“And the reason they're shrinking is because they're also going through dehydration - but they're all water!” “A similar thing that you may have seen related to this idea of freezer burn is if you have ice cubes in the freezer for a long time and don't use them, they shrink,” Schmidt says. Skipping phase states like this, not first transforming from ice to liquid water, is called sublimation. The process is similar to evaporation, Schmidt explains, except instead of liquid water transforming into vapor, freezer burn happens when a frozen liquid transforms directly into vapor. “I like the idea that we’ve harnessed something that’s happening to make something beneficial.” While freezer burn may seem like the capricious scourge of your kitchen appliance, Schmidt assures Inverse it’s actually just a form of dehydration that takes place at cold temperature when items (from food to snow) are exposed to open air. it a profitable good thing,” says Schmidt. “Here are two processes, that rely on the same transformation but because we change the conditions in the freeze-drying. ![]() Interestingly enough, the same chemical process driving freezer burn is also what makes it possible to feed astronauts in space - freeze-drying. Sure, a freezer makes your food last longer - but it can’t deliver on the promise of flavor. ShutterstockĮven though it may look unappetizing, Shelly Schmidt, professor of food chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, tells Inverse there’s nothing dangerous about these discolored foods.īut the issue for the consumer is that, while you technically can eat freezer-burned food, it won’t be very good - despite what you may have been told about throwing your leftovers into the cold. If your frozen food is discolored that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gone bad, but it likely means it is freeze burned.
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