The Method of Freeze-Drying
Freeze-drying is a intricate method of preserving refreshing or previously-cooked food by getting rid of up to ninety eight% of the food’s humidity, leaving intact the food’s texture, flavor, aroma and nutritional price.
The method needs that the fresh or cooked foods be speedily frozen at temperatures as minimal as -50°C. The frozen foods is then positioned into a vacuum chamber. This vacuum chamber lowers the strain, and raises the temperature to just about 0°C.
At this particular temperature and stress, the ice crystals in the food evaporate into water vapor, bypassing water’s liquid sort, by means of a method referred to as sublimation.
This approach preserves the cell composition and dietary material of the foods, ensuing in a merchandise that, when rehydrated, really carefully resembles the unique foods.
The procedure also prevents the h2o from becoming reabsorbed by the foods and as a result decreases its fat substantially.
fitactions.com Most foods products such as fruits, vegetables and meats are nicely-suited to freeze-drying, and can be used for extended-time period meals storage and preservation.
The Approach of Dehydration
Dehydrating meals is a foodstuff preservation strategy which has been utilized for generations. Indigenous Americans dehydrated their buffalo kills in their looking camps to make it less difficult to transport. Pemmican (a dehydrated concoction of buffalo meat mixed with fat and berries) was a staple of several of the nomadic North American tribes. This lower-warmth dehydration approach included both air drying (with nearby campfires), or solar drying strips of meat on drying racks.
Dehydrators are a contemporary method for slowly removing the moisture from meals without having really cooking it. A drawback of dehydration is the limited amount of foods which can be dried at 1 time. The constructive factor of dehydration is that this strategy of processing for meals storage can be effortlessly done at property.
How Do These Two Methods Impact the Meals?
Freeze-dried meals protect a lot of the first color, shape, aroma and freshness of fruits, veggies and meats. Freeze-dried meals does not typically incorporate additives or preservatives, so it remains correct to its authentic sort. And the appear, texture and taste of the foodstuff stays soon after re-hydration.
Unlike reduced-heat dehydration, freeze-drying permits for the preservation of pre-cooked foods, like recipes these kinds of as soups, stews, stroganoff, and the like. An obvious reward is that since the meal was ready in its entirety prior to freeze-drying, all you need to do is simply incorporate h2o, then heat for a handful of minutes in purchase to develop luxurious foods.
Rehydrating freeze-dried foodstuff will take just a number of minutes, basically by introducing boiling water. Some foods, like a lot of fruits and veggies, require no re-hydration ahead of eating.
Dehydrated foodstuff shrink during processing as the dampness is eliminated. So the food item by itself is noticeably smaller sized than its first measurement.
The re-hydration time of dehydrated foods normally takes a little bit longer than freeze-dried, but it stills tastes like the unique form of the meals. Some dehydrated foodstuff have included components to enhance flavors or help in preservation. As with freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, dehydrated fruits and vegetables can be eaten without any re-hydration.
Both methods of foods preservation increase the prolonged-time period storage life of foodstuff. Most commercially developed freeze-dried and dehydrated foods have a shelf lifestyle of fifteen to 20 a long time, if effectively packaged and saved in a cool, dry atmosphere.
In addition to their getting a dependable supply of foodstuff in an crisis or lengthy-phrase survival circumstance, simply because of their light-weight excess weight and simplicity of portability, these foodstuff are also fantastic for taking on camping, climbing and searching journeys. They are also a sensible selection to maintain in an unexpected emergency highway-side kit for the car, or in your bug out bag.
If you choose to preserve these foodstuff in your car as portion of an crisis package, remember to keep in mind to rotate them periodically. Temperatures in a automobile can reach extremes, each sizzling and cold. Higher warmth as nicely as steady temperature fluctuations contribute to faster degradation of both dehydrated and freeze-dried food items.
Which Sort is Much better for Use?
Everyone is different, and each and every person has their own personalized tastes and preferences. With that in brain, there are a few things to take into account before creating a decision in between freeze-dried or dehydrated foods.
Residence-developed fruits and vegetables are greater preserved through dehydration, because the common man or woman are not able to manage the pricey equipment utilized in freeze-drying.
Foodstuff used in everyday cooking and meal preparation should most likely be freeze-dried. This permits the foods to be rapidly re-hydrated as it is cooked prior to serving. If accessibility and portability are important, than either variety of preserved foodstuff need to satisfy people distinct demands. After once more, it really is a subject of personal preferences.
In a nutshell, the two dehydrated and freeze-dried food items are exceptional selections for long-expression foodstuff storage, as nicely as for everyday use or for hiking, tenting, and so on. They equally give light-excess weight, moveable, convenient meals. The major big difference is that freeze-dried meals are likely to far better maintain the condition, texture and flavors of the first meals.
Most individuals will discover that a mixture will work ideal for their needs. One-merchandise food items this sort of as vegetables, potatoes, and other staples and grains are nicely-suited to reduced-heat dehydration. Freeze-drying is much more appropriate for meats and fruits (whose texture can be preserved), and for pre-cooked meals with a assortment of components this kind of as soups, stews and sauces.