What Is The Difference Between Freeze-dried And Dehydrated?

According to legend, dehydration dates back to 12,000 BC. Romans and other Middle Eastern populations would dry fruits and vegetables in “still houses,” using fire to dry out and smoke the foods. What is the difference between freeze-dried and dehydrated?

In contrast, freeze-drying is a relatively recent technique; it was first successfully applied during World War II as a means of preserving blood plasma, medication, and eventually food for the troops.

This post introduces what is freeze-dried and dehydrated and the difference between them. Keep reading.

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What Is Freeze-drying?

Dehydrating is quite different from freeze-drying. Freeze-drying, which uses extremely cold temperatures (like -40 F) in place of heat, creates a vacuum around the food and alternately heats and cools it to remove 99% of its moisture.

As a result, the food can maintain a remarkable level of nutrient density and last up to 25 years on your shelf.

The drawback of freeze-drying is the requirement for a freeze-drying unit. Although the cost of the home models of these can be prohibitive, we have found that the value is well worth it.

Advantages Of Freeze-dried Foods

There are a lot of benefits to freeze-drying your food. According to Gans, freeze-drying typically results in food that is lighter in weight, making it easier to transport in a hiking backpack or go-bag. Dehydrated food, on the other hand, tends to retain more of its weight.

Yes, food that has been freeze-dried is better at retaining its natural minerals and nutrients. When moisture is removed from dehydrated foods using a heating-intensive process, about half of the nutrients are lost. Almost any food, including dairy, eggs, grains, and other ingredients, can be freeze-dried.—whereas dehydrated foods are more limited in scope.

What Is Dehydrating?

When you dehydrate food, you take between 70 and 90% of the moisture out of it using warm air. As a result, the food will be shelf-stable and won’t develop mold or bacteria buildup without that moisture.

Generally speaking, depending on how much moisture you’ve removed from the food, dehydrated foods can be kept on your shelf for about a year with relative ease.

Dehydrating is very simple, to begin with, because all you need is a dehydrator, a warm sunny day, or even a low temperature in your oven.

Advantages Of Dehydrating Foods

Dehydrating food again removes about 80% of the water in a food item, so even though it’s not quite as durable as freeze-drying, Gans says it’s still a great way to preserve produce you know you won’t be able to use right away. There is a good reason why people have been dehydrating food for thousands of years.

This information was pulled from a poll. The same information might be available on their website in a different format, or you might find more details there.

And to be honest, if you enjoy purchasing snacks like cured meats or dried fruit (hi, charcuterie boards), it’s likely that you are dehydrated as a result. “Dried fruit is essentially dehydrated fruit, with manufacturers sometimes adding extra sugars for sweetness,” Gans says.

It’s time to stock up on your preferred method now that you are more knowledgeable about the specifics of freeze-drying versus dehydrating food. You can choose to make your snacks yourself or simply buy them from the store.

Difference Between Freeze-dried And Dehydrated

To prevent food from rotting or developing bacteria and mold, the main goal of food preservation is to remove moisture. The shelf life and nutritional value of the food are increased by doing that without altering its fundamental makeup.

Inefficient dehydrators remove about 70% of the water during dehydration. The food is only edible in this situation for a short period of time. 99% of the water is removed during home freeze drying with a Harvest Right. The majority of home-dehydrated goods, including dried fruit, meat, and vegetables, have a shelf life of one year or less. The shelf life of the same foods dried using a freeze dryer is 15 to 25 years.

Freeze-drying Vs. Dehydrated Foods

To compare the differences, we dehydrated and freeze-dried five different foods.

Bread

Perhaps you’re wondering why anyone would freeze-dry or dehydrate bread in the first place, but it’s actually a great way to make breadcrumbs or croutons.

The very crumbly texture of dehydrated bread makes it ideal for use with the aforementioned items. The bread that was freeze-dried, however, became even crunchier than the dehydrated bread, which may come as a surprise to you.

Either of these bread could be crumbled and mixed with butter and seasonings to top a casserole or add to meatloaf, for example.

I am unable to favor one method over another when it comes to this food. Although neither will rehydrate and become like a fresh slice of bread, they will both function admirably for dried bread products.

