What is the difference between dehydrated and freeze-dried food?

Both processes involve removing the water from food to preserve it. Freeze-drying involves freezing the food to a very low temperature and drying it in a vacuum to remove moisture. Dehydration involves passing warm air over the surface of the food to remove moisture.

Does dehydration have an effect on the nutritional value of a meal?

Exposure to heat can bring out the vitamins in some foods and diminish them in others. At Firepot, we oven-cook a whole meal as you would at home, and then dry it slowly using warm air. Ovens reach a much higher temperature than our dryers (which operate at around 68 celsius) and, as such, the drying process has no bearing on the nutritional content of cooked ingredients – any effect heat has on nutritional value takes place while the food is being cooked, not while it is being dried.

How many calories are in a Firepot?

The calorie content of our food varies across the range: we make meals that are nutritionally balanced and great-tasting instead of choosing a calorie target and then adding high-calorie ingredients until we hit that target. Our range of main meals extends from 500kcal up to 635kcal for the standard portion size, and from 750kcal up to 940kcal for the extra large portion size.

Is dehydrated food healthy?

The process of drying food is not what determines whether a meal is healthy or not. Firepot's dehydrated meals are a healthy option because of our commitment to using all-natural ingredients and avoiding chemicals and artificial additives.

Our meals are nutritionally balanced, and we use as many local, fresh ingredients as we can.

When it comes to ingredients that don't arrive with us in their raw form (for example, tomato purée or red wine vinegar), we take particular care to find options which don't contain any chemicals or preservatives. This means we can cut out anything artificial, and that we recognise exactly what goes into each of our meals.

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