Freeze-dried Skittles and regular Skittles have the same ingredients, but you'd never mix them up. Below we compare what changes and what stays the same.
Texture: the biggest difference 💥
Regular chewy candy and gummies are stretchy and rubbery. Freeze-dried ones are dry, light and crunchy, and melt quickly in your mouth. Nothing sticks to your teeth.
Flavour: the same, but more pronounced 😋
The ingredients don't change, so neither does the flavour. Many people say they taste it more strongly, though, because the crunchy structure releases flavour faster than a chewy mass.
Size and weight ⚖️
Freeze-dried sweets are bigger, because they puff up, and lighter, because they have no water. That's why a bag of the same weight looks fuller, and a handful of freeze-dried gummies weighs less than a handful of regular ones.
Ingredients and sugar 🧾
Freeze-drying doesn't add or remove sugar. Because the water is gone, there's even more of it per 100 g than in the regular version. So freeze-dried sweets aren't a healthier alternative, just a different form of the same sweets.
Storage 🔒
Regular sweets are easy to store. Freeze-dried ones need protecting from moisture, otherwise they go soft. You'll find tips in our guide on how to store freeze-dried sweets.
Price 💸
Freeze-drying takes many hours and needs special equipment, so freeze-dried sweets cost more than regular ones. You're paying for the process and a completely new texture.
You'll find more basics in our guide to freeze-dried sweets.