How to Buy Freeze Dried Foods

Freeze dried berries

Freeze dried foods are an amazingly delicious, culinarily superior product to dehydrated food. Some families include them in their regular meal plans; others store them for future needs.

Freeze dried meals are made from foods cooked as a dish or meal, many with seasonings and sauces, such as entrees, and are flash frozen before being transferred to a freeze-dry vacuum chamber where they are quickly processed to the freeze dried state.

Once dried, they have had 98% of their water removed and are then sealed into cans or mylar bags for long term storage. When sealed in cans, the food has a shelf life of 25-30 years, making it an excellent survival food.

Many American families are buying and storing freeze dried food for long-term emergencies, such as an financial loss, a Great Depression, nuclear attack, natural disaster, interruption in the food supply or other crisis.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Freeze dried meals

   Determine the supply of food you need or would like to purchase, whether it's a six-month supply for 2 people or a 12-month supply for four. If money is a mitigating factor, start with a one month supply of food for your family. This will cover almost all basic emergencies and provide much peace of mind.

2. Find out how many servings are in each #10 size can of entrees, and divide by the number of people. This will let you know how many meals each can of free dried foods provides. For example, a can of Oriental Spicy Chicken, 10 entrees, makes two meals for a family of five.

3. Variety of foods

   Select a variety of entrees based upon your family's typical diet. Be sure to include meatless items for vegetarians and enough of a variety where people will not become sick of the food. Variety is essential. Include more of the foods that are family favorites already.

4. Choose additional freeze dried foods, including vegetables, desserts, fruits and breakfast items, to round out your food supply. While freeze dried food will hopefully not be the only edibles available to you for an extended period, it very well could be.

5. Rotate your food storage on a first-in, first-out basis. This applies to freeze dried foods as well, so that your supply stays as fresh as possible. Mark items with date of purchase as well as date of manufacture (which should be noted on the cans or in your shipment). If you purchase your food storage items over the period of a year or more, put the newer items under or behind like items that were purchased earlier.

6. Keep preparation instructions with your freeze dried foods. Most "recipes" call simply for reconstitution via boiling water: boil the water, add in measured amounts of the food. Once the water is absorbed and the food is hot, it's ready to eat.

Tips & Warnings

• Freeze dried foods do not have to be consumed right away when the can or mylar bag is opened. Many will be shelf stable for at least a year, so you can use up a can of 48 green been servings over the course of a few months and not worry about lack of variety in the diet.

• Some freeze dried food suppliers, such as those listed under Resources, below, have selected a variety of meals as ready-to-go food storage and list how many people it will feed and for how long.

Resources

• Ultimate Family Preparedness Pak
• 72-Hour Survival Kits
• Mountain House Freeze-Dried Foods
• Survival Food List