Fruits are some of the most popular healthy snacks around. However, there are lots of options to pick from, and it can be difficult to choose when you head to a store. The good news is, you can make a lot of fruit snacks in the comfort of your own home! So, if you are wondering how to freeze dry fruit, we can help you.
At Natural Health 4 Life, we offer an array of dried fruit and also candied fruit to suit everyone’s tastes. Not only that, but we have all kinds of speciality nuts, including almonds, cashews and so much more. We even talk about why adding superfoods, like nuts, are beneficial in your diet – you’re bound to learn more than you bargained for.
Freeze-dried fruit is exactly what it sounds like – fruit that has been preserved by being frozen first, then dried. The fruit gets dried under pressure in order for the water content to remove, which makes it last a long time.
Popular freeze-dried fruit include the following:
Bananas
Strawberries
Mangoes
Dragon fruit
Raspberries
Honeyberries
Blackcurrants
Apples
However, you could technically freeze dry any kind of fruit you like, and it will probably turn out fantastic. As such, you should definitely explore possibilities and see what new creations you can come up with and love.
Freeze dried fruit has a lot of benefits that you might not initially think of. The best thing about freeze dried fruit is that it retains over 90% of its original nutrients!
This means that you can get all the benefits of the fresh fruit while enjoying it in its freeze dried form – making it easy to enjoy for a diverse range of uses. On top of that, you don’t sacrifice the flavour of the fruit, so if you love the fresh thing, you’ll love the freeze dried thing, too.
The freeze dried fruit has the same amount of fibre that the fresh fruit would have, too. Because of this, you can enjoy freeze dried fruit and all the gut health benefits it comes with.
Yes! You can absolutely freeze dry fruit at home – even if you don’t have the ‘proper’ equipment. Although it might take a bit longer without the right equipment, your patience will still pay off, and you will be left with some delicious snacks.
Freeze drying fruit at home might sound complicated, but it really isn’t. In fact, most of the time it takes to make this delicious snack is just the fruit sitting in the freezer! Let’s go through now to freeze dry fruit below.
If you have been thinking about freeze drying your own fruit, we wholeheartedly encourage you to try it. All you need to do is follow the steps below:
Prepare your fruit
This might include peeling fruit if necessary, and washing fruit you don’t need/want to peel.
Larger pieces of fruit should be sliced into chips or bite sized pieces. Remember that they will drink when frozen, so don’t make them too tiny!
Smaller berries such as raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries are already the perfect size, just remember to wash them first.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, covering the whole tray
Place the fruit on the tray evenly, ensuring that none of the pieces touch each other
Put the tray in the freezer, making sure that it is level
Leave the tray in the freezer for at least one week, and up to 10 days if needed. Don’t disturb the tray while it is in the freezer
Take the freeze dried fruit out of the freezer and either keep it in a freezer bag or a glass jar that you can seal – removing as much air as you can before sealing it.
With your fruit frozen and ready to be enjoyed, you need to properly store it. Luckily, this is simple – all you need to do is store it in a cool, dry place. Spots like a cupboard away from the oven would be perfect, or a pantry if you have one.
Freeze dried fruit can last up to 30 years if left unopened and properly sealed. However, once you have opened a packet, it should be enjoyed within a year of opening.
This gives you plenty of time to store your favourite snacks. Just remember that, like in most cases, homemade freeze dried fruit might not have the same long shelf life, since the ‘proper’ equipment and processes aren’t necessarily used.
We would recommend keeping homemade freeze dried fruit up to a year. However, if you notice any signs of spoilage, throw the food out, even if it hasn’t been that long.
Food can be freeze dried in a normal freezer, so you don’t have to worry about this. Using a normal freezer may add a few days to the overall process, but it’s worth it since most people have a freezer at home.
Luckily, there are dozens of ways to use freeze dried fruit, so you’ll never get tired of it. Let’s have a look at some popular uses of this snack below:
Enjoy a handful as-is
Add it to recipes like flapjacks, shortbread, cakes and more
Blend it into a power and coat glass rims for cocktails
Blend it into a powder and add it to meringues
Blend it into a powder and sprinkle it over desserts
For more uses, why not check out this list of uses? You’re bound to find all kinds of uses that you’re going to love.
We would absolutely recommend making your own freeze dried fruit at home if you feel up for it. It’s great to have the ability to do things yourself, and we believe that it’s something that you should try out.
With that being said, it’s important to remember that homemade snacks – in this case freeze dried fruit – might not last as long as commercially purchased snacks. This is because there may be differences in the production of the food, and extra steps are taken to lengthen the shelf life.
In this case, when the ‘proper’ equipment is used, more moisture may be removed from the fruit and the air is removed before packaging. Both of these things will help to make the freeze dried fruit last longer and cannot be done when making this snack at home.
While we will always recommend trying to make your favourite snacks in the comfort of your own home, sometimes it doesn’t always work out. If you try making freeze dried fruit at home, but things don’t go to plan, why not consider ordering from us?
Hopefully our guide on how to freeze dry fruit has been helpful, and you feel inspired to give it a go yourself. If you’d rather skip all the work, then just remember that we offer an array of freeze dried fruit snacks, as well as a variety of other snacks for you to fall in love with.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us, and read our website terms and conditions and those for deliveries, including our refund policy and privacy. While you’re there, why not explore our wide range of topics, including using dried chillies, herbs, and exercise guides to help.
