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mmmm … Freeze Dried Food!

16 January 2009 743 views 2 Comments

Not all naturally occurring food can stay fresh and eatable for a long period after they have been taken of the trees. Meat can also not stay fresh after the animal has been butchered. In order to prevent the food quality from too much degrading, some techniques are adapted which also includes the method of freeze drying.

Meals Ready to Go - MREs

Meals Ready to Go - MREs

A freeze drying is a method by which a food object can be dried using a freezing method and the moisture is converted into ice and the food is preserved. The freeze drying for food often uses temperatures as low as -29 Celsius. Later when heat is applied, the product turns back into the normal state but the frozen water sublimes meaning that it turns directly from ice to water vapors and it is not converted into liquid water.

This can help in keeping the food somewhat fresh and its quality is not much compromised. Freeze drying is also considered as a better option than other methods of preservation because the freeze dried food can last for longer periods and also does not add up to any extra weight over the food products because nothing new is added only the water molecules are frozen which will later sublime when the food is heated.

Not all food products may be freeze dried because some of them can be consumed at once without any need of preservation like an orange, apple etc. which can be eaten at once. But there are some food related objects which needs storage even inside homes. Such objects include products like tea, coffee etc. which needs storage over some period of time.

It is however not necessarily true that fruits and vegetables cannot be dried or should not be dried. A number of stores can be seen to sell freeze dried vegetables and sometimes fruit as well. Freeze dried peas and other vegetables can be seen for sale which can be stored for even a whole year and can be used anytime during that period.

This type of food can help in emergency and traveling conditions where there may not be any food available easily. In these cases, freeze dried food can be kept which may only need a little heat for making them or the usual preparing procedure may be needed.

But it can still be said that fresh food can have the taste and nutrition which may be unseen and unheard in present days. The future may bring something unusual about which nothing may be said now and only patience can be adapted.

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2 Comments »

  • Pages tagged "punch" said:

    [...] bookmarks tagged punch mmmm … Freeze Dried Food! | PUNCH-MAG - Patented… saved by 21 others     helgaust bookmarked on 01/19/09 | [...]

  • Donald Kuntz said:

    A couple of thoughts: Freeze dried foods are *horribly* expensive because of the extra energy needed to produce them. A less expensive solution is dehydrated foods, which will store just as long as freeze-dried.

    Another feature about freeze dried foods is that they retain their original shape and size … which takes up more space (i.e., you get less product per can than dehydrated, which shrivels in dehydration).

    Lastly, if you soak dehydrated foods–some items need overnight soaking–the cook time is greatly lessened. This, again, makes dehydrated foods more appealing in value.

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