Which do you need? Freeze Dryer vs Dehydrator

Introduction

In this article we will delve into the difference between freeze dryer vs dehydrator. We will look at the obvious advantages and disadvantages of each drying method. Although the best product does not necessarily mean it’s the right one for your particular situation. For example we know that a swiss army knife is better than a pocket knife you buy from the thrift shop. But if your only going to cut twine a couple of times a week then it may be advantages to buy the thrift shop knife. I hope that explains the theory behind what I’m trying to convey.

Short history of preserving food

Preserving foods has been an important aspect of human evolution. The necessity to preserve food was borne out a need to survive when food was scarce. Some early methods of preserving foods was curing or drying using dehydration methods as far back as 12,000 BC. Smoking and salting were popular methods to preserve food by drying or extracting the moisture from the foods thereby inhibiting the growth of bacteria. Other more popular methods to preserve foods was pickling, canning, freezing and even burying to name a few. Nowadays the common methods to preserve food is vacuum sealing, freeze drying, pasteurization and dehydrating. All have their pros and cons. Today we take a close look at freeze drying vs dehydrating.

Freeze Dryer in action and how it works

In a few words a freeze dryer removes water from a perishable material to preserve it.

Let’s take a look at the 3 step process that’s used to freeze dry material.

1. Freezing.

The freezing is usually done in a freezer and essentially cools the material below its triple point to ensure that sublimation occurs. This preserves the materials physical form.

2. Sublimation.

This is the primary drying process by which the pressure is lowered and heat added for the water to sublimate. This phase of the drying removes about 95% of the water.

3. Adsorption

The final and secondary phase of the phase removes the ionically bound water molecules from the material. Most materials can be dried 1-5% of it’s moisture.

This briefly explains the three step process that goes into freeze drying food, without all the technical terms.

Dehydrator in action and how it works.

We have all probably at some time eaten something that was dehydrated. Foods such as chips, fruit, jerky and much more.

A dehydrator uses a very simple method of using dry air to dehydrate food. A device that carries trays whereby you place food stuffs on. Once closed, the aim is to removes moisture by circulating hot air. Specific foods will require different settings, such things as temperature and length of time to be dehydrated. Directions are most likely provided with the purchase of the dehydrator and there would be countless ways to find this info by doing a simple google search.

Dehydrator vs freezer dryer – Which foods last longer?

Generally speaking freeze dried food can last as much as 20 years. Once the food is freeze dried then they must be placed in an airtight container as soon as possible to enable this long storage life. If not properly sealed the shelf life is vastly diminished, in some cases only a few months.

With dehydrated food the

Which of the foods tastes better?

What are the price differences?

Here’s where a big decision needs to be made as to which option you choose.

A decent dehydrator can cost you anywhere between $50 and $200 on Amazon.

Below are three popular brands of dehydrators that you can purchase and use in your home.

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A freeze dryer on the other hand is expensive and the only place I know where you can purchase one from is HarvestRight. An image of one is shown below. There are 3 sizes to choose from, small, medium and large. The products from Harvest Right are quality and highly recommended by many in the industry.

Final Thoughts

Deciding on which is better, freeze dryer vs dehydrator can be daunting. The reason being is one is relatively cheap and the other several thousands of dollars. So you must first consider from a prepping point of view, how long do you want or need to store food. In some cases storing food for up to a year is sufficient for your needs. If that is the case then a dehydrator would be fine. Some other things that may come into consideration is the quality and taste of the food when eaten. Each persons reasons will be there own so I resist the temptation to make a choice for you.