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How To Freeze Dry Snap Peas

How To Freeze Dry Snap Peas

Freeze Dried Fruits

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.

Why Freeze Dry Snap Peas

Aside from extending the shelf life, here are some reasons you should freeze dry snap peas.

High In Nutrition

When you freeze dry snap peas, you lock in nearly 90% of their nutrients. They’re an excellent source of:

  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin K
  • Iron
  • Potassium
  • Folate
  • Magnesium
  • Beta-carotene

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.

Reduce Waste

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.

Better Flavor and Texture

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.

Why Freeze Dry Snap Peas

How Do I Choose The Peas for Freeze Drying?

When choosing snap peas, go for:

  • Fresh ones that have a vibrant green color
  • Young ones, as they’re tender and taste better
  • Uniform in size, so they freeze dry evenly
  • Smooth and blemish free in appearance
  • Sweet and flavorful (some farmers’ markets would let you taste a couple of random pieces)

How Do I Prepare The Snap Peas?

Once you’ve washed the peas well and got all the dirt out, there are two things that you should do.

Trim and “De-String”

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.

Blanch

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:

  1. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. The recommended temperature is around 190-200°F (88-93°C). Make sure that the water level’s deep enough to submerge the vegetables.
  2. Add the snap peas and blanch for 2-3 minutes. You can go for 1 min 30 seconds if you’ve got young peas. But don’t go over 3 minutes, even for mature vegetables. The peas should turn a deeper shade of bright green. If they turn brown, they’re already overcooked.
  3. Using a strainer, immediately dump the blanched peas in an ice water bath. This will stop the cooking process and lock in the nutrients and flavor.
  4. Dry the vegetables on the kitchen or paper towels before freeze-drying.

Should I Pre-Freeze?

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.

How to Flash Freeze Using Dry Ice

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.

  1. Put your snap peas in a Ziplock bag. Take out all the
  2. Get your pack of dry ice and insulate it with cardboard or newspaper. Remember to use safety precautions and practice safe handling to protect yourself.
  3. Layer the dry ice at the bottom of the cooler.
  4. Place your tray or bag of blanched snap peas on dry ice.
  5. Close the cooler’s lid with a bit of opening to allow the carbon dioxide to escape.

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.

How Do I Choose The Peas for Freeze Drying?

How To Freeze Dry Snap Peas

Freeze-drying snap peas is very easy when you’ve got your Harvest Right freeze dryer.

  1. Turn on the machine and press “START > NON-LIQUID”.
  2. For non-frozen vegetables, choose “NOT FROZEN.”
  3. For pre-frozen snap peas, select “FROZEN” and let the unit pre-cool for 15-30 minutes.
  4. The unit will tell you to close the drain valve before you load the trays.
  5. Close the chamber door and press “CONTINUE”.

Depending on certain conditions, your snap peas would freeze dry for 24-36 hours at least.

How Do I Rehydrate Freeeze-Dried Snap Peas?

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.

Conclusion

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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