Home freeze-drying is one of the best ways to preserve food at home, especially if you’re hoping to maintain as much nutritional value as possible.
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You can freeze-dry almost anything, including meat, cheese, fruits, veggies, and even ready-to-heat-and-eat meals.
All you have to do is rehydrate the food, and it has the same flavor, texture and nutritional value as the day it was preserved. Be that later on in the week, or 25 years later.
The same technology is behind all those just-add-water camping meals (like backpacker’s pantry) that you see at outdoor stores, but you can make your own at a fraction of the cost.
While just about everything has gone up in price in the past few years, home freeze dryers have actually gone DOWN. They’re now about the price of a home refrigerator, believe it or not, even though they have all that same chilling technology, plus a vacuum pump, too!
If you’re ready to learn how it works, I’ve put together a Beginner’s Guide to Freeze-Drying that explains how everything works. We’ve had our Harvest Right Freeze Dryer for a few years now, and we absolutely love it.
We put up food in just about every way possible, from canning and fermenting to cheesemaking and charcuterie, and even a few really obscure methods from the Middle Ages to boot, so I have plenty to compare this to.
Why do I love it?
Well, hand any toddler a freeze-dried strawberry, and you’ll have your first answer with the look on their face. It’s delicious.
It’s incredibly easy, even if you have no cooking or preserving experience, and really, impossible to mess up. You can’t say that for canning, and definitely not for charcuterie!
Beyond that, it’s convenient. I can make freeze-dried meals in a jar and pack them away for my little ones. All they have to do is pour hot water over the food, and they have a home-cooked meal in just a few minutes.
You can put up almost anything! My daughter is particularly fond of chicken korma, and that’s one of those things you just can’t pressure can.
Whatever you freeze dry lasts FOREVER. Mountain House is now saying that their freeze-dried meals are guaranteed for at least 30 years, but they note that there’s no reason they won’t last indefinitely if packed correctly.
It’s lightweight and perfect for camping or travel (and it’s a lot cheaper to make your own freeze-dried camping meals than it is to buy it by the pouch).
And have you tried freeze-dried candy?!?! The only thing that changes when you freeze dry it is candy, and it changes for the better. Freeze-dried candy sells for A LOT online, and it’s a sweet gift for friends and family that’ll make everybody happy. (And a good side hustle, if you’re looking for extra income at craft fairs and farmer’s markets.)
I could go on…
But for me, the first reason was enough.
Seriously, try a freeze-dried strawberry, especially a fresh, sweet, homegrown one; it’ll change your life.
If you’re curious how particular foods work in a freeze dryer, I have a few specific guides posted thus far, and many more coming:
What do you want to know about freeze-drying? What questions can I answer? What should I freeze dry next?
Leave me a note in the comments!
Until Next Time,
Ashley at Practical Self Reliance
This is so timely for me. I am saving up for a Harvest Right freeze dryer. My sister already has one and loves it but she's too far away to make sharing a viable option. I am thinking that more freeze drying might let me eliminate at least one of my freezers - cutting down on long term energy costs to store food. And the ability to turn food waste into shelf stable dog food makes a world of sense to me too. Thanks for sharing this post!
I've been experimenting with the "meal in a jar" concept, so that I can store a one-pan meal in mason jars for quick meals at home, or in mylar bags to take camping. I find it much easier to cook an entire recipe and then freeze-dry it, but I've also experimented with recipes where each ingredient is freeze-dried before adding it to the jar or mylar. I'd love to hear what has worked for you... meatloaf is something I have not yet tried.