Rehydrator

The Rehydrator is a food-processing building that turns dried meals back into edible versions by consuming water. It stores up to 5 units of dried food, with each unit weighing 1 kg, and each rehydration cycle restores 1,000 kcal of food while using 1 kg of water.

Duplicants only visit the Rehydrator when they are actually going to eat, so it acts as a low-priority food source compared with normal food storage. This makes it useful as a backup system or as a way to keep preserved meals on hand without having dupes constantly haul them around. From the side screen, you can also choose which dried ration type the building will accept.

Rehydrated food is still nutritious, but it is a little less appealing than the original fresh meal. Any duplicant who eats it receives the Rehydrated Food debuff, which gives -1 morale for 1.1 cycles.

The Rehydrator can convert the following dried meals into their rehydrated forms:

• Dried Stuffed Berry → Stuffed Berry
• Dried Mushroom Wrap → Mushroom Wrap
• Dried Surf'n'Turf → Surf'n'Turf
• Dried Pepper Bread → Pepper Bread
• Dried Mushroom Quiche → Mushroom Quiche
• Dried Curried Beans → Curried Beans
• Dried Spicy Tofu → Spicy Tofu
• Dried Frost Burger → Frost Burger
• Dried Berry Pie → Mixed Berry Pie

Most rehydrated meals keep the same high quality as their fresh counterparts, which makes the Rehydrator a practical way to preserve strong food buffs while relying on long-term storage. Some meals also carry their own special effects after rehydration:

• Mushroom Wrap, Surf'n'Turf, Mushroom Quiche, and Frost Burger retain Aquatic Diet.
• Curried Beans retains Hot Stuff.
• Frost Burger also retains Soul Food.

Because the building consumes both food storage space and water, it is best used when you have a steady water supply and a stockpile of dried meals you want to bring back into circulation. Its low-priority retrieval behavior also means it fits well into food systems where fresh meals are available first and rehydrated meals serve as backup nutrition.