The best way to store your food – freeze dried or dehydrated?
We wouldn’t exist if our planet did not have an ample supply of water. But water can be the enemy of something else we desperately need – food. The natural moisture in food is what causes it to eventually spoil because bacteria and mold require a moist environment to grow and thrive.
Removing the moisture from food in order to extend its shelf life is the principle behind freeze-drying and dehydrating. The advantage to dehydrating your food is that it’s something you can accomplish in your home by using an oven or dehydrator. The downside is that you won’t be able to eliminate 100 percent of the moisture, and so your food’s shelf life won’t be longer than about a year.
Special equipment is required to freeze dry food, with the upside being that all of the moisture is removed and the shelf life dramatically increases to up to 25 years. With the types of survival situations that we may be required to endure in a world that is seeing an increasing number of natural and man-made disasters, freeze dried is the way for you to go in order to be as prepared as possible to feed you and your family for an extended period of time.
In addition to extending the shelf life of meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, freeze drying makes your food lighter and therefore easier to transport. It also preserves most of the nutritional content. For example, while some Vitamin C is lost during the drying process, Vitamin A is retained. The fiber, carbohydrates and minerals found in many foods are not affected when that food is dried. Some believe that freeze-dried food is tastier than food that has not been dried, especially fruit because with the water removed, the natural sugar is more concentrated. And freeze-dried food is convenient when you’re on the move because you can either re-constitute it with water or eat it in its dried state.
Do you have a preference between dehydrated and freeze-dried food? Have you done any food dehydration at home? Are freeze-dried or dehydrated foods among your survival stockpile? I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.
I have a freeze dryer, i love it. I use it on fresh fruits, meats raw and cooked eggs, vegetables. It takes mine about 1 and a half days if i dont prefreeze my food. I have been using it for 2 years now. I do foods for friends that are back packing and for long term storage. If you are doing long term storage, you need to use mylar bags with ozygen absorbers in it, push most of the air out then just seal them, they will suck down on there own. I bought my freeze dryer cause i have a ton for friuts and vegies and not enough time to can or dehydrate everything. It s another way for putting away. Food for later.
I bought a home freeze dryer about a year ago.
I had big plans of drying up my freezers full of grass fed meats and fruits I get from local farmers etc.
i wanted to do my own since I was certain of the quality of my food VS, “what is really in that can from Thrive?”
Meat is not easy. You have to cut it up in small portions to freezer dry evenly. I tried cooked and raw. Same thing.
The cooked meats seemed to taste strange upon reconstituting, kind of chewy, and seemed to get stale reasonably fast.
Cooked eggs worked okay upon reconstitution.
My vegetable lasagna was great but again I had to cut it up into small pieces.
Grated cheddar cheese worked well. Same with feta and crumbly cheeses. Ice cream was fun but not worth it.
Bone broth worked great, reconstitutes well. Yogurt was okay as was sour cream but they are a little strange reconstituted.
Strawberries are fine but you have to cut them up small, all fruit has to be small. Even cherries are too big, as are some blueberries.
And cherries and blueberries stayed sticky sort of and we preferred them dehydrated rather than freeze dried.
We preferred most of the fruits dehydrated than freeze dried. we like the texture better since they don’t reconstitute all that well.
We like chewy rather than powder puffy like a dried marshmallow and then go soggy quickly due to moisture in the air.
Whole Raspberries worked well.
I did snow peas and green onions, celery, and a few other vegetables and they seem good enough.
I do cook from scratch 99% of the time so we are used to fresh foods and non processed so our taste buds are pretty picky!
Hard to compare anything real to freeze dried. Don’t expect it to be the same and you won’t be disappointed.
I freeze dried all the components to Udon Soup bowl, noodles, mushrooms, broth, snow peas, onions, eggs etc and since it was soup it did reconstitute rather nicely.
I think water based foods like that might work best. like bone broth rather than steak. I’ll take jerky from my dehydrator over freeze dried steak any day.
Remember you really can’t eat freeze dried foods un-reconstituted. It will suck all the water out of your body and your bowels will plug up and you will die a terrible death.
Dehydrated is not the same and not so bad. Everyone will still need lots of water.
The other thing. It seems that every time I use mine I have some strange issue every other batch.
So I waste a lot of time on the learning curve. It take about 3 days for each batch start to finish and at the end you could end up with it not having worked well, things not quite dry so they collapse and go chewy.
Not a dehydrated chewy but a weird stick to your teeth chewy.
