pineapples take longer to FD than, blue berries. Blue berries take longer to FD than raspberries, etc. Doing the same foods type per batch will greatly increase your success. Hopefully you find some of this info useful. Thank you for sharing all the wisdom and knowledge you've gained over the years. It truly is priceless! All the best.
U don't have 2 some people just like doing it cuz the logic is "I'll.let my regular freezer donthe freezing as it's always running, and save a lil wear and tear/energy on letting the freeze dryer donthe freeze part" It really doesn't matter
What is the reasoning for thawing the fruit? Couldn't you just stick it in the freeze dryer taking less freeze drying time? I realize the blueberries need to be punctured, but that couldn't that be accomplished while still frozen?
@@RoseRedHomestead Harvest Right told me to freeze fruit first to make the run cycle shorter and put less strain on the machine. So you suggest I don't freeze the fruit ahead of time? I thought you were doing that because you were trying to get rid of the juices.
I wish I had a positive thing to say about Harvest Right. We spent months researching 'freeze drying' before we made our purchase. And this is what happened: We purchased a medium-sized Harvest Right three weeks ago. We ran the bread cycle and one other cycle (fruit). On the third cycle, with the machine full of cheese and eggs, our Harvest Right machine quit working. It had absolutely no power. We checked all electric and that was all fine. We followed the video instruction from the company to check wiring in the front panel. That was fine, but the machine was still dead. One week ago, Harvest Right customer service said they would send a technician -- today. Today, there was no technician, but instead, they sent another video on how to troubleshoot the problem, which would require us to lift the machine, etc., Basically WE would be the technicians fixing it, if we could. After my husband had a lengthy discussion with customer service, this is what Harvest Right is doing for us: They are sending a box to pack it in, and when they receive it back, we will get a refund. Unbelievable. To say we are disappointed is a great understatement. My husband and I are both disappointed, disgusted, and appalled at the horrible customer service coming from this company. I would NEVER promote them or their product. How can they still be in business if this is the way they operate??? Not only did we invest in the freeze dryer, we put money into numerous accessories that will now go to waste. If anyone reading this is considering buying a Harvest Right freeze dryer, I would say DON'T DO IT. Or, if you do, you better have a plan on how it will get fixed if it breaks, because the company does not back up their own product, nor do they have technical support except for videos on how to do it yourself. Good luck.
Is this typical customer service for Harvest Right? We owned our machine less than a week when it stopped working. They did not offer to replace it. To say we are disappointed is an understatement.
I'm so thankful for all your videos. you are so admirable, intelligent, humble, you share your mistakes with us, you are our best teacher for us beginners.
Great tip on the blueberries! We harvest about 6-7 gallons each year and since we've had our freeze dryer I have struggled with them, finally opting to puree them for freeze drying (which is still fine...I can powder them) but keeping them intact is preferable. Thanks for this series on freeze drying.
Prick blueberries with a corn holder. The little plastic handles with two prongs for poking into corn on the cob. Easy to find and perfect for the job.
Thunder: That is an interesting idea. It sounds like it would work well. Jim
Use a meat tenderizer to pierce the blueberries
Would you prep the same way to dehydrate frozen fruit? I as many others can't afford a freeze dryer. Thank you so much for all your work and wonderful teaching, you and Jim are awesome!
I used the juice in my granola that I make. A much more flavourful ingredient that sugar and water.
Freeze dryer arriving tomorrow. I'm so thankful for your suggestions regarding freeze drying. Thank you.
This video is exactly what I've been waiting for LoL...seriously! Trying to find ways to short cut my prep in food storage and in freeze drying.
THANK YOU my Angels Pam & Jim!
Your efforts are very much appreciated. Be blessed and much love ❤️ -PJ
My game changer to filling containers with freeze dried foods is to use a long piece of parchment paper. I dump all the tray onto it and fill the bags or jars. It works wonderful.
I do this as well!
