Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

I was just looking at some dehydrated foods anyone use these? Any recomendations? They look cheap enough that I wouldnt mind have a month or 2 supply around.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=807289
http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthre...light=mountain

Personally I am sticking to canned goods that I eat anyway:

Canned 6oz boneless skinless salmon (current exp dates 7/2011)
Canned Tuna
Canned Chicken Breast
All types of canned beans
Canned vegtables
Lots of rice.

I just pick up extra each time I go shopping and before you know it you will have a couple months supply on hand. I am very fond of salmon and tuna and I eat it anyway, so it's a no brainer to do it this way. Eat the closest exp dates and put the new ones in the back of the pile.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

I wouldn't want to ONLY be eating dehydrated food - but I think having some around is a good idea in conjunction with canned foods - rice - beans and the usual stuff people save.

I have put about a years worth of Mountain House away after reading various threads here about various brands of dehydrated food. This is the brand used by the government, Red Cross, NASA and FEMA (IF they ever get there *sigh*)....and very popular among the hikers here and that I know outside of here. (There really IS an outside of here!)

Some individuals might say they dislike one of the various foods (there was a big conversation about the eggs - some liked them, some did not saying they were rubbery - but I think in general, most agreed, in a SHTF situation, they were better than nothing!)

Mountain House sells big packages of various foods, in cans that can sit for 30+ years - their most popular foods are in them. There are smaller boxes for three-day emergencies - which I keep in the house and in the car - which are good for (if I remember right) 3-7 years. (I'd have to go check the dates.)

If you want more info on what and where - and a better price than Ebay, PM me and I'll send you the info on my contact. (They used to post here but got in trouble for mentioning the foods - which I think is a bit over the top but so be it.)

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

If you only want a month or two supply its hardly worth getting dehydrated foods with the excpetion of things that always come dehydrated like rice, beans, and noodles etc. Just stock your pantry with enough of those plus enough canned meats and veggies to last two months and rotate them. Most canned food lasts a couple years. Even if you have a supply of dehydrated foods your going to want the canned stuff anyway.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Thanks for all the info so far. I was looking at the thread above and saw all the dehydrated veges and stuff. Looked fairly inexpensive. I never really looked into saving food for long periods and already have an escape plan but if for some reason that plan is delayed a month or 2 then I figured it would be good to have on hand..

Scott, what do you do with that Salmon? I like sushi but never tried it canned.

Master I will send a pm for that info, thank you.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

I think dehydrated foods tend to be expensive. Dry goods are the least expensive. Beans, rice, wheat, pastas. I have canned stuff to enhance these foods. Tomato sauce crushed tomatoes. etc I also have have canned foods that I simply like, but they are more expensive. Meat is always expensive, but over the long run is important in small quantities. Cans will last a long time

I do think "dehydrated foods like eggs, milk, sauces are very important and economical and will last years if stored properly. Certain veggies are important too. Veggies, however, can be grown and canned, which is a renewable source of food. Someone also referenced Walton feed. there are other good sources too.

SB

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

I think there is some confusion in this thread about the different types of dehydrated foods.....basically, there are 2 types of processes used which affect cost and storage time.

1. "Regular" dehydrated, where the food is simply dried, then stored in some method ( cans, buckets, etc ). THIS is what Walton Feed sells....do some reading on their page on this:

http://waltonfeed.com/self/deh-veg.html

This method produces a fairly low cost product, BUT the trade off is storage life that can be as little as a 4-5 years for some products.


2. Freeze dried. This is ALSO a dehydrated product, but uses a much more costly method to obtain a product that is virtually moisture free. They freeze the product, then use a vacuum to draw off the water from a solid to a gas, bypassing the liquid phase. The advantage here is MUCH MUCH longer storage life + they can make up complete entrees like spagetti/meatballs, for example, and it be ready to eat when reconstituted with water and a little heat......but you pay a premium for those advantages.


Normally, when talking of 'dehydrated', people are talking "DRIED" foods.....similar to what you would do if you sliced veggies and stick them in a home dehydrator..........Freeze Dried foods are the "exotics".....

I store BOTH.....I started with regular dehydrated, simply because I could get a whole lot more food for a whole lot less cost.......and things like wheat, beans, etc, will basically store FOREVER in mylar bags with nitrogen in a plastic buckets. There is NO NEED to go with the price of freeze dried, IMHO, on many of these products.