And I’m always changing the oil for the pump and it always spits oil all over my garage, where I have it situated. Messy.
When I call for problems the guys make suggestions but they really don’t seem to know much. I follow the directions to the T.
I figured out the seal problem myself as none of their suggestions worked after messing for hours with the door.
They wanted me to bring my machine in. I live in Oregon. Oops! they said, that’s too bad, they could help me better if I lived in Utah.
Guess they are not planning on selling many outside of Utah.
I know I would not recommend them.
I know one other person who has a freeze drier in Oregon. She has had one at least a year longer than me but she calls me for advise, she hardly ever uses hers.
I had big dreams of clearing out my freezer, but the only way that will happen is if I pressure can all my meat, make a lot of jerky and dehydrate my berries.
Cheese and broth seem to be the two things that work well in a freeze dryer.
What are you planning on storing? You might not find it worth it.
I live in california, ibought a freeze dryer about 2 years ago. If you have to much oil in the pump it will spit it al over the place. On the front of your pump is a clear plastic piece. The oil is to be in the middle of the piece, you need to drain off the water after each batch and replace some oil to keep it to the middle area. I change my oil in my pump after about 6 times. Ive put to much oil in and yes it spits it all over.
ETing freeze dried foods without rehydrating will NOT kill you. Just be sure you are drinking plenty of water. You are just rehydrating the food inside you instead of outside.
I prefer dried food more. But I wonder how to freeze dried food at home?
It’s true, water contained on food is the main reason for bacteria and mold growth, and then causes spoilage on food, but using freeze dried method can prevent these problems. Thanks for sharing these useful information.
I love my Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer. I use both the bags (mostly for freezer storage) and the mason jar attachments. Did you know they now have..I think it is 1/2 or 1 gallon mason jars. I put my excess flour (after it has spend time in the refrigerator) and sugar in them.
I am a distributer for Perma-Guard Food Grade DE (Diatomaceous Earth). aka: FSF (Fossile Shell Flour) DE is well known to remove moisture. It is used in seed bins/feed bins. It also will kill all insects that cross over the DE.
My question is: Why not put DE in the vacuum bag of dehydrated food items before removing the air? Since it is food grade, it will have no effect on you eating the food(s) plus the added benefit of killing any parasites that may be in your intestinal tract.
Awesome idea!!!
i’m very glad to find this post it’s useful, here i found a good article about survival food – how to dehydrate foods for long term stockpiling https://www.patriotdirect.org/survival-food-how-to-dehydrate-foods-for-long-term-stockpiling/
containerization of fruits, vegetables and meats can last for ever if you can vacate the air and inject CO2. Bacteria cant survive in this condition. Warehousing of consumables have been stored this way for years and distributed out of season as if fresh of the vine/tree. Eggs have been stored safely this way for several years with out aging and increasing air in the egg sack.
This can be accomplished with can, mylar and poly bag containers. Worth serious consideration for long term, safe and fresh storage without freeze drying or dehydration. The product remains natural without the need to hydrate and retains fresh flavours.
The key is to provide permanent sealed containerizing that has the means for CO2 injection that will not leak.
Can someone tell me if using a “food saver” machine (about $130) would be a good way to add shelf life to my food? These machines suck out the air. I’m wondering if inside the “bag” where it seals the edges tight I should throw in an oxygen absorber? The “bags” just seem to be plastic. Since they aren’t Mylar is that a problem? Basically I am just wondering how to best use my food saver machine. Currently I use it for meat that I put in the freezer.
Have you seen the Mormon Church’s food storage information. I think it’s a nice, trustworthy, conglomeration of food storage ideas, including sealed pouches:
https://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage/longer-term-food-supply?lang=eng#3
I use the FoodSaver vacuum sealer for sauces, meats and dried foods for my long term storage. I’ve used oats for oatmeal that were 3 years old in the vacuum seal bags, and they are just fine, so I’m sure dried foods would stay up pretty long with Food Saver. Meats, sauces, vegetables, I usually prepare for freezing in the bags.
I’ve also used mylar bags but when purchasing the oxygen absorbers, most times they aren’t any good.
Vac sealing adds life to most foods, but equally important is keeping out the light, hence the recommendation for both. I have had steaks in the freezer for 2 years , vac sealed and they are delish. The problem with vac sealing is it doesn’t always get out all of the air…pasta, cookies, crackers, breads, cereals, chips, etc. and if you get 90% or more air out, you have crushed most of the product to dust. CO2 packs help, but knowing how much to use can be problematic. I use vac sealing with CO2 packs and then in Mylar bags, except for beans and rice which go in two liter bottles with CO2, then stacked in dark closet. I buy a mix of products from reliable companies, lots out there…good luck
When I was in Nam we used to get C-rats that used to have packed dates of 1945, 46, 47 and etc. No one ever died but most of it tasted like drek. These guys today who complain about M.R.E.s should eat some ham and lima beans.
