Freeze Drying

Freeze drying is better than dehydrating, freezing or canning food!

With freeze drying food retains 97% of its nutrients, it does not shrink, change colour, or taste different. It is very easy to re-hydrate in minutes and has a long keeping time of up to 25 years. Now you can freeze dry your food at home easily!

Food preservation has been happening since the beginning of time. Generations before us used various methods to preserve food when it was in short supply, and now days food waste is quite high. Many people bottle, can or dehydrate their food plus there is a lot of processed foods available. These methods can have drawbacks of nutrient loss, shrinkage, flavour and colour loss, preservative and food additives, and shorter keeping times than freeze drying.

Now freeze drying can be achieved at home easily giving healthy meals, saving left overs, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, eggs and costs less than buying commercially freeze dried food.

Save food wastage
Buy in bulk
Retain food nutrients
Accommodate special diets
Camping, hiking and hunting meals
Eat healthier and avoid processed foods or preservatives
Be prepared for when food is unavailable or not in season
Save money on rising food costs
Pre-prepare meals and save left overs
Save freezer storage space
Create long term food storage
Pet food

Freeze dried food is preserved at a low temperature (freezing to -40 F) causing no damage to the nutrition of the food. Bottling, canning and dehydrating use higher temperatures that can destroy up to 50% of food value loosing flavour, colour and texture . Freeze drying does not change the nutrition, flavour, colour, shape, or aroma and does not cause shrinking or toughen the food. Some commercially freeze dried foods may contain preservatives and can be expensive to buy.Freeze dried foods can be re hydrated quickly just by adding water and taste and look the same as when it was fresh!

The total amount of food wasted in New Zealand is not really known. It is estimated that approximately 12% or over $1 billion of household food purchased is wasted each year and the cost of food is steadily rising. Then there is the food wasted from the vegetable garden, fruit trees that are all ripe at the same time and foods not eaten fast enough before they go off! With a freeze dryer you can easily preserve foods that are normally thrown away.

Fruit, vegetables, whole meals, herbs, meats, eggs, dairy, snacks, desserts, pet food can all easily be freeze dried. In fact any food can be freeze dried. Fresh or cooked food can be freeze dried in the quantities that suit you and your needs for storage.

Buy your food when on special, from your local market or if you have a special diet you can control what is in your food! Preserve your left overs, vegetables and fruits, or make whole meals and freeze dry. You can even make food for your pets.

When properly packaged freeze dried food can be kept for up to 25 years using moisture and oxygen proof packaging like Mylar Bags and Oxygen Absorbers. No refrigeration is needed. You can store your freeze dried food in glass jars/containers for short or medium term or mylar bags for longer use. If stored in glass containers keep in a cool dark place as light and heat can affect the length of keeping time. For convenience place food in glass jars or containers for shorter term storage or immediate use.

Fresh or cooked food is put into the freeze dryer on trays and frozen to -40 F or colder. This is called lyophilization.

Once frozen the food is vacuumed inside the freeze dryer chamber and the moisture in the food evaporates and changes from solid to gas without going through the liquid state. This is called sublimation. The water vapour is discarded.

Freeze drying can take approximately 24 to 36 hours.

Once the food is dry the freeze dryer will let you know that the process is complete by beeping.

When completely freeze dried package the food. Put into light, moisture and oxygen proof packaging like Mylar Bags using Oxygen Absorbers and a heat sealer for long term keeping of up to 25 years. Place in glass jars and containers for medium to short term storage or immediate use. Keep in a cool dark place as light and heat can affect the length of keeping time.

When ready to eat add water to the food to regain its original freshness, nutrition and appearance.