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Freeze Drying Bullion
One of the best soup additives is Better than Bullion soup base. It adds a delicious
richness to any soup. It comes in a variety of flavors, but becomes expensive when it is
a regular staple in the home. A quick Google search revealed a simple recipe to create
a homemade version of Better than Bullion and it is amazing. It takes a little time, but
almost no ingredients, and each ingredient is easily identifiable and can be grown in a
home garden.
The original recipe calls for two days of cooking and a handful of ingredients. It’s quite
easy to turn the simple recipe into one that utilizes ingredients readily available. Most
people don’t have time to boil food for several hours over two days, so this is a one day
recipe that will make the best homemade bullion. The quantity of each ingredient is up
to the preparer. When making this, I used four pounds of beef, ten small carrots, six
celery stalks, four small potatoes, and two whole onions. I do use the gravy mix, but it is
completely optional. This makes a large batch that will require four batches in the freeze
dryer.
- Meat of choice, cut into large chunks, include fat and bones
- Carrots, cleaned and cut into large chunks. You can leave a few leaves on for a unique flavor Celery, cleaned and cut into large chunks. Leaves are an excellent addition.
- Whole white onion, cut into chunks, skins removed.
- Optional: Potato, cut into chunks
- Parsley, fresh or dried
- Garlic, to taste, fresh or dried
- Optional: Gravy Mix
- For chicken: Turmeric (mostly for color)
There is no salt added to this recipe. Salt is essential for life, but any food that contains
salt will taste like the bottom of Salt Lake once it is freeze dried. It is better to store salt
separately and add it to whatever is being cooked. Individual salt and pepper packs can
also be added to the Mylar bags for food stores intended for camping, hiking or hunting.
Fill a large stock pot halfway with water. Add all ingredients, except gravy mix, and bring
to a boil. Cook for two hours. Remove any bones and remaining fat pieces from the
stock. Leave everything else. Reduce heat to low. Continue cooking until the liquid is
reduced to about one quarter. Stir often to prevent burning. Add Gravy mix, and
combine well. Cook for a few more minutes until the juices have thickened well.
Allow to cool. Puree all of the stock with the meat and vegetables included. At this point
the bullion may look questionable, but it will have a delicious flavor. Spread onto freeze dryer trays, about half an inch thick. Freeze for a minimum of 24 hours to prevent a
mess in the freeze dryer.
Prepare the freeze dryer according to your manufacturer’s instructions. Harvest Right
size medium with four trays will be the default for all instructions given through this
series.
Once the machine is powered on, look at the settings to make sure they are correct for
what the bullion will need. The default settings are perfectly acceptable; however,
sometimes temperature, humidity, and water content can affect drying time, so
changing the settings prior to starting is a good plan.
- Set the freeze temperature to -20° F. Although the bullion is already frozen, it is a
good idea to freeze it to a colder temperature in order to fully dry it through. - Since the bullion is already frozen, an extended freeze time is not necessary.
Make sure that number is set to zero. - The default temperature for drying is 125°F. This is the perfect temperature, so
do not change the temperature. - The extra dry time is useful for several reasons. If the bullion is not completely
dry at the end of the 24-hour run, the extra dry time will finish it. If the end of the
cycle coincides with late at night, during work hours, or other inconvenient time,
adding more time will give the preparer time to be relaxed for the final steps. Two
hours is the default setting, but it can be set to any number. Generally, I use 5
hours. - Be sure to touch Save to exit the setting screen.
- Touch Start and the machine will begin the fifteen minute cool down cycle.
Freeze drying a large batch of any food takes a lot of time. If time is an issue, drying
several foods at the same time works well. The flavors and smells do not transfer. If one
food takes longer to dry than another, it is fine to leave both in the dryer and continue
until the slower food is finished. For example, dry corn, green beans, carrots, and
bullion on different trays. The settings are the same, and extra dry time will not hurt the
vegetables. Personally, I get bored drying the same food for several days. So, I do dry
several different things at once so I have some variety.
Finally, once the bullion is completely dry, it’s time to prepare it for storage. Break the
bullion into small chunks and grind them in a blender until it’s a fine powder. There are
two ways to store the powder. Mylar bags or glass canning jars. Mylar bags will allow
the bullion to be stored for a long time. Simply fill the bag, add an oxygen absorber, and
seal. Store the bags in storage bins to prevent rodents. To use a glass canning jar, fill
the jar with bullion, add an oxygen absorber and add the lid and ring. No need to seal.
The oxygen absorber will remove the various gasses and seal the jar for you. As a side note, jar lids sealed using a dry method can be reused, as long as they are not heated
to seal.
Bullion is an excellent pantry ingredient because it can be added to any soup, sprinkled
on veggies, potatoes, and meat, and adds valuable nutrients to a lacking diet. It is easy
to make and store, and can last years without refrigeration.
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Photos courtesy of Michele Mead
Cover image courtesy of Pexels.com
