How to Freeze Dry Strawberries

• Twist the green tops off of the strawberries.
• Wash and dry the strawberries.
• Using the strawberry huller, remove the core and any unripen spots on the strawberries.
• Inspect each strawberry for blemishes, soft spots, bug holes, or mold and remove those parts.
• Place on a cutting board and slice into ¼″ slices.
• Place the sliced strawberries in a single layer on the trays.
• Homesteading Tip - Either put the trays into the freeze dryer to let the freeze dryer freeze them or place a lid on each tray and place them in a chest freezer.  By pre-freezing your food, it will save a ton of time on the freeze drying process.  This is why I have two sets of trays.  I can have one set in the freeze dryer and one set in the freezer waiting to be loaded into the freeze dryer.
• Place all of the trays into the freeze dryer and follow the instructions on the screen.
• Before opening your machine, push the warm trays button and let your trays warm up. This helps prevent condensation from cold trays on your food.
• When the process is complete and before defrosting your machine, make sure the strawberries are dried all the way.  Feel them to make sure that no moisture remains and none of them are sticky. If they are sticky, continue drying them for another two hours before checking again.
• After you remove the trays, defrost your freeze dryer or open the door and let it defrost naturally.
• Remove the trays and place the food into short or long term storage.
• Short term storage – Anything you will use within a year.  This can be stored in a jar, vacuum sealed, and placed on your shelf.
• Long term storage – Anything you want to store for a year to 20+ years.  This should be stored in a Mylar bag with an oxygen absorber.

How to Store Freeze Dried Strawberries

Short term storage – store in a glass canning jar:

• Wash and dry your jars and canning lids.
• Use a funnel to fill jars with your sliced or powdered strawberries. 
• Seal the lid with your FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer and FoodSaver Jar Sealer.
• Label the jars with your permanent marker. Trust me, even if you can see what is in there, label the lid with the contents and the date which they were made.
• Store them away from direct sunlight, moisture, and oxygen (this is why I use the jar sealer).

Long term storage – store in a Mylar bag:

• Grab your bags, a funnel, a permanent marker, oxygen absorbers, and an impulse sealer.
• Label the bags first before adding any food.  Write the contents, any quick notes on rehydrating, and the date.
• Use the funnel to fill the bags with your sliced or powdered strawberries.
• Add the properly sized oxygen absorbers to each bag.
• Use the impulse sealer to seal the bags.  I usually seal them twice to be on the safe side.
• Store them for 20+ years by properly sealing them with the oxygen absorbers, placing them out of direct sunlight, and storing them away from moisture.

How to Reconstitute Freeze Dried Strawberries

• Add as many strawberries as you would like to a bowl of cool water. 
• Start tasting them around 4 minutes to see if they are to your liking.  If not, leave for another minute and try them again.
• Consider writing your time preference onto the bags as a reminder for next time.