Discovering What a Freeze Dryer Can Do
One of the things that fascinated me about freeze drying was that I quickly realized it wasn't just about preserving food.
There was a whole world of possibilities.
Fruits and vegetables were an obvious place to start, but I wanted to see what else I could do.
Garlic. Cheese. Smoothie ingredients. Snacks. Candy. Different recipes and combinations.
Some experiments worked beautifully.
Others taught me exactly what not to do the next time.
That's part of the fun.
Today, Pop Pops Pantry includes products such as freeze-dried organic garlic, smoked organic garlic, Cheese Bits, fruits, vegetables and other pantry foods.
But I'm still experimenting.
Why Freeze-Dried Food?
Freeze drying removes moisture from food at very low temperatures and under vacuum.
That creates something quite different from traditional dehydration.
The finished food can be extremely lightweight and shelf-stable when properly packaged, while retaining much of the original food's character.
But there's another reason I like freeze drying:
It lets you create foods that simply aren't possible using ordinary cooking or dehydration.
Cheese is a perfect example.
Freeze-dried cheese can become light, crunchy and intensely flavorful. It can be eaten as a snack, crumbled onto salads, added to recipes or used much like traditional bacon bits or other toppings.
Garlic is another favorite.
I've worked with both regular organic garlic and smoked organic garlic, experimenting with preparation, smoking and freeze-drying techniques to produce something that is convenient to keep in the pantry and easy to use.
There is always another experiment waiting.
Then Came the Mushrooms
My interests eventually expanded beyond freeze-dried foods.
I began working with functional mushrooms and learning about varieties including Lion's Mane, Reishi, Chaga, Turkey Tail and Cordyceps.
That led me into making mushroom tinctures.
The more I worked with mushrooms, the more interested I became in their history, traditional uses, extraction methods and the science researchers are continuing to investigate today.
Eventually I began asking another question:
Could what I was learning about mushrooms be applied to topical products?
That question eventually became Fungi First Aid Cream.
Developing the cream wasn't something that happened overnight. It grew out of roughly two years of experimenting, researching ingredients, changing formulations and applying what I had learned from working with mushroom tinctures.
I'll tell that entire story in a future article because it deserves more than a paragraph.
Small-Batch Means I Can Keep Experimenting
One advantage of being a small business is that I don't have to manufacture something by the truckload simply because that's what we've always made.
I can experiment.
If I think turmeric and black pepper might make an interesting infused organic olive oil, I can work on it.
If I want to smoke garlic before freeze drying it, I can test different methods.
If I think cheese could become a completely different type of pantry ingredient after freeze drying, I can try it.
Sometimes an idea becomes a product.
Sometimes it becomes another experiment.
And sometimes it becomes a lesson.
All three are valuable.
What You'll Find on This Blog
That's also why I've decided to start this blog.
I don't want the Pop Pops Pantry website to be nothing more than a collection of products with prices beside them.
I want to show you what I'm doing and what I'm learning.
I'll be writing about subjects such as:
Freeze drying fruits, vegetables, cheese and other foods
Experiments with smoked and freeze-dried garlic
Ways to use freeze-dried foods in everyday cooking
Freeze-dried ingredients for infused water and beverages
Mushroom tinctures and extraction methods
Lion's Mane, Reishi, Chaga, Turkey Tail and Cordyceps
The development of Fungi First Aid Cream
New Pop Pops Pantry products
Equipment and techniques I use
Experiments that work, and occasionally the ones that don't
I'm particularly interested in sharing the last category.
There is plenty of information on the internet showing perfect finished products.
There isn't nearly enough showing what somebody learned while figuring out how to make them.
Made in Texas by a Veteran-Owned Small Business
Pop Pops Pantry is a small veteran-owned business, and I intend to keep the personality of a small business in what I make.
I'm not trying to make everything.
I'd rather keep learning, experimenting and developing products that I think are genuinely interesting.
When you buy something from Pop Pops Pantry, you're supporting a veteran-owned Texas small business and helping me continue doing exactly that.
There are still a lot of things I want to try.
And now I'm going to start sharing those experiments here.
So whether you're interested in freeze-dried food, mushrooms, unusual pantry ingredients, food preservation, or you're simply curious about what I'll put in the freeze dryer next, welcome to Pop Pops Pantry.
This should be interesting.
Pop Pops Pantry
Veteran-Owned Small Business
Sherman, Texas
PopPopsPantry.com
