How To Freeze-Dry Potatoes (And What They Taste Like)
Freeze drying is a great way to preserve food for the long term.
The benefits of freeze-drying exceed any other storage method as this freeze-drying can maintain not just the color, shape, and flavor but also the nutritional value of food too.
Freeze-drying can come in handy in other situations too, like turning ordinary potatoes into crispy snacks!
Since freeze drying removes water from food, it makes them crispy—a factor that you can use to your advantage to invent new snacking options!
How do you freeze-dry potatoes and what do they taste like? Freeze-dried potatoes taste just like typically cooked potatoes but are way crispier. They can be compared to chips and even kettle chips! Also, if cooked the right way, they can be a much healthier option compared to other varieties of chips too!
Read below to learn more about freeze-drying, how you can freeze dry at home, and the best ways to enjoy freeze-dried potatoes!
What Is Freeze-Drying?
Freeze-drying, also called lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a preservation method that dries food from the inside out without destroying its shape or microscopic structure.
Humans have dehydrated food to extend the shelf life of rations for centuries.
We have always had the power of the sun to help us dehydrate various foods and use them in different ways. But with modern science came new ways of preserving food.
One of which is a relatively new way called freeze-drying.
This method requires a large machine that can quickly cool down and create a vacuum around food.
The food is then gradually heated back up until the water escapes from the food in the form of gas instead of water, which helps preserve its structure.
Think about it; you might have noticed dehydrated food to be shriveled up and have less of a pronounced flavor than before it was dehydrated.
Well, on a microscopic scale, when you dehydrate food, you essentially force the water out of it by applying heat and time.
Heat destroys the flavor and nutritional value of food while the applied time further alters the flavor and makes the food more wrinkly and less appealing.
Sure, you can use high-quality dehydrators for the same job but even in that case, you will be subjecting the food to heat.
Freeze drying solves this issue by replacing the heating element with super-cold temperatures, reaching about -40°F. The vacuum inside the machine further helps sublimate the water into a gas without turning it into liquid!
Remember, three factors spoil food: heat, water, and oxygen
With the help of the freeze dryer, you can eliminate water from the food without applying any heat to it.
Furthermore, the freeze-dried food can then be stored in foil bags with an “oxygen-absorber” pouch that will keep the food perfectly safe to eat for up to 25 years (with ideal storage conditions)!
Benefits Over Traditional Methods
As stated, the biggest advantage that freeze-drying has over traditional preservation methods is that it leaves the food almost unaltered.
This means that the food will look, taste, and provide the same nutrition as it did before it was freeze-dried.
On the other hand, when you traditionally dehydrate any food, you trade shelf-life with quality. Sure, you get to conveniently store food for longer but you also lose a lot of flavor, texture, and value!
Another huge advantage that freeze-drying has is that it doesn’t require any preservatives, natural or synthetic.
Since the process simply removes all the factors that spoil food, you will be left with just great-tasting dry food that can be rehydrated within minutes.
Freeze-Drying Potatoes
Did you know that almost any food can be freeze-dried? This includes things like pizza, burgers, fries, chicken, cooked meals, leftovers, and even ice cream—that’s right! Wait till you try to freeze-dried, crispy ice cream!
But perhaps the best thing that you can use a freeze dryer for is to dehydrate potatoes.
Freeze-drying cooked potatoes can provide you with a healthier snacking alternative than French fries or even chips!
All you would need to do is bake or boil the potatoes, cut them into thin or thick slices, and then fit them in the freeze dryer.
Let the machine work its magic and within 12 hours you will have crispy, baked potatoes that taste just like typical packet chips!
What’s even crazier is that you can mix in herbs, spices, and more flavors to turn the potatoes into the ultimate snacking option without lessening their nutritional value.
How To Freeze-Dry Potatoes
To properly freeze-dry potatoes, you’ll need a freeze-drying machine, potatoes, and foil bags (or jars).
Instructions
- Familiarize yourself with the freeze-drying appliance so that you know exactly what you are working with. Every freeze dryer has a different interface so you will have to rely on its manual to learn how to operate the appliance.
- Remember, freeze-drying will only work when you follow the instructions carefully!
