Freeze Drying vs. Dehydrating How are they Different?
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- What's the difference between freeze-drying and dehydrating? Quite a bit actually! So which one is better? BOTH!
See why I love both freeze-drying and dehydrating as I put five foods to the test and compare the differences.
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#freezedrying #dehydrating
When I first saw the smoothie circles, I thought, "what is she doing with bologna?" What a great idea for smoothies!
I THOUGHT THE SAME THING!!!😁😁😁😂😂😂
That’s exactly what I was thinking! Lol! 😆😂
Then she said smoothie and I remembered.
Lol. Me too. I though I somehow missed her putting the bologna on the sheets.
Me too. Except I was thinking mortadella 😅
I saw this before I watched the video and I was like wtf but i got it instantly when it came out🤣🤣
This has to be one of the BEST vids I have seen for a very very long time. 😍
Dehydrating herbs tends to give them a flavor of hay, due to an enzyme called chlorophyllase. To circumvent that, you can heat the herbs for 5 seconds at a temperature of 40°C / 104°F to break down that enzyme, and you will preserve the natural flavor better. Blanching is a good way of doing this. A secondary benefit of blanching or freezing, is that it breaks the cell structure, and allows water to leave the cells much more readily. This gives you a faster dehydration. I am unfamiliar with freeze-drying, so I'll leave that to the experts above!
I've run into the same thing with the taste. Although sometimes blanching before isn't possible or very difficult depending on what is going on at the moment.
What an absolute gem of a fact. Thanks for that info!
I guess another option would be to put the herbs in an oven for 5 sec? Would it work?
Doesn't blanching take out the water soluble vitamins, further depleting the nutritional value?
@@osamedennadi6309 I'm not sure. But it's unlikely one uses herbs for vitamins, because you have to use a lot of them compared to veggies. The taste of herbs will overwhelm you before you'll notice the benefits of their vitamins.
Wow you are an awesome presenter!! What a fabulous video! 10/10! Thank you for sharing!
I bought the HR freeze drier going on 3 years now. Been running almost full time non stop ever since.
Me too!! Its a game changer.
@@slong835 and if you label the bags with names such as, poo poo stew and goop soup, no one would ever steal em if it came to that point...and it could very well in the coming months.
@@mcasteel2112 people will steal anything...even poo poo if hungry. I'm in the countryside so I hope looting isnt bad out here but I have "Boom sticks" for protection
Oooh good for you! I've had mine almost a year but I still get like a beginner. What are your top 5 favorites? Do you do meals or single ingredients mostly?
@@juliabrown5948 do some meals !! Chili mac and cheese, squash soup, guacamole, seaweed salad, rice and beans, Bbq brisket....... yum yum
I make my own real pumpkin pie spice powder for flavoring my coffee in a dehydrator. I actually use the pie filling mix I use to make pumpkin pie and then pour that onto a wax paper sheet and dehydrate it. It takes a long time to fully dehydrate it though. I make it so it snaps and breaks. If it bends at all, I keep dehydrating it. Then I blend it up into a powder and it lasts a long time and adds a lot of flavor to coffee. I bet freeze drying it would be sweet too.
Thanks for making this video. I've never fully understood the difference. Your explanation makes it clear.
Y’all are great always a smile on your face. Beautiful family keep it up
I loved my freeze dryer. Unfortunately it only worked for 2 months and after a month of doing a lot of “testing” as per the Harvest Right techs, I had to send it back for repair. It’s been gone since February 19. Harvest Right will pay for the shipping to have it repaired BUT ONLY IF YOU LIVE IN THE USA. I live in Canada so it’s cost me a fortune to send it back for repair and will cost me a fortune for it to be returned. I’m hopeful that whenever I get it back, that I’ll have many years of trouble free use. If it breaks again, I don’t think I’ll send it back. It’s just too expensive. I wished I had done more research prior to buying it. I’m not sure that would have made the purchase knowing what I now know. Honestly, until Harvest Right gets all the bugs worked out, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone outside the USA.