I learn alot from you, and depend on you for the science behind safe food storage. I'm a logical thinker so I go for the science every time. However, can we see some videos on using our ovens to dry things too? Most of us can't afford a freeze dryer, maybe a dehydrator....but after my husband's stroke I'm going with what I've got for now. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us.
Looks great 👍 👍.. Store bought tropical frozen fruit would be the easier way to obtain my ready to freeze dry fruit! I just spent 2hrs cutting up pineapple!!
Oh Wow! Pam and Jim you are on Turbo Drive with all the videos !!! 🥰💚💥
More Power to you both 💪💪‼💥
I purchased a Berry Roller from Frozen Right for the blueberries. USA made, they have nice products for the Harvest Right FD.
Well I am sort of the poor cousin on this. Way outside my financial position but I did get a great benefit from your hard work.
I haven't put aside much variety in my storage. I have just been online to buy a variety of more exotic tinned fruits, so that I can substitute tinned fruit in any recipes that you present to us, using the freeze dried beauties.
Basically dropping off all the other prep type youtubers. You two take the cake in presenting healthy helpful content. Thanks very much.
Thank you for your hard work and dedication to sharing your knowledge. Enjoy listening to your voice and learning from you.
Thank you for all of your informative videos. The freeze dryer is beyond my price point so I skip those, but I love the ones on canning and dehydrating. Thank you again!
Susan: Glad you like them! Jim
Piercing fresh blueberries, you can also use an exacto blade. Time consuming but....
Fresh blade. You will throw away after you use. Work good as well
Wish I could afford a freeze dryer. Looks tasty!
I love fruit. Was that 33 hours for freeze drying? How long would dehydrating take?! Yummy. Tfs. Please stay safe and sending hugs to you both 💜😎
We have freeze dried pineapple, which we sliced extremely thin and it will freeze dry- it just takes longer. I do it with other trays of pineapple or other things that I know will take a long time to freeze dry- over 45 hours probably. I do not drain of any juices when I freeze dry- I want all of that flavor inside my fruit. We did have the issue of chewy yummy pineapple that was not entirely freeze dried and we enjoyed it quickly and did learn it was possible. One of those chunks was probably cut 3 times, but it was worth it!
Man this video was a life saver, I put in batches of pre frozen fruit, it would NOT turn out it would be all hard and almost like a honeycomb chewy in the middle, but after letting it thaw fully, rinsing it then re freezing it it comes out absolutely perfectly, it like night and day
You continue to make me so happy & eager to try your methods of food preservation! Thank you! Your videos are priceless to me in these tough times. God bless you!
Oh this news is wonderful. I've purchased freeze dried blueberries from two different sources and they were nasty. It's such a headache to puncture fresh blueberries individually so I'd given up the idea of freeze drying blueberries. Costco still carries those frozen wild blueberries and now I'll buy extra to freeze dry. Thank you for doing all the leg work.
This is a great video so glad u shared it. I checked your Amazon store for the utensil u used to scrape and scoop up the blueberries but I did not see it. did u purchase it from Amazon or Harvest Right?
Thank you for asking this question, I hope they see it and reply! 👍
I've had good results with frozen blueberries by pulsing them in a food processor a few times to rough them up a bit before putting them on the trays to FD.
Great video! Wish it had been two weeks ago before I went through this sugary mess alone … days of dehydrating while it remained gloppy and not drying 🤨 Now I know what to do next time.
My fd should be here in 2
weeks per the email I got from harvest right
Thank you for your videos and all the effort and planning that goes into them. For a few minutes of content there can be hours of your time and energy and it's much appreciated.
I know you and Jim put time and creativity into your intro but I have to say I much prefer the videos without them. It's lovely but for someone who watches every single video you produce it gets repetitive and I find myself just wanting to get to your excellent information. Also glad you're sticking to the curls-it complements your features so well.
You can usually double tap on the right side of videos to skip those short portions if you prefer.
@@MM-oc3sb Thank you, I didn't know that. I usually just click on the bar at about 20 seconds in. I will try your suggestion.
