

If you like Peeps, you may already know they are even better when they’ve gotten a little stale. As far as candy goes, you won’t get the same magical result as freeze-dried candy, but you can get something good. You can make many wonderful things in a dehydrator. When foods are dehydrated, they usually shrink slightly and become very chewy. Often the candies balloon up under the low-pressure environment. In the case of freeze-dried candy, you may see a surprising effect. For many foods, fruit, for example, freeze-drying affects the shape and texture of the food very little.Dehydration, with low heat, changes the flavor of the food and reduces the nutritional value - about 60 percent of the original. Because the freeze-dryer uses cold instead of heat, it retains much of the food’s original taste and nutritional value - about 97 percent.Because freeze-drying removes more moisture - up to 99 percent versus 90 percent - it can be preserved much longer than dehydrated food - up to 25 years versus up to 10 years.What’s the Difference Between the Products? By the time the process is complete, it has removed 98-99 percent of the moisture. Under low pressure, ice crystals evaporate before they are warm enough to melt.įinally, the food is slowly warmed to over 100 degrees, still under zero pressure. The food is slightly warmed to around minus 10 degrees. Next, a vacuum pump removes almost all the air from the chamber, leaving the food under nearly zero pressure.

How a Freeze-Dryer Works?Ī freeze-drying machine first cools food to around 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. This process removes 70-90 percent of the moisture from food. It’s basically the same process humans have been using to preserve food for thousands of years, though modern machines probably produce a more consistent result. How a Dehydrator Works?Ī dehydrator slowly dries food with low heat and airflow. You can use both to produce wonderful creations, but they are not the same thing. These processes are used to preserve food by removing moisture, but they do it in very different ways. What’s the Difference Between Freeze-Drying and Dehydrating? Things like chocolate coating and peanuts don’t change much in the process though other parts will, creating a fascinating combination of textures. The best part is that each freeze-dried candy has its own slightly different texture. It isn’t sticky to the touch but readily melts in your mouth. The resulting texture is rigid but not hard. In the freeze-drying process, the candy expands to several times its original size, similar to how popcorn comes from a little kernel. In many cases, the flavor is intensified compared to the original candy. What is Freeze-Dried Candy?įreeze-dried candy is a unique and wonderful treat that transforms well-known candies into something with a recognizable taste but an entirely new texture and appearance. Keep reading to learn the difference between dehydration and freeze-drying. You can use your food dehydrator to make many delightful foods, but freeze-drying candy gives you something you can’t imitate.

Dehydrating and freeze-drying will remove most of the moisture from food, but they are quite different processes and produce different results. It’s true that anyone can make freeze-dried candy, and many people want to know if it’s possible in their home dehydrator, but will it work?