Thank you for saying this. I am Canadian and would like to buy one but they are expensive and if I buy it I won’t have extra money to pay for repairs. I will do research to see if there are any Canadian companies that sell freeze dryers
@@kellyc5144 Hi Kelly. Good2Go out of BC sells the Harvest Right freeze dryers. Even with the exchange rate and shipping it was cheaper to buy directly from the US. And I expect if you bought it through a Canadian company, you would still have to send it the Harvest Right for any repairs. As far as I know, there are no other companies that make home freeze dryers. I should be getting mine back next week (they agreed to pay for the return shipping!) and I’m so hopeful everything will work well for a long time. I have so many things I want to FD!
Yeah, I can’t blame you. That’s not even right. You paid full price, regardless of where you live, they should be honorable and pay to ship it.
Seems like they have a lot of issues on Amazon reviews. The pump seems to fail. Wish there were cheaper options
Mine lasted 12 months HR chatted with me taking it over 12 months and wanted me to pay $365 to send it back to them.
Just got my freeze dryer and setting it up. I’m so excited. I love chips - so excited to make healthier veggie alternatives.
Freeze dried baby carrots are like healthy cheese puff replacements
@@aliciadupuy9228 nice thank you!
Which freeze dryer did you get
This is a great video. I have both. I am freeze drying a lot of foods for long term, but I need to use them more to know how to hydrate. I love my freeze dryer. I have milk, eggs, cooked gr. beef, ice cream... all freeze dryed. I have jerky dehydrated. I do herbs too all summer long in the dehydrator. Thank you for the video and I look forward to more freeze dryer videos. I am also watching all the canning videos I can. I am learning that skill too. Thank you again!
Carolyn I greatly appreciate your time and effort you put into these comparisons it really helps when you’re trying to make wise decisions about the different products and which way you want to go either short term or long term. Both are expensive so it really helps thank you for your knowledge and sharing it with us. Sincerely a true follower and fellow healthy person.
Great presentation and editing! Thank you
Thank you for watching!
🤩👍 I love your Chalkboard lessons on Homesteading....Your a good teacher.
Thank you for the great INFOTAINMENT , Mrs Carolyn ! 🤩👍
This was a great video! I soooo want a freeze dryer… during your video you answered every question that I had. This was really helpful.Thanks
I love the detail in this video I wanted to decide between the two but they are completely different now I want both for sure 😅
I grew up hiking with Mountain House freeze dried meals when they were newish and not exactly impressive. As a young adult I came across (the only time I saw this) a freeze-dried rib eye steak in a pouch from MH on a fireline. Add water to reconstitute, toss in the ashes and embers, and voila! I tell you this from 40 yrs. distance, that was one of the best steaks I can remember. Of course, exhaustion and privation prime the taste buds, but our usual fare was C-rations from the Korean war, so comparison helped too.
I enjoyed the lesson, and I'm glad home freeze drying is now possible! 😄
Mountain House has come a long way flavor-wise (as well as the cost lol)
Ive often wondered what the difference was. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so excited… I finally pulled the trigger and ordered my HR freeze dryer and the shipping notification says it will be here next week. Thank you and your family for providing the information for us to learn from.
Oil less pump?
Don't do oil less. Lots of problems with it
I didn’t know about any issues but No I got the oil version. 😅
You will love it!
Make sure to join the retired at 40 FD group on Facebook and his channel on UA-cam. So many great videos!
Thank you for clarifying so much confusion on what a freeze dryer does. I really have found this video so informative!
You do a great job!! You answered so many of my questions that I have had. Thank you!!
Great examples illustrating the differences between the two appliances. Thank you!
I love your video on this.
I really need a freeze dryer right now.
I have learned so much from you....Thank You!. You are a natural teacher and I truly appreciate these videos 🤗
Great video. Nice job. Love the side by side comparisons.
Thank you so much! I really didn’t know the difference and you explained it so well.
