About Freeze Drying

Here at the purple kitchen, we aim to be transparent with both our product and our processes. We talk a lot about how we don't add anything to our products before we freeze dry them, and this is absolutely true!

However, we do still understand the the freeze drying process can still feel strange and mysterious so here is where we'll aim to shed some light on the process from start to finish.

Freeze Drying Defined

Lets start by talking about what it means to freeze dry something. Here's the definition from Wikipedia that gives the formal expiation for the process of freeze drying.

Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, thereby removing the ice by sublimation. This is in contrast to dehydration by most conventional methods that evaporate water using heat.

That's all well and good, but what does it mean? Well, in more direct terms, in means that the water is turned directly from a liquid to a gas, which prevents the build up of ice crystals. This leaves behind the cellular structures, and concentrates the sugars. Which is why a lot of our products are perceived as more sweet than their un-dried counterparts. Without the water to dilute the sugar, your tongue gets a full dose right away. A sweet little bonus of the freeze drying process.

How We Do It

Our products come to us in bulk from local suppliers within Canada, then the larger fruit and veg is cut up into manageable pieces, and placed on a tray.

From there they go into the freeze dryers until they are the perfect texture and consistency. As you can probably guess this takes some experimentation, and we do end up having to snack on our failures from time to time. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

While the products are freeze drying we prep the bags with best before dates, branding and any other required information. Then we set them aside to be filled once the freeze drying process in complete.

From there we load up the bags and take them to events all over the place, or prepare them to be shipped to your home, ready for snacking.