A Freeze Dryer!

[Teppy]

Well, I've been trolling eBay for a while now, and finally found one of these beasts in good condition at a reasonable price. Now the fun starts...

I'm brainstorming ideas on what to do with it. Gourmet astronaut ice cream? Crispy cheesecake? Some weird variant on beef jerky?

What else?

[BryanZ]

No way, that's pretty cool. Do you have a picture of it, how much are we talking here? 600 lbs seems rather unlikely; I'm thinking more like 60.

[Smithy]

No way, that's pretty cool.  Do you have a picture of it, how much are we talking here?  600 lbs seems rather unlikely; I'm thinking more like 60.

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I'd like a photo, too! Any chance of sending the eBay link over?

Anyway...freeze-dried strawberries rank right up there with astronaut ice cream. Freeze-dried stews, perhaps? Do you camp?

[Kerry Beal]

Well, I've been trolling eBay for a while now, and finally found one of these beasts in good condition at a reasonable price. Now the fun starts...

I'm brainstorming ideas on what to do with it. Gourmet astronaut ice cream? Crispy cheesecake? Some weird variant on beef jerky?

What else?

←

Given the outrageous cost of freeze dried fruit, I have also been watching e-bay for an inexpensive freeze dryer, with the thought of using it to dehydrate stuff that could then be added to chocolate centers, adding flavour without adding liquid. I make a strawberry centre that uses strawberrry puree, freeze dried strawberry powder, as well as a bit of strawberry compound to produce an intensly strawberry experience. I do the same with mango, using freeze dried mango that is imported from Germany. Whole freeze dried strawberries enrobed in white chocolate are amazing, like strawberry malted milk balls with that great crunch in the middle.

I'm actually working now on making myself a vacuum microwave instead. Got the idea from an article in MacLeans magazine about Domenic and Cindy Duby, who use one to produce interesting flavours. Takes up less space and hopefully produces a product a bit faster. We'll see how it works out.

I'll be looking forward to hearing about the weird and wonderful items you produce. Should be an interesting learning curve.

Which one of the units did you buy?

[Sugarella]

Forgive my stupidity, but how is freeze drying different from dehydrating? I mean, I get the freezing part, but I usually associate dryness of frozen things to just be freezer burned. Could someone fill me in?

Is it flash freezing and dehydrating at the same time? Do the items need to be kept frozen, or stored at room temp?

[Teppy]

It should be here around the end of next week - I'll take pictures.

How it's different than just freezer-burning something - I'm not sure actually. A freeze dryer is a big vacuum chamber that gets very cold (-30F), and continues to pump out the water vapor while maintaining the vacuum. I think it takes days to freeze dry food.

Fillings for chocolates is a perfect idea! Should be able to get some really intense flavors that way.

I'm really curious what it would do to a hard-boiled egg, especially the yolk.

[Shalmanese]

Forgive my stupidity, but how is freeze drying different from dehydrating? I mean, I get the freezing part, but I usually associate dryness of frozen things to just be freezer burned. Could someone fill me in?

Is it flash freezing and dehydrating at the same time? Do the items need to be kept frozen, or stored at room temp?

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The key is to freeze as fast as possible then dry as slow as possible. The freezing stiffens the cells so that when it is dried, it still maintains it's shape and texture. Because the freezing is fast, relatively few cell walls are ruptured which means it can be rehydrated with much less loss of quality.

[Kerry Beal]

Freeze drying works by quickly freezing the item (and that could include flowers or dead animals as this technology is used to preserve wedding bouquets and in taxidermy) to a very low temperature, then placing it under vacuum to remove the air and water vapour. The item is then heated up again and as the water starts to leave instead of melting (ie going from a solid to a liquid) it sublimates (ie goes from a solid to a gas) under the influence of the negative pressure produced by the vacuum. So you are left with the cell minus water in an intact shape and size.

Dehydrators take the water off the surface first, then water eqilibrates with the surface, more water is drawn off the surface. You are left with a shrunken item, with some residual water. Makes gorgeous leather.

I want to suggest to Teppy that you get a bunch of 8 quart hard plastic foodsaver containers to keep your products in under vacuum, being so low in moisture they attract water and soften rather easily. E-bay is a good source.

[nathanm]

Wow, I have wanted to get a freeze dryer for years, but I don't have one. I looked on ebay but never found that looked right.

Presumably you have one of the medium sized units that is used for dried flowers, taxidermy etc - those are most common on the market. Lab supply places have very small ones for scientific samples. Food oriented freeze dryers tend to be factory sized.

You should try:

- Anything that you would put into a conventional dehydrator. It will taste and look different.

- Reduce flavored liquids to powder (like in freeze dried camping food).

- Strange things like freeze dry some ice cream...

- As with a conventional dehydrator, the thinner it is, the faster it will dry.

- Anything with too high a fat content may give some problems because the oils or fat will not evaporate, only the water will.

- Some things will get too hard to eat. So, for example, taxidermists these days use a freeze dryer to dry whole animals (squirrels, and even larger) instead of skinning and stuffing them. They come out as dry and hard as lumber. So, if you try to freeze dry a steak or roast, expect to break a tooth eating it.

[Luckylies]

I've had a special dream since I was a kid that involves a freeze dryer. and it's top secret. May I ask how much you found it for? I'm giddy!!!!!!!!!!

[Teppy]

It was $1000. Hasn't arrived yet, but should be here this week - I'll give a report.

The trays on this are short, just 1.5 inches high. So, no freeze-drying squirrels

One idea I that I had was to freeze-dry sorbet. Sort of a twist on astronaut ice cream. I've had freeze dried strawberries, and those have a nice crunchy texture. I've heard thaty freeze-drying watermelon is impossible, so I suspect you need something with some non-sugar non-water "structure" to it. (Fiber?)

"Sorbet" chunks sprinkled on normal (non-freeze-dried) ice cream might be be good. I never cared for fruit ice cream where you bite into a hard icy piece of fruit.

[BryanZ]

That thing totally blows my mind. Fascinating.

[Shalmanese]

It was $1000. Hasn't arrived yet, but should be here this week - I'll give a report.

The trays on this are short, just 1.5 inches high. So, no freeze-drying squirrels

One idea I that I had was to freeze-dry sorbet. Sort of a twist on astronaut ice cream. I've had freeze dried strawberries, and those have a nice crunchy texture. I've heard thaty freeze-drying watermelon is impossible, so I suspect you need something with some non-sugar non-water "structure" to it. (Fiber?)

"Sorbet" chunks sprinkled on normal (non-freeze-dried) ice cream might be be good. I never cared for fruit ice cream where you bite into a hard icy piece of fruit.

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Hrmm... maybe not freeze drying sorbet but I imagine using freeze dried fruits IN sorbet would give a much more intense flavour. Especially for things like watermelon which I've had great trouble sorbeting successfully.