Freeze dried food

[Robin]

Any of you folks tries this stuff?

183 Serving MEGA Sample Pack - 31 lbs

Get free S&H on emergency food storage sample packs. Legacy Company - Long Term Shelf Life - Best Supplier - Great Tasting

www.legacyfoodstorage.com

I usually buy bulk stuff but thought I might give this kind of thing a try. Over 50 years ago we were given LRRP rations, they were light, easy to fix, and pretty tasty, so I know this type of food can be good. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Robin

 

[FP1201]

Any of you folks tries this stuff?

183 Serving MEGA Sample Pack - 31 lbs

Get free S&H on emergency food storage sample packs. Legacy Company - Long Term Shelf Life - Best Supplier - Great Tasting

www.legacyfoodstorage.com

I usually buy bulk stuff but thought I might give this kind of thing a try. Over 50 years ago we were given LRRP rations, they were light, easy to fix, and pretty tasty, so I know this type of food can be good. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Robin

Utah as a State is heavily Mormon and as such compelled to store provisions, and as such have perfected it, and subscribe to a very high standard. (think Vermont and Maple Syrup) So I wouldn't have any compunction about getting products from the many companies out there...Better yet is to buy a Freeze Dryer and make your own, or at least some of it...I have friends who've bought and used Machines, and there is a learning curve, they're a bit pricey in the 2-3-4 thousand range, they really need a dedicated area as the Kitchen Counter Top just isn't going to cut it for very long...You can do it all by yourself, but it sure goes a LOT easier if you have willing help, then you need containers that'll seal then there's the overpack containers to really protect your stores.
That said, I've been hemming and hawing for years about getting one and still haven't, I loaned out my vacuum Sealer to a friend who was working through hard times and I doubt that'll ever return, we do can some stuff in Glass Mason Jars, usually end up giving it to our Kids and friends as we never use everything up.
Lot's of Gun Boards have a "Survival" Forum, and generally if something is less than stellar...I bought a fair amount of "Wise" products back when I have a wholesale account mostly for food insurance that we haven't needed...yet.

 

[Robin]

Thank you FP!!!! lot of good thoughts there!!!!
There used to be a guy here that bought a freeze drier and posted his results regularly, he even did ice cream if I remember correctly. If I had family close by I would consider it but for just my wife and I, I just can't justify the expense.
Good point on the Utah connection!
Robin

 

[OwnTheRide]

Thank you FP!!!! lot of good thoughts there!!!!
There used to be a guy here that bought a freeze drier and posted his results regularly, he even did ice cream if I remember correctly. If I had family close by I would consider it but for just my wife and I, I just can't justify the expense.
Good point on the Utah connection!
Robin

Yeah, whomever that guy was, his results looked amazing. I really wanted to get into it as well, but the high cost of entry turned me away.

 

[GTN]

I see a lot of posts on other forums about FD foods being so expensive. But if you add up the cost of a dryer, the energy used to dry your food, and the food itself, it has to come close to just buying the FD food outright. And then all the time to do it

 

[FP1201]

I see a lot of posts on other forums about FD foods being so expensive. But if you add up the cost of a dryer, the energy used to dry your food, and the food itself, it has to come close to just buying the FD food outright. And then all the time to do it

You can buy a lot of food for $3K.

 

[GOPerfect]

I have a bunch of FD foods. In my heavy prepping days, I bought enough to last more than 2 years for me and my family.

I have thought about about a harvest Right FD machine, the cost of the machine is just too much for me to justify.

I have some, and I have eaten some of this particular food, not bad, not bad at all.

 

[OwnTheRide]

You can buy a lot of food for $3K.

Yes and no. Using the OP's link, if we bought $3k work of that bulk package, it'd work out to 1248 meals, or about 14 months of meals for one person. Giving a thumb-in-the-wind estimate, I'd bet the break-even price of DIY vs buying freeze-dried food is right around the point where you want to feed two people for that duration. The caveat here is that your own food would probably be better. Most of those meals are either oatmeal, pasta, or rice. Oddly, that's all stuff that already comes ready for long-term storage, which makes me wonder what the point is. I'd freeze-dry the sauce and meatballs but leave the pasta out.

So I guess it really comes down to how much you're looking to stock up. If you want to have a year's supply of food for 3 people, I think you'd be better off buying a system and doing it yourself. If you're just looking for a couple months, yeah, some store-bought stuff might be the way to go.

