5 Foods That Become Freeze-Dried Favorites

There are hundreds of foods you can freeze dry, but a few seem to become favorites almost immediately.

Freeze drying can turn familiar foods into something completely different. The hardest part with some of them is getting them into a bag before everyone starts eating them. From sweet and crunchy to downright fun to eat, there are plenty of reasons these five keep showing up in freeze dryers again and again.

Fair warning: you might start wishing you had a freeze dryer before you get to the end of the list.

Pineapple Freeze-dried pineapple has a way of becoming a favorite fast. Fresh pineapple becomes light and crunchy, with that sweet pineapple flavor packed into every bite. It's one of those foods that tends to disappear almost as quickly as you can make it, so don't be surprised if your first batch doesn't spend much time in storage.

Candy This is where freeze drying gets really fun. Candies like Skittles, taffy, Starburst, and Jolly Ranchers can puff up and completely change in texture. The result is light, crunchy, and very different from the candy you started with. It's fun to make, fun to watch them increase in size during freeze drying, and definitely fun to taste.

Ice Cream Yep, you can freeze dry ice cream. And if you're picturing that old astronaut ice cream, this is way better! One of our favorites is ice cream sandwiches. Cut them into smaller pieces, place them on the trays, and they come out light and crunchy - ice cream, cookie, and all. They'll never melt and they make a pretty amazing snack.

Eggs Yes, you can freeze dry eggs, too. Raw eggs can be blended, freeze-dried, stored, and rehydrated later for baking, cooking, or even scrambled eggs. It's one of those uses you might not think about at first, but it can be incredibly useful when eggs are on sale, you buy in bulk, or you have more than you can use.

A Favorite Meal This is where a freeze dryer starts to look like more than just a snack maker. Chili, spaghetti, chicken Alfredo, soups, casseroles, and even last night's leftovers can be freeze dried and saved for later. When you’re ready to eat it, just add water to rehydrate the meal. It’s pretty amazing to see a complete dinner freezevdried, stored, and ready to enjoy again whenever you want it.

And That's Just Five!

The fun part is that this list could have been a lot longer. Strawberries, mango, peaches, yogurt, cheese, chicken, steak, shrimp, vegetables, herbs, and plenty more can all go into a freeze dryer.

And that's when you start to see just how many different ways you could use one. Some you'll freeze dry just because they're delicious. Some because you don't want them to go to waste. And others because you want to put them away for months or even years.

That's what makes having a freeze dryer so fun. Once you start thinking about what you could put in one, five foods is just the beginning. The possibilities are endless.

Visit HarvestRight.com to learn more!