Not all sweets change the same way in a freeze dryer. Some puff up dramatically, while others look almost the same as before. It all depends on how much water, air and fat they contain.
Chewy candy: the most spectacular 🍬
Skittles, Maoam Kracher, Fritt or Starburst have a chewy mass of sugar, water and tiny air bubbles inside. Under vacuum the air expands and the water evaporates, so the candies crack and turn fluffy. That's why freeze-dried Skittles and Fritt chews change shape so much.
Gummies: from chewy to foam 🧸
Gelatine-based gummies freeze-dry well too. Bears, worms or rings puff up and, instead of a chewy texture, get a light, brittle structure. You can see it best on the rainbow bears and colourful sharks.
Ice cream: it doesn't melt 🍦
Ice cream contains a lot of water, so after freeze-drying it becomes dry and brittle. You can eat it at room temperature, and it melts in your mouth like regular ice cream. More in our post on freeze-dried ice cream.
Bars with caramel and nougat 🍫
In bars like Snickers, Twix or Milky Way, the centre changes most. The caramel and nougat puff up and crumble, and the chocolate on top cracks. See our freeze-dried chocolate bars.
Plain chocolate: almost no change 🤏
Chocolate has very little water and a lot of fat. There's nothing for the freeze dryer to remove, so a chocolate bar looks and tastes almost the same. That's why we don't sell freeze-dried chocolate, only sweets where chocolate is one of the layers.
Hard candy 💎
Hard candies such as Jolly Rancher or Werther's can be surprising. They contain little water, but under vacuum and gentle heat the trapped air and sugar form puffy, meringue-like balls.
Want to know what the whole process looks like? Read how freeze-drying sweets works.