My fruit market carries two kinds of dried pineapple. One is quite flattened and chewy and brownish. The other is much thicker in size and shape - like a fresh pineapple ring - and bright yellow and sort of encrusted in sugar. I am guessing this latter type might be 'freeze dried" to become dry while preserved in shape. Any ideas?
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You're describing two very classic types of dried pineapple — and you're right to think there are major differences in how they're made:
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Flattened, brownish, chewy dried pineapple
➔ This is traditional air-dried (dehydrated) pineapple.
It’s dried slowly in warm air (like 120–140°F) over many hours, which evaporates the water but oxidizes the sugars — hence the darker brownish color. It's chewy because it still retains some moisture inside. No added sugar typically. -
Thick, bright yellow, sugary dried pineapple
➔ This is sugar-infused dried pineapple, not freeze-dried.
It’s actually candied first — meaning the pineapple slices are soaked or simmered in sugar syrup to saturate them — and then dried.
That’s why it's plumper, much sweeter, bright yellow (protected by the sugar and sometimes sulfites), and often has a crust of crystallized sugar on the outside.
It's dried less severely so it stays moist and juicy inside.
Important note:
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Freeze-dried pineapple is different — it's crisp, super-light, crumbly, and usually shatters when you bite it. It looks pale, not vivid yellow, and weighs almost nothing because freeze-drying removes 98–99% of water at very low temperatures under vacuum, preserving cellular structure but not creating a chewy or sugary texture.
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Your thick yellow slices are definitely not freeze-dried — they are sugar-saturated and then dried.
Summary:
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Brownish = classic dehydrated, no sugar.
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Thick bright yellow = candied and dried.
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Freeze-dried = very light, dry, and crispy — probably not what you're seeing.