First, totally enjoy your videos on all aspects of preserving food. I've canned for over 50 years and dabbled in dehydrating. Recently purchased a freeze dryer, my son and his wife have been using it double time to preserve the produce from their garden. I'm planning on using it to freeze dry fruits (to start with) for the great grands as they love freeze dried fruit and it's so expensive in the store for the amount you get.
When my freeze dryer arrives , I will definitely be doing all these fruits! Thank you!
Wow! I did not know about the pineapple. I would not know to defreeze and rinse juice.
Wowzers you are on a roll!! This is awesome... now I have a list of what we need to buy and freeze dry... Harvy is gonna stay busy.
Blessings 🌞
Kelvin, Harvy...when my FD comes I'll have to name it too😎
Would you suggest a person using silicone sheets on the freeze dryer trays? Love you bench scraper. Thank you!
I don't know why it hasn't occurred to me to dehydrate fruit 🤔. I dehydrate carrots, celery, peppers, peas, and onions. I use the onions and peppers most. My favorite cereal is Special K with strawberries. I just love the dried strawberries. They are more intense with flavor I think. I think strawberry season is here so I will give dehydrating them a try. Maybe pineapple too. Thanks for the info.👍
RJ: Yes, dehydrating fruit and veggies works very well. Jim
I'm so excited, we just got a freeze dryer yesterday! I'm watching all your videos! What do you do with all the juice you put into the pitcher from draining the juices? I hate throwing anything out.
Hi Pam. Great video. I saw you struggling a little with removing the fruit from the trays. Might I suggest that you use a n 11" food saver bag cut a little longer than your tray - seal one end at an angle and leave about 4-5" opening. I use one to funnel foods into Mylar bags or mason jars. Much cleaner and faster. Slide the tray into the prepared bag, insert the end into the Mylar bag or mason jar and slide your product off the tray. Love your videos. Keep up the good work. We all appreciate it!
Donna: Thanks for the tip! Jim
@@RoseRedHomestead do you need oxygen absorbers or are they done just in a jar or bag
After seeing Pam and Jim using their freeze dryer I have started saving for one of my own.
If you have to finish drying the pineapple in the dehydrator, do you treat them as dehydrated or freeze dried? I'm just curious. It seems to me that with the naturally acidic and high sugar content of pineapples, even when dehydrated only they probably keep longer than many fruits, especially if properly packaged and stored.
Thanks for the tip of doing blueberries. I have a lot frozen in bags, now I know how better to dehydrate them.
Thanks for the great information
I would never have thought to defrost and drain off the juice, great idea.
do you place an oxygen absorber in the jars and vacuum them shut?
Do you re seal the jars after every time you take some of the fruit out?
Karen: Normally, we do one or the other, other times, we will do both for the same jar. If we use an item on a regular basis and keep it in the house, we tend not to vacuum it. Thanks fr watching our channel. JIm
I wonder why we have to thaw, rinse and then freeze again I wonder why this has 2 be done, bit they justvdont freeze dry right unless these steps are taken, mango especially if these steps aren't followed they turn very hard and almost honeycomb looking and not right, but after the steps they turn out perfect I wonder if it something 2 do with the flash freezing the fruit companies do or what, I've tried just rinsing and that doesn't even do it, they absolutely need 2 be thawed and rinsed to be successful, we have a lil freeze dried candy/fruit business and thank.god we found ur video I would have never figured this 1 out thank you
Great ideas!!!
Hi ,I'm new to the dehydrating and I've done some frozen peas,carrots, broccoli, kale , seasoned tomatoes ( which I just love to snack on. ) onions and mushrooms. I've turned some of these into powders as well. Your video's are great and clear and so helpful. I would like to know can you take the frozen shredded potatoes and dry them or will they turn black? Thanks again for all your knowledge and sharing it. it's a wonderful blessing. Judi from Ohio
You're the best!❣️❣️❣️
Thank you for the tips.