BY THE WAY.....on the Walton Feed site, these are referred to as "Super Pails"....you will see an SP designation on the product code versus the RB ( regular bucket ).They run a couple bucks more for the SP over the RB in any particular product ( and not all products offered that way ), but if you plan to store LONG TERM, get the SP buckets.

Now, where the freeze dried IS nice is in complete entrees, like spagetti, or stews, or meats.

I bought some surplus pork chops (http://www.freezedryguy.com/index.html) that were put up in 91 or 92, and are 1/2 way thru their dated shelf life, and they tasted dang near like fresh pork when re-hydrated.....and the price of them was about 1/2 of fresh packed. My guess is the 'best if used by date' on freeze dried products ( which is 25-30 years on the #10 size.....about 10 years on the individual pouches ) is REAL conservative.......my guess is they will be good longer than most of us will be alive.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

I have some of the following. Don't bother trying to keep flour, too easy for weevils to get into it. I really should get more though, particularly rice, as it's so easy to store.

White rice (and lots of it). Jasmine rice is quite nice to eat and is a bit sweet. (Carbs)
Noodles (Carbs)
Spaghetti (Carbs)
Cous Cous (Carbs)
Sugar (Carbs)
Salt (NaCl)
Rehydrate Mix

Quite a bit of water. 22.5L (Only really 9 days worth if under exertion)
Canned tuna. (Protein)
Canned salmon. (Protein)
Canned sardines. (Protein)
Long Life Milk (Protein/Casein/Calcium)
Canned drinks.

Turn over the canned stuff about once every 6 months and buy fresh stuff. It should last a couple years in a pinch, but today's canned stuff does not last forever, and deteriorates in the can.

A good plan would be to have up to 3 months supply of food. That's long enough to bug out and get a crop in the ground if necessary and start eating. You can get by with very little food if you're not exerting yourself, but odds are you will be, similar with water, but you lose water as you transpire (breathe) naturally or go to the toilet, as your kidneys and body must remove wastes.

Water (and electrolytes) are life, you can go without food for 20-30 days or more. Yes it would suck, and you would have headaches, cramps, stomach aches, the whole bit, but if you have water, are in reasonable health, you can probably hold out that long. Keep in mind that the people who have survived in that situation have probably been lying around in a liferaft and not exerting themselves much.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Tn, Andy. Can you answer a few question for me? I went to the Walton site and looked. I was interested in doing beans and rice in the pails and mylar bags. I wanted to stay away from nitrogen. Will the oxygen absorbers give the same results? Also where is the cheapest place to order pails and mylar bags.

The link fro freeze dried guy is great thanks!

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

If you're gonna bag your own, probably I'd simply either buy local if possible ( most Sams/Cosco kinda places sell rice/beans in bulk )and do the bagging at home.

I don't know who has the best price on bags, since I've never done that....but the cost of them isn't going to be TOO consequential in any case.....you're probably only talking 100 bags or less.....

Buckets, again, I'd look local if possible......bakery/deli type outlets for used buckets, or I've bought them new at Lowes Home Improvement stores.....again, that is a bulky item to ship on a small scale, and buying local is probably a better way to go......the mylar is going to do a good job of sealing, so I think the quality of the bucket probably becomes a little less important.....heck, you could probably use old, well cleaned, sheet rock compound buckets since the food is never gonna actually touch the bucket.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Andy the more I look at the prices of the food guy the more tempted I am to just buy from him for very long term storage products. Then I can buy a foodsaver and store short range and midterm products with that.

Question about storage of the freeze dried products. Since I am wearing my tin foil hat today I have to ask. Can these dehydrated foods be buried along side my PMs. If so any instructions?

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Don't for get to add water?

It's the same with sodium free food...they need salt.

Fat free food...needs fat....

:haha::aetsch: OMG! IT MUST BE FRIDAY!!!!!

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Buried ? Well, most freeze dried stuff ( the longer term stuff ) is in metal #10 cans, so you'd have to have a good humidity controlled burial vault, or rusting cans would likely be your biggest problem.

But keeping any stored food in a cool environment is a good idea....the Walton site has some figures on length of storage time for every 10 degrees of reduction in temperature, and it goes WAY up with each 10 degrees.

Also, you have to consider space.....storing a lot of food takes a fair amount of space as well....I have mine stored in several locations, which are earth cooled, but not excessively humid. The LAST place you would want to keep them is in a building or space subject to extremes of temp on the high end.

