Welcome to my list of must-have freeze-drying supplies. Freeze drying is more than just a way to keep food fresh; it’s become a key method of food preservation on our homestead. Whether you’re new to freeze drying or experienced, having the right tools is key. In this post, I’ll tell you my top picks for freeze-drying supplies and explain why good food preservation tools make a big difference. Let’s dive in!
Understanding Freeze Drying
Freeze drying is a way to keep food fresh by taking out moisture while it’s still frozen. This keeps the food’s taste, texture, and nutrients just like before. It works by changing ice into vapor without going through liquid first.
For more details, check out my posts on freeze drying vs. dehydrating, choosing the best freeze dryer for you, my Harvest Right Freeze Dryer FAQs page, my 1-year freeze-dryer review, how to store freeze-dried foods, and how to use oxygen absorbers.
Benefits of Freeze Drying
Freeze drying has many benefits:
- It lets you store food for a long time without needing refrigeration or taking up valuable freezer space.
- It reduces waste by easily being able to freeze-dry leftovers.
- It’s great for convenience meals, camping, grab-and-go lunches.
- Want to prepare for emergencies? A freeze dryer can help!
- I love that we can enjoy seasonal foods all year long with the same great flavor as when freshly harvested.
- Freeze-dried foods also keep more vitamins and minerals than other ways of preserving food.
Though my list of reasons why I love freeze-drying could go on and on, these are the benefits I hear people sharing all the time. And I like to share my seven simple steps for freeze drying so you can avoid making the same mistakes I made when starting out.
Must-Have Freeze Drying Supplies
Starting with freeze drying? You’ll need the right supplies for success. I’ve made a list of must-haves to make it easier. For beginners, picking the right gear is key for a good start. As you get better, advanced tools can make preserving food easier and faster.
Here are the main things to get:
- Freeze Dryer: A good freeze dryer, like those from Harvest Right, is a must for serious preservation. My recommendation is to always purchase the largest machine you can afford. There are very few times we’re running our freeze dryer that it’s not packed to the brim with something to freeze dry. Read this post on choosing the best freeze dryer for you.
- Storage Containers: Use Mason jars or mylar bags to keep your food dry and fresh. We prefer glass Mason jars because we can reuse them, but we do keep mylar bags on hand for the occasional backpacking meal.
- Oxygen Absorbers: Though you could freeze dry food without oxygen absorbers, we’ve found they really help keep oxygen out of your containers, preserving the shelf-life of your efforts.
This list is pretty short when you’re first getting started! But if you want to take your freeze drying to the next level with some of these helpful tools, here are my top must-have picks:
- Vacuum Packing System: Vacuum sealing helps keep your food fresh for a long time after freeze-drying. We highly recommend this vacuum sealer that can be used on both wide-mouth and regular-mouth Mason jars. Or, if you have a Food Saver machine, grab this vacuum sealer attachment.
- Specialized Trays: When freeze-drying food, it’s most time and cost-efficient if you pre-freeze your food. But freezing food on the freeze-drying trays can start to take up a lot of real-estate in the freezer. We love these tray stackers that let you stack vertically in the freezer.
- Silicone Mats: There’s nothing worse than stuck-on food on your freeze-dryer trays. Yes, you can certainly use parchment paper to line your trays, but we’re not fans of one-use items that just end up in the trash. These silicone mats are perfect for lining your freeze-dryer trays for perfect, stick-free freeze-drying.
- Silicone Cube Molds: Have you seen our freeze-dried baby food? The MVP of that recipe is the silicone cube molds, which make for perfect individual-sized servings. We also love using them when freeze-drying broth for individual bouillon cubes.
- Funnel: When filling a lot of jars or bags, this food funnel bag and jar filler really saves valuable time! We love efficiency! You won’t find me recommending tools that will sit unused in your drawer; we reach for this funnel all the time.
High-quality freeze-drying equipment is key for good results. Cheaper options might look good initially but cost more later due to upkeep or poor performance.
Though you can freeze-dry plenty of high-quality and delicious foods without these freeze-drying supplies, these are the items that have really streamlined the process and saved me even more time during the preservation season.
Freeze Drying the Harvest
Want to learn more? When I first started freeze-drying about five years ago, I made some big mistakes. There simply wasn’t enough tested and reliable information out there to teach me the correct (or incorrect) way of freeze-drying food.
Since freeze-drying has become such a valuable addition to many homesteads, I wanted to eliminate this struggle for everyone else. Thus, I wrote my book, Freeze Drying the Harvest. You can preorder it now, and it will be available in September 2024.
