The point of pulling the vacuum is to get all the moisture out of the system. at 27" HG, water boils at room temperature (or near enough). Pulling the vacuum has to be done for long enough to allow all the moisture to boil and be extracted. That's why you need to keep the vac on it for at least 15 minutes.

That way your A/c investment is protected.

35 deg F at what ambient temperatur? I'm in Fl too, and getting about 50 deg when outside is 90. Thats' with the windows open so I can test direct cooling, not looped cooling if you know what I mean.