I had the experience some time back to go to one of the vendor's that advertises on "Survival Blog" ( where the ads roll down the side of the page ) to pick up some comm wire.....the owner was not there, but his wife sent me out to find it in a small utility building out behind their place ( about a 12x20' ) and along with the wire and every other manner of "survival" gear throw in there, ( I did finally dig the wire out ) were a BUNCH of buckets of food, like from Walton.....stacked floor to roof.....sitting in an uninsulated shed in the sun....booo....summer temps in that shed bound to hit 120-130+.....I can only imagine the shelf life of it had probably already past quite some time back.....simply from really poor storage. Shame to purchase food, then simply throw it away.....or at best, chickenfeed......

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Right up until midnight......ahahahaaaa

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Yes, they can be buried. As Andy has already said the cooler it is the longer it will last. The Super Pails from Walton feed that have the mylar liner are your best bet. The pails are tough and the mylar bag is too. It might be easier to just bury the bag. They are pretty tough

Cans will rust, but that can be slowed down too. A can by itself may last a couple years. Seal it in plastic and you can extend it a long time. Put it in a plastic pail with a lid that has a good seal-it will probably last a 100 years. But a bucket is harder to bury. Takes a big hole and dirt could cause it to collapse.

SB

I have buried none of my long term storage food, but i'm ready to do that if necessary. MRE's bury nicely

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

http://waltonfeed.com/catalog.html

Emergency essentials is where I bought my last buckets:

http://beprepared.com/search.asp?t=s...=32&image1.y=5

http://beprepared.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1200081540

Gamma seal lids are on sale at:

http://freckleface.com/shopsite_sc/s...ammaseals.html

Buckets/lids

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/cat...e=20327&Page=1

Old drywall buckets are OK. They are tough and well built and the lid has a good seal, but I would only use them with a mylar liner unless I was hard pressed. Don't use a paint bucket or anything that has had oil or petroleum in it.

I'm wary of the cheaper type buckets from Lowes, Home Depot as they tend to not be as strong and are not made for the lids with the good seals.

Oxygen absorbers are the easiest to use. Just make sure to keep them sealed in a quart jar before use. Nothing wrong with nitrogen gas as our air is already 70% nitrogen but it's hard to know when all the air has been displaced. Dry ice/CO2 is something that used to be used and is very effective and safe. Anything that pushes out or sucks out the oxygen will do well for long term storage.

SB

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

"Get some."

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Well said.....that cuts right to it.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

I keep #10 cans of freeze-dried and dehydrated food as part of my long-term food storage. I think it's such a good idea to have around that I even gave my sister 3 cases of #10 cans for Christmas this year. Lol!

I will now post my usual warning about Mountain House foods: They taste superior to most other brands of FD/DH food. They taste great because they're loaded with modified food starch and other flavor enhancers. They contain far more of this stuff than what you find in processed food and snacks from the grocery store. For lots of people, that doesn't really matter; HOWEVER, if you're buying for your family, make sure everyone can eat the stuff before investing in it. People with migraines, in particular, can't usually eat Mt. House. Also, Mt. House foods are often very high in sodium, so if anyone is your family watches sodium intake, you probably don't want Mt. House. There are alternatives. You can buy cans of separate ingredients, instead of prepared meals, from places like beprepared.com. If you stay away from potatoes and broccoli, you'll usually be okay. At any rate, I urge anyone considering investing in a large amount of this stuff to give it a try first, and make sure everyone who might be relying on it tries it. You can get the smaller packets at a camping store if you want to sample a meal.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Maddie - What about this???

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=221976

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Dude, modified corn starch is the 3rd ingredient listed in the turkey tetrazzini, plus it has a number of other flavor enhancers that aren't tolerated by all people listed. It's got 800 mg of sodium per serving, too.

Here are the ingredients (from beprepared.com):