Hi Carolyn, loving this video as just trying my new dehydrator which arrived yesterday!
The bread from the freeze dryer can be used for french toast. You can also get it soft by putting it in a steamy oven for about 3 hours ( with a hot water pan at the bottom)
@@hazelbellefarm476 brownies, cake and stuff like that can be brought back in a Chinese streamer basket. I've been freeze drying cinamon and french toast bread for the future and they come back well with a light steam
Don’t forget bread pudding! Or if you have slices rather than cubes, bread and butter pudding! Yum!
@@moniquem783 my mouth is watering!!
@@slong835 mine too! Summer is just over here so the oven can start going on more often and I’ve been thinking about a good bread and butter pud! I’ll have to bake some bread and purposely let it go stale 😂😂😂
@@moniquem783 I just bought a professional bread maker. I love making my own but the way I work it will be impossible some weeks. There is a brand of bread called Jessica's. They make a wonderful cinamon swirl and French toast loaf. I've been lazy and buying those to dry
Thank you for the time and energy you put into the infomative video! I love your calm clear way of educating ❤
I bought a freeze dryer just yesterday- I’m very excited but have to wait 8-10 weeks to get it. They have gotten very popular because of all that is going on-
Excellent video 👍 , so much information, not sure why you don’t have more views on it.
What a wonderful video! That was amazing! 🥰💖
Using the freeze dried fruit smoothie or fruit powders is excellent in flavoring cake and frosting.
Super useful vid clip! Informative, authoritative! Really liked the presentation!
Super excellent video. We’ll produced, great info, loads of examples, super super good video, thank you.
Excellent video and comparison! Thank you for sharing!
Before Freeze Drying our meat we simply add our rubs and/or spices and sometimes smoke it, then cook it to rare. Then we freeze dry it, so whenever we want to eat it, we rehydrate it in water, warm it up and eat it
Excellent comparison video. Well done! Thanks for doing it.
Really well done! Great job. Thanks for sharing
Great presentation on the 2 methods; So many discount the freeze dryeer thou on cost. perhaps a video on you'lls perseptive on the expense of buying & cost to operate. Thank you
The dehydrated or probably the freeze dried bread too can be chunked and used in meat loaf or in a French toast casserole.
Wow…great info. Thanks 4 sharing. Will definitely use in future.
Thank you for making this you answered all my questions in one video
Really great info. Thank you for making this video. I didn't realize freeze drying was such a great way to preserve foods.
Ty for making this video!!
Being a one person home, I vacuum seal my jars in between uses. I have electric source and Rain Country's contraption & manual vac using breaking system, the latter which I now keep for off grid.
The difference between dehydrating and freeze drying is $2000.00 plus! Which is why I'll probably never own a freeze dryer!
The difference is quality of nutrients remaining in the food, texture, flavor. Save up
For now. Wait 5/10 years we will be buying them for a few hundred
I’ll spend the money now and hopefully it last 20 yrs so my girls can keep using it
Can one be financed
Exactly!!!
Amazing comparison video
Wow. I'm impressed just with the idea that you could pile up those trays so much. I thought everything has to be done in single layers.
Hi Carolyn, appreciate the pains you have taken to do such a wonderful comparison between the two options. Can i suggest and request you to another program by Re-hyrdating them and show us the difference,
One of the critical items not addressed in this lovely video was nutritional information regarding each processor. Freez drying retains upwards of 90% of the nutritional value of its processed foods, whereas dehydration is less than 60% +/-. So you'll need to eat more dehydrated food to maintain a healthy life. Your welcome
She did mention that around 3:25, just not with the specific numbers
@@Iron_Thunderstorm oh sweet, ty. Rad channel. We love it.
@@VaultBoy1776 Thank you for the response. Best of luck to you during these unstable times
@@Iron_Thunderstorm And to you- stay frosty.
Great video. Dehydrating slowly heats and "cooks" the food which destroys some of the nutrients whereas freeze drying retains more / most of the nutrients.
