Freeze-drying wasn't invented for sweets. It's a way of preserving food and other products that you already know, even if you don't realise it. Here are a few places where it's used.
Instant coffee ☕
Some instant coffee is made by freeze-drying. Brewed coffee is frozen, and then the water is removed under vacuum. What's left are granules that dissolve quickly when you add water.
Fruit 🍓
Freeze-dried strawberries, raspberries or mango are light, crunchy and keep their flavour for a long time. They're added to cereal, yoghurt and baking. Note: Frizle doesn't sell fruit. Our "fruity" products are fruit-flavoured gummies.
Camping meals 🏕️
Hikers and climbers take freeze-dried meals because they weigh very little and you just add boiling water. Having no water also means they keep for a long time.
Space 🚀
Food in space has to be light and long-lasting, so freeze-drying has long been part of astronauts' diets. That's where the popular term "astronaut ice cream" comes from, which we cover in our post on freeze-dried ice cream.
And sweets? 🍬
Sweets are a newer use. Here it's not mainly about shelf life, but about changing the texture: candy puffs up and crunches. We explain how it works in how freeze-drying sweets works, and what puffs up best in which sweets can be freeze-dried.