Anybody know where a person can buy freeze dried fruit? I bought a box of Cheerios with freeze dried strawberries* the other day, and really enjoyed the strawberries. I'd like to buy some packages of straight freeze dried fruit, but I haven't had any luck looking online--the closest I get are freeze dried MREs that contain fruit. While those would be fun to try also, I'm really just looking for the fruit. I tried going to the website for he company that supplies the strawberries for General Mills, but apparently they don't sell to the individual consumer.
*Has anyone else tried these? They strike me as being Lucky Charms for adults--same sweetened oats, albeit with an additional berry flavor, and the chunks of fruit have exactly the same texture as the marshmallows.
[ December 21, 2003, 09:43 AM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
Eeew! Tom loves cereals with freeze dried fruit, but I think they taste funny. The strawberries are too tart for me.
Okay, think I'm done now.
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
ugh. i hate freeze dried strawberries in cereal. disgusting. and now everyone's trying to do it.
Posted by Suneun (Member # 3247) on :
This is only moderately helpful... but stores like Whole Foods (crunchy high-priced organic grocery stores) sell granola with freeze dried fruits. If you want, you could pick out mostly freeze dried fruit with your granola =).
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Thanks Christy! I appreciate the digging--looks you came up with more than I did. When I get a second today I'll investigate those links. Dried is different from freeze dried, by the way; dried fruit, which is pretty easy to find, is typically kind of leathery, while freeze dried fruit is actually crunchy. There is a health food store in the city I lived in until recently that carries a selection of what I think must be freeze dried vegetables, along with a few kinds of fruit, but apparently the manufacturer doesn't have a web-presence.
Hmm...I wonder what effect freeze drying has on the nutritional content of fruit? Think a lot of vitamins get sucked out along with the water?
Porce, do you like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms?
Suneun, right now that's what I'm doing with the Cheerios, but for the volume of fruit you get from that method, the price is awfully high. Of course, you're left with a tasty sweetened oat cereal (or in your case, delicious, wholesome granola), so that's a plus. Still, I'd rather just find the fruit.
Posted by Suneun (Member # 3247) on :
Ahh, I wasn't specific enough.
They sell granola with freeze-dried fruits in the grains bins where you take what you want and buy by the pound.
So you can sorta pick a super-freeze-dried-fruit-heavy selection.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Does the top of the bin open, so that I could pour the unwanted non-fruity bits back in?
Maybe I could bring in a length of wide meshed screen and pan for freeze dried fruit right there in the bulk section!
By the way, Christy, I checked out the first site you linked to. When it says that the minimum order quantity is "1 MT", does MT stand for metric ton? I hope not--I mean, I like fruit and all, but I might have trouble eating that much. You know, given how light the strawberries in the Cheerios are, I wonder what kind of volume a metric ton of the things would have?
One thing that I found strange when I did my own search for freeze dried fruit several days ago was how many sites offered non-edible freeze dried fruit. Apparently it's used for decorative purposes. I wonder what they do to it to make it inedible?
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
They also have lots of freeze dried fruits for sale at Costco. You have to be a member to purchace, but you could check out www.costco.com for possible price comparisons. I can't remember the national brand that does the freeze drying though.
AJ
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
sorry I just checked costco and they don't do dried fruits over the internet.
AJ
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Noemon, you might want to try the Just Tomatoes, etc. company. They make both traditional dried and freeze-dried products, with everything from blueberries to corn kernels. Very tasty, very crunchy (at least, the freeze-dried ones are) and very nutritious. You can order on-line.
The link is to a article from Light & Tasty magazine, but there are other articles at the main Just Tomatoes site.
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
Sorry, Noemon! Didn't check out the units. I can't imagine a metric ton of freeze dried fruit, either! I mean, they would last forever, but...
Edit: darn spelling!
[ June 07, 2003, 06:15 PM: Message edited by: Christy ]
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Try talking to Oregon Freeze Dry. Clicking on Food Division then Product Information, then Standard Product List leads to 8pound cases; which at 10to1 dehydration, means it's equivalent to 80lbs of strawberries. With strawberry wholesale prices ranging from $50to$110 per 100pounds, the cost of a case of the freeze-dried product is likely to be above $100. How much above I don't know, but its gotta be a LOT cheaper than the typical $3.75 per ounce / $60 per pound that camping&survival supply outfitters charge.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
It's kind of pricy, but they've got all kinds of freeze dried fruits and vegetables, and their stuff is delicious!
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Looks like CT found them for me ages ago, but somehow I lost track of the thread, and didn't realize that she'd done so. (Belated) Thanks CT!
Posted by odouls268 (Member # 2145) on :
i always wondered what would happen if you put water balloons into a dehydrator. and then Friends did an episode with the same question in it. (The One Where Eddie Won't Go; Season 2). But they never showed him doing it.
Posted by Boon (Member # 4646) on :
You know maybe you should search for "dried fruit" rather than "freeze dried fruit" I don't entirely know the difference in taste but there are a lot more "dried fruit" sites available with lots of stuff than "freeze-dried" fruit.
quote: Hmm...I wonder what effect freeze drying has on the nutritional content of fruit? Think a lot of vitamins get sucked out along with the water?
Water-soluble vitamins might get removed with the water, but that's not the main problem. That would be oxidation.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Slightly off topic-Honey bears. Find out where I can get those and I'll shower you with flowers.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Do you mean plastic bears filled with honey? Doesn't every supermarket sell those? Or are you talking about something else?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Gummi bear like snack. Only pure honey. Celestial Seasons used to sell it but sadly they do not despite me asking them too.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Aaaahhhh...I just finished a baggie of freeze dried rasberries, mangos, and peaches, all purchased from Just Tomatoes. They were delicious.
I'll take a look at the nutritional content when I'm home and can look at the little tub, and then try to find out nutritional information on the fresh versions of the fruit, and try to determine what gets lost.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Hi CT! In the random thoughts thread you were wondering how the freeze dried fruit thing went.
Well, I bought about $20 worth of freeze dried fruit (ie 4 litttle tubs of it), and it was every bit as delicious as I thought it was going to be. The freeze dried raspberries were by far my favorites. The stuff is expensive though! I don't know if it's because the equipment is expensive, or if one of those tubs is actually a whole lot more fruit than it looks like, but until I win the lottery I probably won't be buying it on a regular basis.
Now dried mangos are another story. They're what is tiding me over until mango season begins (yeah, I know, you can still get mangos in the grocery store, but they aren't the good kind). The trick is to find ones that aren't crusted with sugar. Those I find repulsively, sickeningly sweet. Unsulfered, unsweetened dried mangos, though, are a pretty good approximation of ambrosia.
[ December 21, 2003, 09:51 AM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by ana kata (Member # 5666) on :
<Appreciates Jimi Hendrix reference of thread title change>
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Having dried fruit with one of those fruit dehydrator thingies, I suspect it's mostly that "one of those tubs is actually a whole lot more fruit than it looks like."
But who knows? Maybe the profit margin is obscene, and Hatrack should, as a collective, go into the freeze-dried fruit business?
If only there were some way to insure that we wouldn't eat the profits . . . Posted by Kavon (Member # 6038) on :
I'm a huge fan of freeze dried apricots and pears.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Wow, I've never had freeze dried either of those. Dried, yes, but not freeze dried. I'd love to try them. Where do you get them? Do the packets have a URL on them?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
JustTomatoes has JustApricots, but not having any luck finding pears (unless you wanted to start buying MREs ).
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