Who doesn’t love crispy, fried hash browns?
They make the perfect base for a camping breakfast of bacon and eggs, when toasted bread is not an option.
But… who want’s to carry a grater and shred potatoes in the bush? And what if you don’t have refrigeration for pre-made hash browns?
That, my friend, is when freeze-dried shredded potatoes save the day.
Why Freeze Dry Shredded Potatoes?
Shelf stable, lightweight and super convenient, freeze-dried shredded potato is not just your next hash brown-in-waiting.
Blanching, shredding and freeze-drying potatoes is a fantastic way to store your potatoes – potentially for decades – in a jar or Mylar bag in your pantry.
Once rehydated, potatoes prepared in this way can be used for a whole range of meals, for example:
- Potato casseroles
- Potato pancakes
- Potato soup (or added to other soups to thicken)
- Potato dumplings
- Crispy crusts for pies and tarts
- Shepherds’ pie topping
- Quiches and frittatas
- Mashed potatoes (but you can freeze dry mashed potato too)
- And of course, hash browns!
Just remember, your shredded potato has only been blanched so it will need further cooking in whatever recipe you use it in.
Convinced?
Here is my step-by-step guide to freeze drying shredded potato.
I even demonstrate rehydrating and making a hash brown for you!
Don’t have a freeze-dryer yet and wondering if this appliance is right for you? Read my two-year, hands-on, no-holds-barred review of the Harvest Right freeze dryer here.
- Freeze dry up to 10,000 lbs of fresh food every year.
- Preserve your gardens harvest & prepare for emergencies.
- Make your own camping & hiking meals.
- Freeze dry your own pet food.
How to Freeze Dry Shredded Potato – Step-By-Step
Equipment:
- Home Freeze Dryer (and trays)
- Breville Sous Chef (food processor)
- Chest Freezer (for pre-freezing) – optional
- Mylar Bags or Mason Jars
- Oxygen Absorbers
- Impulse Sealer
- Labels and Marker – for labeling your storage containers
1. Select Your Potatoes
For crispy hash browns that hold together well, choose a starchy variety of potato. Russet potatoes are ideal, but Yukon Gold will do in a pinch.
Avoid waxy potatoes if you have a choice, they will still work, but you will get a less crispy hash brown that doesn’t hold together as well.
For reference, I have a medium Harvest Right freeze dryer and about 3.2 lbs (1.5kg) of shredded potato fits nicely on one tray.
2. Wash and/or Peel Potatoes
Give your potatoes a good scrub and peel them if desired.
I left the peel on mine as I feel it adds more flavor – but you do you!
3. Prepare Water for Blanching
Before you move onto the shredding stage, it is a good idea to bring a big pot of salted water to the boil ready for blanching. You don’t want your shredded potatoes sitting around as they will quickly start oxidizing and turn brown, gray, (or even black!)
Blanching deactivates the enzymes responsible for oxidation, slowing down this process and retaining the color of your potatoes.
4. Shred the Potatoes
Now you have your blanching water ready, it is time to shred!
You can do this by hand with a grater, but my preferred method is using the coarse shredder option on my Breville Sous Chef.
Either way, coarsely grate all of the potatoes into a bowl.
5. Blanch the Potatoes
To start the blanching process, add the shredded potatoes to your pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes.
You are not trying to cook them completely.
Do this in batches if necessary. If you have already shredded all of your potatoes, putting them in a bowl of room temperature water will slow down the oxidation process until you can blanch them.
While your potatoes are blanching, prepare an ice bath for the next step.
6. Drain and Transfer Potatoes to an Ice Bath
After the blanching time, drain your shredded potatoes and quickly add them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
7. Drain and Dry the Potatoes
Once your shredded potatoes have chilled in an ice bath for a while, you can drain them again.
After draining, I lay mine out on a tea towel to let them dry off a bit, patting them dry with another tea towel.
The goal is just to remove excess moisture, not to get them completely dry.
8. Prepare Your Freeze Dryer Trays
With the excess moisture removed, it is time to put the shredded, blanched potato onto a freeze dryer tray.
Try and keep the food a reasonably uniform depth to aid drying.
9. Pre-Freeze the Shredded Potato
Pre-freezing is not an essential step, but a good practice to get into. It will reduce overall time in the freeze dryer and with some foods, limit the chances of any unwanted ‘explosions’.
I had my shredded potatoes in the deep freeze for at least 48 hours before commencing the freeze dry cycle.
10. Begin the Freeze Dry Cycle
Load the filled trays into your freeze dryer and begin the cycle – don’t forget to close the drain valve!
I have a Harvest Right freeze dryer and use the default settings when freeze-drying potato. I do set the extra-dry time to 24 hours though (to give me plenty of time to package my food).
11. Check the Potatoes are Completely Dry
I processed my tray of shredded potatoes with 3 more trays of potatoes with a similar amount of food on them (by weight). The freeze dryer indicated that the cycle was complete after about 28 hours, but the potatoes still had icy patches.
