WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF FREEZE DRYING?

In general

Advantages:

• Great snacks
• Little to no chemical changes to food
• Little physical changes to food
• Nutritional value is almost completely maintained – it is healthy
• Long-term storage — 20+ years
• Lightweight food
• No refrigeration required

Disadvantages:

• Water required for reconstitution (except for simple snacks)
• Slow process — average cycle is 24+ hours
• Some dislike the dry, styrofoam texture
• Not all foods can be freeze dried
• Airtight containers are required for long-term storage
• No space savings — the food’s cellular structure is mostly retained
• Sometimes, normal dehydration is better
• Production cost

At home

Advantages:

• Custom recipes
• Great food variety
• Allergy awareness
• Self reliance
• Knowledge & novelty
• Food quality

Could be good or bad:

• Learning curve
  • Machinery
  • Learning how different food types dry
  • Packaging

Disadvantages:

• Cost (when comparing other food preservation methods)
  • Machine
  • Materials
  • Time
  • Power consumption
    • Freeze drying is one of the most energy-intensive methods to preserve food [source]
  • Machine maintenance
• Noise [source]
• Space / Footprint
• Commercial vendors can flash freeze products before placing it in the freeze dryer
  • Flash freezing creates smaller ice crystals, which causes less damage to the cell structures