Author Topic: How to Freeze Lychees  (Read 12141 times)

puglvr1

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How to Freeze Lychees
« on: May 30, 2015, 11:37:06 AM »

What's the best way to freeze fresh Lychees? Do you wash them first and dry them or just stick them in freezer zip lock bags? Is it this simple or is there a better way?

Thanks for any help/sggestions!  :)




Jsvand5

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2015, 12:44:01 PM »
I just stick them in the freezer whole. I do try to peel them as soon as they start defrosting a little. When I let them fully defrost in the skin it  seems to leave an odd taste.

savemejebus

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2015, 12:51:12 PM »
lol I have a family of ravenous beasts - saving lychees for a later time is definitely not an option/problem.

puglvr1

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2015, 02:40:41 PM »

SavemeJ...I am very fortunate I am the only one in the family that likes them  8)...though my next door neighbor has been enjoying them too...so basically its all mine!!! and even I can't eat all 20+ lbs all at once that my tree has provided me this year  ;D. Mind you I am not complaining!!

Samu

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2015, 04:29:53 PM »
20 lbs! Wow, looks like you won the war againts the critters! Enjoy!
Did that man made owl work, Pug?
Sam

fruitlovers

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2015, 05:17:13 PM »
Very simple. Just stick them in the freezer bags. I just froze 3 gallons of lychee fruits last night. They keep very well frozen. I plan to freeze some as juice also. Just run them through the juicer first and the freeze in bags or ice trays.
Oscar

bsbullie

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2015, 05:46:40 PM »
As said, freeze them whole in gallon ziplocks.

Lychees are also very good dehydrated.
- Rob

Mike T

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2015, 06:29:09 PM »
If you can be bothered peeling and deseeding them before zip locking makes it more convenient later.Flattened out makes it easy for sections to be broken off and eating them half frozen is not too bad.

puglvr1

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2015, 07:32:35 AM »

Thanks all for your replies  :) Appreciate it!

samu, I did not win all the war...but I did harvest 80% of my fruits  ;)...I fought them every day,lol...but the Plastic produce Clam shells saves most of them, lost a few but overall was very happy!

Owl, only worked on birds (except for the occasional crows) and had NO affect on the squirrels at all...those guys were out in force every day!!!!

Zambezi

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2015, 02:42:32 PM »
Congratulations on the harvest Puglvr!!

They look great. I hope you got them all packed and frozen. Enjoy!!..:)

I usually enjoy them just thawed enough to peel off the shell.. and then pop the rest, still frozen into my mouth, or in drinks in place of ice. They make a nice summer treat.

 :)

puglvr1

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #10 on: June 05, 2015, 08:53:07 AM »

Was out of town for several days so I'm glad I froze the rest of them...really looking forward to eating them slooooowly since I have to wait another year after these are all gone  :'( :'(

fruitlovers

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #11 on: June 05, 2015, 04:50:01 PM »
Right now i am also drying a bunch of lychees, since i ran out of freezer space. I put them whole in trays inside my oven and drying them slowly at 120F-140F. Able to get 6 big trays in there. Taking a really long time, but think they're gonna be good.  8)
Oscar

puglvr1

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #12 on: June 07, 2015, 09:01:25 AM »
Let us know how they taste Oscar. I've never had dried lychees before. How long do you bake them in that temperature? I'm guessing you peel them first?

bsbullie

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #13 on: June 07, 2015, 09:13:28 AM »
Let us know how they taste Oscar. I've never had dried lychees before. How long do you bake them in that temperature? I'm guessing you peel them first?

I have dehydrated them before.   They are very good.  You will be more successful dehydrating in a dehydrator versus  oven drying or in the car on the dashboard.   You can dehydrate to a chewy stage or all the way till they become crispy.  I think they are better slightly chewy.  Yes, peel and remove the seed.  I try to lay the pieces out as flat as possible,  usually cutting the flesh in half into two pieces.
- Rob

fruitlovers

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #14 on: June 08, 2015, 01:57:38 AM »
Let us know how they taste Oscar. I've never had dried lychees before. How long do you bake them in that temperature? I'm guessing you peel them first?

I dried them whole peel and all. In that way they are called lychee nuts in oriental stores. Worked fine but takes very long time, almost 2 full days. They taste great and smell like candy!
Oscar

fruitlovers

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #15 on: June 08, 2015, 02:02:26 AM »
Let us know how they taste Oscar. I've never had dried lychees before. How long do you bake them in that temperature? I'm guessing you peel them first?

