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straighthairedcurly
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If I am going to cook the food over heat for awhile, I use dehydrated. If I am depending on just adding boiling water and letting it soak (or just adding cold water), I prefer FD as it rehydrates quicker and more completely. Dehydrated is definitely cheaper because I can do it myself.
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boonie
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Shelf life is one big difference. Freeze dried has longer shelf life, but heavier packaging too.
I just take dehydrated. I don't need a 5-10 year shelf life.
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Northwoodsman
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About $2,000. But seriously, freeze dried products barely shrink when freeze-dried and when they are re-hydrated typically aren't as chewy. You can freeze dry whole muscle meats likes steaks, pork chops, chicken breast, etc. I wouldn't attempt that in a dehydrator. I have had FD chicken breasts and they aren't bad at all. I have a 9-tray Excaliber dehydrator and I use it all the time. There is another thread about home-freeze drying and if it wasn't so expensive to get into I would love to go that route. I made dehydrated meals for one trip but some of the particulate got rather sharp and even when I put parchment paper or paper towels inside the bags they still poked through on the trail.
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billconner
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I use both. Dehydrated only looses 70-80% of moisture versus 95%+ for freeze dried, thus shorter shelf life (and heavier packaging which you don't have to carry.) FD looses almost 1/2 it's nutritional value, FD almost none. FD is lighter and faster to prepare. I find some items - like peas, corn, green beans - taste and look better FD. It varies a lot depending on prep. Dehydrated fruits have a nice chewy quality to snack on but I like FD strawberries on my cereal. And home dehydrated is generally much less expensive.
One source.
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Blackdogyak
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Northwoodsman: "About $2,000. But seriously, freeze dried products barely shrink when freeze-dried and when they are re-hydrated typically aren't as chewy. You can freeze dry whole muscle meats likes steaks, pork chops, chicken breast, etc. I wouldn't attempt that in a dehydrator. I have had FD chicken breasts and they aren't bad at all. I have a 9-tray Excaliber dehydrator and I use it all the time. There is another thread about home-freeze drying and if it wasn't so expensive to get into I would love to go that route. I made dehydrated meals for one trip but some of the particulate got rather sharp and even when I put parchment paper or paper towels inside the bags they still poked through on the trail."
That's a definitely problem when vacuum bagging. I set all my vacuum bagged meals in a table for a couple of days before I pack them into storage. I can spot the ones with a blown seal and re-do them.
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singlebladecanoe
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What is the big difference besides the method? Is one better than the other?
I got a nice dehydrator for Christmas and have just started experimenting with it. So far I have done pineapple and strawberries in it which turned out good. Right now I have tonight's leftover chicken fajita's in there. Plan on making my own dehydrated meals instead of buying pre done meals like mountain house and such.
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Pete11L
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I find dehydrated to be better - easier to make as the appliance does all the work for me (and it wasn't an expensive acquisition either), while shelf life is exactly how I need it (I'm not looking to store food for the next century).
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