Favorite Freeze Dried & Dehydrated Foods and Brands
A recent comment here on MSB:
A few weeks ago, someone (I think new) had asked about which brands of freeze dried/canned food were the best.
Several of us threw in our two cents worth about Mountain House, Emergency Essentials and so on.
Thought about other factors since then. For example, the OvaEasy eggs are a little better than other brands, but more expensive. With items like bananas, found the freeze dried were better than the dehydrated. Red Feather canned butter is really good, and so on….
Hey Ken, how about doing an article where we can all chip in our favorites?
Excellent idea!
My first purchase of professionally packaged freeze dried and dehydrated food was during 2008. That’s pretty much when I started a more serious preparedness plan than ordinary Level 2 preparedness.
I still have lots of that original purchase of #10 cans of various dehydrated and freeze dried foods. Since then we have occasionally added a variety of more #10 cans of one type of food or another.
Note: Freeze dried and dehydrated foods are just a part of our overall food storage. We have all sorts of diversification. But for the context of this article, we’re sticking to just this…
Some of the cans that we have are from companies that no longer exist. They’ve come and gone. But we have opened some of them from time to time for consumption and food rotation – and they’ve been alright I suppose.
#10 cans of freeze dried food can be pretty expensive comparatively. That said, there is quite a range of foods that you can purchase this way. And there are benefits…
Benefits of Freeze Dried Food
There are two distinct benefits and advantages to having some freeze dried and/or dehydrated food professionally packaged and sealed in #10 cans.
1. Shelf life longevity. Freeze dried food has been processed to reduce it’s moisture content to be very, very low. This, coupled with proper packaging will ensure a very long shelf life. Dehydrated food is also processed to greatly reduce the food’s moisture content. Just not as much. Shelf life will be less (but still great) than freeze dried.
2. Nutritional value. Apparently the process of freeze drying and dehydrating food retains much of the food’s original nutritional value. Keeping the processing temperatures low enough has been proven to lock in nutrition compared to some other preservation methods.
Other benefits include good taste (due to the process) and light weight (less moisture).
Favorite Brand, Food, Tips…
Okay let’s get into it. Regarding professionally processed and packaged freeze dried or dehydrated foods,
What have been your favorite brands? Why?
What are your favorite food types in this category?
Do some food types disappoint when processed this way?
Are some freeze dried or dehydrated foods surprisingly good when processed this way?
Do you have any tips in this regard, given your own experiences?
(UPDATE) Results are in…
After letting the comment roll for awhile, I’ve come up with a list based on popularity.
1. Augason Farms
2. Emergency Essentials
3. Mountain House
4. Thrive
5. Provident Pantry
6. Wise
7. LDS Cannery
8. Valley Food Storage
9. Honeyville
