How To Freeze Dry Beets

Freeze Dried Vegetables

Beets, although available all-year-round but are great cool-weather crops. When it’s winter, they’re small but sweet and tender. When they’re mature, they have this delicious earthy flavor similar to chard or spinach. They’re excellent in adding color, vibrance, and nutrition to salads, roasts, and deeps. But they do take up a lot of space, heavy, and don’t last very long. If you hold back on getting beets when they’re on sale for these reasons, then hold back no more. Here’s how to freeze-dry beets so you’ll always have them in times of need.

What Beets Can I Freeze Dry?

Beets come in different colors and sizes. But the common beets are:

• Red – most familiar, usually comes canned in supermarkets.
• Golden – milder, sweeter in flavor, and can be good for picky eaters.
• Striped – called Chioggia or Bassano beets and has a candy-cane-like pattern.
• Cylindra – think of a carrot transformed into a beet.
• Mangel-wurzel – popular for its sugary taste,

There are other varieties, each with unique features and flavors. Test which ones will give you a better result. That’s what we love about freeze drying, especially with a Harvest Right freeze dryer. You can “play with your food” and experiment without much effort and complication.

What Materials Do I Need?

The materials you need for preparing beets can easily be found in your kitchen. These are:

• Gloves to keep your hands stain-free
• Vegetable brush
• Knife
• Peeler
• Cutting board
• Parchment paper or silicone mat

How Do  I Prepare Beets for Freeze Drying?

To remove dirt, you should always clean your vegetables, especially root crops. Wash the beets under running water and scrub the skin with the vegetable brush the dirt off.

After washing, use a knife to cut the top and bottom off. You can keep the leaves and use it to make beet juice, but they’re bitter.

After trimming, you can either leave the skins on or off. People describe the skin as having an earthy taste. Others are okay with the flavors, while others would instead go without it.

You can now choose to slice the beets into thin circles to make chips. Or you can cut the beets into cubes depending on how you want to use them. Just remember to keep the cubes 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. If your beetroot slices are higher than the lip of the freeze dryer tray, it means they’re too thick and need trimming.

Once you got your vegetable ready, you can freeze-dry them as is. Or season with cumin or cinnamon for delicious beet chips.

How About Beet Juice?

Want to make beet juice and take full advantage of the plant’s nutritional benefits? It’s easy and can even turn it into a fine beetroot juice powder.

The good thing about making the juice is using the whole plant. The tender leaves and stem can add a bitter balance to the taste of the beets. However, you can remove the leaves if you can’t tolerate the bitterness. If you have younger leaves, the better because they are more nutritious.

Once you juice the beet greens and root, line the trays with parchment paper or a silicone mat. This will help keep the product from sticking to the tray.

Do I Need to Pre-Freeze?

Pre-freezing is an option but can help with your process immensely. Especially if you’ll make freeze-dried beet juice. The root crop has 87% water, almost as much as a mango and a pineapple. It helps prepare the beets for freeze-drying when your machine is currently occupied preserving other food.

How To Freeze-Dry Beets

Got your beetroots ready? Got your freeze dryer empty? It’s time to start freeze-drying.

1. Turn on your machine and press “START > NON-LIQUID” for beetroot. If you’re freeze-drying beet juice, select “LIQUID.”
2. If you have room-temperature food, go for “NOT FROZEN”.
3. If you pre-froze your vegetable or juice, select “FROZEN”. Let the unit pre-cool to -8°F (-22 °C) or lower. The chamber should be colder than your food for faster and more efficient freeze-drying. This can take 15-30 minutes or longer.
4. Close the drain valve when the machine tells you to. This will help build pressure inside the chamber for sublimation.
5. Load the trays of beets and press “CONTINUE” to start the freeze-drying procedure.

How Long Does It Take To Freeze Dry Beets?

Beetroots can take 28-36 hours to freeze dry. The beet juice can take 34-48 hours or longer. Each batch of beets will freeze dry differently; some shorter, some longer, depending on certain conditions like:

• How much food you’re freeze drying
• The food’s cellular structure
• Temperature of the room where you put your freeze dryer
• Your vacuum pump’s performance
• Age and firmware of your freeze dryer

To know that your beetroots are ready, touch the food while the trays are still warm. Check for cold, soft spots, especially on thick slices. If there are any, put the trays back for an additional 3-4 hours of extra dry time.

How Do I Store Freeze Dried Beets?

Storing freeze-dried beets is simple. Mason jars are great, but Mylar bags are better. You can vacuum seal both to keep the beets fresh and crispy. Oxygen absorbers can also remove any residual oxygen left inside the bag for added freshness. About 1-2 of the 300cc oxygen absorbers per gallon size of your container.

It’s also important to keep the freeze-dried beets in a dry, draft-free room. To better preserve the beets, keep the temperature lower than 72°F (22 °C).

Freeze-dried beets are excellent for snaking, adding to salads, and even smoothies. They’re lighter and more convenient to carry around than fresh beets on a trip. Any variety of beets would work, depending on your purpose. Whatever you choose, you’ll have favorable results that even kids and toddlers would love.

What variety of beets do you plan to freeze dry? Let us know in the comment section.

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