Dehydrated vs Freeze Dried

There are many types of ways to preserve food. In our day and age, there are several ways to make the life span of a certain food last longer than usual. Two such known preservatives are: freeze dried and dehydrated. Is there any difference? When you eat dried mangoes, how was this food preserved? This is the topic of this article and we shall deem to define each and summarize later on.

Dehydrated

When fruit is dehydrated, there are actually several ways to do this. You can lay out the fruit under the sun on a hot surface. You can also lay the fruit under a dehydrating machine. Basically what happens is that the pieces of fruit are placed under or into a warm environment that would remove as much water content as possible. The beauty of this process is that no chemical is added to the process. No sugar is added to the process, either.

Freeze dried

Talking about freeze dried preservation, it is also dehydrating the fruit. The process in freeze drying is just different. In this case, the fruit is frozen first. Using a certain piece of machinery, a vacuum is used to extract the water content of the fruit. Once that process is done, heat is applied so while the frozen fruit is thawing, the vacuum continuously extracts the water. The end result is a crispy fruit and its taste is similar to that of the original fruit.

Now that we have tackled the different ways of preserving and dehydrating the fruit, we shall list one by one the differences. First off, we will be discussing the difference in texture, the difference in taste and, finally, the difference in shelf life.

SUMMARY:

A dehydrated fruit is more pliable, supple, more flexible. A freeze dried fruit is crispy. It is also crunchier.
In terms of shelf life, it has been noted that both types of preservation allow the fruit to have a longer shelf life. It is believed, though, that freeze dried fruits last longer as long as they are placed in an airtight container. For a dehydrated fruit, it can last for as long as a year, while a freeze dried fruit could last as long as several years, stored in an airtight container.
Dehydrated fruits retain their taste for a year. Freeze dried fruits retain their taste for several years.
Dehydrated fruits remove water by evaporation, while freeze dried fruits are dehydrated by vaporizing.
Some studies say that in terms of nutrients, freeze dried fruits or foods for that matter contain more nutrients compared to foods that are dehydrated.

In this article, while we focus on our examples in fruits, there are several more foods that are dehydrated or freeze dried. Sample foods include cheese, meat, cheese, yogurt, vegetables, and of course, fruits. There are some disputes and discussions on some blogs and articles online when it comes to what types of foods that can be dehydrated and which ones can be freeze dried, allowing for more choices for the freeze dried alternative.

It is best to remember that these types of foods are best eaten as snacks. Some people like to experiment and make use of these preserved foods as ingredients and would swear by the taste of freeze dried foods to having more taste and texture compared to dehydrated foods. At the same time, as freeze dried foods allow for more processes and would make use of a complex type of machinery to extract water, it is then understandable that such foods are more expensive compared to foods that are dehydrated.

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