Advice on Dehydrated Food

[Paved Paradise]

I would like to have some emergency food stored for whatever disaster is coming...blizzard, grid down, etc. Does anyone have any recommendations? I see numerous vendors and businesses. Thanks!

[Hugin]

Buy some and try eating nothing else for a weekend. If you’re sick of it by then imagine living on it really long term. Personally I just keep a few months worth of canned and dry food I eat anyway on hand. Plenty for a power outage type situation.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Thrive Foods
https://www.thrivelife.com/shop

[Jack Hydrazine]

You can find emergency food on the Emergency Essentials website. Get on their email list and you’ll have emails from them of foods on sale all the time.

http://beprepared.com/

[right-wingin_It]

I will vouch for Mountainhouse (freeze dried) meals...they are decent.

What we currently do is have a mix of these in storage, and they are consumed on trips we take and replaced:

1) MREs -- Pros: Don't need hydration, or even to be cooked, although chemical heaters are often provided (requires an ounce or two of liquid). Like to have a few of these for hot meal if for whatever reason cant make a fire or use stove, inside car etc. However, Cons: They do not taste good compared to other options (Best ones IMO: Asian Beef Strips, Chilimac, Au gratin potatoes). If travelling with them they are heavier to pack than freeze dried.

2) Freeze Dried Meals - I can vouch for Mountainhouse brand, another brand is Backpacker's Pantry. We never really had a bad Mountainhouse meal. Good ones are Chicken A-la-king, Beef stroganoff, Lasagna, Chilimac, Breakfast Skillet). Pros: Freeze Dried has the Longest shelf life of all options (up to 25 years, Mountainhouse has a "best by" of at least 12 years, Taste good - certainly better than MREs. Light to carry/pack. Individually portioned. Con: Requires water to hydrate (we also have a high capacity backpacking water filter and collapsible buckets). However, these meals could also be eaten dry if you had to, particularly the mountainhouse. The starches - like pasta noodles etc isn't to tough like regular dried pasta. You can consume them dry. I ate the "breakfast skillet" meal dry - was not bad.

3)Supermarket Grocery Items with a decent shelf-life: Rice, Pasta, Instant mashed Potatoes, Ramen Noodles, Dried Tortellini, Oatmeal, Cereal, dried soups/bouillon, bottled , powdered Milk, instant coffee, other instant beverage mixes, nondairy creamer, canned foods - sardines, beans, soups.

Another option is "Dehydrated Meals". Pro: usually taste great. Con: has short shelf life.

Other Companies: Last year I was looking into "good tasting freeze dried or dehydrated meals" and these names always popped up. I haven't checked them out. I bet the food is good, but pricey:
- Hawk's Vittles - Pack it Gourmet
- Good to GO
- Mary Jane's Farm
- Hungry Hiker
- Heater Meals

[Lurker]

Buy a dehydrator and make your own.

We do.

L

[TexasTransplant]

If you do not plan on actually consuming your dehydrated food and rotating in new dehydrated food stuffs ... go for Freeze Dried ... they last much longer therefore there less waste.

[Jamestown1630]

How long are the filters good? I mean, how long do they last in storage and still function, not how many gallons they filter. I’ve wondered if they deteriorate, have a ‘shelf-life’, etc.

[Jamestown1630]

We have an Excaliber that we’ve been very happy with.

[TexasTransplant]

Dollar General and Dollar Tree have really crap canned goods, the off brands do not last and may be dangerous/deadly to consume.
I have had cans explode etc ... then I went in a rotated out everything that i even thought came from either place.
(Made a big mess and I freaked out and convinced myself that every can nearby had to be not only cleaned but sterilized)

I now also take large clear heavy trash bags and sorta kinda vacuum seal 96 can (+ or -) packs, that keeps the cans clean and makes it easier to rotate and use as needed.

[Lurker]

We have one of those. It’s a great little machine.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

TexasTransplant :" Dollar General and Dollar Tree have really crap canned goods, the off brands do not last and may be dangerous/deadly to consume."

Buy canned goods only from supermarket 'Store brands', and only long term store those cans that are NOT "EASY PULL TAB".
Easy pull tab have a plastic layer under the lid which can give way over time, and allow bacteria to enter; generally, they are safe for slightly more than 6 months storage.

Cans that contain acidic (tomato , picked foods and veggies, etc.)foods will taste 'tinney' after a few months to 2 years in storage. Rotate them out frequently.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve never gotten over our first experience with carrots; months later we put the dehydrated ones under a pork roast, and they came out exactly as if fresh.

Apples are very satisfying to dehydrate, too.

[TexasTransplant]

*** “If you have land, plant, learn canning, get some chickens” ***

I am loving on the Chickens ... just make sure you have enough Roosters ...

I had roughly 30 Chickens and about the same number of Ducks for about 8 years ... Problem is I live in Town and the Roosters were a little noisy and I was getting complaints ... I had 8 Roosters so I cut back to 4, I figured 1/2 the noise and it would solve the problem, nope so I cut back to 2 Roosters and 3 weeks later I had no Chickens or Ducks ... Hawks don’t care much about a single Rooster or even two same with the Feral Cats, Opossum, Raccoons and Skunks.
Ducks were the first to go, even though Drakes are very protective, they relied on the Roosters.
Roosters may fight with each other but they will gang up on anything that threatens their Hens (or even the Ducks)

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

I too have an Excaliber 10 tray food dehydrator.
Ideal for making dehydrated tomato powder , garlic powder, jerky, and fruit and vegetables. Don't ask how I know ... I understand BassPro has their store brand dehydrator made by Excaliber, at a significant lower price .

[Jamestown1630]

How do you do the tomato powder, how long do you think it lasts; and how do you use it?

[Fungi]

Do the math for “six bottles” a day, not what I would want. Nothing replaces real food, cooked by yourself. This processed crap does not qualify, even as a back—up for another whatever....

[TexasTransplant]

*** Cans that contain acidic (tomato , picked foods and veggies, etc.)foods will taste ‘tinney’ after a few months to 2 years in storage. Rotate them out frequently” ***

Also a Dented Can may be compromised on the inside and not last very long at all (acidics)

[CARDINALRULES]

Yes the Keystone meats are a good storage item.

Haven’t had the chicken or turkey but the beef and pork were good. They say they will last at least 5 years if stored properly.

Ingredients: Beef and Sea salt. No water added. Product of USA. Minimally processed. The others are the same. The meat and sea salt.

I think they also pack under other brands. I am positive that the Lehman’s brand is the exact same except the label and higher price.

—
I get the canned chicken breast from Aldi for $1.69 a can. I have been known to eat the whole can without even heating. Last year after surgery I needed more protein but didn’t really feel like eating much. The chicken and the broth were filling but not too much.
I also like their canned hams and canned salmon. All USA.

[CARDINALRULES]

Might want to search for the old prepper threads. Lots of good info. I actually need to search and find them myself and save again. Sadly some of the best posters are no longer with us.

I remember one about dehydrating frozen veggies.

[Eagles6]

Yep. Have lots of rice and beans.