Perfect 1st Run of Freeze Dryer - Tuesday

Really these came out exactly how we wanted them to and they taste great. They have held their shape exactly since the water was desiccated from them and not dehydrated from them. With the desiccation there is no shrinkage and no condensing of the flavors and sugars as the water slowly evaporates like dehydrating.

The 5 trays left only a moderate amount of ice on the insides and the 2 hour defrost cycle was more than enough to clean it.

I pulled the apples slices from the tray and put them in gallon ziplock bags, since they came out so wonderfully I knew they would not last that long around the house. The boys and @stryeyz are in love with them. I got about 1 and 2/3 bag full from the 5 trays which used 14 apples. Next time I will cut the apples thicker and try laying them on the skin so I can fit more on a tray.

I had stopped the dehydrator for the night so the apples didn't dry out too much, so first thing in the morning I kicked it back on and then about 2pm they were dry enough. It took about 14 hours of running the dehydrator to get the 8 trays dried.

They came out sweeter, tougher, and smaller than the freeze dried but they take up less space.

Once done with the apples I headed out to the chicken coop to give them some new bedding in the nest buckets and to toss out the nasty eggs that I had let collect in the muck. I only shoveled half the coop out the window, just enough to get to the nest buckets for the eggs. It's going to take me a bit to get the rest of it shoveled out but now we can get clean eggs again since the chickens are still laying well.

Finally decided on the next thing to go into the freeze dryer, the smaller of our 2 pumpkins from this year, the 20 pound one.

So I hacked it in half, scooped the insides, then cut it into smaller chunks which I then cut to long slices that I was able to use the peeler on to get the skin off. I then hacked it up into smaller chunks which got layered on the trays.

The first tray I laid one layer of squash on but the rest all got a few pieces deep layers in the trays. It is all a test right now until we get some runs under our belts to get an idea how it will run at various times and on different products.

I got all 5 trays filled and this is what was left of the pumpkin. Not bad considering it was a 20 pounder.

With the trays full and the unit ready to run I had one more thing to do before starting it up again and that was to mount the extension cord outlet end to the cart so everything is fully contained to the cart. Now when not in use I will roll up the extension cord and set it on the back by the pump.

5 trays full and ready for the cover and starting. I started it at 6:30 pm and am curious just how long the cycle will take. It was 21:14 for apples.

I made myself a form to keep track of every run of the freeze dryer. I want to know how long each type of thing takes, the dates, and have notes on each.

It rained over night so the yard is a mess today. The dryer is running on its process and I will need to do something with the rest of the pumpkin. I still have a 63 pound pumpkin that I need to deal with as well. That will likely be cooked down to a mush then I may try freeze drying trays of it that way. Powdered pumpkin would probably be easier to store than pieces or cubes.

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Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce

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