When you finally purchase your first home freeze dryer it is so exciting! You begin freeze drying everything and your machine never stops running. But, after a while, your freeze dryer in the winter will likely become dormant.
If you are like us, you mostly use the freeze dryer in the spring, summer, and fall months to preserve your garden harvest or other items from local farms. In fact, during harvest season I wish I had three freeze dryers I could run at the same time!
But as winter approaches many people notice that their freeze dryer is used less and less. For such an expensive machine and the unknown future of our economy, it seems silly to not be running it in the winter as well!
I’ve discovered my favorite ways to use our freeze dryer in the winter. I hope these ideas will spark some creativity of your own and help you keep your freeze dryer running all the time!
Let’s check them out…
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Holiday Gifts
Have you ever freeze dried candy? We love to always have freeze dried skittles on hand to bring to parties or gatherings, especially during the holidays!
It sparks wonderful conversation, gets people interested, and is a fun and unique treat that you can be sure no one else is bringing.
In fact, it is one of the easiest ways to make a homemade gift for all the random gift exchanges you are a part of. One idea is simply to wrap the skittles up in a cute way, or even put them in glass ornaments. The colors and unique shapes speak for themselves.
If you freeze dry several different candies or desserts you can make a unique gift basket. Or just hop on Pinterest for some clever ideas and replace the items with freeze dried ones.
Plus, this is a cheap and consumable gift you can be sure people will love! So, your freeze dryer in the winter can be running candy loads, especially in December.
Related Post: 10 Important Food Preservation Items To Own And Use Regularly
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Dried Beans And Lentils
Do you have a bulk dried food storage area in your home? If not, it is time to consider it!
We have about 10 5-gallon buckets in our pantry each with various dried goods – various flours, sugar, various beans, lentils, oats, and more. I love having so many dried goods on hand to make throwing together meals so simple and easy. And especially since we don’t live close to the store, it has almost become a necessity.
However, dried beans aren’t very useful in a power outage. You still have to soak them and cook them, which requires heat.
So, one of my winter projects is to cook the beans and then freeze dry them. That way they are way more convenient to add to meals! And more beneficial when the power goes out.
Once they are freeze dried, I just simply add water and they are ready to eat! So far, I have worked through all of our great northern beans and black beans. Now I am working on our kidney beans.
You can line the 5-gallon bucket with a mylar bag and just add the beans back in after they are freeze dried for long term storage.
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Meals For Upcoming Backpacking Or Camping Trips
Another thing I will do often in the winter is making a double batch of the meal we are eating that night. I will freeze dry the second batch and seal it in mylar bags with proper labels.
Then, we have ready-to-go camping meals for the upcoming summer months that we know are tasty and nutritious. Simply add water and heat over the fire. It is the easiest way to bring food along on these adventures.
The meals usually consist of stews, soups, and casseroles. You can see all the things you can freeze dry here!
I know we will for sure use them because my husband takes a week-long fishing trip every year and sometimes we just enjoy a simple campfire meal throughout the summer. It is a great way to have some convenient meals ready to go for the busy summer days.
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Seasonal Produce In Your Freeze Dryer In The Winter
If you don’t have dried beans to freeze dry all winter, you can go to the grocery store and look for seasonal produce that is cheaper than it usually is.
For us, these are often things we can’t grow ourselves like avocados, bananas, and oranges. When we see a great deal on the food we buy as much as we can, bring it home, and freeze dry it. That saves us money in the future when these items are out of season and cost a fortune.
Related Post: My 10 Time-Saving Kitchen Mom Hacks I Can’t Live Without
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Grocery Store Sales
On the same note, this could also look like seeing a huge sale happening on almost expired food at the grocery store. Buy as much as you can and freeze dry it in the winter months when you have the time. This will save you money in the following months when the prices are higher or the item is harder to come by.
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Bulk Food Purchases
Another idea is to find an item that you can buy in bulk for a great price in the winter. For most people, this is a large citrus order of lemons, grapefruit, and oranges.
You don’t have to be scared to buy in bulk when you have a freeze dryer because you can preserve all the food and use it all year long, or longer!
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Indoor Garden Herbs
Lastly, is there a plant or herb that grows really well inside, or maybe even in a greenhouse, in the winter months? Focus on preserving those herbs in the freeze dryer during this slower time.
How will you get creative with your freeze dryer in the winter? I’d love to hear in the comments below and thanks for reading!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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