I added more extra dry time and left the machine running. Since I was not able to package the food earlier, the entire cycle ran for 58 hours. I think the food was probably completely dry after about 40 hours.
I have found that the freeze dryer often tells me the food is dry before it really is, so it pays to check thoroughly. You don’t want to feel any cold spots and the food should be light and airy.
12. Package the Freeze-Dried Shredded Potatoes
If you are planning on storing your shredded potatoes long term, you need to package immediately using the correct equipment.
Mylar bags or mason jars are perfect for storage, just make sure you include an oxygen absorber in each jar or bag.
Don’t forget to label the package with the contents and date of packaging!
How to Rehydrate Freeze-Dried Shredded Potatoes
Rehydrating shredded potatoes is super easy.
You don’t need to worry about getting the correct ratio of freeze-dried shredded potatoes to liquid since you are going to be squeezing out extra moisture anyway.
Here is how I rehydrate mine:
- Add warm water to the jar, Mylar bag or bowl of freeze-dried shredded potatoes.
- Leave for about 2 minutes.
- Drain and squeeze out excess moisture.
Your shredded potatoes are now ready to use the same way you would fresh shredded potatoes!
How to Make Hash Browns From Freeze-Dried Shredded Potatoes
Now the fun part, turning your potatoes into hash browns!
You can get as elaborate as you like with this part, but for the sake of simplicity, here is how I make hash browns when camping:
- Rehydrate the shredded potatoes as described above (remembering to squeeze out excess moisture).
- Heat oil or ghee in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the rehydrated potatoes and spread them out evenly over the bottom of the frying pan.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- When the bottom of the hash brown is golden brown (after a few minutes), flip the hash brown. Don’t worry if it falls apart a little, just smoosh it all back together.
- Cook until the second side is golden brown.
- Slide onto a plate and eat! (Topped with bacon and eggs of course!).
Hash Brown Happiness!
There you have it, an easy way to store potatoes for years – without refrigeration!
And, a convenient way to carry hash browns with you when camping or hiking.
How do you use shredded potatoes? Let me know in the comments!
Don’t have a freeze-dryer yet and wondering if this appliance is right for you? Read my two-year, hands-on, no-holds-barred review of the Harvest Right freeze dryer here.
- Freeze dry up to 10,000 lbs of fresh food every year.
- Preserve your gardens harvest & prepare for emergencies.
- Make your own camping & hiking meals.
- Freeze dry your own pet food.
Equipment
- 1 Freeze Dryer and trays
- 1 Breville Sous Chef for shredding (optional)
- 1 Mylar bags or Mason jars sufficient quantity for storage
- 1 Oxygen absorbers for each bag or jar
- 1 Heat sealer
Ingredients
- 3.2 lbs starchy potatoes per medium freeze dryer tray
Instructions
Preparing Shredded Potatoes
- Choose starchy potatoes such as Russet or Yukon Gold for best results.
- Wash and peel if desired.
- Prepare blanching water by filling a large pot with water, adding a pinch of salt and bringing to a boil.
- Coarsely grate the potatoes using a food processor or hand grater.
- Immediately add shredded potatoes to the boiling water and blanch for 3 minutes.
- Transfer potatoes to an ice bath using a slotted spoon to stop cooking.
- Drain the cooled potatoes and spread them on tea towels and pat dry to remove excess moisture.
- Evenly spread the dried, shredded potatoes on freeze dryer trays.
- Place trays in the freezer for at 48 hours to reduce freeze-drying time (optional).
Freeze Drying Shredded Potatoes
- Load trays into the freeze dryer and start the freeze-dry cycle according to your machine's instructions.
- Ensure potatoes are completely dry – light, airy, and no cold spots.
- Transfer to Mylar bags or Mason jars for storage and add an oxygen absorber to each container.
- Seal and label with contents and date.
Rehydrating Shredded Potatoes
- Place shredded potatoes in a bowl (or leave in Mason jar).
- Cover with warm water and let sit for 2 minutes.
- Drain and squeeze out excess moisture.
Make Hash Browns
- Rehydrate as above.
- Heat oil or ghee in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Spread rehdyrated potatoes evenly over the bottom of the frying pan.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook until the bottom is golden brown (about 3-5 minutes).
- Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.
- Serve hot (with bacon and eggs!).
Notes
- Potato Choice: Use starchy potatoes like Russet for crispier results.
- Blanching Tip: Blanching prevents discoloration by deactivating enzymes.
- Storage Life: Properly packaged, freeze-dried potatoes can last for years.
- Versatile Use: Great for hash browns, casseroles, soups, and more.
- Hash Browns: You can get as creative as you like with the recipe. When using the instructions above, don’t worry if it falls apart a little when flipping, just smoosh it back together.
