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Views: 289 Author: Kaylee Publish Time: 2023-12-14 Origin: Site
There's no denying that freeze drying and food dehydrating are excellent methods for preserving food, regardless of your experience level. Because you can really produce your own herbs or cocktail garnishes instead of buying store-bought items, they're quite cost-effective. In addition, by repurposing fruits and vegetables that could be almost ready for the organics bin, they're both excellent ways to reduce food waste.
However, what distinguishes dehydrated from freeze-dried food? Which is more healthful? What are the advantages of freeze-drying as opposed to dehydrating? Continue reading to learn more.
1. Food can be effectively preserved by freeze drying or dehydrating it, as both methods remove moisture, which inhibits bacterial development and decomposition. The two approaches do differ in a few significant ways, though. The shelf life and consistency of the final product are the primary distinctions between dehydrating and freeze drying. While dehydrated foods typically have a shelf life of 5 to 15 years, freeze-dried goods can last up to 20 to 25 years. This is due to the fact that freeze drying reduces moisture content to roughly 5%, whereas dehydration often results in moisture content closer to 10% to 15%. It's crucial to keep in mind that freeze drying and dehydration are both excellent methods for long-term food storage and preservation when done properly.
2. Texture is the next significant distinction. While dehydrating can give you a chewy or crispy texture depending on how much moisture is removed—a factor that can be regulated by how long you keep your food in the dehydrator—freeze drying is often extremely crunchy.One other thing to keep in mind is that freezing dried meat essentially means stopping the aging process. In contrast, as you become dehydrated, you produce a new substance. Thus, the result of freezing dried meat is a product that, upon rehydration, retains its raw meat consistency. However, after dehydrating meat in a dehydrator, you'll get ready-to-eat jerky. Both techniques will increase shelf life, but the end result is two completely different items.
3. Another area where these two machines diverge is in the size of the final result; freeze-dried products have a significantly smaller finished product than dehydrated foods. A product's size can be reduced by up to 50% through dehydration, which is perfect for storing food. As opposed to freeze-dried goods, you may store more food and occupy less space. When it comes to freeze-dried foods, the finished product is the same size as the original.
4. You might have read that freeze drying preserves much more nutrients in food goods than dehydrating them, however this is a major myth. This school of thinking is primarily supported by the fact that, in contrast to dehydration, freeze drying does not significantly alter the product's size or color. Numerous recent investigations have demonstrated that the ice crystals that are produced during the freeze-drying process actually cause severe cell disruption and damage. Food is cooled to between -40 and -50°C (-40 to -58 °F) during the freeze-drying process. The literature pertaining to these investigations indicates that food dried at extreme temperatures can have an equivalent detrimental impact on the bioavailability of macro and micronutrients present in food products.
5. Although our dehydrators at Commercial Dehydrators can heat up to 90°C, most items may be properly dehydrated around 45 to 55°C. Foods will retain the majority of their nutrients when dehydrated at these moderate temperatures; if temperatures rise above 70°C, the nutritional value of the item may decrease. Food must be properly maintained in an oxygen-free, cold, and dark environment to prevent rapid nutrient loss. Foods that have been dehydrated should also be kept in a cool, dark environment in sealed containers.
6. The actual drying times are another distinction between dehydration and freeze drying. While food dehydration typically takes 8 to 12 hours, freeze drying is a significantly longer process that can take up to 40 hours for an average load.
7. There is a noticeable difference in the cost of operating these devices when we compare them; a food dehydrator is thought to be more economical, efficient, and equipped with a larger capacity. With a drying surface of 27.5 square feet, our smallest unit serves as an example. The average cost of a single dry cycle lasting 10 hours would come to $0.86. When you examine the biggest household freeze dryer, which has a drying space of just 6.4 square feet. You would have to pay a total of $6.51 for a 30-hour dry cycle. However, the price would go up to $27.97 in order to dry the same surface area of vegetables that the dehydrator does. Compared to our dehydrators, this represents a running cost increase of almost 3200%. *The US average was used to determine the electricity price*
We at Commercial Dehydrators are pleased to provide dehydrators that are lightweight, composed of high-quality components, and yield excellent results. The smallest unit in our line, the 16 tray dehydrator is built entirely of commercial grade stainless steel, has a dehydrating area of over 28 square feet, and can dry about 25 pounds of product at a ¼ inch thickness.
Comparatively, the largest freeze dryer available has just five trays, can dry 12–16 pounds of product, and weighs about 274 pounds (or 253 pounds for non-stainless steel) when made of stainless steel. In addition to the machine itself, a 32-pound vacuum pump is also included. It is located outside the freeze dryer and requires routine maintenance, such as changing the oil every three cycles. Alternatively, you may go with an oil-free pump, but it would cost you an extra $1,500 or more.
At US$3595, the larger size freeze drier is nearly four times more expensive than our 16-tray food dehydrator. In addition to having three times the capacity, our equipment weighs more than four times less than a freeze drier. Other than that, our dehydrators only need the trays cleaned and the device itself wiped off for minimal to no maintenance. A freeze dryer's operation might also be significantly noisier than that of a dehydrator due to the noise produced by the machine and pump.
Foods have been dehydrated since ancient times, when the primary technique for drying was to spread food out in the sun and wind. Many Middle Eastern and Oriental nations practiced this. After then, fresh produce was dried by fire in rooms that were specially designed for food dehydration, a practice adopted by the Europeans. Next, we'll discuss the invention of the first food dehydrator in France during the 1800s, which employed a mechanism that produced heated air to dry fruits and vegetables. Since then, food dehydration has become widespread during World War II, and in the 1960s, it gained appeal among hikers and campers throughout the globe who were searching for wholesome, portable meals and snacks for their travels.
Foods were first freeze-dried in the fifteenth century by the Incas, who kept food in the high altitudes of the mountains, where the extreme cold would cause the produce to freeze and the water to slowly evaporate. The first freeze dryer was created in the early 1900s and subsequently improved by employing an electrical pump to generate the required vacuum. Freeze drying was a technique more frequently utilized in World War II for medical objectives, including the preservation and delivery of food, medical supplies, and blood to the fighting forces. Since then, it has been widely employed in the medical sector, and NASA began using the freeze-drying method in the 1960s to supply food for astronauts. Freeze dried coffee is one of the most often used and well-liked freeze dried items.
1. Vegetables and dairy products, such as cheese, ice cream, and eggs, respond well to freeze drying.
2. The shelf life of freeze-dried goods is up to 25 years.
3. Products that have been freeze dried typically weigh less.
4. The color and size are retained when freeze dried.
1.Faster periods of dehydration.
2. Effective for jerkys and other fruit and meat products
3. Food that has been dehydrated has a five to fifteen year shelf life.
4. Food dehydrators are more economical, providing a higher drying capacity at a lower cost.
5. Food dehydrators don't need constant upkeep.
