Accidental home freeze drying

16 years ago

I cleaned out the freezer today. Who knew that fruit will freeze-dry itself if you leave it in the freezer long enough?! My bags with the last few frozen berries contained big ice crystal formations and little dried berries. I had forgotten about two bags of apples...one I threw away, the other I will turn into apple crisp this week. I know you're only supposed to keep frozen fruit and vegetables for 3-6 months, but I like to keep things until the following year's harvest. The berries were 18 months old though, since I was on vacation during berry season this year.

One thing that appears to be in good condition is a bag of grocery store cranberries (still hard with little ice in the bag). I'm not sure how old these are so let's assume "very old". Can I still use them? Would it be an illness risk or do they just lose their quality over time?

Melissa

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Comments (4)

readinglady
16 years ago
There's not an illness risk, only a quality one, and the degree of loss does depend upon the freezer and the packaging.

Frost-free freezers are particularly hard on foods. But with a manual-defrost and good vacuum-sealing you can keep berries, pie cherries, corn etc. more than one season (I mean a yearlong preserving cycle.) with no problems.

Carol
ksrogers
16 years ago
Cranberries are one of those things that can freeze and hold up many years. Also cultivated blueberries. I have some blues my dad picked 11 years ago, and used them last year. Yes they were really bland, but still had a lot of color. Usually when these things dry out and moisture collects inside the plastic bags its due to the fact that the poly bags are not the best protection against freezer burn or drying out, as air amd moisture can pass through. If you want to have fruits last longer in the freezer, a heavier plastic and the removal of most of the air will help. Food Saver bags work great for these things too. Another option is those nice waxed boxes you see that some companies pack veggies into for freezing. Even old half gallon milk cartons work fine too. If possible, even a good freezer paper will also help, if its inside a plastic bag. Those commercial zipper plastic bags for freezers are not the best way to keep things long term. Like you said, maybe 3-4 months at most. I have many string beans left in my freezer from 2006 and they are just starting to show signs of dehydration. Not like that 5 pound box of cauliflour my dad had packed in the bottom back shelf. I pulled it out, and shook it, and heard only tiny rattle noise. Inside the sealed box was a tiny pea side green mass, and it wasn't even 1 ounce in weight. No ice, no nothing, just an almost empty box. Now THATS a dried veggie!
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melva02
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Carol and Ken! I will put the cranberries into pumpkin bread. I don't have a food saver but I usually don't plan to keep fruit so long. I had been putting the raspberries and strawberries into oatmeal, but now I eat breakfast at work instead. I need to get away from my hoarding tendencies...I like to put food up and feel good about being stocked up, but the long-term mindset means I don't eat it fast enough. On the positive side, at this point I can tap into the pantry as often as I want and I'll still be set until next summer.

Melissa
ksrogers
16 years ago
Me too. Lately, I have been eating out of my supplies, as opposed to going out and buying foods. About the only thing I buy is carbinate beverages on sale, and maybe eggs and lactaid milk. Everything else usually comes from my freezer, pantry, or from my home canning. My dad was quite the food horder too as he grew up being poor and with a big family, they didn't have much to eat. That explains why he would shop every week, no matter what, and always had two upright freezers packed with foods, as well as shelves in the basement that held the kitchen overflow.

Accidental home freeze drying

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readinglady

ksrogers

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Accidental home freeze drying

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readinglady

ksrogers

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melva02Original Author

ksrogers

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melva02
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