Just a comment, all soldiers sailors Marines,AND airmen all complain, doesnt matter how new, how fresh, or how good it is,
Not true! Many of us like some MREs. Day in and day out were the problems. I keep a nice stock of rib meat (similar to Micky DSL rib sandwich), beef stew, maple sausage, and chicken patties to add to pasta and rice dishes. 1 MRE pkg split between two people, except the stew which favors 4 servings of rice. I am a vet and my hubbie is a retired vet. We both like any of the NOT spicy ones…
I was a Marine stationed in Hawaii from 81 to 84, and during that time we were issued C-Rations that had dates in the mid to late 60’s. As long as the cans weren’t dented, bloated, or rusty, and as long as that can sucked in air when you punctured it with a P-38 the food was safe to eat. Palatability was up to personal tastes subject to the addition of Tobasco and whatever other seasonings one had on hand.
John, I remember them to be a little greasy. I used to heat them up on the exaust of the generator. Punch a hole in it first or it will blow. Good ole’ ham and lima beans.
My Grandmother dried everything in her attic under a tin roof.. She strung green beans on a string and hung them on a nail in the rafters.. She dried apples(to keep them from turning dark she ran them through a salt-water bath- don’t rinse) by thinly slicing them and spreading them on clean pasteboard, old screen (made from aluminum or plastic? (I think)or anything she could find that was big enough to spread them out thinly…
she dried tomatoes, okra, and about anything out of her garden that she already had canned a cellar full of.. She also had a “root Cellar” which was simply dug out in the basement.. She layered potatoes, apples ,onions in a dirt bank with straw and pasteboard in between. In western NC we ate very well all winter long.. I have eaten the foods she dried. Her shelly beans or leather britches that she dried on a string (wish I had some now) were delicious… The fruit pies she make (turnovers) still make me smile to remember..
Yes, we should all be able to do this from growing season to growing season, but most only stayed good for a year or two…they don’t work for long term storage like 5 to 25 years…for that you need to freeze dry or CO2 to last that long
1 year on dehydrated foods? NOT SO! If done properly and using oxygen absorber packs, dehydrated food can last for years and years.
absolutely true!! My parents live in a dry climate and stored all their sun dried plums in ice-cream pails and nothing ever went moldy! they’d give my kids a pail when we would visit and it’s like candy. But when we got home to Oregon we’d seal it in jars and eat as we pleased, never any mold!! Even years later!!
In the early 1970’s, I was directed to decommission U.S. government- stocked community nuclear bomb shelters. The food stocks, 15 to 20-years old, were edible in an emergency, but far from satisfactory for sustenance on an on-going basis. Everything was canned. I assume items were irradiated or exposed to extreme UV light, but don’t know for sure. The food, though edible, tasted terrible. For instance, crackers did not have visible spoilage and the texture was good, but there was a distinct rancid “tang”. I’m guessing the meals were simply relabeled “C-rations”. The meals were taken to a landfill. The crackers were fed to wild birds.
In the 70s, while stationed in the Pentagon, I lived in a very old apt building in Arlington, across from ft Myer. It still had all the Civil Defense signs in the basement, which was only used by the maintenance staff.
All the food supplies had been looted over the years, probably by the staff, but I did find a number of green water barrels that looked nearly new, though their date was over 20 yrs old then. I opened one, just to use the can for a wastebasket, and the water smelled fine. The only other thing left was some shiny square cans, with what looked (and tasted) like graham crackers inside, wrapped in wax paper packs of about 20 or so. I can’t remember how the crackers were marked, but even though they were a bit hard, they tasted just fine. A couple of those cans lasted me for several years, using them as snacks, either alone or with peanut butter on them. Wish I had taken them all now, instead of leaving a dozen or so cans down there.
The cracker cans were VERY hard to open neatly … I think I finally just used a chisel to gain entry.
Since there was no “whoosh” when the can was opened, they were apparently not vacuum=sealed, but they kept great for around 25 years, based on the dates stenciled on them.
It occurs to me that perhaps graham crackers are an excellent, relatively inexpensive source of nutricion for survival, though one should probably store the unopened packs in a secure container, with some oxy tabs thrown in, and perhaps an interior mylar bad as well.
