How to Freeze Dry Apples with a Home Freeze Dryer

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Learn how to freeze dry apples at home with a Harvest Right freeze dryer. Freeze drying is an easy way to preserve apples from your garden, local orchard, or even the grocery store. You and your family will enjoy these crispy, sweet treats all year long.

Yes, apple harvest season is in fall, and I am posting this in February. But I’ve been inspired to share how to freeze dry apples with you now because I recently needed a solution for all of the half-eaten apples I found in my three-year-old’s toy box.

It must be a right of passage for toddlers because every mother I know mentions throwing away apples with a single toddler bite chomped out of it.

So to solve this cute, but wasteful problem, I used my Harvest Right freeze dryer to freeze dry apples for snacks. It’s been a total game changer when it comes healthy, on-the-go snacks, while also preventing a toy box full of rotten apples.

Freeze drying is one of my favorite methods of food preservation. Since root cellars aren’t a thing where I live (I live just a few feet above sea level), freeze drying is a realistic way I can store food in my regular pantry.

Dehydrated Apples vs. Freeze Dried

Many folks mistake freeze drying and dehydrating for the same thing. However, both the process and the end product are very different.

A food dehydrator circulates warm air to remove moisture from the food. As such, a food dehydrator slowly cooks the food. Once dehydrated, the food is no longer in its original state. For instance, these dehydrated caramel apples went in raw and came out as a cooked and delicious fall treat.

So how does freeze drying work? Freeze drying uses subzero temperatures (around -40° F) and a vacuum suction to remove approximately 98% of water in the food. Freeze dried food remains in it’s original state. For instance, freeze dried raw eggs will be raw even when dried.

With this in mind, when you dehydrate apples, you are slowly cooking them. However, when you freeze dry apples, you are removing the water without changing their composition or the nutritional punch of fresh apples.

Tips for Freeze Drying Apples

• Use fresh, ripe apples. Freeze dried food retains its nutritional value. So try to source apples that are fresh and at peak ripeness. That way, your freeze-dried apples will be packed full of nutrition.
• Remove any blemishes. If your apples have bruises or blemishes, slice them off before preserving. This is a good practice for all methods of preservation.
• Use an apple corer and slicer (if you have one). I actually don’t have an apple corer and slicer. And though it got the job done, using a knife was pretty tedious. If you have a corer and slicer, now is a good time to break it out.
• Cut uniform slices. Unlike dehydrating, having uneven slices doesn’t matter too much. However, thicker slices extend your dry time. Also, it will be easier to gauge if your apples are dry if they are all close to the same thickness.
• Pre-freeze your apples (optional). Pre-freezing your apples isn’t necessary. But it will speed up the process once they are in the freeze dryer (and you can save a few bucks on electricity this way). Honestly though, I don’t often have the freezer space to do this, and my freeze-dried apples turned out great. They just took a little longer in the freeze dryer.
• Use Fruit Fresh or lemon juice. To prevent browning, add your apple slices to a large bowl of cool water and Ball Fruit Fresh or lemon juice.

Watch How to Freeze Dry Apples

How to Use Freeze Dried Apples

Snacks

Freeze dried apples make great snacks for the whole family. In fact, one of my favorite ways to eat them is plain, right out of the storage bag or jar. For short-term storage, I like to vacuum seal them in little snack-sized bags for grab-and-go treats. You can also toss them into a homemade trail mix, for example.

Breakfast

Freeze dried fruit is delicious on oatmeal. Or toast up a slice of sourdough bread, slather it with almond butter, and sprinkle it with diced freeze dried apples and granola. Another great option is to reconstitute your apples and use them to make apple butter and slater it on sourdough toast.

Apple Pie

Reconstituted freeze dried apples are perfect for homemade apple pie. Or if you want apple pie at the ready, you can make your apple pie filling first, then freeze dry it. You can even swap out this pumpkin cobbler filling for apple pie filling, and make a delicious apple cobbler.

Smoothies

Freeze dried fruit is a smoothie game changer. These instant smoothies I made with freeze dried fruit are unbelievably easy to make. Apples are a great way to add a natural sweetener to your smoothie.

