Kitchen Equipment
Freeze-Dryer
Many of the items listed below you may already have. While they are common kitchen finds, they make your freeze-drying adventure all the easier. This list includes:
Workbooks
Machine Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large
Introducing the "COMPANION WORKBOOKS” – the ultimate record-keepers designed to help you maximize your freeze-drying success with your size freeze-dryer. These practical workbooks contain:
- Useful Quick-Start checklist and Reminder Steps to get you started fast!
- Specifications and capacity information for your size freeze-dryer.
- Details on which foods you can and cannot freeze-dry.
- Conversions to make working in the kitchen a breeze.
- Rehydration information to aid in using freeze-dried foods.
- Troubleshooting information with Maintenance sheets and Notes pages.
- A whopping 300 Batch Logs for efficiently tracking and optimizing your freeze-drying journey.
Follow a systematic approach to freeze-drying with worksheets that guide you through each step of the process, from preparation to packaging and storage. The quick-reference guides simplify the freeze-drying process with concise overviews of key concepts and techniques from the main book, ensuring you have all the essential knowledge at your fingertips.
Kitchen Scale
I think a kitchen scale is an absolute must. The scale will be used before and after the trays go into the freeze-dryer. Weighing your trays prior will help ensure the trays do not get overloaded. Too much weight means the machine will have to work harder, and therefore, longer than normal. This places additional strain that wears down your machine faster. After the freeze dryer has completed its cycle it’s time to do the Two Hour Weight Check. We always weigh using grams.
Blender
You can use your blender to make smooth sauces to go into your silicone molds or directly on the trays. You can also use your blender to powder the dried product afterward. Our Vitamix blender has both a wet and a dry pitcher and it works very well.
Food Processor
When preparing food for freeze-drying, a food processor is an excellent tool to have in your kitchen. It can be used to purée fruits and vegetables, grind meat, and combine sauce and marinade components. It can save you a lot of time and work by processing huge amounts of food swiftly and efficiently.
Mandoline
A nice, sharp mandoline will make cutting up produce easy, whether fresh or frozen. It will produce clean-cut and uniform pieces, which is important to gain the highest quality final product. We got ours from Pampered Chef and it has become my husband's favorite kitchen tool. You can adjust your thicknesses and it slices so quickly. It saves so much time.
Jar Sealer
We have a FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealer with the jar sealer accessories and it works really well. If you plan to store freeze-dried food in canning jars you will need a jar sealer. The FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealer can help you store things for the short term (up to five years.) You can use the jar attachments to seal glass canning jars and use the FoodSaver® machine to vacuum and seal the clear bags for fresh, refrigerated storage. While there are many vacuum seal machines on the market this is the one I’m fond of.
Instead of the electric FoodSaver® vacuum sealer, you could get the Pump-N-Seal which is a manual pump that uses either Tab-check tape valves or the FoodSaver® jar sealer accessories to seal canning Jars.
Pressure Cooker
A pressure cooker is an excellent tool for quickly and efficiently cooking food for freeze-drying. It can be used to cook meats, poultry, and vegetables fast, as well as to produce soups and stews. The pressure cooking procedure preserves the nutrients and flavors of the food, making it an excellent choice for freeze-drying.
Peeler, Corer, Slicer
When preparing fruits and vegetables for freeze-drying, a combination of these three pieces of equipment can be extremely useful. A peeler is useful for removing the skin from fruits and vegetables, a corer is helpful for removing the cores from apples and pears, and a slicer is wonderful for cutting fruits and vegetables into uniform pieces. There is a device that does all three for apples from Pampered Chef, that I love!
Knives, Shears, Herb Scissors, and Cutting Boards
Sharp knives are required for freeze-drying food preparation. They are used for chopping, slicing, and mincing fruits, vegetables, and meats. Kitchen shears and herb scissors can also be helpful. Cutting boards will also be required to protect your surfaces and facilitate food preparation.
Colanders and Strainers
When preparing food for freeze-drying, colanders and strainers are invaluable. They can be used to rinse and drain fruits and vegetables, as well as to remove extra water from cooked dishes. They come in a variety of sizes and forms that can be beneficial for a variety of foods.
Tray Grids for Trays
Use them to add layers to your trays. Place a layer of bananas on the silicone mat, lay down a few grids on top and you can place a second layer of bananas on the same tray! Just make sure you give them plenty of space and watch the weight of each tray. We got our tray grids from Sophos Survival. The maximum food weight for each freeze-dryer tray size is 2.3 lbs for a small tray, 2.5 lbs for a medium tray, 3.2 lbs for a large tray, and 5.5 lbs for an X-Large tray. You can also layer parchment paper with slits cut into it.
Silicone Molds
You can use any silicone molds to pre-freeze foods prior to popping them out onto the trays. Simply keep the frozen pieces in a zip sealed bag in your freezer until you have enough for a tray.
Stainless Steel Trays
You can use any stainless steel trays in your freeze-dryer. You can pre-freeze in these trays (or other small containers) and then pop them out onto your trays. Otherwise, you can put stainless steel trays directly in the freeze-dryer. Stainless steel trays can also go in the oven.
Other Items Needed
There are a few additional items that are important to have. Most of these can be found around the house.
Bucket
Your freeze-dryer will have a drain line that needs a place into which it can empty. A bucket will work well for this task. Make sure it is big enough so water doesn’t overflow. We use a 5-gallon bucket we already had. Keep your bucket empty and clean it regularly.
Oil Funnel
You will need a dedicated oil funnel to get the oil into your pump. It is very helpful to completely avoid any messy spills. It makes refilling easy and clean.
Fans
Your freeze-dryer wants to feel the breeze of fans. You will want to get fans for your freeze-dryer. Fans are especially necessary if your freeze-dryer is in a room over 65°F. It is highly recommended that you direct a blowing fan on the left side of the appliance.
Sharpies
You will need a permanent marker to write the item name, date, and expected expiration on your Mylar bags. The bag should be itemized so there is no mistaking the content. The dates are also required so that the best-by date for consumption is known.
