What is the difference between dehydrated and freeze-dried?
Dehydrated foods have had the water removed by drying them. This can be done by air-drying, sun drying, smoking or wind drying. Dehydrated foods are chewy and retain some of their moistness – think of a raisin or prune. Freeze-dried foods have been frozen and have then had the water removed by reducing the air pressure while heating the food. This allows the food to retain the original shape and helps to retain the flavor but can interfere with the texture. Most freeze-dried foods are crunchy before you cook them and may or may not get their original texture back once they’ve been cooked. You can read more about the differences between freeze-dried and dehydrated foods here.
