Preserved food is the perfect option for disaster preparedness, families that need quick-prep meals, and people who love to go backpacking. Just about any food can be preserved. With a little water you can have your choice of meats, vegetables, fruits, and even entire meals.
There are two main food preservation processes: freeze drying and dehydrating. Outside of the fact that one process yields food that is more pricey, many people do not know the difference between the two. The next time you're shopping for preserved food, consider the following.
Freeze Dried Food
This type of food storage is highly popular. It is often purchased by families who keep a constant supply of food storage. Some freeze dried foods can actually last up to 30 years without spoiling. These are the top three ways freeze dried foods differ from dehydrated food:
Taste -- Freeze dried food storage is known to taste much better. It is created using a flash freeze process that leaves meals in suspended animation. When reconstituted, the meals have their same flavors, aromas, and textures.
Nutritional Content -- The flash freeze process used to create freeze dried meals always helps the food keep its same nutritional content, unlike dehydrating which diminishes nutritional value. This is another reason why freeze dried food storage is so popular.
Cost -- Because freeze dried food taste better, is more nutritious, and uses a more complicated preservation process, the food is more costly.
Dehydrated Food
This type of food storage is also popular because it is less expensive, and because it can actually be done at home with a dehydrator. This process uses heat (air drying, sun drying, etc.) to remove most of the food's water content. These are the top three ways that dehydrated food differs from freeze dried food:
Cost -- Dehydrating is a simple process that uses less expensive equipment, and if you dehydrate food at home it is even more affordable.
Space -- Dehydrated food is more compact and lightweight than freeze dried food, which means that it is a better space saving option.
Taste -- Dehydrated food storage is known to be a bit less flavorful than freeze dried food. Many times it also has a chewy texture. However, dehydrated foods like sun dried tomatoes are often used in regular, every day cooking because they yield rich flavors when cooked for long periods of time. But for emergency preparedness and quick-prep purposes, you will not get such a robust flavor.
There are two main food preservation processes: freeze drying and dehydrating. Outside of the fact that one process yields food that is more pricey, many people do not know the difference between the two. The next time you're shopping for preserved food, consider the following.
Freeze Dried Food
This type of food storage is highly popular. It is often purchased by families who keep a constant supply of food storage. Some freeze dried foods can actually last up to 30 years without spoiling. These are the top three ways freeze dried foods differ from dehydrated food:
Taste -- Freeze dried food storage is known to taste much better. It is created using a flash freeze process that leaves meals in suspended animation. When reconstituted, the meals have their same flavors, aromas, and textures.
Nutritional Content -- The flash freeze process used to create freeze dried meals always helps the food keep its same nutritional content, unlike dehydrating which diminishes nutritional value. This is another reason why freeze dried food storage is so popular.
Cost -- Because freeze dried food taste better, is more nutritious, and uses a more complicated preservation process, the food is more costly.
Dehydrated Food
This type of food storage is also popular because it is less expensive, and because it can actually be done at home with a dehydrator. This process uses heat (air drying, sun drying, etc.) to remove most of the food's water content. These are the top three ways that dehydrated food differs from freeze dried food:
Cost -- Dehydrating is a simple process that uses less expensive equipment, and if you dehydrate food at home it is even more affordable.
Space -- Dehydrated food is more compact and lightweight than freeze dried food, which means that it is a better space saving option.
Taste -- Dehydrated food storage is known to be a bit less flavorful than freeze dried food. Many times it also has a chewy texture. However, dehydrated foods like sun dried tomatoes are often used in regular, every day cooking because they yield rich flavors when cooked for long periods of time. But for emergency preparedness and quick-prep purposes, you will not get such a robust flavor.
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