Ham is cured and cooked, which makes it easy: dice and dry. It rehydrates quickly and brings a lot of flavor to bean soup, scalloped potatoes, fried rice and omelets.
It is salty, and drying concentrates salt. Use a little less ham than you would fresh, or rinse it after rehydrating.
Prep and loading
- Use cooked ham. Trim visible fat.
- Dice ½ inch.
- Spread in a single layer.
How to tell it’s done
- Cubes are hard and dry in the center.
Not sure? The weight check compares two weighings and the expected dry weight for ham.
Problems and fixes
Greasy cubes
Fatty ham. Use lean ham or trim more.
Rehydrating and storing
Rehydrate: Hot water 10 minutes; it rehydrates fast. By weight, 100 g of dried ham takes back about 177 g of water to return to fresh weight; the rehydration calculator does any amount.
Store: Mylar with oxygen absorbers.
Ways to use it
- Bean soup
- Scalloped potatoes
- Omelets and fried rice
How much fits per batch
At a normal single layer, ham load at roughly 2.4 lb of fresh food per square foot of tray. That works out to:
| Machine | Fresh per batch | Dried per batch |
|---|---|---|
| Harvest Right Countertop 360 | 6.0 lb | 2.15 lb |
| Harvest Right Small | 7.2 lb | 2.61 lb |
| Harvest Right Medium | 11.3 lb | 4.06 lb |
| Harvest Right Large | 18.4 lb | 6.66 lb |
| Harvest Right X-Large | 37.5 lb | 13.54 lb |
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central: ham, sliced, regular, about 11% fat (water content)
- Utah State University Extension: Can I Freeze-Dry That? (2026)
- Penn State Extension: Let’s Preserve: Freeze-Drying
- USDA FSIS: safe minimum internal temperatures
- Iowa State University Extension AnswerLine: Preserving by home freeze drying
Water content rounded from USDA FoodData Central (ham, sliced, regular, about 11% fat). Cycle times are typical ranges at default settings; thickness, load and your room change them. How we put these together.