Apples

Our dried apple slices are a bit crispy and leathery. After being fully dehydrated, they take on a slight brown hue and become quite thin, at which point they are prepared for storage.

The freeze-dried apples are very crispy and have a texture that is almost like styrofoam, but they retain their shape and size. Even though it doesn’t sound tasty, it will taste very much like a fresh apple slice after being rehydrated.

You shouldn’t attempt to rehydrate a dried apple. Apples can be stored on the shelf of the pantry and are both dehydrated and freeze-dried. The freeze-dried option, however, will last about 24 years longer.

Herbs

We dehydrated and freeze-dried some parsley for our herbs. The dehydrated parsley is dull in color and has shrunk in size, whereas the freeze-dried parsley has retained its bright green vibrant color.

One more advantage of the freeze-dryer is that it almost instantly freezes your food, preserving both its texture and nutritional value.

Herbs’ flavors are altered during dehydration. in relation to flavorful herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, etc., freeze-drying them has become my preferred method.

There is one restriction associated with freeze-drying herbs. It’s best to store the herbs in an airtight bottle with an oxygen absorber because freeze-dried food has a tendency to absorb moisture from the air.

They may actually begin to mold if you don’t store them properly because they may absorb enough moisture. I like to keep my herbs in an airtight container and only take out what I need for about a week’s worth of cooking to avoid this.

Smoothie

For the freeze-dried vs. the fresh, the smoothie is very different. dehydrated results. The fruit leather was created out of the dehydrated smoothie. We adore fruit leather, and this is how we like to prepare it at home for a soft, chewy texture.

The crumbly freeze-dried fruit smoothie can be reconstituted into a fruit smoothie by adding water, and it is freeze-dried.

This is great because it allows us to make fruit smoothies when all of our fruit is in season, freeze-dry the mixture, and then enjoy fresh fruit smoothies in the dead of winter!

We will keep dehydrating AND freeze-drying smoothies because we enjoy both processes.

Shaved Beef

When comparing freeze-dried and dehydrated foods, it’s likely that meat has the most varied results.

Meat becomes jerky when it is dehydrated. The high temperatures actually cause the meat to cook, transforming it into a tasty leathery snack.

Meat that has been freeze-dried is kept entirely raw and, after being rehydrated, returns to its original state as a thinly sliced, fresh piece of meat. It’s really quite amazing!

There are numerous other foods that freeze-dryers and dehydrators handle differently. Your bread can be proofed, yogurt can be incubated, etc., in a dehydrator. However, a freeze-dryer can preserve foods like milk, eggs, and cheese that a dehydrator can’t.

Why You Should Choose Freeze Drying?

Variety is arguably the strongest case for freeze drying. For food preservation and storage, virtually any food can be freeze-dried. even complete meals, including meats, fruits, vegetables, desserts, etc. Additionally, foods like vegetables, meats, dairy, eggs, and meals that have been freeze-dried rehydrate quickly—sometimes almost instantly.

Sour cream can also be kept without refrigeration and can be frozen along with dry cottage cheese. Cheese and eggs scrambled? The best way to preserve and store dairy products and eggs is by freeze-drying. However, it is extremely challenging to dehydrate these foods.

It becomes clear how important it is to preserve leftovers and ripening fruits and vegetables when you consider that nearly 40% of the food that families buy is wasted. There are many reasons why food is wasted. Families frequently make or purchase too much food at first, forget to reheat leftovers, or simply put food on the counter or in the back of the refrigerator until it spoils. Families can save time and money by using a home freeze dryer to quickly and easily solve these issues. You can now preserve all of your leftovers and ripening food.

Foods that have been freeze-dried have a longer shelf life, less moisture, and generally better flavor than foods that have been dehydrated. Foods that have been freeze-dried rehydrate more quickly and maintain their original appearance, flavor, and texture. Compared to dehydration, freeze-drying can be used to preserve a much wider variety of foods. Consider attempting to preserve cheese, an ice cream sandwich, or a raw egg with a home dehydrator. It would abjectly fail. Not the case if freeze-dried.