17 January, 2023
Freeze Dried Lemonade
Freeze drying whole lemons is an easy way to retain all of the lemon flavor and nutrients to use at a later date. I like to buy lemons when they’re in season, processing nearly 100 pounds per year for a variety of recipes. My favorite so far is lemonade, using the whole lemon it gives the drink a strong lemon flavor, while the sugar takes away the bitterness from the pith.
After I’ve washed and scrubbed the lemons I quarter them and squeeze the seeds into a nylon strainer over a bowl. I want all the juice, but not the seeds.
After squeezing the quarters I toss them into the food processor, continuing until the food processor is full, then blend until smooth.
Add your puree to a thin mold, or use ziplock bags and lay flat for freezing.
I like to prefreeze everything to cut down on processing time. Once solid I cut the bags off the puree and place on the freeze dryer tray. Freeze drying time will vary, my lemon puree took about 48 hours to dry completely. Once dry I used my food processor again to powder the lemons.
Freeze Dried Lemonade
Equipment
- Freeze Dryer
- Lemons
- Food Processor
- Cutting Board
- Sharp Knife
- Sugar
- Sealable Jars
- Jar Vacuum Sealer
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Lemons
- Sugar
Instructions
- Scrub and wash your lemons.
- Cut lemons into quarters and remove seeds.
- Add cut lemon pieces to food processor and blend till well pureed.
- Add about 1 cup of puree to a quart size ziplock bag and lay flat. Continue until all puree has been put into bags.
- Freeze puree for 24-48 hours. This is to prefreeze to cut machine operation time.
- About 1 hour before desired freeze dry start time, start your freeze dryer in default temperatures. This allows your machine to begin freezing so your food doesn't thaw if added now.
- Cut bags and remove puree blocks from the ziplock bags. Discard bags and place lemon puree block on your freeze dry tray.
- Add trays to freeze dryer as filled.
- Repeat for each bag until all trays have been filled. Weigh your trays if needed to make sure you have the correct maximum weight for your machine size.
- Once loaded make sure to close your door securely, close your drain valve and hit continue on your machine.
- Once your lemon puree is completely done (through your own method of weight, flir camera, temp gun or other), bag your finished product if you're not quite ready to puree the lemon to powder yet.
- Using your washed and completely dry food processor add your dried lemon and turn to powder. Usually just a few seconds is needed, but some pieces will need to run longer.
- Measure out your powder, adding 1 parts lemon and 5 parts sugar to a bowl or container. Mix thoroughly.
- Add mix to airtight container. Do not add O2 absorber, it will turn your sugar solid. Containers can be vacuum sealed with food saver or other vacuum sealer. I prefer to store in canning jars.