Freeze-Dried food

[bhn22]

Is anybody experimenting with bulk freeze-dried food. I bought a few smaller cans from Thrive to experiment with a bit. I have a lot of Mountain House camping meals set aside, but it's time to rotate them out now. I need to find a replacement that offers a longer shelf life than the pre-packaged entrees.

[Love Life]

The main problem with freeze dried food is the need for water...

[Outpost75]

When I was in the US Navy, on deployments we carried bulk freeze dried foods in #10 cans from Oregon Freeze Dried Foods. The military requires these to have minimum 25 year shelf life. For my own food storage I have the same thing, from the same manufacturers the US government buys from, purchased either from the Freeze Dry Guy

http://www.freezedryguy.com/AboutFreezeDryGuy.aspx

or Ready Reserve Foods. http://www.readyreservefoods.com/about/about-us/

Both of these companies have been in the business for years and are honest and dependable.

Oregon Freeze Dry is the only company producing freeze dried rations for the US military and they have been at it longer than anybody else. I would not even consider buying anywhere else unless they publish the results of nutritional and palatability tests after long term storage, which OFD does.

I rotate my preps and store what I eat. I am currently using food I stored during the ramp up to Y2K and it is as good as if Igot it yesterday.

For short-term emergency ration in my get home bag I carry military Cold Weather and Long Range Patrol rations from the Freeze Dry Guy. His are the real deal and not the Rambo wannabe versions. I buy them in case lots and repack the "bricks" in military steel ammunition cans for storage in the airplane, boat or truck.

http://www.freezedryguy.com/homepage/catalog/tabid/91/categoryid/139/default.aspx

[Artful]

The main problem with freeze dried food is the need for water...

That was never a problem when I was in Oregon but you have to plan ahead in Arizona.

You can find a lot of dried foods in a good supermarket with bulk bins - you can put it up in a canning
jar with a water absorption packet and if you do it right - it's just remove the top and pluck out the
packet and add boiling water and put the top back on to wait of a meal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G834X0LhVLs

[Love Life]

Just something to think about.

How long does your carried water supply last when half has to go in your food? What if water is out, and you aren't near a water source?

[bhn22]

Just something to think about.

How long does your carried water supply last when half has to go in your food? What if water is out, and you aren't near a water source?

As opposed to carrying the same amount of water or possibly even more, already in the food? For example, canned corn or green beans are already fully hydrated, plus they have an additional amount of water that is commonly discarded after consumption. There's more water to pack there, plus more waste.

[Outpost75]

http://preparednessadvice.com/food_storage/long-term-food-sample-1970s-opened-tested/
http://preparednessadvice.com/food_storage/test-long-term-foods-1970s-part-2/
http://preparednessadvice.com/food_storage/mres-waste-money/
http://preparednessadvice.com/food_storage/read-manufacture-dates-mountain-house-foods/

[John Allen]

Outpost75, good post.

[bhn22]

Yes, excellent!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Is anybody experimenting with bulk freeze-dried food. I bought a few smaller cans from Thrive to experiment with a bit. I have a lot of Mountain House camping meals set aside, but it's time to rotate them out now. I need to find a replacement that offers a longer shelf life than the pre-packaged entrees.
2 years ago, I worked on a project at work. A vacuum chamber the size of a pickup camper, with a freezer unit and heated shelving. The end customer was freeze drying dog biscuits. I guess the mixture took about 10 hours to dry. I don't recall the temp the chamber was kept at, but the heaters on the biscuit trays cycled on and off every 20 minutes.

Is that the type of experimenting you are talking about ?

[bhn22]

Woof!

[Pigboat]

This place has a good rep.

http://shop.honeyville.com/

[TES]

Perfect pac foods. Peanut butter and fritos.

[bhn22]

I hear fritos make good firestarters.