Baked Goods

Freeze-dried apples can be used in endless and different ways for baking. Sweet breads and muffins are delicious with diced freeze dried apples. Spritz them with a little water so they don’t absorb too much liquid from the other ingredients. Then, fold them into your batter or dough.

Apple-Infused Drinks

Freeze-dried apples are perfect for apple-infused recipes, such as teas, ciders, and cocktails. Toss them in dry so they absorb the flavor of your drink.

What varieties of apples can be freeze dried?

The short answer is all varieties of apples will work. It’s really a matter of preference and accessibility. Choose the apples that you like to eat, you can afford, and are available to you.

Store-Bought Apples

Freeze drying is a great way to preserve apples you get from the store. If you score a great deal on apples at your local grocery store, buy a few bags and freeze dry them.

Apples from Your Garden

If you are lucky enough to live in a garden zone where apples thrive, freeze drying apples is a great way to preserve your harvest.

Unfortunately for me, apples don’t grow well here in coastal North Carolina (there are a few varieties, but they aren’t great).

So while I’m thrilled you might be able to preserve your own apples, I’m also a little jealous.

Apples from Local Farms and Farmers Markets

Even if you don’t grow your own apples, you can still freeze dry local harvests.

Last year, we preserved apples we picked at an orchard in the North Carolina mountains. And our local farmers market sells North Carolina-grown apples. For us, these are great choices for freeze drying.

Check out your local farms and markets for apples. Sometimes, you can even get a deal on produce that is “blemished” or if you buy in bulk. Don’t be afraid to ask if that’s an option.

FAQs

Do I need to peel apples before freeze drying?

Only if you want to! I don’t peel the apples beforehand. If you want to make a recipe that calls for peeled apples, for convenience’s sake, you may want to peel them prior to freeze drying. However, peeling them is not necessary.

Do I need to remove the seeds?

Yes, I recommend coring and removing the apple seeds prior to freeze drying. Leaving the seeds in will extend the drying time, and they would need to be picked out after drying. So it’s best to remove the seeds from the get-go.

Are freeze dried apples crunchy?

I would describe them as light and airy more than crunchy. If you are used to eating apple chips, these are different. They have a crispness to them, but they are not crunchy like an apple chip, for example.

Do freeze dried apples taste good?

Yes! The better tasting the apple, the better tasting the freeze dried apple. Stick with apples you enjoy eating raw because they will retain that flavor.

What is the shelf life of freeze dried fruit?

Proper storage is the key to long-lasting freeze dried fruit. If stored properly, freeze dried apples can last 25+ years.

My goal is to use my preserved food within one year. So I store it in mason jars with a vacuum sealed lid. If you want long-term storage, store your apples in a mylar bag with an appropriate sized oxygen absorber.

Whether you are storing short- or long-term, make sure you are always keeping your freeze-dried food in a dry place.

Can you store freeze-dried food in freezer bags?

Freezer bags can work for very short-term storage, such as packing a snack for lunch or a hiking trip. But for long-term storage, freezer bags will not keep your food airtight.

What is the point of freeze dried fruit?

There are many reasons for freeze drying fruit. It really depends on the individual and their various needs. For some, freeze drying fruit is a way to preserve homegrown or local ingredients for long-term storage (25+ years if stored correctly). For others, like me, it’s an easy way to keep snacks around the house.

Freeze dried fruit retains it’s nutritional composition. So no matter the individual reason, one of the main benefits of freeze drying fruit is the ability to keep shelf-stable, nutritious fruit without added preservatives.

Long-Term vs. Short-Term Storage

How to store long-term

If stored properly, freeze dried food can last up to 25+ years. For long-term storage (more than one year), store your freeze dried goods in a mylar bag with an appropriate sized oxygen absorber. Always keep your packaged freeze dried food in a dry place.

How to store short-term

Personally, I am not interested in long-term food storage. My goal is to have quality food in the pantry and use it up within a year. So for short-term storage like this, I store them in a vacuum sealed jar or vacuum sealed bags and keep them in a dry place. The apples stay fresh for about a year this way, though we roll through them more quickly than that.

How to Rehydrate Freeze Dried Apples

In my experience, apples rehydrate quickly. I prefer dunking them in cool water or spritzing them. Though they won’t have the sharp crunch of a fresh apple, if you lightly rehydrate them, they will have a slight crispness.

