Freeze drying is a process in which water is sublimated by the direct transition of water from solid (ice) to vapor, thus omitting the liquid state, and then desorbing water from the “dry” layer.¹ . Essentially, freeze drying removes a product’s water content by turning it from ice to vapour in a 3 step process: freezing, vacuum drying (sublimation), and drying (desorption).

Freeze drying is different from other preservation methods in that it allows the taste, colour, and nutrition to be preserved while not shrinking or toughening the food.

Nutrition ~ Dehydrating retains about 60% of the nutritional value and canning about 40% of the nutritional value because these methods use high temperatures to preserve the food; however, freeze drying retains almost ALL the nutritional value of the food.

Shelf life ~ The shelf life of frozen food is up to 2 years, canned food up to 3 years, and deydrated food up to 4 years. No knock on other preservation methods such as freezing, canning, or dehydrating as they all have their place, but we love that freeze drying has up to 25 years shelf life!

Sometimes you don’t use the entire bag of your freeze dried product in one sitting, and that’s ok! There are a couple of suggestions we have for you.

• 1. You can leave the oxygen absorber in the bag and reseal the bag taking out as much air as possible before closing.
• 2. You can move the remaining contents to a mason jar and securly fasten the lid. Our recommendation, if moving the product to a mason jar, is to use a mason jar vacuum sealer to remove oxygen from the jar which in turn will help to keep you product fresher for longer. Ensure you keep the jar out of sunlight and direct heat. You can find an affordable mason jar vacuum sealer on Amazon.