Hi love your videos so educational! Can you please explain the difference between freeze drying and dehydration?
Thanks Becky
Oh that scoop your using looks awesome! I’m so excited about trying blueberries this way, I had given up bc didn’t want to spend the time puncturing every berry! You are the best! Thrilled to see you freeze drying! I’ve got kids coming to the farm this weekend for an Easter egg hunt and hate giving them candy, but just had the great idea to freeze dry some fruit for the eggs! Freeze dried fruit is so delicious and unique and I think I will have happy kids (I’ve used raisins in the past and kids we’re definitely not impressed, lol hopefully they will enjoy these healthier treats!) Love and prayers to you and yours!
Thank you. That is a great idea for the FD fruit!
Amazing
Would you use the same preps for using a regular dehydrator?
thank you for sharing your tips with us!
Jan: You are so welcome! Jim
Brilliant video. Thank you so much
I do not have a freeze dryer, too expensive, can I dehydrate these fruits?
Where did you get your scoop?
I think I saw it in her Amazon store.
Well, I went to her Amazon store & didn't find it, but Amazon does have one that looks like hers. Search stainless steel flat scoop.
I have a question for you are you going to write a book on dehydrating for beginners
Amazing tip! Thank you 😌
I did not hear you mention if the cherries need to be rinsed? Thank you for this great info!
Thanks, great video🌷🇨🇦
I only have a dehydrator and have successfully dehydrated frozen vegetables but haven’t been successful with fruit. I put the still frozen on the trays and what a mess. Will your method of thawing, draining work in a dehydrator? What is the purpose of refreezing?
Pam, did you say that you placed the pineapple directly into the dehydrator from the freeze dryer? Do you remember how much longer it took in the dehydrator? I have some prefrozen strawberries (from Costco). I wonder if those will be likened to the pineapple results since they are so sugary.... Thankyou so much on being so detailed and informative! 😎
What do you do with the rendered juices from thawing and draining? Can you dehydrate it as well for powdering?
Love your videos. So very helpful. You are my go to as I trust the science you bring to protect my family when storing food. Thank you!
Hi, could you share where you got the scooping bench scraper tool? I couldn't find it on your Amazon list. That would be so handy!
To prick the fresh fruits I believe you can also use a pizza crust docker.
Jennie: That would be a lot of pricking. Jim
Where did you get that scoop that you use on your medium trays? I don’t see it on your Amazon store. And everyone I’ve seen on Amazon Seems too big.
Hi Pam, I was really interested in this video. I was surprised that you thawed the pre-frozen fruit, then refroze it after draining off the liquid. I thought you couldn't refreeze things. I trust you to know what is safe. Please let me know your thoughts on this method. Also, what did you do with the saved juice? Thank you and Jim for all your tips and tricks. Oh, I put fresh blueberries in the food processor just to break them up... then they freeze dry beautifully. I pre-freeze everything now before freeze drying since it reduces the time the freeze dryer runs.
I’m learning so much. Thank you! I can’t wait for my FD to arrive 😃
Waiting on my FD too. Exciting isn't it😁
@@oregontrisha365 yes it is😃
Can you can frozen store bought peaches?
Rose, it would be so helpful to know exactly what "settings" you used for the pre frozen fruit. I'm new at this and confused about the settings.
-10 , +2 hours pre freeze, 125 degrees, and add at least 2 hours extra dey time (u can never over freeze dry so u can add as much extra dry time as u want especially if u may be sleeping when the cycle ends)
@@TheRealBatCavedid these settings work for you?
love the channel. i have 12 lbs each of dehydrated blueberries, cherries, cranberries. can they be freeze dried. thank you
can you please share where you found the stainless steel scooper?
What is the shelf life of the fruit you freeze dried and stored in the jars?
I am curious what you did with the left over juice.
Where did you get your scooping tool?
Thank you for this video because I did 4 trays of blueberries, straight frozen out of the bag and they went for about 40 hours… most came out like they were dehydrated and were a little sticky. I was discouraged because I wanted them long term. We will try to eat them up, but how long do you think they’ll store for in this state…a year?
