Freeze Dried Food Review Thread

[Ruffdaddy]

So has anyone tried dehydrating their own food? My cousin has done this for us a few times when we've gone camping for longer than a few days and out in the boonies. He's done some chili mac, spaghetti, beef jerky, and some fruits. He has a dehydrator and a vacuum sealer, stuff has been good after a 4 or 5 months but haven't really tried it long term.

Ive done quite a bit of dehydrating, but not for long term like you would get with freeze drying. I know the moisture content is higher with home dehydration and its a longer cook time. They do make at home freeze dryers but for the cost, I can just buy a lot of freeze dried food instead...it is tempting though.

For those of you with health concerns etc there is a company out there called "Paleo Meals to Go" and it's just what it sounds like. Paleo compliant, non-preservatives freeze dried backpacking meals. They come at a price though at $13 a pop. They had a blowout sale last week where they were selling them for 8.99 a piece and I dropped 100 on them.

They are actually really good, IMO comparable to a mountain house meal. With that being said you can't go wrong with mountain house. I've tried most of the mainstream brands and I've always been partial to MH; little tapatio and you're ready to go!

Man those paleo meals are only 27 calories per dollar whereas MH is more than double the calories for a pouch...and even better for a can. No way im dropping that much on paleo freeze dried food. But then again i hate paleo because its so factually wrong. Youre basically paying a premium for a fad in this case.

[ceyko]

Ive done quite a bit of dehydrating, but not for long term like you would get with freeze drying. I know the moisture content is higher with home dehydration and its a longer cook time. They do make at home freeze dryers but for the cost, I can just buy a lot of freeze dried food instead...it is tempting though.

I NEVER dehydrated actual meals. Just fruits and stuff. Could you give a high level overview of how that works?

I assume it's also going to need a decent dehydrator?

[Ruffdaddy]

I NEVER dehydrated actual meals. Just fruits and stuff. Could you give a high level overview of how that works?

I assume it's also going to need a decent dehydrator?

I should clarify that i dehydrate all of my foods separately and if i want will combine them for a meal i will do it when its time to eat it. And unless they have quite a few preservatives, i wouldnt store meat products unfrozen for more than a few weeks.

The other method is to straight up dry out the entire meal in the as cooked state...this is a lot of trouble to me. Dehydraters have liners for this, and its how you can make a lot of it work. For example...you can make fruit bars from applesauce on a liner.

[Danny46]

Ive done quite a bit of dehydrating, but not for long term like you would get with freeze drying. I know the moisture content is higher with home dehydration and its a longer cook time. They do make at home freeze dryers but for the cost, I can just buy a lot of freeze dried food instead...it is tempting though.



Man those paleo meals are only 27 calories per dollar whereas MH is more than double the calories for a pouch...and even better for a can. No way im dropping that much on paleo freeze dried food. But then again i hate paleo because its so factually wrong. Youre basically paying a premium for a fad in this case.

Depends what you're going for with this. I know this is a SHTF/survival type thread but for my use they work; I do a lot of multi day trips out of a kayak and snack pretty frequently throughout the day so I don't need a dinner that has a super high calorie density. I also notice a difference eating "paleo" vs MH type food, I generally feel better, lighter etc the next day.

Yeah I get the argument about paleo and cavemen and all that crap, but if you zoom out from such a catchy description it is just really clean eating.

In a bug out survival type situation I would definitely want the calorie density as you might only have a couple of those meals and/or limited access to water.

[Ruffdaddy]

Depends what you're going for with this. I know this is a SHTF/survival type thread but for my use they work; I do a lot of multi day trips out of a kayak and snack pretty frequently throughout the day so I don't need a dinner that has a super high calorie density. I also notice a difference eating "paleo" vs MH type food, I generally feel better, lighter etc the next day.

Yeah I get the argument about paleo and cavemen and all that crap, but if you zoom out from such a catchy description it is just really clean eating.

In a bug out survival type situation I would definitely want the calorie density as you might only have a couple of those meals and/or limited access to water.

Agreed...it definitely depends what youre after. If i were consuming on the regular and the price were down...id give it a shot. Maybe next sale ill give a few a shot just to see what the flavor profile is.

[ceyko]

I should clarify that i dehydrate all of my foods separately and if i want will combine them for a meal i will do it when its time to eat it. And unless they have quite a few preservatives, i wouldnt store meat products unfrozen for more than a few weeks.

The other method is to straight up dry out the entire meal in the as cooked state...this is a lot of trouble to me. Dehydraters have liners for this, and its how you can make a lot of it work. For example...you can make fruit bars from applesauce on a liner.

Good info, appreciate it. Google is great, but it's better to read/hear first hand experiences/input.

[ceyko]

What dehydrator y'all use? Started this weekend using one for my beef/turkey jerky...the one I have is about 20 years old and cheap when I got it. No temp controls and all that. Anyway, thinking about giving it a go - but if I have to spend 500 or whatever to do some of these things (besides just making smoked jerky...etc...etc) I may just stick what I have...

For my jerky, I just smoke it 4-6 hours at as low as I can go and then finish it. (seasoning and curing salt done prior)

[Danny46]

If anyone was interested Paleo meals to go is having a sale and all of their meals are 8.99. Still morw pricey than mountain house and such but if you wanted to try one now is the time.

http://paleomealstogo.com/product/butte-cacao-banana/

Edit: they literally dropped the price again as I posted that. Now 7.64 a meal, making them comparable to pretty much everything else out there