$2,000-$4,000 for a freeze dryer is about 10 times as expensive compared to dehydrating. Maybe worthwhile for large families and serious preppers but still large expense and what happens if the machine dies after a few years?
Thank you so much, learning...
This is the greatest video about these 2 topics...👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I was so happy and excited watching your video that I definitely looked for a freeze dryer to buy, but when I saw the price, my smile disappeared and it's a good thing I didn't cancel my dehydrator that arrives on Sunday.
This is the first video I've watched that you made. Very impressed. Thank you. I have had a dehydrator in the past but not for a long time now. I have watched several very good freeze dry videos and considered getting one. This video has convinced me to buy one just as soon as I can get the money for it.
Glad it was helpful!
Nice informative and useful information comparing new and exciting cooking options . Wow, if I had to choose.... the freeze dried food looks more essential for cooking needs and the nutrient value is locked in. Thank you ! Yes, they are both useful new kitchen inventions which is cool and they are quite different ...so maybe everyone needs both ?!
Fascinating. hadn't realised you could get domestic freeze dryers. Something to consider.
Huh? You can get em at Walmart
@@kimgow7671 a food dehydrator, yes. A freeze dryer, no. Wal-Mart does not sell, nor have they ever sold, freeze dryers. It's a pretty specialized appliance.
When I did my initial bread test with my freeze dryer, I rehydrated in an egg and milk mix and made it into French toast. Worked great!
That was going to be my question.
Your video was absolutely awesome! Great comparison.
Great job, Carolyn! Thank you for doing this! 😀
The beef example was really dramatic. Thanks for making this video.
You're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful.
I'm here to learn! Thanks a lot! New sub!❤❤❤
Very informative. Thank you.
The preservation community gets excited about these methods but my question is always "will my family eat it afterwards?" Wonderful comparisons!
"Rose red homestead" shows great ways to practically and conveniently ENJOY your goods.
I think, in the case of a food shortage, they will be happy to have whatever you have thoughtfully and lovingly prepared for them 😋
dont tell them tis freeze dried or dehydrated ;)
If they are starving they will.
@@1realtruthrightnow742 😂😂😂
Thanks for the video 🙌🏽. I was wondering what the difference was between the two.
Same!!
Great video and good information! Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
This video has been so helpful to me❤ thank you 💗
Thank you for this video
I never really knew what freeze drying was about. You did an amazing comparison. Good video
Glad it was helpful!
Brilliant experiment!
My husband LOVES freeze dried fruit, i sell freeze dried candy to fund the freeze dryer. He also love jerky... And Idehydrated onions and garlic, so i can make spices, and i want to make fruit leathers soon. We use both. We will also be "sharing" our freeze dryer when we finish moving, giving other access to an expensive item.
This was so helpful, thank you!
Absolutely loved this video as it covered my question on the difference between both processes.
Thank you for such great content. God bless you.
We love our freeze dryer. These type of comparisons are so interesting. I hope you do more and make a series out of it. So many things we freeze dry that can't be dehyrated. Things like milk, eggs, ice cream, rice dishes, pastas. Our dehydrator is pretty limited in what you can do.
I did full dehydrated meals for a canoeing trip that included pasta, beef, chicken and rice. My husband and son said they were delicious
@@brusmith370 I'd be interested in how you did those
Awesome. Thank y'all, julie
This was very interesting Carolyn and I appreciated you doing this a lot. I personally would like to see celery and broccoli we seem to use both a lot, canning options not so much so I have been freezing each of them a lot to use in stews and Oriental cooking we enjoy that a lot, another maybe cabbage and bell peppers. Very good video as usual
I love these videos too. Roseredhomested does a lot of these kinds if videos with comparisons.
@@sarasorensen2650 thank you very much Sara
Broccoli and peppers are great FD. Broccoli needs to be blanched. Ask me how I know 😂. For me I find it best to use the broccoli in a casserole or soup. Also cabbage is good but again blanching helps.
