Submitted by: Chris Nowak

As you may already know freeze-drying is a type of food dehydration with some outstanding results and advantages. You can keep a freeze-dried snack for months, and next, when you’re finally want to consume it, you can completely renew it with a mug of boiling water. Even after all those weeks the flavor, consistency and nutritional values will be very much the same. Lets look like typical method of food dehydration looks like.

Food preparation

In the beginning we must arrange our food before we start freeze-drying it. The most freeze-driers used in personal environment are quite small, so we can t actually put in it the whole fruit or meat. First we must cut it to similar pieces. It will help with drying procedure and wrapping afterwards. Fine sliced pieces goes straight to our freeze-drier, and our work is completed. But what happens in the interior of the device?

Dehydration

First our meal must be frozen solid, which separates the water from everything around it, on a molecular level, even though the water is still present. Then, the machine turns on the vacuum pump that will provide a very small absolute pressure, even less than .06 ATM. It is worth to mention its lower than the pressure of deep space! Last step is to supply small amount of high temperature to the shelves, causing the frozen water to change phase. Since the pressure is so small, the frozen water turns directly into water vapor. This process continues for a lot of hours, occasionally even days, while the meal gradually dries out.

Vacuum packing

The final thing we need to do, is pick the process of packing. In my opinion the best result you will get with vacuum packing. It’s a process of wrapping that removes air from the package prior to sealing. It can involve both inflexible and plastic types of packaging. If the package is safe, the meal can sit on a shelf for years and years without degrading, until it’s restored to original form with a glass of liquid. It is worth to point out that even using freeze-drying method for storing your snack, it will finally spoil, due to very small amount of moisture left in meal.

Why we dehydrating food?

The main reason why we dehydrate food is to preserve it for longer time. Dehydration also decreasing size and weight of our meal, which make it easier to transport. In dehydrated form its less sensitive to temperature. But what makes freeze drying even more special, its what it will taste almost exactly the same as first prepared meal, and what is also important it will have the same nutritional value.

You may ask what kind of food do we freeze drying? First the process has been popularized by NASA, so all kind of food that astronauts get with them to space is dehydrated. Most famous are freeze-dried ice creams, which you can buy at NASA visitor center gift shops. It is also usually used to produce essences or flavourings to add to food. Other popular items often dehydrated are: fruits, coffee, meat and pet food.

About the Author: Writes blog

dehydratedfoodinfo.blogspot.com/

about freeze dried food and other dehydrated food methods.

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