Have You Tried It?
Freeze Dried Food has many advantages over more conventional methods of food storage, especially for survival food storage and this is partly because of the long shelf life but also for the flavor.
When food is freeze dried, much more of the original flavor is retained in the food.
I would suggest just purchasing one or two packages and fixing them to see if it’s something you can deal with in the event that you have to actually EAT it for several weeks or months!
Why is Freeze Dried Better?
Frozen foods retain fresh flavor and nutritional value, but require uniform, low temperature storage conditions. This is perfect if you have electricity or back up power for your freezer, but if you are looking at
emergency food storage thenanything that requires electricity for long term food storage is out!
Freeze-drying combines the best of these processing methods. It preserves freshness, color and aroma similar to frozen food, while providing the shelf-stable convenience of canned or dehydrated food.
Dehydrated and canned foods are shelf-stable, but high-temperature processing can degrade flavor, texture and nutritional content, which makes your foods that freeze-dried a GREAT option for survival foods, as not only is there is an incredibly long shelf life, but it actually tastes like food instead of cardboard.
My hubby and sons love to take Mountain House meal packs along when they go camping as they are so convenient. They could actually just add water into the food pouches but in most cases they are able to pack along a small camping kit, where they can mix it better.I have one son that does not like the food as he is a picky eater, but I am sure if times get tough, he will be glad to eat whatever he can get his hands on!
- Taste fresh. Freeze dried foods, like frozen, retain virtually all their fresh-food taste and nutritional content. Freeze-drying removes the water, not the flavor.
- Much lighter in weight than fresh foods. Freeze-dried foods have 98% of their water removed. This reduces the food’s weight by about 90%.
- Stays fresh. Dehydrated foods can be stored at room temperature, without deterioration or spoilage. This is because freeze-drying and packaging remove both water and oxygen – the two primary causes of food deterioration.
What Foods Can Be Freeze Dried?
According to Oregon Freeze Dry, who processes the dehydrated foods forMountain House Foods, one of the biggest suppliers of freeze dried food, asalmost any food, from apples to zucchini, can be freeze-dried.
So can entire meals, such as omelettes, hamburgers, or Chicken a la King.
In fact, Oregon Freeze Dry has produced over 400 different foods and beverages.
It would be rather expensive, though , to produce your own as the equipment to freeze your food is quite spendy, so if you can not afford to stock up emergency food storage with freeze dried, don’t panic, there are other, much less expensive ways to store foods than to spend thousands of dollars!
You can always plant your own survival garden and harvest your very own veggies, can them and have shelves and shelves of food that will last you for several years!
The beauty of having your own garden is that you can always plant again next year, especially if you start with non-hybrid garden seeds.