Astronauts eat it, you probably have it in your pantry. But have you ever considered freeze dried food as part of your emergency preparedness? If not, this article just might change your mind. In the next 60 seconds, I’m going to share some compelling reasons why freeze dried food should be a key part of your emergency planning. We’re not advocating you live on freeze dried meals, but by the time we’re done, you’ll know exactly why this type of food is important for emergencies – and why you need to add it to your survival kit today.
What is freeze dried food?
Freeze-dried food is a type of dehydrated food that has had the water removed from it through a freeze-drying process.
The food is processed in a certain way to preserve it. Humans have been preserving food for eons by canning or dehydrating. Freeze drying food is a newer preserving method.
The food comes out the end of that process lighter, and with a much longer shelf life, while retaining its flavour, nutrition and texture.
It’s not the same as dehydrated foods because it’s made using a different process.
How is freeze dried food actually made?
Freeze dried food is made using a process that’s difficult to replicate at home. Fruits, vegetables, or any kind of perishable food really, is frozen to temperatures that are below freezing. The water is removed using a high-pressure vacuum. The vapour that is produced collects in a condenser after the water has been extracted.
Once the water is eliminated, the foods are returned to room temperature gradually over time, drawing additional moisture from it.
The food goes through a freezing phase and then two drying phases. There are no additives in the process unlike commercial canning.
This leaves behind the freeze-dried food, which can be stored for a long period of time. It kind of looks like dehydrated food, or it can be turned into a powder.
3 types of freeze dried food
There are three main types of freeze dried foods
- Whole foods
If you’re trying to picture it, we’re talking about the freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, legumes, meats you see at most grocery stores on online.
- Ready made meals.
Popular recipes, like Beef Stroganoff or risotto, have become popular freeze dried meals. If you’re time poor or hate cooking, you probably have a few of these in your pantry.
- Powdered foods
It’s amazing what you can get powdered these days. Peanut butter, cheese, protein, eggs, mashed potatoes, butter powder and milk for example! To make the powder, the food is freeze dried first.
If you respect your kidneys and liver, the whole food type is the one you want most of in your pantry, camping bag or emergency kit. We’ll explain why below.
How long does it last?
This kind of food will last for years. That’s part of the attraction and popularity. Some ready made freeze dried meals have a multi-decade life span even! Freeze dried fruit and vegetables stored in a mylar bag with oxygen absorber will last 20 to 30 years.
Using mylar bags with oxygen absorbers means you can buy bulk freeze dried foods for cheaper, and store them for years. You’re also locking in todays food price. In times of high inflation, you’d be surprised how much this might save you.
What is freeze dried food used for?
Freeze dried food is perfect for emergency situations because it doesn’t require refrigeration and is light-weight. It also has a long shelf life and doesn’t take up a lot of room in your emergency kit.
We recommend packing freeze dried food as part of these emergency kits:
- Bug Out Bag
- Emergency Go Bag
- Family survival kit
- Home emergency kit
- Bush survival kit
- Flood emergency kit
- Cyclone kit
- Bushfire kit
Imagine you are stranded at home in a flood, with the roads and power cut off. Transport can’t get through to deliver food. It’s going to be that way for days.
You need to be able to cook some easy meals on gas or even a backyard fire, for your family.
Freeze dried meals are super easy to cook. They can be mixed with canned food and long life food, to make delicious and hearth meals.
For these same reasons, this kind of is perfect for camping or backpacking trips. Or for bugging out. You can make tasty, healthy meals over a fire with a pot, a spoon, some water and seasoning.
How to store it
Freeze dried food is very lightweight and easy to store. Keep it in its vacuumed sealed bag straight from the supermarket.
Once you open the packet, store it in an airtight container or zip lock bag. Zip lock bags are a godsend in any Go Bag emergency kit or camping bag. Be sure to pack a few!
How to cook freeze dried food
Freeze dried food is super easy to cook which is why it finds its way into many pantries.
Ready made freeze dried meals just require hot water. Some need to be boiled for a few minutes. Others you can get away with adding boiling water directly to the bowl or bag.
Whole food that is freeze dried requires a few more cooking steps. But nothing you need to be a MasterChef to handle. It’s just a matter of adding a few different whole food ingredients together, with some seasoning.
Powdered freeze dried food just needs water!
Is freeze dried food healthy?
The whole food kind is the healthiest type.
The food’s nutritional makeup is not harmed by freeze drying. Freeze-drying foods does not alter their structure.
Because of this, freeze dried whole food has many advantages over other types of food preservation, such as canning or dehydrating. One of the main advantages is that it retains its nutritional value much better than other methods.
Vitamins and minerals are not lost in the freeze drying process, so freeze dried is often healthier than canned or dehydrated food.
Ready made freeze dried meals, however, can be stuffed with salt. So we prefer to buy freeze dried whole foods and quickly put them together in a delicious meal. Read on for our meal suggestions below.
Can you freeze dry food at home?
You can freeze dry food at home, if you want to fork out for a freeze drier. A small home freeze drier will set you back an eye watering $3000.
The technology freeze drying puts the cost of these machines out of reach for most households. Dehydrators are more popular as a more affordable option.
The main trade off with dehydrating is the loss of nutritional value.
Your best plan to keep it healthy is to buy freeze dried goods in bulk where you can. They’re perfect for bulk purchases because they store forever!
6 reasons freeze dried food should be part of your emergency preparedness
- Food prices – Fresh food may not be available in an emergency. Crops can be flooded or burned. Fresh food may become unaffordable. Substitute with freeze dried alternatives to save money!
- Essential services like water and power may be cut off. This limits what you can keep fresh and also, how you can cook the food you have.
- Food supply chain interruptions – Roads are closed and road trains can’t get through. Food like fresh meat and vegetables start flying off the shelves of your local supermarket and is not re-stocked.
- Once it is freeze dried, food is easy to pack, store and carry.
- Lots of high protein food can be freeze dried – keeping you full longer if you’re lost, stranded or waiting for rescue.
- Cooking it is simple and requires few additional ingredients – a camp stove, camp pot, water and some seasoning.
8 freeze dried meals for any emergency
If you’re finding it hard to imagine what you might cook with a bunch of dried up whole foods, here’s a list of possibilities:
- Vegetable and noodle soup
- Miso salmon and rice
- Beef and vegetable stew
- Tuna pasta
- Curry with rice or couscous
- Morning oats with fruit
- Pad Thai noodles
- Cereal with fruit
All of these can be made with a few freeze dried food ingredients, a pot, and a fire or camp stove. Get creative and you’d be surprise what you can make.
Conclusion
So, what’s the verdict? Are you convinced that freeze dried food needs to be a part of your emergency preparations? It’s not hard to see why – it has plenty of nutrients, lasts forever and is easy to carry and store. If you end up stranded, need to evacuate in a hurry, or the power is out in a natural disaster, you’ll be glad you have it. For us, it’s a crucial part to any good emergency kit.
