I get asked all the time what the differences are between freeze dried and dehydrated foods. Dehydrated foods are great for food storage, however, they have some major drawbacks. I primarily store (and use on a regular basis) freeze dried foods because their taste, texture, and nutrition is so close to fresh.
The process of freeze drying foods is simple. Foods are first flash frozen, then 98% of of the moisture is removed in a vacuum chamber.
When food is dehydrated, on the other hand, it must be heated to dry the food out and only about 75% of the moisture is removed. The process of heating the food removes nutrients and changes the consistency of the food. We do store some dehydrated food because it can be great for snacking — my kids love banana chips and beef jerky — but the bulk of what we store is freeze dried.
Texture
Texture is one of the major benefits of freeze dried foods. Unlike dehydration, which changes the makeup of the food, freeze dried foods maintain the same texture as their fresh counterparts.
Think of it this way: a dehydrated grape is a raisin but a freeze dried grape, once rehydrated is just like a fresh grape.
We frequently rehydrate freeze dried raspberries and everyone is shocked that they look so close to a fresh raspberry. The benefit of this is that you can use freeze dried foods almost the same way you would use fresh, which makes it really easy to add them into your regular recipes.
Nutrition
Freeze dried foods retain all their nutrients whereas dehydrated foods often lose up to 50% of their nutrients because they are heated as they are dried. In many cases, this makes freeze dried foods a healthier choice than fresh foods from the grocery store since produce generally takes several days to transport to the store and may sit on the shelve for several days after that. The longer fresh food sits, the more nutrients it loses.
Freeze dried foods are picked at the peak of freshness and flash frozen right away so they maintain their nutrients. We store Thrive freeze dried foods and they are known for their quality. Thrive foods are primarily GMO free too and I know that can’t be said of my local grocery store.
My kids snack on Thrive freeze dried foods all the time so that makes me feel good that they are getting some great nutrition at the same time.
Taste
9 Times out of 10, I can’t tell the difference between freeze dried foods and fresh. The first time I had Thrive freeze dried chicken I could have sworn I was eating freshly cooked chicken. I’m not sure I would have eaten it had I known it came from a can but the taste and quality was so good that I’ve been adding it into meals ever since.
Freeze dried foods work really well to cook with. Anyone who eats at my houses is always shocked when they find out how much of the food we eat is freeze dried but I love having it on hand because it saves me so much time in the kitchen.
Additional Benefits of Freeze Dried Foods
Shelf Life – Because of the lower moisture content in freeze dried foods, they have a longer shelf life than dehydrated. That’s great news when you are adding them to your long-term food storage.
Free of Additives – I love looking at the ingredient list of freeze dried foods because they contain only one thing! Freeze dried foods don’t require any additives whereas dehydrated foods often require sugar, salt, or other preservatives.
Nearly anything can be freeze dried – I love how many different products I can keep in my long-term food storage with freeze dried foods. my long-term food storage looks a lot like my regular pantry — which is probably why they have become so integrated! We even have freeze dried ice-cream sandwiches in our long-term food storage because if we are ever in a true emergency situation you know I’m going to want something chocolate.
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