How to Freeze Dry Peaches
Find out how to freeze dry peaches at home and why freeze drying peaches is the best way to enjoy fresh fruit year long.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 pounds peaches (approximately 10 lbs)
Instructions
Prepare the Peaches
- Wash and dry the peaches. Peel the peaches if desired. If the peaches don't peel easily you may want to blanch them by scoring an "x" on the bottom of each peach and putting them in boiling water for 30-60 seconds. Then immediately add them to ice water for 3-5 minutes. The skin should easily peel off. Cut the peaches into evenly sized slices.
- Put parchment paper or a silicone mat down on your freeze-dryer trays. Arrange the peach slices in a single layer on the tray. Optional: You can place a piece of parchment paper on top of the first layer of peaches to add a second layer on top of them.
- Make sure the freeze dryer is prepped to run. I've gone into detail in this blog post under the heading: Prep Your Freeze Dryer. This is important to keep your freeze dryer from malfunctioning or breaking.
Pre-Frozen Peaches Instructions
- Place the trays into a freezer and freeze for at least 24 hours to ensure they are fully frozen.
- Follow the on screen prompts for your freeze dryer and load the frozen trays straight from your freezer to the freeze dryer. There are detailed instructions for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers under the heading: Specific Instructions for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers
- Allow the freeze dry cycle to run and follow the instructions below for checking for dryness.
Unfrozen Peaches Instructions
- Follow the on screen prompts of your specific freeze dryer model. Place the trays of peaches in the freeze dryer and run the freeze drying cycle. There are detailed instructions for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers under the heading: Specific Instructions for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers
- Allow the freeze dry cycle to run and follow the instructions below for checking for dryness.
Check for Dryness
- The time will vary from 20-48 hours depending on how crowded the trays were and how thick the slices were.
- Pause the freeze dryer and turn the release valve. The peaches should be crisp with no cold spots. If needed add additional dry time. The best way to check is to weigh each tray in grams and put them back in for 4 hours and check if the weight changed (more moisture was removed).
- If the weight changed, repeat again for 4 hours and check the weight again. If the weight didn't change then all the moisture should be removed and the peaches are done.
- Once fully dried, carefully remove the trays and immediately package the peaches in vacuum sealed airtight containers or Mylar bags with a desiccant pack for long term storage.