Experimenting with my new Harvest Right freeze dryer has been a lot of fun. This is the first time to freeze dry any kind of meat. I had a lot of deli meats in the freezer, so I thought this would be a good type of meat to start the process.
Preparation
Fold the slices of deli meat in half lengthwise, then roll up like a sleeping bag. Place the meat rolls on one of the freeze-drying trays.
Place the freeze-drying trays in the freezer to pre-freeze. When the deli meat rolls are frozen, place them in the freezer and set the freezer according to the directions on the screen. Make sure the vent is closed before you start the process.
When the freezer drying is complete, test the meat for moisture. I use a moisture detector for this.
If a moisture detector detects moisture, add additional freeze-drying time. If it does not, place the meat in Mylar bags with an oxygen absorber and seal.
Squeeze as much air out of the bag and seal. Make sure the sealer sealed the bag all the way across. Alternatively, you could store the lunch meat in vacuum sealed glass jars with an oxygen absorber.
Make sure the Mylar bag is labeled before storing.
One thought to “Freeze Drying Lunch Meat”