How To Freeze Dry Apple Pie Filling
Jul 6, 2023
Snap peas or sugar snap peas are so delicious with their bright, sweet, delicate flavor. Combined with that satisfying crunch, it’s no wonder why cooks and foodies love them. Unlike other peas, there’s no need to shuck to enjoy the food. Although they’re available throughout the year, they’re most in demand from March to April. But you can only store so much in your fridge or freezer for so long. Here’s how to freeze dry snap peas and have the tasty, nutritious vegetable at its peak flavor.
Aside from extending the shelf life, here are some reasons you should freeze dry snap peas.
When you freeze dry snap peas, you lock in nearly 90% of their nutrients. They’re an excellent source of:
When stored fresh, these nutrients gradually oxidize and degrade each passing day. But when you freeze dry your snap peas, you preserve these nutrients as they are.
Picking peas in a local farmer’s market is enjoyable and, some would say, addicting. Next thing you know, you’ve got way too many peas in your bag that you can eat. Rather than throwing them away because of spoilage, freeze-drying can help you preserve the vegetables for future use.
Some prefer freeze-dried snap peas to fresh ones as a snack. Because freeze drying removes 90%-95% of water, the flavor intensifies. As the machine sublimates the ice crystals into water vapor, it leaves a crunchy, airy product that’s fun to eat.
When choosing snap peas, go for:
Once you’ve washed the peas well and got all the dirt out, there are two things that you should do.
There’s a part at the top of the snap peas where they developed from the bud. Take that out by pinching it off carefully to the side very carefully. As you pull it out, you’ll notice a string joining the remnants of the bud. Drag that string so you can remove it from the pod. Do the same on the string of the other side. No need to remove the other end. Just take out the protruding string if you want but don’t snap the end off as you did with the top.
Blanching preserves your snap peas’ quality, flavor, and nutritional value. It deactivates enzymes that cause the degeneration of vegetable flavor, color, and texture. Blanching also helps clean the surface and reduce the risk of food born illnesses. To blanch your snap peas:
When it comes to vegetables, pre-freezing is an option since they don’t have a lot of water content. Doing this, however, does help reduce the freeze-drying time of your machine.
You can pre-freeze using your deep freezer and leave the tray of vegetables there overnight. The thing with deep freezing is that it creates large ice crystals that destroy the cellular walls. This is why when you thaw frozen veggies, they lose their original flavor and crispiness.
That’s why flash freezing is better. And when we say flash freezing, we’re not talking about putting the food uncovered in the freezer for a few hours. Instead, flash freezing means freezing the food at a faster rate compared to your freezer. This is done using food-grade liquid nitrogen, dry ice, or a special flash freezer. Yes, these are all expensive, so they’re entirely optional. But if you want a better texture for your freeze-dried vegetables, flash freezing is the way to go.
The easiest way to flash freeze is to use food-grade dry ice and a cooler. Please do this in a well-ventilated area for your safety.
Depending on the amount of food and dry ice you use, flash freezing can take 15-30 minutes. Once done, place the frozen peas on frozen freeze-dryer trays, and you’re ready to go.
Freeze-drying snap peas is very easy when you’ve got your Harvest Right freeze dryer.
Depending on certain conditions, your snap peas would freeze dry for 24-36 hours at least.
If you use the veggies for soups, there is no need to rehydrate. Just place the freeze-dried snap peas at the end and add water when needed.
But if you’re going to use them for salads and stir-fries, then rehydrating is simple. Place the peas in a wide, shallow dish, then pour water until it covers a third or half of the freeze-dried vegetables. Stir every now and then so that every piece is thoroughly moistened. Usually, this would take 5-10 minutes.
Freeze-drying snap peas allows you to store nutritious and delicious vegetables without taking up too much space. As a result, you have a supply of healthy food that can last you for years and help you save time on food preparation.
Carefully selecting the snap peas will give you the best results. They’re easy to store in Mason jars and Mylar bags and can last for years when kept properly.
How many pounds of snap peas do you want to keep in your food storage? Let us know in the comment section.
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