Freezer or Dehydrator?

[berkshiremom]

Hello, newbie here..found this site through BYC. I have a question for all you home food presevers. I recently purchased a excalibur dehydrator to dehydrate alot of my garden goodies, so far I have dehydrated tomatos, celery, green beans, wax beans, onions, garlic, corn, carrots and mushrooms, I had originally thought that a dehydrator would be the way to go for long term storage but now I'm not so sure. We have made a couple of soups from the dehydrated foods and haven't been very impressed with the flavor. So now I'm considering freezing. But with a freezer I'm worried that if there is a power outage I will loose everything...so I guess what I'd like to know, is if you had to choose only one...which would you choose and why? canning is not an option for me...had a pressure cooker blow up on me and my mom when I was little and had flying glass shards and spaghetti sauce all over the kitchen and have been terrified of them since. So please give your honest opion and help me decide...I can only have one..since I have a friend who will trade me her freezer for my dehydrator. Thanks in advance!

 

[me&thegals]

I choose a freezer because I believe it preserves the nutrition better. I don't have anything to back that up, just a vague sense that I read that somewhere We also don't have problems with power outages, so that might be a more regional issue for some people.

Plus, I find freezing much easier and faster than dehydrating. Some things I dehydrate for specific reasons: Mint for tea, pears for a tea bread, etc. But mostly I can and freeze.

PS--Welcome!!!

 

[patandchickens]

I notice you don't mention waterbath canning (for fruits, tomatoes and pickles). This involves no pressure and thus no possibility of things asploding. Consider it!

As for your actual freezer-vs-dehydrator question, I think it depends utterly and entirely on your circumstances and concerns.

If you have few power outages and are not primarily concerned with scenarios where power would be gone for weeks/months (or if you live somewhere with cold winters and few if any *summer* power outages ) then in most ways I think the freezer is the better bet. This is especially true if you eat a fair bit of meat; and/or if your dehydrator is electric rather than solar and you would be having to dehydrate a *lot*.

(e.t.a. - if you are concerned with weeks' worth of power loss, but not collapse of civilization as such, then a backup generator to power the freezer, plus some stored stabilized gasoline, is another reasonable option. Remember the generator only needs to run a few times per day to keep the freezer cold)

OTOH, if your power supply is pretty unreliable or if you are concerned with preparing for ice storms or hurricanes or collapses-of-civilization in which you'd be without electricity for long periods of time, a freezer is not especially helpful and you'd be best off just improving your ability to cook with dehydrated foods (Hint: spices, and whatever meats and fresh foods you have available). If you would be dehydrating a *lot* of stuff, a solar dehydrator would be a lot cheaper than running 400+ watts of electric model on an ongoing basis.

Seriously though, don't discount waterbath canning. Or other storage methods specific to particular foods (some veggies store reasonably well inthe ground; some root-cellar well even in improvised conditions; winter squashes store well in a spare bedroom; etc)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

since I have a friend who will trade me her freezer for my dehydrator.

If they are both in good operating condition, the freezer is the far better deal!

And steam/water bath canning, as Pat mentions, are great ways to preserve a lot of different foods. I guess a person could put all their food in one preservation method basket, so to speak, but a combination works great for me. As Pat mentions, lots of things (garlic, potatoes, squash, apples) store great at cool temps, others are excellent canned (salsa, beans, tomatoes, pears, peaches, pickles) and yet others are wonderful frozen (asparagus, berries, meat, corn, etc.) and some I choose to dry.

Of course, which belongs in which category is totally a matter of your taste and opinion

 

[ORChick]

I agree that given the option of only one I would choose the freezer. But, that said, I also agree that you should check out the other ways of preserving food. This forum is a great place to start, but there are many other resources as well. Depending on where you live you might be able to have both, in a manner of speaking. Perhaps you have enough sun to make a solar dehydrator. Or conversely, as Pat mentioned, maybe your winter temps will allow you to use Nature's Freezer (I am able to use Nature's Refrigerator in the winter, but the Freezer isn't reliable in this part of Oregon ). Also, do a bit of research on the best way to use rehydrated foods; veggies in particular are sometimes tricky, though soup is usually a good beginning.
Good luck, and

 

[Wildsky]

I would choose freezer as well if I had to pick only one. You can also stock up on meat and things like that with a freezer.

My dehydrator gets used often, but mostly to make jerky..

 

[VickiLynn]

Welcome!
That would be a tough decision for me. I can't imagine ever parting with either my excalibur or my freezer. But if I had to choose one, I guess keeping the freezer would be more practical in most situations, if you have the space and reliable power.

 

[valmom]

We have a very reliable winter "freezer" here! And that's the most likely time for our power to go out, so freezing works well here. That said, I love dehydrating (and some day I am going to spring for a really nice, newer than 30 year old dehydrator). I do mostly fruits to add to oatmeal or other cereal, dried tomatoes and mostly fruits and veggies. I would try jerky- I love it- but it sounds complicated.

 

[Wifezilla]

I can always dry food in my car, under some cheese cloth in the back yard or even in the oven. A dehydrator is optional. A freezer? Need that. I can buy half a pig or sale meat in bulk. It saves me money. As for power outages, most are just a couple of days at the most. Keep the freezer closed and your food should be fine. A block of dry ice can get you through a few extra days. For a long term outage, well then it is time to cook and dry things

 

[berkshiremom]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who took time to respond...Yesterday I went to a canning class at our local co-op and learned how to can salsa using a water bath method..and I'm really suprised at how easy it was..So I will be adding water bath method to my storage options!!! I even feel kinda silly at how scared I was to try it! Anyways I have decided to keep the dehydrator and look for a used freezer on craigslist and have both..lol