That said, I'm not ascribing any value to the time it would take to prepare all that food. Mostly because it sounds like a lot of fun to me. I love cooking.

 

[GOPerfect]

Yes and no. Using the OP's link, if we bought $3k work of that bulk package, it'd work out to 1248 meals, or about 14 months of meals for one person. Giving a thumb-in-the-wind estimate, I'd bet the break-even price of DIY vs buying freeze-dried food is right around the point where you want to feed two people for that duration. The caveat here is that your own food would probably be better. Most of those meals are either oatmeal, pasta, or rice. Oddly, that's all stuff that already comes ready for long-term storage, which makes me wonder what the point is. I'd freeze-dry the sauce and meatballs but leave the pasta out.

So I guess it really comes down to how much you're looking to stock up. If you want to have a year's supply of food for 3 people, I think you'd be better off buying a system and doing it yourself. If you're just looking for a couple months, yeah, some store-bought stuff might be the way to go.

That said, I'm not ascribing any value to the time it would take to prepare all that food. Mostly because it sounds like a lot of fun to me. I love cooking.

One other note is the cost of electric.

Some areas of the US< the cost of electric is through the roof.

I still look from time to time of the machine. Maybe one day....

 

[repete]

Any of you folks tries this stuff?

183 Serving MEGA Sample Pack - 31 lbs

Get free S&H on emergency food storage sample packs. Legacy Company - Long Term Shelf Life - Best Supplier - Great Tasting

www.legacyfoodstorage.com

I usually buy bulk stuff but thought I might give this kind of thing a try. Over 50 years ago we were given LRRP rations, they were light, easy to fix, and pretty tasty, so I know this type of food can be good. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Robin

I have a bit of that but look at the spec's, about 250 calories per meal that's only 750 a day! That's starvation right there, so double the size of the meal, now you have half the advertised amount. Also IIRC most are heavy on sodium.
I also have /had a LARGE lot of #10 cans from Mt. House, all freeze dried and then canned, when I moved it it took 2.5 pick up trucks loads! Good stuff maybe the best of F.D. foods. Believe it or not Walmart used to have a good selection of Augason Farms F.D. foods (2nd to Mt. House) at very good prices sometimes cheaper than Augason Farms site!
We also bought a freeze drier from Harvest Right, works good and if you garden it would be well worth the money, for us, it wasn't. We gave it to our daughter and she uses it a lot and in exchange does a load or two when we want it. One of the best things is FDing about
5 pounds of cooked ham burger and then putting it in 4 Mason jars. Lasts 20 years or so (we use it at the camp a lot and never keep it longer than 2 summers). We've done meats( raw and cooked), fruits likes apples and berries (blue berries are a PIA) sliced strawberries and even raw eggs. We had some success with ice cream but it takes a LONG time.
The machine itself is heavy and about 24"W x 30"D and the same high, it also has a vacuum pump and they put out a LOT of heat, we had ours on a roll around tool cart in the pantry and on warm days had to have the window open, on hot summer days we didn't even try to run it. Any thing else I can help with LMK.

 

[GOPerfect]

Augason Farms has some really good food. Their prices skyrocketed too much for my tastes.

 

[GOPerfect]

One place that I used in the past was the following.

I just found out they have a location near me.

Home Storage Centers

Home storage centers help Church members and others build a basic supply of food for their longer-term home storage needs. There are 101 locations across the United States and Canada, where individuals can purchase food items such as wheat, dry beans, rice, and other products that have been...

providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org

 

[FP1201]

One other note is the cost of electric.

Some areas of the US< the cost of electric is through the roof.

I still look from time to time of the machine. Maybe one day....

My last National Grid Bill was $307 and $188 of it was "Delivery Service" so it was more than the gas and electricity combined.
I'd like a machine, and periodically get advertisements from Harvest Right, but it just doesn't make that much sense for us, although, it IS much nicer to source and make your own. My Friends that have them have detached Garages where they keep Freezers and store/process Food and that's a perfect area because freezing your trays of food before putting them in the Freeze Dryer makes the process go much faster with better results (according to peoples home videos).
We plant a modest Garden that feeds the Rabbits and Deer more than us, Squash goes ape-shit when it comes in, so I leave a covered table in front of the House for the neighbors to help themselves...tomatoes are the same way.
If the SHTF there's ~35 acres of Tilled Farmland behind our House that our Garden might "extend" into.
Another thing to consider if you're going to prep with Freeze Dried is Water for re-hydration...ask anyone that's had a steady diet of MRE's about not getting enough water.