Freeze Drying Broccoli for Two Different Uses - As Ingredient in Recipes and as a Powder

[@jumper123910]

Less than 10K subscribers, I can't believe it. I found you by accident, I'm certain your channel will soon explode with subscribers. You are one of the best channels on the internet, a perfect mix of understated humor, well presented and to the point. Is there a reason why you don't blanch first? You now have one more subscriber and I will be passing your channel around. This video is most certainly 11/10. Audio 11/10 Video 11/10 Presentation 11/10 Storyline 11/10 RoseRed Homestead is about to get some serious competition. Thank You!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Wow! You are TOO kind. If I were simply freezing the broccoli, I would blanch it, but I don't need to blanch the freeze dried stuff because I'm not too concerned with color/texture..... It will be used in other recipes. Thanks again for the encouraging words.

[@pennywillis8895]

🇦🇺I use all the stems even the thicker parts. For soup or in stock, I do the same for cauliflower stems.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

I'm just now harvesting cauliflower. I'll have to save those parts and give that a try.

[@wandaarganbright4056]

I have always used my broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage stems. I will steam them and run them through my blender for homemade soups. They make great cream soups and sauces.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

That's a great idea! I have a lot of cabbage to harvest... I'll have to do that.

[@pamclark6686]

I just ran across your channel. You guys are a breath of fresh air. Love the content. May the Lord continue to bless you.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@LittleMountainRanch]

Gorgeous gardens!!!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks!!! The beautiful broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are all beautiful because of your tip. We have cattle and chickens so we always have various stages of composting manure to use.

[@MM-oc3sb]

One hint I've learned along the way is to put a piece of plastic wrap over your blender jar before putting on the lid - it keeps your powder from going up into the lid - less waste of a precious commodity ! Great video and new subscriber 🤗 Especially appreciated the growing tips, too 😊

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks for the great tip!! Thanks for watching.

[@arcticgypsy]

I really enjoyed your video. The music was a great sound and volume. You were pleasant to listen to, including the banter. Mostly, i really loved that you took it straight from the garden and explained everything as you went.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement!!

[@biffybilliamson]

Lovely video. Thank you for sharing. I love when people include their homestead in their cooking/ freeze drying videos. Beautiful garden and the extra hubby commentary was great!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@lisab1419]

I LIKE your giant salad spinner!!!❤

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

That thing comes in SO handy!! They aren't cheap, but they are very strong and hold up to a lot of use.

[@cathykillion6544]

Enjoyed the video

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!

[@Grandpaige]

Great video! I’ve just started my broccoli seeds and I’m super excited to freeze dry!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Best of luck with your broccoli!

[@emmalouise7837]

I do love broccoli. It’s my favourite vegetable. What a joy it is to be able to freeze dry your own food!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

It is a really great way to preserve food. Between canning, freezing and freeze drying, we can preserve a lot of the food we grow.

[@lorrainedodds]

Awesome video. Thanks for the great ideas!!!👍👍❤️❤️I will try this for sure.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

So glad you enjoyed it.

[@usm.6915]

So glad I found your video this morning! :-) There's a ton of useful info for a newbie, like me. :-) Broccoli florets are amazing roasted and great in salads, pasta dishes, pizza, frittatas (think crust-less quiche)....ect. The stems can be sliced about the width of a carrot coin or a little thinner and used in stir-fries and Mongolian BBQ. That's how I got my daughter to like broccoli 🥦 when she was very little. She didn't like the texture of the florets. Needless to say, she does. I used to just call them "stems". Lol

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

We're glad you found us. Broccoli is very versatile. When our kids were little, they would call the stem of the broccoli the "trunk" and the florets were the 'branches'. Haha

[@suehogan2408]

That was a lot of work , but way to preserve a superfood ! Curious how it will be in broccoli cheese soup .

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

I'll let you know how it turns out when I use it.

[@jeanne819]

I loved watching your helpful video and listening to both of you kind souls💗 I purchased two huge heads of broccoli yesterday at a farmer's market and live solo and don't know what to do with them and would love to have a system like yours for freeze drying and creating a healthy powder. I only have the one fridge and no separate freezer and it is packed now with so many veggies from the market yesterday !! I don't know whether to cook everything and freeze it --- many peppers assorted colors, zucchini, squash, tomatoes cherry, a huge head of cabbage etc

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Freeze-drying is a wonderful method for storing food. It lasts for a VERY long time and doesn't take freezer space.

[@carolkantner1770]

I peal the big stalks and eat the soft inside. All the cool things to freeze dry. Someday I'll have mine

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

I've never tried that. There is so much good food that I've been missing out on.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Also, we love our freeze dryer. The entire family uses it so it's running almost constantly.

[@kathyhartle2615]

I love broccoli salad, and would maybe use those stems rehydrated for that.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

So far I've been using a lot of it in quiches and soups, but that's a great idea. Thanks!

[@terrim.602]

Broccoli can be loaded until you don't see any bottom tray but not touching the top heating element. Nice garden!!!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks! It's hard when things are 'chunky' like that. I think I will chop it more finely the next time I freeze dry broccoli.

[@rogerr1296]

It's off topic but, can I ask about your kitchen cabinets pretty please? Are they custom, it doesn't look like oak so was wondering what type of wood it is and, what stain did you use? We love the darker color and plan on using interior doors with the arched panels so it would fit really well with the rest of the house. Ok, I just couldn't help myself and you guys brought up the topic, well your husband did at least, but it brought back memories of my high school/college days back in the late 70's early 80's. We used to get some pretty dang good...well, stuff, in mason jars and it looked a lot like @13:15. 😁 That's all I'll say about that. 😂

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Haha... 😉. As for the cabinets, they were here when we bought the farmhouse. They are cherry. We like that they aren't dark cherry, but instead a very warm color.