Freeze dried foods will rehydrate with any liquid. So if you are making hot cider, for example, you can drop a few freeze dried apple slices right into the cider.

Tools You Will Need

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• Harvest Right Freeze Dryer. This is the machine you will use for freeze drying. You will either need your own freeze dryer or a friend with a home freeze dryer.
• Knife (if you don’t have a slicer). Any regular kitchen knife will do. You will need this for removing blemishes and if you don’t have a corer and slicer.
• Apple Corer and Slicer (optional). A corer and slicer will be the most efficient way of cutting your apples. Not only is it fast, it will also cut even slices.
• Apple Peeler (optional). You don’t need to peel your apples. But if you prefer to peel them, use an apple peeler to save time.
• Large Bowl. As you cut the apples, place them in a large bowl with water and Fruit Fresh or lemon juice. This will prevent the apples from browning as you process the remainder.
• Mylar bags (for long-term storage). If you plan on storing your apples for more than a year, seal them in a mylar bag with an appropriate sized oxygen absorber.
• Oxygen absorbers (for long-term storage). Oxygen absorbers will preserve the quality of your freeze dried food. They prevent spoilage, mold, and other deterioration of your preserved food.
• Jars (for short-term storage). Mason jars are great for short-term storage. Make sure you have air-tight lids to go with them.
• Handheld vacuum sealer (for short-term storage). If you are storing short term, vacuum sealing the jar lid will keep your food fresh with the ability to seal and re-seal.

Ingredients

• Apples. The amount will depend on the size of your home freeze dryer and the size of the apples. Any apple variety will do! I used 10-15 pounds for my medium Harvest Right Pro.
• Ball Fruit Fresh or lemon juice. Fruit Fresh or lemon juice will prevent the apples from browning.
• Water. Mix the Fruit Fresh or lemon juice in cool water to prevent browning.

How to Freeze Dry Apples

Prep the Apples

Fill a large bowl with cool water. Add either Ball Fruit Fresh (see container for measurements) or 1 tsp. of lemon juice per cup of water. This will prevent the apples from browning while you process them.

Wash the apples and remove any blemished spots. If preferred, peel the apples. However, peeling is not required for freeze drying.

Core and slice the apples. You can save a lot of time and effort with a corer and slicer. But if you don’t have one, a knife will do the trick. Try to keep the slices uniformed in size.

Place Apples in Freeze Dryer.

Drain the apples, and place them on the freeze dryer trays. To reduce dry time, you can pat the apples dry, but this isn’t necessary. The apples can overlap, but try to keep them in a single layer as much as possible. Overlapping will increase the dry time (as you can see in the photo, I don’t worry too much about overlapping).

Place the trays into the freeze dryer. Close, and seal the freeze dryer door. Make sure the drain valve is closed (it should be perpendicular to the drain line). Hit start.

Let the freeze dryer do its thing. How long the process will take depends on the number of apples, the size of the slices, and the temperature of the room (if your freeze dryer is in a garage like mine, for example, it can take longer on hot days). But it usually takes around 12 hours or more.

Check for Doneness & Store

Once the freeze dryer has completed the process, check the apples to make sure they are completely dry. If there is any moisture at all, return all of the trays into the machine, and select “more dry time.”

When the apples are completely dry, store them in an airtight container (short-term storage) or in mylar bags with an appropriately sized oxygen absorber (long-term storage up to 20+ years).

Note: When packing your freeze dried apples, don’t dilly dally. The longer they sit out in the open, the more water they will absorb from the air. This happens faster than you’d imagine, so be prepared to get them in jars or bags quickly.

How to Know When the Apples Are Done

The apples are done when they are light and similar to styrofoam in texture. Also, they should not feel cold (cold indicates remaining moisture). I often find the best way to test if my apples are completely dry is to taste them. If your slices vary in thickness, test the thickest ones for doneness.

If they are not done, put them back into the freeze dryer and dry them for two more hours. Continue this process until they are completely dry.

Where to purchase a freeze dryer

Most home food preservationists use a Harvest Right freezer dryer. You can buy one directly from Harvest Right or use my Harvest Right affiliate link.

If you choose to use my affiliate link, I will receive a commission at no expense to you. It’s a great way to help me provide more free content for you. Thank you for supporting my content!

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