Haven”t checked the big box stores, but perhaps Sams Club or similar outlets carry graham crackers in bulk.
Unrelated reminder — In addition to the basic foodstuffs (flour, sugar, salt) that may not ever be available again, you should also store many years’ worth of multivitamins for the whole family, since we may not always be able to balance our diets as easily as shopping in Safeway. If you store them carefully, they should be effective for many years. Wrapping bottles in tinfoil is a good way to prevent moisture infiltration.
Same goes for essential meications — both over=the-counter stuff like aspirin and acetamnophen, and your prescription drugs. The expiration dates on medications are pure nonsense, as the government’s own research proved a long time ago, and if they are stored carefully most are good for a number of years. I have used Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Morphine that was over ten years old, just sitting in my sock drawer — maybe 10% less effective, at most. Insulin though, won’t store indefinitey, as I I understand it, I keep a year’s supply or more, refrigerated & double=wrapped in thick freezer bags, but figure that when I’m down to eating only what’s essential (instead of fast food & doughnuts), my insulin requirement will at least drop, if not disappear.
Diabetics should also stockpile needles, which can be re-used dozens of times if you are careful and remember to stockpile lots of alcohol.
I have a careful procedure for re-using and sharpening syringes, which I will someday rewrite and post here for everyone’s use.
Homemade Graham’s and crackers are great if slow baked to reduce all moisture. This was originally called “hard tack” and lasts forever. The regular can be crushed and added to liquids to make gravy and the Graham’s crushed for pie crusts or topping for desserts. Mmmmmm, cheap, flexible, and great favors!
I have several questions before buying any survival foods. I would have to assume all the food is freeze dried???? Can you vacuum seal items like salt and spices for future use. Can you vacuum seal items as rice, flour. sugar with moisture packets and if so how long would they be good for. Then is the idea to keep all storage food in cool dry placed for longer shelf life.
you can vacuum seal any powdery substance like sugar or salt, however if you get the packets of salt/pepper etc. from mickeys etc. you can simply put them in a freezer bag to keep out moisture. rice, flour etc. needs to be frozen for at least a month prior to sealing in a bag OR putting into a bucket. in a bucket you need to put in either nitrogen gas or put in a hand warmer or mre heater which takes the moisture out and keeps it out as long as the seal of the bucket lid stays tight. the reason for the freezing is to kill weevils/eggs on any milled stuff and rice. once the freezing process is done it is unlikely that once sealed into what every package they will come back and ruin the stuff. powdered egg is easy to make and can be vacuum sealed like potatoe flakes and things like that. jerky or pemmican can be dried and left in the fridge or freezer to dry even more nad then packaged for a while. not sure what the shelf life would be on that so someone else might be able to tell you. do kow that the stuff will stay good for a year sealed in a bag or in a freezer as long as it is pretty dry when you put it in the bags. hope this helps. have a great day.
I was in military in 1974 and we were given sea rations from the 50’s that we heated in water heated cans, they are not great but for in the field food were not bad. How is it they were almost 20 years old and still served and no one got sick. Also my great grandmother cans food. She stores the canned items in a root cellar. Some of the canned fruit is 10 years old and she eats the food all the time and still cans today. She said in the 30’s they ate canned food from root cellars that many times were older than 10 to 12 years old. How was this a process then and not now????
I still can a lot of my food for storage. It keeps a lot of the fresh flavor, and like the elders discovered, can last for years. The up side is a fresher product. THe down side is in an natural disaster, they can break, which is where dried food is nice to have. I would say do both if you have the room.
It’s still a process that some folks use that are avid canners as well as being growers/farmers.
Today, we value are time above all else…it’s sad really, as we’ve lost so many valuable and enjoyable culinary pursuits that were commonplace a century ago.
Some of the best food I ever had was the freeze dried food my dad and I had while backpacking on mount Rainier. Incredible flavor and aromas.
If you have property, build a root cellar. You can store food for most the winter. Takes no electricity and it is better for you when in it’s original state. Make wine with some. It gets better with age and has good trade value in a crisis. Build a solar dehydrator. It will still work if the grid goes down. Lots of videos on Youtube on how to build one. Buy a moister reader. Make sure food and herbs are dry enough before you store them. Then store it in mylar bags. Even without power, they can be sealed using a flat iron. Everything stores longer in mylar….With or without the oxygen packets. Mylar can be used over and over again and cut to any size.