<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="450"><tbody><tr><td width="10">http://beprepared.com/images/spacer.gif</td><td valign="top" width="450">NUTRITION FACTS
<small><small>Serving Size 1 cup dry mix
Servings per Container - about 10</small></small><table border="5" width="400"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><small>Amount per serving</small></td></tr><tr><td>Calories</td><td align="right">250</td></tr><tr><td>Calories from Fat</td><td align="right">90</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" align="right"><small> % Daily Value*</small></td></tr><tr><td>Total Fat 10 g</td><td align="right">15%</td></tr><tr><td>Saturated Fat 2.5 g</td><td align="right">13%</td></tr><tr><td>Cholesterol 35 mg</td><td align="right">12%</td></tr><tr><td>Sodium 800 mg</td><td align="right">33%</td></tr><tr><td>Total Carbohydrates 24 g</td><td align="right">8%</td></tr><tr><td width="250">Dietary Fiber 2 g</td><td align="right" width="150">8%</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Sugars 8g</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Protein14 g</td></tr></tbody></table><small>*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.</small><table border="5" width="400"><tbody><tr><td>Vitamin A 4%</td><td>Vitamin C 8%</td></tr><tr><td width="200">Calcium 10%</td><td width="200">Iron 6%</td></tr></tbody></table>
<small>PRODUCT INFORMATION</small><small>
</small><small><small>Ingredients:</small><small>
Cooked Turkey, Asparagus, Modified Corn Starch, Nonfat Dry Milk, Pimentos, Mushrooms, Corn Oil, Salt, Sugar, Chicken Fat, Chicken Base( Chicken Including Natural Chicken Juices, Maltodextrin, Hydrolyzed Corn Gluten, Dried Whey, Onion Powder and Naturl Flavorings, Autolyzed Yeast Extract), Dehydrated Onion, Seasonings (Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Lactic Acid, Bonito Fish Extract), Hydrolyzed Corn Soy Wheat Gluten Protein, Spices, Sherry Wine, Citric Acid, Garlic Powder, Turmeric (For Color), and Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil.

Precooked Noodles: Durum Semolina, Whole Eggs, Salt. </small></small>
</td></tr></tbody></table>

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Squirrel bait and Andy, thanks for the links and info. Im ordering today. It has been very helpful.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Why pototos and broccoli? I got those from beprepared and the brocolli says it has no additives. The potatoes don't say whats in them, but they taste like plain potatoes to me.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Realitycheck, I wonder if they've changed the way they package them. The ones I have all have bisulfites added to them (a common way to preserve color). I should have mentioned that it's not a flavor enhancer they add to them. Still, a lot of people get headaches from bisulfites (including me). Btw, the site says "no additives," but the cans I have have it listed in the ingredients. If yours doesn't, would you mind letting me know specifically what you ordered? I'd like to get some to try.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Are the ones you got freeze dried or dehydrated? The dehydrated potatoes list sulphites but not the freeze dried. The ones I got were the freeze dried precooked dices.

The potatoes are here:
http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=FN%20P175

and the broccolli is here:
http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=FN%20B100

I personally like Walton Feeds dehydrated potato dices better. They don't have sulphites according to the label and you get way more bang for your buck compared to the FD potatoes. The dehydrated ones seem to have more substance to them where as the FD are almost like eating air IMO. (Though they are very convenient in a pinch.) Just my 2 cents.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Here's another interesting link that's currently on the SteveQuayle website about caching or burying food.

http://www.stevequayle.com/News.aler...s.caching.html

SB

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Buy yourself the deluxe Excelsior dehydrator and diy.
Get a vaccum packer or a heat-sealer and a vacuum pump and package what you dehydrate.

You can dehydrate almost everything and it will store really well. Jerky, beef & turkey. Fruit Leathers. Tomato slices, green beans, peas, pineapple, apples, potatoes, celery. Get the idea? If you have access to affordable, raw food, don't get stuck buying your food, do your own an be sure.

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

One of the best and cheapest places for this kind of food is BePrepared.com:

http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q..._E_FoodStorage

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/ seems to be about 3-5 bucks cheaper on their eggs and dried strawberries so I'd say shop around before making those statements :wink: Their shipping is only 4.49 for entire order also

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

Anytime I see a low, set rate for shipping, I'm inclined to think they make up the difference on the prices of the goods....no free lunch...... or shipping.

For example:

Their price of hard red wheat: 50lbs for 41.99, and that's a paper or cloth bag.

Walton Feed 45lbs already in a mylar bag in a 6 gallon pail is 23.50

Subtract out the cost of the mylar and pail, and Honeyvillegrain is about twice the price per pound.......


That's just one cherrypicked example, I admit, and they may well be cheaper on some stuff, but a good rule of thumb is "If the shipping is dirt cheap, figure out how they are doing it and WHO is really paying for it."

Re: Dehydrated foods Any advice?
 

I just picked two items they both had on their main page for comparison. Not a deep search but looks like you came up with a cheaper source than Honeyville even. I've been to Waltons site but havn't crunched any numbers. Still looking for some land to live on before I bulk up my rental with food. I hate moving and 50lb buckets especially :wink: