The Freeze-Drying Process

During the freeze-drying process, fresh or cooked foods are first flash frozen
when the food tastes its best. Moisture is then removed in a vacuum chamber,
where a low-level heat is applied to evaporate the ice without returning it to
a liquid form. Since the product remains frozen during the process, the
product’s cell structures do not change, retaining the freshness, vitamins,
nutrients, colors, and aromas of the fresh foods while offering you the
shelf-stable convenience of long-term storage. This freeze-drying process
allows for quick re-hydration of the product, making freeze-dried foods ideal
for your food storage. Freeze-dried products are light; they typically weigh
up to 90 percent less than the product’s original weight. Just add water and
they are ready to use!






Used with permission from Oregon Freeze Dry

Storage Life & How to Store

We feel the freeze-dried food Disasternecessities offers has the best
long-term storage life available today.



Many factors contribute to the quality of stored freeze-dried food. The
main factors include oxygen, moisture, light, and temperature. As a general
rule, the lower amount of each of these factors, the longer nutrition is
preserved in the #10 cans of freeze-dried foods. If product is properly
stored, energy (calories) and minerals will store indefinitely. Vitamins,
proteins and fats will gradually diminish over time. Recent testing of
freeze-dried food has shown some products having significant retention of
vitamins, proteins and fats at the 25-year mark. This is encouraging.



Approximately 98 percent of the residual oxygen has been removed in both
Provident Pantry® and Mountain House® #10 can food. The cans eliminate light,
and the moisture level is extremely low. This leaves only the heat factor. We
encourage you, the consumer, to keep your food in as cool and dry an
environment as possible—ideally, 70 degrees or lower. Something else to
consider is the fact that the human body, depending on its health, stores
nutrients for various amounts of time. If you have food stored, even though
lacking in some nutrients, it can help you survive in short-term emergencies
by supplying needed energy while relying on the body’s supply of other
nutrients. This is why we have for years said, “All food is best if used in 5
to 7 years, but never throw food away until you have replaced it.”



Products retain quality at different rates depending on various factors.
Again, the earlier you use your food the better. Freeze-dried Provident
Pantry® and Mountain House® food is quality food, store it the best you can
and enjoy it in the years to come.

Advantages of Freeze-Dried

In addition to complementing your other stored foods well, freeze-dried food
offers the advantage of looking fresh, tasting fresh, staying fresh, weighing
less than fresh foods, and adding variety to your meals while being quick and
easy to prepare.



After freeze-dried foods are re-hydrated, many are comparable to foods
you might find in the freezer section of your grocery store. Since
freeze-dried foods re-hydrate well and taste much like frozen foods, they
enable the meals you create to taste much like those you create using fresh
foods.



The following attributes of freeze-dried foods highlight some of the
main reasons they are a storage favorite:



Fresh appearance. Freeze-dried foods are first flash frozen and
then have the moisture removed so they maintain much of their original shape,
texture, and appearance.



Fresh taste. Freeze-dried food is not dried via heat processing
so it retains more of the aroma and flavor of the original food. The
freeze-drying process also maintains most of the original food’s nutritional
content. Freeze-drying simply removes the water, not the flavor.



Lasting freshness. The freeze-drying process removes water and
oxygen, the two primary causes of food deterioration. To further ensure the
lasting freshness of these foods, both Provident Pantry® and Mountain House®
#10 cans and pouches are packed with under approximately 2 percent oxygen
content. This helps keep the food tasting fresh.



Low storage weight. Freeze-dried foods have approximately 98
percent of their water removed, resulting in foods that typically weigh 75 to
90 percent less than the original food. The freeze-drying process results in
foods that are exceptionally light. This makes the food easy to package,
transport, and store. For this reason, freeze-dried foods are excellent in
72-hour emergency kits when you may be required to carry several days of food
in a small backpack. At the same time, the reconstitution ratio of these foods
is high. A little bit goes a long way.



Easy preparation. The freeze-drying process allows for quick
re-hydration of the product, making freeze-dried foods ideal for your food
storage. Most freeze-dried items are reconstituted by adding warm water,
waiting about five minutes, and draining the excess water. You may then use
the food in your recipes.



Variety. Traditional dehydrated food storage items such as wheat,
rice, beans, sugar, and dehydrated food staples allow you to create a variety
of recipes. Freeze-dried foods add a whole other dimension to what you can
create with these stored dehydrated basics. For example, with the help of
freeze-dried meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, you can use your
dehydrated basics to create family favorites such as pizza or tacos,
sweeteners for cereals, additions for soup bases, breakfast casseroles,
desserts and much more.

What Types are Available?

Disasternecessities sells several types of freeze-dried food items in forms
that work for your 72-hour kits and long-term food storage plans. The most
popular items include food in #10 cans and pouch foods.

Provident Pantry® #10 Cans

Think of being able to have real meat, vegetables, or fruit in an emergency to
be sure your family has proper nutrition when you need it most. Besides
providing proper nutrition in an emergency, Provident Pantry freeze-dried food
allows you to add a variety of meats, fruits, vegetables, and cheeses to your
food storage. And the good news is that the variety of these products has
increased over the years, while many prices have come down.



These fresh-tasting items are a great addition to your soups, pot pies,
casseroles, stir-fry dishes, vegetable medleys, breakfast dishes and desserts.
The #10 can is an excellent choice to preserve food for long term storage. The
can is approximately 0.8 of a gallon and is sealed in such a way as to keep
moisture out and low oxygen levels in, thus keeping your investment safe. We
are confident you will be pleased with the quality of the line of Provident
Pantry #10 can food.

Mountain House® #10 Cans

Mountain House® foods are entrées that are completely created, just as you
would create any meal prior to serving. Then, these meals are immediately
freeze-dried and canned in a form that’s easy to re-hydrate in small or large
portions. No food storage process locks in the flavor and texture better while
preserving the nutritional value of foods. Just as with Provident Pantry®
freeze-dried foods, Mountain House® products are made from quality products
from the beginning. For 35 years, Mountain House® has been providing quality
freeze-dried foods for consumers and the U.S. military. You can be assured
that the entire Mountain House line of contains quality food.

Mountain House® Pouches

Mountain House® freeze-dried foods are delicious, easy to prepare, and will
taste just as fresh years from now as they do today. Mountain House® foods are
not only for backpackers. They are shelf-stable for up to seven years, making
them a great addition to your home food storage. Plus, they’re lightweight and
easy to prepare, making them a great addition to 72-hour kits. Backpackers and
others have consistently rated Mountain House® foods number one year after
year for taste and ease of preparation. Why do Mountain House® foods taste so
great? The answer is fairly simple: Mountain House starts with fresh or frozen
foods, then cooks and prepares them, and finally freeze-dries them. The
nutrition, flavor, and taste are locked in almost as if you had hand-made
these meals from scratch.



Freeze-dried food, added to a foundation of basics such as grains,
legumes, milk, honey, salt, oil, garden seeds, along with many other products
form an excellent food storage plan.