- Wash the potatoes and pat them dry using a paper towel.
- Now, you have multiple options to preserve the potatoes.
- You can either slice them to form wedges or shape them like French fries. You could also boil them and cut them in the form of thin, rounded chips. Of course, you can also choose to preserve them as it is too! For this example, we will be going with baked or boiled potatoes.
- After the potatoes have been boiled, cut them as required and place them flat on the freeze-dryer tray. You can adjust the thickness as required, but try not to exceed the height of the tray.
- Turn on the freeze dryer and put the tray back in with the potatoes. Seal the door and let the freeze dryer run as stated in the manual.
- Once done, take out the freeze-dried potatoes and inspect them. They should be either super crispy or crumbly.
- If you feel they are fully dried and crisp, then shift them onto a plate, jar, or foil bag and store them with an oxygen-absorbing pouch for long-term use.
- You can alternatively also sprinkle seasoning and enjoy them as it is too!
These same steps can be used for any type of food. Just cut the food in slices, add them to the tray and let the appliance work its magic until the timer goes off!
What Do Freeze-Dried Potatoes Taste Like?
Freeze-dried potatoes taste exactly like cooked potatoes. There is no lessening or enhancing of flavor in the case of freeze-drying—but you do get a lot of textural changes!
For example, if you cooked the potatoes before freeze-drying them then you will get almost all the same flavor points as the non-freeze-dried variety.
Some people claim that the taste resembles that of kettle chips since they are directly freeze-dried without rinsing off the extra starch.
You can do a lot of different and fun things with the texture of freeze-dried potatoes. For example, if you cut them in round shapes and sprinkle seasoning, you will turn them into a healthy snack.
You can also freeze-dry cooked fries too! To do this, simply fry the French fries until they are golden-brown or crispy then put them in the freeze dryer, and voila! Instant commercial-grade level chips!
Tweak the flavors and enjoy them with a side of a condiment of your choice to truly make the most of this food!
The best part is that you can store these chips longer than French fries.
You can either shift them into an airtight jar with an oxygen absorber pouch or if you want to store them for the very long-term, say, about 5+ years, then you can also store them in a double heat-sealed foil bag!
Tips For Freeze-Drying Potatoes
- As mentioned, the best way to successfully freeze-dry food is to first understand how your particular appliance works. The more you know, the more control you will have over the process.
- Another excellent tip is to always cut the food into smaller pieces so that it is easier to dry them equally.
- Never mix different types of food in the appliance because each food will require a different drying duration.
- Finally, always be mindful of the storage conditions of freeze-dried food. Remember, while they inherently have a long shelf-life, they are still prone to environmental factors so it’s best to shield them by keeping them in airtight jars or foil bags.
Related Questions
Freeze-drying is truly the future of preserving food since it eliminates the need for potentially dangerous perseverative and helps maintain the food’s flavor, texture, color, and nutrition as well!
Now that you know all about freeze-drying and how to dehydrate potatoes, here are some great related questions!
How do you rehydrate freeze-dried potatoes?
Rehydrating potatoes is easy. Just open a pack or jar of the dried potatoes and set them on a tray.
Pour in hot water and drain the excess until the potatoes have softened. You can also spray water on them if you don’t want them to get overly soggy.
This same method can be used to rehydrate any type of freeze-dried food!
Will freeze-drying potatoes make them healthier?
Not necessarily. This depends on the state of the potatoes before they were freeze-dried.
For example, if you were to dehydrate boiled potatoes, then you would end up with a healthy and crispy snacking alternative with all the nutritional benefits intact.
However, freeze-drying deep-fried French fries will result in the food having the same poor nutritional profile—so they will still be termed as unhealthy, compared to other types of freeze-dried potato products.
Well, sounds like you are a busy guy. Hope your partner is helpful. Any suggestions for the best and cheapest freeze drying appliance to get for an old beginning freeze dryer? Thank you, in advance and have a wonderful day.
Is it okay to salt the cooked sliced potatoes before freeze drying if you plan to enjoy them as potato chips after freeze drying or do you recommend salting them after freeze drying? How about boiling in salted water? Not sure the best time to add sea salt and herbs. Thank you.
Can you recommend a reasonably priced dehydrator?