Whether you freeze, dehydrate, grind for seasoning, pickle, candy, make simple syrup, or preserve in vodka, there are plenty of ways to prolong the ginger harvest. First things first. Think about how you are likely to use the ginger. For me it means chopping into stir fries and other dishes, and adding to my tea. I also like to have some dehydrated. Those are the three options I show in my gallery below.
Freezing Ginger (or Turmeric)
Use the same steps for Ginger and Turmeric.
Begin by cleaning and peeling the ginger. Cut into chunks, whatever size you would normally use to chop or shred for favorite recipes. Chunks roughly equaling one or two tablespoons work well. (When ready to use, a chunk chops up easily while still frozen.)
Prepare a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. Lay out the chunks of ginger. Freeze for a couple of hours.
Now pour the frozen chunks into a freezer bag – I like reusable freezer bags – and label. Now the chunks of ginger will not clump together too badly.
Ginger Simple Syrup
Bring one cup of water, one cup of sugar, and 1 cup of cleaned and peeled ginger chunks to a gentle boil. Stir and lower heat. After 15 minutes on a low simmer, turn off burner and let mixture steep in a covered pot for 30 minutes.
At this point you have two options:
Strain the liquid. Place strained liquid into a container with secure lid. Refrigerate.
Or place the syrup with the ginger into a blender. Grind well. Now strain through cheese cloth or strainer, Pour into a container with secure lid and refrigerate. This makes a much stronger mixture. Since I only add a few drops to my tea, it works.
Either way, you can now use this concoction in mixed drinks or in tea.
Dehydrate Ginger (or Turmeric)
Begin by cleaning and peeling ginger.
Slice as thinly as you can manage. The cheap little mandolin in the picture below works surprisingly well.
Since freshly harvested ginger is likely to be moister than store bought, I place the thin sliced ginger between paper towels to let dry a little over night or even for 24 hours. Now dehydrate. Because of that extra step of drying between paper towels, dehydration will be much quicker.
What if you don’t have a dehydrator? Actually, I don’t have one. I do have a toaster oven with a bunch of settings including air fry and dehydrate. Using this oven, set at 125 degrees, it took about 3 hours to completely dehydrate the ginger seen in the photo below. I lay the ginger out on the wire basket normally used for air fry, with an extra pan on the lower rack to catch small bits. It works.
If your stove allows low enough settings, you can use the oven.
Once the ginger is completely dehydrated – completely crisp – grind and store in clean container.
A Few Ways to Preserve and Use a Ginger Harvest
