How To Freeze Dry Pears

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Whether you have pears trees, buy in bulk , or find a great price locally, freeze drying pears is a great way to preserve the harvest. Today I’m sharing not only how to freeze dry pears, but also my freeze drying routine/schedule, and how eat freeze dried pears. Freeze Dried foods has a longer shelf life than canned or fermented foods – lasting up to 30 years, so it is a great way to preserve food seasonally, financially speaking, and for the highest nutritional value.

Tools for Freeze Drying

Silicone Mat– helps grip your work station and the silicone helps make clean up a breeze! I use this extra large one a lot. Great for all kinds of kitchen prep projects (seriously, it’s counter depth size)
I have a Large Freeze Dryer from Harvest Right (watch my honest review HERE on YouTube)
Cutting Board
Knife
Tray Stackers– used to stack your trays for the freezer

Cutting Pears

There are 2 things to remember when freeze drying. The first is that the smaller the pieces the faster the freeze drying process will take. The other thing to note is making sure you think about how you plan to store the finished product. Too big of slices might night fit storage jars without breaking the pear pieces after they have been through the freeze dry cycle (which sometimes often turns to powder with too much handling).

With the nature of pears and how they get soft as they ripened I did not peel the pears first, although we do when we freeze dry apples. Only one of my family members commented on the skins. Feel free to peel some and leave some of the skins on when you do your first batch to compare the texture for your family’s liking.

Freeze Drying Routine

Every family that has a freeze dryer might have a different way of “scheduling” their freezing drying cycles, but I thought I would share my routine because it took a few cycles to understand how it all works, how long to expect cycles to take, and such:

I wash, cut, and freeze in the afternoon or evening, but I always give myself 12+ hours with my food in the freezer before I run a load cycle. As long as I plan to run the freeze dryer the next day I simply use my tray stackers to stack my trays and freeze on a shelf in my stand up freezer. (If it will take me a day or more to start that cycle I will put my tray lids on and leave them in the freezer, so the food doesn’t get frost bitten or take on a freezer smell.
Before we sit down for breakfast I turn my machine on and start the process of cooling the chamber.
By the time breakfast is getting cleaned up the 15 minutes required is up and ready to load trays. (you can load trays before the “load tray” prompt comes up; the frozen food will help the chamber actually cool to a colder temperature, but the load tray prompt still won’t show up for 15 minutes.
The freeze dryer will prompt you to load trays and close the drain valve and hit start.
Since I freeze my food the night before the cooling process usually only takes 3-4 hours before the vacuum starts up to actually start the freeze drying process.
I find my freeze dry cycles take between 24-36 hours before they are done, which means the next morning or afternoon I am checking in on my freeze dryer. You can add more time if the cycles finishes but the food is still soft or has moisture.
Always check your food for moisture and make sure to warm the trays before taking them out and storing your food. (cold trays can lead to condensation, which will ruin the food).

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How To Store Your Freeze Dried Pears

For long term storage you need mylar bag and oxygen absorbers for it to last up to 30 years.

For short term storage >12 months, I simply store them in half gallon mason jars and seal the lids with this inexpensive jar vacuum sealer that works on small and large mouth jars. I may store a jar or two in my pantry, but I do have a dark shelf in a linen closet I keep the extra freeze dried food jars.

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How To Eat and Use Freeze Dry Pears

When we freeze dry fruit (peaches, apples, pears, pineapple, blueberries, etc.) we normally just eat it as is- straight from the jar or we put it in a more friendly, travel container if we are going on a hike or field trip. If the container is not airtight the pears will start to soften, but they will still be good for a day or two.

Freeze dried pears (and other fruit and veggies) is an amazing alternative for toddlers and children instead of processed snacks. Please note — because the moisture is taken out of freeze dried food, be conscious of making sure to drink water, especially with young children.

If you rehydrate the pears the consistency is more like pear sauce which would be great for eating plain, adding to oatmeal, using as baby food, or in baking.

Do you have a freeze dryer? I would love for you to share your freeze drying “schedule/routine” in the comment section for others to read too!