Frank; I have alot of dehydrated herbs and some of them I have had for 8 to 10 years and they are still very good, they haven’t lost any of their flavor, I don’t use A machine but let them dry naturally. I am going to try drying vegitables and fruits this year. I have not thought about freeze drying, but I would like to try it. Karen
How does one go about freeze-drying food at home?
I would be very interested in the freeze drying process, and equipment if someone ever makes it available for home use, maybe several neighbors could go together to get the equipment. I know that it has to be done at a very cold temp but don’t know what kind of machine would get it that cold. I like the taste better and the storage could be worth the extra cost of a freeze drying dehydrator especially for family or church organizations
we have a 34 shelf dehydration sysm. and have been doing it for 20 yrs. the food we did 20 yrs. ago is as good as the food we do now u just got to know what u r doing and how to pack it we grow our own food no G.M.O.s and raise our own meat thier is a trick to doing it right .
Some 40 years ago, I made several (for other family members) food dryers, using synthetic window screen on frames, 7 per dryer. Been using them regularly ever since, mainly on fruit and vegetables. Bananas, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, and raspberries are the main subjects. For longer storage, I put the full plastic containers in the freezer. This is my version of freeze-dried.
Google is your friend, Wikipedia is your friend. Amazon is your friend
These links explains a fair amount of it, the hows and whys, and even gives equipment info:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_13?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=freeze%20drying%20machine&sprefix=freeze+drying%2Caps%2C162&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Afreeze%20drying%20machine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze_dry
equipment appears to be a bit pricey, at least for me. I can much easier to buy in small amounts over time and avoid a large expenditure for equipment
You can freeze dry small quantities of fruits and vegetables at home. For instance, If you slice apples or carrots as thin as possible and then put them onto wire racks and into the freezer what happens is the moisture will sublimate, going from the frozen state to a gaseous state without liquifying. The thinner your slices the quicker the process, it will take about a week, more or less depending on how thin you cut your slices.
No you cant the freeze dryer machine freezes it and pulls the water from it. If you just freeze it it is just froxen.
Is there a way to easily freeze dry food. If so what to do with it after that
Thank You for this insight……..
Cool stuff. I feel safer when armed with practical knowledge.
For me, I think dehydration is adequate. If I grow more food every summer, I don’t really need longer than a year’s shelf life before replenishing my stock. I have a small plastic dehydrator that I bought ages ago. I like to start the drying process outside when there will be a couple of hot, sunny, preferably breezy, days in a row. I lay out thin slices of fruits or vegetables on anything I can find that lets the air through. I have used racks from old refrigerators, ovens, and barbeque grills covered with a layer of cheesecloth, as well as some large pizza pans with holes in the bottom. After some of the moisture has evaporated, the pieces are smaller, so I can fit more of them into the dehydrator to finish them off. I find that it is tricky to know when the food has dried enough though. Sometimes it will feel dry on the surface, but still have moisture inside that will cause it to spoil. When in doubt, I will store the dried food in mason jars in the refrigerator or freezer. It takes up a lot less room than fresh, and I think it would keep longer than fresh food during a power failure. I am still learning this process, and hope to practice on a larger scale this summer.
Freeze dried is the way to go for long term stuff. My stocks are almost all freeze dried with the exception of some bulk grains and other items stored in nitrogen atmosphere mylar and metal containers. I do dehydrate some items at home as I like the taste of my personal receipes better for things like smoked fish, dried hard like jerky, jerky itself and various fresh fruits in season. All of these home dehydrated foods are ones my family consumes on a regular basis and there is no difficulty with stock rotation. T.
How do you freeze dry food at home?
IS THERE A PRACTICAL WAY TO FREEZE-DRY FOOD AT HOME? IF SO, HOW?
I have a dehydrator which is a little bigger than a pop-corn maker but it does I think 5 trays at a time. When neighbors have a surplus of garden vegetables, I will dehydrate them. Tomatoes are my favorite dehydrated food. They are more tasty dry than fresh because it concentrates the natural sugars. I have done all kinds of peppers, potatoes (cut them thin and they become healty potato chips), squash and eggplant. I have been given dehydrated carrots. They all work well in soups and can make Ramain noodle soop taste a lot better.
Does anyone know how long dehydrated foods are ‘good’ once they are vaccuum sealed? We make alot of jerky , hunter sticks, and fruits,- we dry them, vac seal them and then store them in the freezer. They are usually very good. But in a crisis situation, I would like to know how long they last.
