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#153953 - 11/02/08 12:12 AM Long Term Food Storage - part 2
DFW Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 09/03/07
Posts: 80
I think I posted on this topic before, but I couldn't find it.

I'm beginning to think freeze-dried food definitely has a place in my long-term food storage. I don't mean individual Mountain House meals. ($$$$) They have their place, for camping and in the BOB, but I'm talking about #10 cans of freeze dried foods - fruits, veggies, etc, for sheltering in place for long periods.

I bought the book "Just in Case," by Kathy Harrison, after someone here linked to it. I found it to be basic, but very helpful for planning long-term. She spoke about heavily relying on stores of freeze-dried food, and using it regularly so her family was used to eating it. I decided to try it, (starting with breakfast) and bought some milk, dried strawberries, and a pineapple-pear mix. They were surprisingly good in either cereal or granola! The cans are bulky, but very light. Some internet research reassured me that freeze-dried retains it's nutritional value- perhaps better than canned - and serving for serving it is definitly less expensive. One #10 can easily equals a flat or even a case of the same food frozen or in cans. Storage is also much easier than frozen or canned. Just have plenty of water on hand, but that's a given anyway.

I'm going to try some veggies next, but I think this is something I will continue to buy, and use regularly.

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#153982 - 11/02/08 02:40 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: DFW]
OldBaldGuy Offline
Geezer

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
I have never used #10 cans of anything, but have always had a concern about what happens to the contents once you open a can. Will the contents "go bad" once opened, requiring you to eat a can empty once it is opened? If that is the case, seems to me that you could get really tired of having the same thing every meal 'til gone, and then it is gone for good. No variety. Do the cans come with plastic snap-on lids to "seal" the can once it is opened???
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#153987 - 11/02/08 02:54 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: OldBaldGuy]
Grouch Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 07/02/08
Posts: 395
Loc: Ohio
Mountain House says this in reference to their #10 cans: "After opening, we recommend using the contents within 2 to 3 weeks for best results and taste. Use the convenient resealable plastic lid between uses."

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#153990 - 11/02/08 03:15 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: Grouch]
comms Offline
Veteran

Registered: 07/23/08
Posts: 1502
Loc: Mesa, AZ
I am working on some backpacking recipes and need to find some dehydrated veggies like broccoli or green/red peppers.

Can anyone help?
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#154001 - 11/02/08 06:06 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: comms]
DFW Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 09/03/07
Posts: 80
Yes, the big cans come with a plastic lid, like a can of coffee. If you kept it in a dry place, I would not think you would have a problem. This stuff is DRY - not like some "dried" fruit like apples and apricots that are still flexible and have a good bit of moisture. You can easily crumble it into powder.


http://beprepared.com/default.asp?&SID=MSN&EID=MSB200703015CT&bhcd2=1225651996

This is where I bought mine, although there are other sites out there. I didn't see red peppers, but they JUST HAPPEN to have broccolli on sale this month.

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#154018 - 11/02/08 10:04 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: DFW]
kd7fqd Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 08/07/05
Posts: 359
Loc: Saratoga Springs,Utah,USA
Before you order from Emergency Essentials find out the costto ship to you and let me know I can drive to the warehouse and pick the stuff up and see if I can ship it cheaper (sometimes I can!)


Mike
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My Blog emergencybobs.wordpress.com


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#154069 - 11/03/08 12:29 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: kd7fqd]
MichaelJ Offline
Member

Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 114
Check out:
http://www.justtomatoes.com/
and
http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/
You can buy bulk and I've heard nothing but good things about both of them.

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#154076 - 11/03/08 01:48 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: DFW]
falcon5000 Offline
Addict

Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 662
I definitely think Mountain House has some good stuff, but are expensive and I liked the article from Paul who opened up and ate them 37 years later and they were still good. There's something to be said about that.

http://www.armchairsurvivalist.com/paulsmountain.html






Paul James, 85, standing beside some 200 cases of Mountain House freeze dried food. Purchased and trucked all the way cross country from Oregon in 1975, this “mountain” of food was recently pulled down from where it was stored for 37 years. This photo was taken July 29, 2007, moments before the mountain was loaded into a moving van headed back across the country to Idaho.
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USMC Jungle Environmental Survival Training PI 1985

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#154081 - 11/03/08 02:30 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: MichaelJ]
benjammin Offline
Rapscallion
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4020
Loc: Anchorage AK
Freeze dried is not the same thing as dehydrated. Dehydrating foods is something easily done at home, though not all food items lend themselves to the process. It is an economical way of processing food for storage that complements canning and freezing, but is is not as durable as canning or freeze drying, in general.

Freeze dried food does not need to be rehydrated to consume, but it may not be as palatable. Freeze dried foods thus consumed will rehydrate using digestive fluids, so an appropriate increase in water may need to be considered.

I am still waiting for the government to allow us to irradiate foods en masse so that we can have shelf stable, fresh food that is fully hydrated fresher than foods preserved using any other method. I understand we already allow some foods to be irradiated. This topic came up a long time ago and I can't recall now where we left it. Rather than let all that Cobalt and Cesium we have presently just sitting around doing nothing, we could be sterilizing fresh foods and avoid the risk of another ecoli or salmonella outbreak in this country. Everyone is so concerned about the risk of consuming an induced isotope, they don't realize we are constantly exposed to ionizing radiation in many different forms. The level of isotopic induction in foods by irradiation is so low, you stand a greater lifetime cumulative risk of exposure just going to the dentist once a year.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
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#154103 - 11/03/08 04:19 PM Re: Long Term Food Storage - part 2 [Re: benjammin]
utspoolup Offline
Newbie

Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 26
I have a pretty good sized selection of freeze dried goods in all types of goods. I have entrees, plain meats, and plain fruits or veggies. Living 3 blocks from emergency essentals is somewhat nice. A few things to keep in mind however. Think about what you need and in what quantity. Lets go with blueberries. A #10 can holds approx 6lbs of fresh blueberries. When you open it you can increase the shelf life a little by storing them in the freezer or fridge, but how long would it take you to consume 6 lbs of blueberries? Even making pancakes, granola, snaking on them, muffins, blending them into drinks, point is, it takes a while. Where as some items... say the bell peppers and onions... these are easier, since you can substitue fresh for the FD in most recipes from stews and soup, to meatloaf, to various other recipes that anyone cooks on a regular basis. The staples are really convient and will get used, the odd balls... they may get VERY boring before being consumed.

There are also the plain meats I have a few cases of. pre cooked chicken dice and ground beef can be tossed into packages soup mix or to casserole, or into prepackaged meals (hambuger helper) ect. Then there are uncooked porkchops. These I had to tyr before buying. Not bad, but not fresh, but cut up and make verde.... pretty tastey. Thing is here, there are about 30 porkchops in the can... again, how many times can you cook porkchops in a row? Your results may vary.

****Edit to add*** FD food is a great way to augment most meals. But do not make it you sole food source. One should have mutiple types of food, shelf stable, canned (purchased or home), FD, dehydrated, and the basic staples (grains, rice, beans, ect)


Edited by utspoolup (11/03/08 04:25 PM)

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