Freeze spiral ham – very awesome meat!!!
Total wasn’t sure how well some spiral ham work freeze dry.
But I was pleasantly surprised, which is always awesome!! For the serial ham, I already had it in the freezer, so it did go in pre-frozen. I also tried to slice it into fairly even pieces, but also leaving them big enough to use for sandwiches.. this is before I knew how it would come out, so wanted to be prepared for any possible use.
Once all the ham was situated and cut into the pieces I wanted, I put them on the five trays and they went into the Ice Queen (Harvest Right Home Pro Medium).
![spiral-ham-on-freeze-dryer-trays spiral ham on freeze drier trays](https://buckhillsfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/spiral-ham-on-freeze-dryer-trays-300x283.jpeg)
Legit surprised with how well the spiral ham reconstituted!!
For storage, I chose pint jars. I figure this will be enough ham for 2-3 sandwiches, or enough to add to soup and/or beans for a meal. So I considered the ham to be a serving in terms of how much ham I’d add to whatever the product I’m making is, if that makes sense.
I put the freeze dried spiral ham into mason jars, added an oxygen absorber to each jar (I get mine from Wallaby), and used a jar sealer to finish the job. I then labeled them and put them on my shelf.
![spiral-ham-in-freeze-dryer spiral ham on Harvest Right Home Pro Medium freeze drier trays](https://buckhillsfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/spiral-ham-in-freeze-dryer-300x300.jpeg)
How long did this ham take?
From start to finish, the spiral ham went for 20 hours. However, it only took 16 hours of normal freezing and drying, then it went another four hours on extra dry time. I realized it was done at hour three of extra time, but I was having coffee so I let it keep going a little bit. More can’t help, and coffee comes first, lol.
Afterwards I clicked the buttons to do the two hour defrost. I couldn’t remember if I had more things ready to go in today, so wanted it ready just in case. Turns out I did not, but now it’s ready, so there’s that, ha!
Check out the video below to see how well it reconstituted. Again, I’m super thrilled with how this came out!!
Happy freeze drying!!
Spiral ham reconstituted – it came out awesome!
Freeze dried ham reconstituted great! This is sped up version, as I usually let things reconstitute slowly or add to soups, which is still slow.
Can tell when small piece changes from crunching to ripping. No gloves cause was just me lol.
Will post writeup as first comment:) https://t.co/DPvt7Zi4LN pic.twitter.com/MuiNkCfQAx
— Buck Hills Farm (@BuckHillsFarm) January 3, 2025