Ok one thing I do know about storing food. Canning, drying, or just cooking. If anyone has ever noticed depending on the spices and salt used will sometimes determine how long foods will last. There is an old book series that tells of how people in the mountains used to do things sorry do not remember the name. Anyhow salt brine and vinegar is a couple, also honey if pure will last a long time. If honey hardens, put on a low heat until it melts and wala you have honey again. Best policy keep every thing clean while storing products. This is essential to how long your foods will last.
Was the book series Foxfire?
I maintain a supply of canned, dry goods, freeze dried and dehydrated foods in my storage as well as vacuum packaged and home canned goods. (I do my own dehydrating, canning and vacuum packaging.) This way when I go to the store I’m buying for my food storage and maintaining a good rotation. My food storage and my pantry as it turns out now are one in the same. I just continually add to my supplies and replace the ones that are consumed. this works out well for me and it doesn’t break the bank.
The idea of freeze-drying the food is a great idea; one that I would like to take advantage of. However, I don’t know if there is a way to freeze-dry at home. Do you have instructions for doing this at home? It would be well-received if you would put it in print. Thank you.
I would like to have info in how to freeze dry food. I have dehydrator, a cheap plastic one.
Freeze drying is completely different than dehydrating. I’ve seen a few ideas online on how to do it at home, but have not been able to successfully replicate commercially freeze dried products. If I find a method that works, I’ll let you know.
Freeze drying foods is not a simple process, but I have experimented with it and achieved some success. The main thing required is a very high vacuum pump, capable of pulling a vacumm down to the micron-range. This is less than 1 mm of mercury pressure. High vacuum pumps are very expensive, but I have acquired a surplus one for about $500. Additionally, you will require a high-vacuum guage, and a high-vacuum container (similar to a painter’s “pressure pot”, which will work if you take precautions to insure it is well sealed). Your food items will need to be frozen solid first, then placed inside the container, which is then packed into dry ice. When a substantially high enough vacuum is applied, the water sublimates out. This can take anywhere from 6 to 32 hours, depending on the surface area & mass of the items being feeze-dried, and its initial moisture content. Producing very high vacuums, enough to sublimate water at minus 100 degree is tricky. A vacuum is the absence of air molecules. As you progressivelly reduce the number of air molecules, there are fewer & fewer molecules to extract from your original given volume. Even the tiniest, unperceptably small leak will prevent you from achieving the necessary vacuum levels to sublimate the water out. Freeze-drying is not easy or simple to do, but is achievable if you are determined enough.
Brent – I would love to hear more and I know everyone else would, too. Could you show us your set-up with pictures? [email protected] will get it to me.
Did you know that freeze drying is centuries old? In Peru the farmers would throw their food,especially root crops on top of their house. The nights are cold and the days warm. so the food would freeze and dry, freeze and dry..Once the moisture had been sucked out, the food was then stored.
I know there are ways to freeze dry with dry ice, but would love to hear if someone has already come up with something else. For now dehydrated is the best for personal preparation. If someone knows of a process to freeze dry at home, tell us all. Its time to get this done with all the issues at hand.
I have a stainless steel dehydrator. I dehydrate of fruits, vegetables, meat (jerky), herbs then I vacuum seal them. My dehydrator runs constantly during the summer and harvest. Some things have sharp edges so it punctures the bag upon sealing. so those things I bag first then seal.
I would like to know how to freeze dry if someone knows how. I have heard it can be done in a freezer if the food is cut very small and left long enough in the freezer but I have never tried it
Resources of where to find specific instructions would be great. Old Amish cook books, old HOW TO books and Mother Earth magazines from years gone by I see in the media with a twist of today’s technology and equipment. ‘Old but true’ still prevails.
Recently I visited an patriot event where sharing methods of survival was demonstrated. I talked with a lady from Tenn. who had strung green beans on a long heavy string and hung them in a protected closet or attic spot to dry. She assured me they were just as tasty as fresh green beans when cooked.
I also remember my grandmothe drying apple slices on a old window screen, layered between ‘cheese cloth’ then she stored them in an air tight container for use. But as this method is from an old memory, testing would be suggested for outcome.
Thank you for sharing through your blog. People like yourself reinforces my philosophy, “Through Sharing We ALL Grow”.
What equiptment do I need to freeze dry ?
One of the prepped sites has a freez dryer they sell but it’s really expensive so I just keep buying freeze dried from suppliers. I live alone (but will have large family if SHTF) so I can’t rotate much. Other problem is living in central TX so have no option but to store in shed & garage — no place to keep stuff cool. Can only hope all I’ve invested in will keep even in heat.