[@carolclarkson4859]

I loved this video! Broccoli is such a nutritious vegetable. This was a great idea!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@judysears6417]

brocc stems and stocks are great for juicing!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Hmmm.....I've never done juicing, but if I get into that, I'll definitely keep the broccoli in mind. Thanks!

[@susanclair8623]

Thank you for another great video. I wish I had a freeze dryer. There are so many fun things to do with one. I dehydrate my broc stocks and all. some i use for soups, and i make into seasoning

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

We love our freeze dryer. It's a family freeze dryer so we ALL use it.... it's s going almost all the time. Right now our daughter-in-law has a load of air cherries in it. The kids eat them like candy.

[@susanclair8623]

@@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764 yummy

[@JS-wj3rl]

🤔 Why am I watching this , I don’t have a farm or even a dryer .. but I watched to the end and I subscribed too

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@talithamartindale2011]

yay for Chelsea🤩

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

It was the best advice I ever heard about growing broccoli .. .. and it REALLY worked.

[@Hevelyn-18]

Legal isso de triturar o brócolis 🥦… tal vez usar em sopas ou caldos…? Parabéns pela fartura da colheita…🥳🎊🎉

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Espero encontrar muitos usos para o pó. Ele adicionará nutrição a tudo o que eu adicionar. Sou muito grato pela abundância de brócolis. :)

[@LadyPeter]

Powdered broccoli is great for broccoli soup.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

That's a great idea. I love cheesy broccoli soup. I'll definitely add some of the powder the next time I make that soup. Thanks!

[@forthosewhoHUNGER]

BROCCOLI LEAF USE 1. Chips done either in a dehydrator OR freeze dryer like kale chips. Broccoli leaves are GREAT for this. Blend a red, orange or yellow bell pepper with a little extra virgin olive oil (only a TAD if freeze drying), garlic cloves, a little apple cider vinegar, salt, nutritional yeast and a cayenne pepper or powder. Pour over your broccoli leaves and dehydrate or freeze dry. DELICIOUS HEALTHFUL CHIPS 2. WRAPS Broccoli leaves are big and beautiful for making veggie wraps filled with red cabbage, onion, bell pepper slices, sprouts, microgreens, carrot Juliennes, etc. with an Asian ginger tahini dressing. We give them to our chickens, too, but we, especially ME, love to eat our broccoli leaves. We’re a small, organic, regenerative, no-till, no-kill farm and we get A LOT of broccoli leaves late spring and fall! Yum!

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks! I'll definitely be trying some of these next year.

[@carolinekuo7715]

wow

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks!

[@janetgrooms]

Thanks for video

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks for watching. 🙂

[@joyceburton8208]

Thanks for the good info for planting Broccoli. QUESTION where did you get the micro netting? Thanks for any info.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Hello. Here is a link to the netting. It's actually a mosquito netting, but it's perfect to protect crops that don't need to be pollinated. It's very strong and has held up wonderfully through the last 3 seasons. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HYRLUKA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

[@lisanowakow3688]

My family takes the outer layer off the stalks and eat the inner layer.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

I've sometimes peeled off some of the outer layer for some recipes, but these were pretty tender so I didn't bother. I think for the butter either way would work.

[@dustinbrady8900]

I like your video because you walk through the whole process. Your husband is so handsome

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks for the encouraging words. I think he's pretty handsome too. 😊

[@judyblaise1639]

You can use the powder to make soups too.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Great. I can't wait to experiment with several of my soup recipes!

[@Judten1]

Can you share where you got the funnel to fill jars? Thank you.

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

I got mine on Etsy. That particular shop doesn't have them any longer, but there are a bunch of shops that do. I have 2 sizes and they are very handy. Here's a link to some possibilities. www.etsy.com/search?q=freeze%20dryer%20funnel&ref=search_bar

[@mbryhol9132]

When you freeze dry broccoli to make broccoli powder to add to other foods like you said meatloaf, can you still taste the broccoli flavor or does it just sort of disappear and give you the benefits of broccoli?

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

As long as you don't put a lot in, it's not noticeable. It's so concentrated that you don't need to put much in to get the benefits.

[@gorelowjeff5054]

If I just wanted to make broccoli powder or the stems like you did, is there a reason why you couldn't just put it in the food processor and bring it to a powder right then and then freeze dryer and then put it back into a freeze powder instead of cutting everything up

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

You could definitely do it that way. It would actually probably help it to freeze dry faster since there would be more open surface area. I will probably do it that way next time.

[@gorelowjeff5054]

@@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764 thank you. Those 🐔..so cute!!

[@jessicadavid6604]

What setting do use on your freezer when doing broccoli?

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

We don't really use different settings.....just hit 'start' and add extra dry time for high moisture items. Maybe we need to learn more about using settings????

[@lisab1419]

What variety of Broccoli did you grow?

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

I've grown sever different types, but my favorites are Monty and Kariba. I seem to get the biggest heads from those two. (at least hear in Zone 7A)

[@francescapps7394]

Why did you not blanch the broccoli?

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

I read about people doing it both ways and enough people had good experiences without blanching it, that I didn't see the need. Have you had a different experience?

[@cathyrogers9392]

You can put 2lbs per freeze dry tray

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks for the info! I've never been sure of how full I could make them.

[@melodyreeder9762]

You can scramble your eggs, and freeze once frozen you can freeze dry and powder 1 tablespoon egg & 1 tablespoon of water

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

Thanks! We are continuously learning ways that we can use the free dryer.

[@angelmiller3224]

I thought Don couldn't cook lol

[@waardenburgfamilyfarm4764]

He's actually a pretty good cook....and really good on the grill.