@@peggyprickett7550
Thanks! I probably wouldn’t have thought to blanch anything. It makes sense.
I have dehydrated celery before and it worked great.That came out best out of the things I dehydrated.
Great video with lots of information! I would have never dreamed of freeze drying bread! Since I am learning to make homemade bread, I have lots of wonky loaves that are edible, just not the right shape for sandwiches, etc. So I've just wrapped them good and put them in the freezer. Now I'm thinking of all the different styles of bread crumbs and croutons I can make! When we first got our HR I got all of the frozen fruit that was taking up valuable space in my freezer, freeze dried it and turned it all into powder. It's great for flavoring oatmeal, on ice cream, or blended into a smoothy. Though the HR is expensive, future food security is so worth it!
I made a dryer form fruit and veg based on a chamber with shelves and a regular household dehumidifier.. it's between the 2 systems discussed here. It allows large volumes to be dried without at low temperature and little electricity use relative to the heated dehydrator.. We sold our dehydrator because our low temperature system was so much better.
Would you be willing to tell anymore information about your machine? Pretty interesting and I like making things
Great information thank you!
Great demonstrations and info!❤
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the info
Thank you very much
I've owned dehydrators for 40 years. Recently purchased a freeze dryer and I am addicted!
Thank you!
I have a dehydrator which I just used to dehydrate celery. It's a way longer than the 10 hours. But, it's okay. I was making celery powder. Then I made the mistake of sticking it in an oven to finish drying it. Proofing is what the original poster said. It burnt. So now I'm back at square one. I am seriously considering getting a freeze dryer, but they're so stinking expensive! Thank you for your video, it was wonderful, as all your videos are.
@3:10 i love how You say "temperatures" as "tempuhchures" rather than "tempruhchures" like most people from the US i've heard. its a fascinating way to pronounce that word, for me as a phonetics geek :)
Just today i happened to see "freeze drying" in action. Man what an insane thing! I would surely own one in future!!!
I'm so excited to watch! As freeze drying is getting so much more popular, especially in the self-sufficient and preparedness communities, I love seeing more videos about how other families use them! I would love to know what your favorite things to FD are, and if you have any "won't do again" foods!
For me I love FDing shredded cheese, eggs, both scrambled and separated into whites and yolks, ground beef, garlic cloves, and so much fruit! Strawberries and bananas are great, and I also love pineapple and mango! I am excited to start doing diy meal kits with whole meals, rather than ingredients.
Great video I need one of each
BTW thanks for video.
I like to add an funny FYI about freeze drying.
If you freeze dry fruit, it can still be used to make alcohol after.
While you can't do this with dehydration.
lol..had to throw that in. Many years ago, we made our hooch out of freeze dried fruits. ( was in a dry country at the time)
Today, I use much easier methods.
( sugar, yeast and water is all that is needed)
And just to clear the air. I was 17 making corn beer when I started. Aged that in orange groves. Almost 40 years later and im still making home brews.
BOTH is a very good answer. the ONLY food which I prefer to be Dehydrated and NOT freeze-dried is bananas. Don't know why, but they remain much better tasting.
YourConscience
You can extend your soups and casseroles with dried bread. If you have more people coming over to eat than expected, add bread to make it go farther.
wow! just found your amazing channel.
Good video! 😎
Thank you so much for this review!!! You explained very well everything in detail .
Thank you for another wonderful video! I love freeze dryer video's, I would so love a freeze dryer, they are not so easy to access yet in NZ, the last time I researched a source, Australia was our closest possibility, this would be expensive in shipping also. I am hoping the price will come day asap and NZ will start stocking the domestic ones. They are quite spectacular!🌺🌺🌺
6:57 sweet!
Awesome comparison
Thank you for making this video. I’d like to get to a point to save and buy a freeze dryer so I can make my dogs their own treats and food, as well as for myself and friends and family.
Thank you for this very informative video, I'm leaning more to buying a freeze dryer...❤👍😎