I have dehydrated them before.   They are very good.  You will be more successful dehydrating in a dehydrator versus  oven drying or in the car on the dashboard.   You can dehydrate to a chewy stage or all the way till they become crispy.  I think they are better slightly chewy.  Yes, peel and remove the seed.  I try to lay the pieces out as flat as possible,  usually cutting the flesh in half into two pieces.

Problem is you can't dry them whole in a dehydrator. Trays are usually not big enough for whole fruit. I've also dried them in past years after peeling and removing the seed, like you are suggesting. Yes that works better and they dry a lot faster. Only problem is i did a huge batch. To peel and separate the seeds would have taken me a tremendously long time. What you are suggesting is only good for very small batches, otherwise you better hire employees to help. you.
Oscar

bsbullie

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #16 on: June 08, 2015, 03:16:56 AM »
Let us know how they taste Oscar. I've never had dried lychees before. How long do you bake them in that temperature? I'm guessing you peel them first?

I have dehydrated them before.   They are very good.  You will be more successful dehydrating in a dehydrator versus  oven drying or in the car on the dashboard.   You can dehydrate to a chewy stage or all the way till they become crispy.  I think they are better slightly chewy.  Yes, peel and remove the seed.  I try to lay the pieces out as flat as possible,  usually cutting the flesh in half into two pieces.

Problem is you can't dry them whole in a dehydrator. Trays are usually not big enough for whole fruit. I've also dried them in past years after peeling and removing the seed, like you are suggesting. Yes that works better and they dry a lot faster. Only problem is i did a huge batch. To peel and separate the seeds would have taken me a tremendously long time. What you are suggesting is only good for very small batches, otherwise you better hire employees to help. you.

My bad.   Can you please post pictures of your results?   In your opinion, which way tastes better?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, most of us do not have the volume of lychees that would make peeling the fruit impossible.   My dehydrator actually has the room to dry the whole fruit.  Maybe i will try some both ways.
- Rob

fruitlovers

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #17 on: June 08, 2015, 06:01:14 AM »
Let us know how they taste Oscar. I've never had dried lychees before. How long do you bake them in that temperature? I'm guessing you peel them first?

I have dehydrated them before.   They are very good.  You will be more successful dehydrating in a dehydrator versus  oven drying or in the car on the dashboard.   You can dehydrate to a chewy stage or all the way till they become crispy.  I think they are better slightly chewy.  Yes, peel and remove the seed.  I try to lay the pieces out as flat as possible,  usually cutting the flesh in half into two pieces.

Problem is you can't dry them whole in a dehydrator. Trays are usually not big enough for whole fruit. I've also dried them in past years after peeling and removing the seed, like you are suggesting. Yes that works better and they dry a lot faster. Only problem is i did a huge batch. To peel and separate the seeds would have taken me a tremendously long time. What you are suggesting is only good for very small batches, otherwise you better hire employees to help. you.

My bad.   Can you please post pictures of your results?   In your opinion, which way tastes better?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, most of us do not have the volume of lychees that would make peeling the fruit impossible.   My dehydrator actually has the room to dry the whole fruit.  Maybe i will try some both ways.

Rob, what type of dehydrator do you have that fits whole lychee fruits in the trays? I haven't dried any peeled lychees yet this year so haven't been able to compare taste side by side. My guess is that probably that peeled lychees dry better and taste better as that is faster. I think drying in oven also is a problem as temperatures fluctuated too much. I will try to post photos later of dried fruits. If you do dry them both ways please let us know which worked better. Just prepare yourself for very long drying times with the peel still on.
Oscar

bsbullie

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #18 on: June 08, 2015, 07:09:24 AM »
I have a Sedona SP-D9000.  By only using every other trsy i can accomodate whole lychees.
- Rob

puglvr1

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #19 on: June 08, 2015, 07:22:18 AM »

Thanks Rob and Oscar  :)

FrankDrebinOfFruits

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #20 on: June 10, 2015, 05:41:03 PM »
Tried drying a cookie sheets worth yesterday. Set the oven to convection mode, 170, 2 hours later there was still significant moisture. Will try again...

Maybe I just need to break down and get a dehydrator.

fruitlovers

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Re: How to Freeze Lychees
« Reply #21 on: June 10, 2015, 05:45:16 PM »
Tried drying a cookie sheets worth yesterday. Set the oven to convection mode, 170, 2 hours later there was still significant moisture. Will try again...

Maybe I just need to break down and get a dehydrator.

2 hours? HAHAHA  You can't dry anything in 2 hours. Look above. Stated above that drying whole lychees took 2 whole DAYS.
Even lychees that are peeled take at least 8+ hours to dry. Yes it takes a LOT of energy to dry fruits.
Oscar