Freeze Dryer Silicone Mats - Medium (Set of 5)

Five freeze dryer tray liners in food grade silicone, cut 9 x 13 in to fit any quarter-sheet tray. That includes the 9 x 13 trays in the Blue Alpine Medium. They’re Blue Alpine branded, dishwasher safe and heat resistant to 400 F, and the set is $32.31.

Why bother with freeze dryer tray liners

Bare stainless works. It’s just harder to clean. Fruit, yogurt drops and anything with sugar in it tend to weld themselves to steel as they dry, and then you’re prying pieces off with a spatula and losing some of them as crumbs.

A silicone liner gives the food nothing to grip. When the batch is done, the pieces usually lift off whole, and the tray underneath usually needs no more than a rinse. You’re washing a flexible sheet instead of scrubbing a rimmed pan.

Specs for these freeze dryer tray liners

• 5 liners per set
• 9 x 13 in, quarter-sheet size
• Food grade silicone
• Blue Alpine branded
• Dishwasher safe
• Heat resistant to 400 F
• Fit any 9 x 13 quarter-sheet tray

Per liner, that’s about $6.46.

No ship-date check needed

If you’ve looked at our large silicone mats, you’ll have seen the warning that they don’t fit Blue Alpine trays shipped before December 2024. That restriction is on the large set. These freeze dryer tray liners fit any 9 x 13 quarter-sheet tray, so the age of your Medium’s trays doesn’t matter.

Do you need extra freeze dryer tray liners?

Maybe not yet. Every Blue Alpine Medium comes with five trays and five silicone mats, so one set of trays is already covered. Extra liners make sense in three cases: you’ve bought a second set of trays so the next batch can be prepped while one runs, a liner has been cut or worn out, or you’d like a spare set for the oven so the dryer set stays clean.

Lining every tray in a batch also keeps things consistent. Food on a liner and food on bare steel can release very differently, and it’s easier to unload when every tray behaves the same way.

Unloading a batch

Freeze dried food starts taking on moisture from room air once the door is open, so the faster it goes into a bag, the better. Freeze dryer tray liners speed that up. Slide one off its tray, pick it up by two opposite corners, and let it sag into a shallow U. Most pieces roll toward the middle, and you can tip them straight into a mylar bag or a wide funnel.

Powdery foods leave dust behind. Tap the liner over the bag before you set it down.

Washing and storing silicone tray liners

They’re dishwasher safe. By hand, hot water with a little dish soap does it. After greasy foods, silicone sometimes keeps a slightly tacky feel; a second wash in very hot water, or a short soak with a spoonful of baking soda, usually takes care of that.

Keep knives and metal scrapers away from them. A cut liner still works, but food lodges in the slit. Stack the liners flat when they’re dry, either on the trays themselves or in a drawer.

Using freeze dryer tray liners in the oven

Since they fit any quarter-sheet pan and take heat up to 400 F, the liners pull double duty for small batches of cookies or roasted nuts. Keep them away from the broiler and any direct flame.

Picking the right size

Measure the tray first. If it’s 9 x 13 in, these are the freeze dryer tray liners you want. If it’s 13 x 18 in, you have a Large, and you need the large mats instead, with the December 2024 caveat above. Still unsure? Phone us on +1 (443) 514-5708, or send a photo of your tray next to a tape measure using our contact page. Background reading on the material: silicone on Wikipedia.