Backpackers who need to minimize weight and space will carry dried food. Most of a food’s weight and volume is due to its water content, and freeze-drying and dehydrating are methods to remove the water, resulting in lighter and packable food. When food is sufficiently dried, it can be stored without refrigeration since the microorganisms that cause mold, spoilage, and bacteria cannot grow without moisture. While the two food preservation methods reduce the volume and weight of food by evaporating water, there are also significant differences when deciding which type […]
Food Processing
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Did you ever wonder if fresh food contains the same nutrients as its dried counterpart? Let’s examine what happens when food is dried. These four steps are involved in preserving food by drying: Harvesting Storing Processing Drying From the moment it’s harvested or picked, raw food contains the highest content of nutrients. The nutrients decline as the food gets exposed to light and air during handling and transport. Additional nutrient loss occurs when the food undergoes processing (peeling, slicing, chopping) and declines further once exposed to heat for either cooking, […]