Freeze-drying is an amazing process through which you can preserve your food for years to come. Yes, now you can, if you want to, preserve your food gifts for as long as you want and enjoy them with your loved ones on anniversaries! What a wonderful pleasure that would be. But do you know how these things work? Well, let’s find out.

The Science Behind Freeze-Dryers

Freeze-dryers work in the following scientific ways:

It basically works through a process known as lyophilization. Here is how it works:

It consists of three distinct processes: Freezing, Sublimation, and Desperation.

• The water content of the product is removed from it using sublimation
• The food is placed in a freezer and frozen below 0°F. 
• The efficiency of the next step is directly dependent on how efficiently the food is frozen. The better it is frozen, the more efficient the next phase will be. 
• In this phase, the product is placed under a vacuum. The air and water vapors are removed from the food through powerful and efficient vacuum cleaners. 
• The food then undergoes a process known as sublimation. During this process, the ice melts from solid to gas and evaporates as vapors

Keeping Food Safe While Freeze-Drying It

Freeze-drying food has little or negligible problems. It is a very safe process but can go wrong; and therefore, should be done very carefully. You can keep the process incredibly safe if you take care of the following points. 

• Make sure the freezing process is quick and efficient. 41°F for up to 4 hours is good for chilling foods 
• Put pre-refrigerated food in your freeze-dryer in order to minimize freezing concerns.  
• Get rid of all the moisture through vacuuming 
• Make sure you reach the safe residual moisture for the food item you are freezing
• Dry the food to a level where it gets breakable and crispy. This is recommended for most food items, except foods that are high in sugar which may be more flexible. 
• Remember to keep your food free from bacteria, as freeze-drying doesn’t kill them

Conclusion

Culinary masters and ordinary people are very fond of freeze-dried foods alike. The idea behind freeze-dried food is to help food live as long as we can. Modern freeze-dryer devices are very efficient at doing this. Companies like LeDAB are a great option whether you are looking for a big or a small freeze dryer able to freeze-dry your favorite food for up to 25 years!