Throw em out thwybwill go moldy, just do a new batch, thaw em ri se em re freeze em then put em in the freeze dryer, -10 +2 hours freeze, 125 degrees +2 - 3 hours extra dry time ur good 2 go
Just got my freeze dryer. Love this video. Curious - what do you do with the juice after you drain the fruit? Or just use it for drinking?
Anything you want: Yes, drink it or add it various foods of choice. Jim
I’m new to freeze drying and LOVE your videos! My question is why you didn’t just add more time to all of the fruit. I was told that you can’t over dry your food. Is that true???
Thank you!
There are many times we have extended the times because the items are not completely freeze dried. The FDZR program offers the option to extend the cycle by two at a time. Many times, when we dehydrate we have to extend the times. Jim
Thank you for sharing. Can you please explain or share how you rehydrate these foods? I have seen dehydrated powdered orange peels used on ice cream but not fd. TYIA
Add water
Can you do them without pre freezing? I don't have freezer space at the moment.
Where did you purchase your plates and matching bowls? Someone said “Ikea” but that’s not true. Please help a single dad with 6 kids!
Robert-can you describe the matching bowls? Do you mean the clear glass bowls? If so, those came from Costco about 5 years ago and I haven't seen them since.
Here are the bowls: ua-cam.com/video/QSqSlYOqA38/v-deo.html. What brand are they?
Is there a way I can use pre frozen whole okra to CAN so I can fry later?
Thank you in advance!
Pam, how big was each bag uou used? How many pounds, of say, blueberries or strawberries, can you fit in your medium FDer?
1 kilo per tray
You make extremely good videos....thank you, I've learned so much. I have a question about pressure canning...I do understand all the principles that you have outlined about pressure, heat, time etc....my question,.... If you cook ie a soup or stew in a pressure cooker, using those same principles, then transfer the food straight to jars for sealing ....will this have the same effect as cooking inside the jars in the pressure canning pot....thankyou
eggs: No, it is not the same. Jim
@@RoseRedHomestead thanks
Can you can frozen fruits and veggies?
Do you need to do anything else to be able to just dehydrate these instead of freeze drying them?
Geni: No, you do not. Jim
I bought bags of frozen, sliced strawberries with bananas from Aldi and bags of frozen mango chunks from Costco. Would you recommend this same process (thawing, then refreezing) for those as well?
Shelby: Place the frozen items into the freeze drier and progress through all of the stages as the is programmed. We have found that if we skip a step, the process takes longer. Jim
@@RoseRedHomestead What I was wanting to know is whether ALL store-bought fruit should be thawed, drained, then refrozen before freeze drying? I was hoping to just dump my bags of frozen mango chunks and frozen sliced strawberries and bananas directly on the trays after opening.
No u can't, u have to thaw everything, rinse it then freeze dry it from there believe me I've done most every fruit and failed, until this thaw/rinse method it's a 100% success rate now
Is there a way to load frozen foods in the freeze dryer? We have a new version and can’t seem to find the setting on how to start a load when is already pre frozen. I would appreciate all your help
There is no setting u just put it in after uve pre frozen it the machine will 1st go down to the set temperature (-10 or -20) and it will detect that's the products are frozen it will then kick in and start the drying process
Hello. Just found you :) I went to your Amazon store but did not find a freeze dryer on there. Others on here seem to know about the cost of them. I'm researching to see if it is an option for me. What freeze dryer do you use? Great video and info!
Jennifer: Pam just placed the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer (which we use) up on Amazon abut 1 1/2 hours ago. Thanks for finding us. Jim
@@RoseRedHomestead Thank you! :)
@@RoseRedHomestead Thank you! I thought I had sent a thank you right away but don't see it now.
I don't have freeze dryer , can I can them instead
I've been freeze drying for over 4 years now. So hopefully you'll find some of my suggestions helpful.
