Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

What I have seen in use is some of those plastic containers that everyone buys now. Just fill them up about 1/2" deep then freeze them. Knock out the resulting hockey puck and stick it on the tray to FD. Liquids keep their shape until you touch them, then collapse into powder.
I put a liner of parchment paper on first for everything, since the first load I did was some tomato slices and some of them stuck to the tray. It washes easily, but I didn't like losing even the smallest morsel of those ripe tomatoes, lol.

Well, we picked 55# of golden plums this evening and I decided the ones at the topmost branches can go to the birds, and then the chickens and the deer when they fall to the ground. I'll be making some jam for christmas gifts, and the rest will be either dehydrated or freeze-dried. I couldn't help myself... I ate 4 of them!

 

[Mini Horses]

Liquids keep their shape until you touch them, then collapse into powder.

WOW -- guess the touch disturbs the "structure" of what solids are left, right? Then, you can have powdered eggs, milk, tomato sauce, etc....with no more work. So, ice cream becomes a powder? That's a little disappointing.

 

[Britesea]

I think the ice cream has enough fat in it to still give it some structure. Like the "astronaut ice cream" from my childhood? I haven't done liquids yet with the freeze dryer so I don't know exactly what happens; I'm just going with what I've seen in various videos I've watched.
Well it's too late to do anything more. I'm tired and I have to get up early tomorrow to pick peppers and chilies. Then after Tai Chi I will be fire roasting them in preparation for FD'ing- doing them and a couple of trays of Walla Walla onions I already have in the freezer. Then on to cutting and pitting the plums to make jam, set some in the dehydrator, and some in the freezer until the freeze dryer is ready for them. Man, preparing for winter is not for the faint-hearted!

 

[sumi]

This is so interesting, I'm starting to think about getting a freeze dryer myself. @Britesea I was also thinking now it'd be nice to have a separate thread on the topic, with pics of the products. Would you mind..?

 

[NH Homesteader]

I was just going to ask that myself!!

 

[Britesea]

Ok, I'll try to set something up. It's hard to take pics, because all I have is the camera on my cheap little flip phone- which tends to move a tiny bit when I click to take a picture... so a lot of them turn out blurry. I'll do my best though, over the weekend.

God answered my prayer and we have a travel trailer! It's a 1996, about 20' long, and absolutely cherry! Almost like it's been in a time warp for the last 20 years... and at a price we could afford. The owner is going to fix the fan on the heater before he lets it go; apparently it got knocked loose when he was moving it the last time, and makes a little noise when the heater is running. That's the big news today. Maybe I'll have more to talk about this weekend.

 

[sumi]

Please do and well done on the trailer! Those things are so much fun to go holidaying and touring in and it sounds like you got a great deal there.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Woohoo on the trailer! I'm sure you will enjoy it!

 

[Britesea]

We got the trailer's title switched over, and paid for registration as well (it wasn't actually due until January, but I'd rather do it now, when we have the money for it). We've been spending money like crazy right now, on stuff that needed doing that we've been putting off. Things like replacing the front windshield on the truck, and buying a couple of 55 gallon water drums, and getting the broken motor for the car's electric window replaced...

I have an appointment today with the VA to talk about my arthritic knees. Don't know if they will go with shots, knee replacement, or just pat me on the head and tell me it's nothing, lol. The problem is, it's been going on so long that now the hips are giving me trouble as well- especially at night. 3 nights in a row, I wake up every 2 hours from the pain and have to do something about it- either taking some Tylenol or some Ibuprofen or just rubbing them with castor oil- and lie down on the other side. I can't sleep on my back because then the knees get extended and stiff and I can't even get out of bed without crying from the pain of moving them. Sorry about the whining.

I have one more market bag full of bell peppers to process for the freeze dryer, and a market bag full of jalapenos. After that, I'm through with peppers and on to harvesting the potatoes. I'm hoping being gone for the day will not lose me too many of those peppers!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I have a lot of sympathy for those living with chronic pain. This may seem too simplistic or maybe you're already trying it - but can you put a pillow under your knees if you're on your back? DH does that sometimes to help with the same issue....seems to help him unless he tosses and turns and dislodges the pillow.