It isn't necessary to thaw your frozen fruit before freeze drying. You are actually saving your freeze dryer time, by keeping the fruit frozen and/or pre-freezing all your foods. By putting in unfrozen foods in your FD you are creating longer batch times
In regards to the pineapple. I've found success in adding additional freeze and dry times in the customized menu of your freezer dryer. Harvest Right suggests adding an additional 12 hours of freeze and dry time. I can attest the extra time is needed in order to freeze dry pineapple successfully. You can't expect your pineapple to turn out completely freeze dried sub 45- 50 hours. It's just the nature of it. Knowing that a batch of pineapple is going to take a long time going into it. Helps to ensure You avoid ending the batch to early. Also as all types of foods dry at different rates. I suggest not mixing food types. Pineapples take longer to FD than, blue berries. Blue berries take longer to FD than raspberries, etc. Doing the same foods type per batch will greatly increase your success.
Hopefully you find some of this info useful. Thank you for sharing all the wisdom and knowledge you've gained over the years. It truly is priceless! All the best.
She said she thawed them, then refroze them before putting them in the freeze dryer.
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I’m still so confused why everything had to be frozen in a regular freezer before being freeze dried.
U don't have 2 some people just like doing it cuz the logic is "I'll.let my regular freezer donthe freezing as it's always running, and save a lil wear and tear/energy on letting the freeze dryer donthe freeze part"
It really doesn't matter
👍👍👍👍👍
What brand of freeze dryer is available for home use ?!
Harvest Right. Now available at some farming related stores, or their website.
There is more than one, but Harvest Right seems to be the go to brand. I've heard customer service is good.
What is the reasoning for thawing the fruit? Couldn't you just stick it in the freeze dryer taking less freeze drying time? I realize the blueberries need to be punctured, but that couldn't that be accomplished while still frozen?
why thaw out first?
We have found out that when we place already frozen items in out freeze dryer, the process takes much longer. Jim
@@RoseRedHomestead Harvest Right told me to freeze fruit first to make the run cycle shorter and put less strain on the machine. So you suggest I don't freeze the fruit ahead of time? I thought you were doing that because you were trying to get rid of the juices.
Unfortunately most of us will never have a freeze dryer.
then why are you watching a video on freeze drying??
Wow we need mass quality quantity and cheap prices of freeze dried fruit instead of all this useless candy
I wish I had a positive thing to say about Harvest Right. We spent months researching 'freeze drying' before we made our purchase. And this is what happened:
We purchased a medium-sized Harvest Right three weeks ago. We ran the bread cycle and one other cycle (fruit). On the third cycle, with the machine full of cheese and eggs, our Harvest Right machine quit working. It had absolutely no power. We checked all electric and that was all fine. We followed the video instruction from the company to check wiring in the front panel. That was fine, but the machine was still dead. One week ago, Harvest Right customer service said they would send a technician -- today. Today, there was no technician, but instead, they sent another video on how to troubleshoot the problem, which would require us to lift the machine, etc., Basically WE would be the technicians fixing it, if we could. After my husband had a lengthy discussion with customer service, this is what Harvest Right is doing for us: They are sending a box to pack it in, and when they receive it back, we will get a refund. Unbelievable.
To say we are disappointed is a great understatement. My husband and I are both disappointed, disgusted, and appalled at the horrible customer service coming from this company. I would NEVER promote them or their product. How can they still be in business if this is the way they operate??? Not only did we invest in the freeze dryer, we put money into numerous accessories that will now go to waste.
If anyone reading this is considering buying a Harvest Right freeze dryer, I would say DON'T DO IT. Or, if you do, you better have a plan on how it will get fixed if it breaks, because the company does not back up their own product, nor do they have technical support except for videos on how to do it yourself. Good luck.
Is this typical customer service for Harvest Right? We owned our machine less than a week when it stopped working. They did not offer to replace it. To say we are disappointed is an understatement.
Would you please message me I’d like to talk to you about freeze dryer