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Freeze Drying at Home

Liisa Sullivan writes for several national and regional magazines; daily and weekly newspapers; and business-to-business newsletters. Before starting Write Away, Inc., she worked as an editor for a national medical publishing company where she managed a team of writers and did market research for new launches.

By Liisa Sullivan, eHow Contributor

1. • Freeze drying food is a popular preservation technique. It is a great way to preserve homegrown fruits and vegetables as it will save you money and time in the long run. Freeze dried products also retain their nutritional value and taste for a long period of time (up to several years).

   Defining Freeze Dried

   • Freeze drying combines two factors: very cold temperatures and low pressure. When combined, these work together to prevent food from spoiling. The fundamental principle is called sublimation, a shift from a solid into a gas.

   Benefits of Freeze Dried Foods

   • Freeze dried foods have a long shelf life. They also require minimal preparation and revitalize quickly. In addition, the total weight of the product is reduced because 98 percent of the water is removed from the food. This makes it easy to store and to carry, if necessary.

   Advantage to Freeze Drying Foods at Home

   • Freeze drying can be done in two ways: high-tech or low-tech. If you are trying this at home, low-tech is the clear choice as you will not possess expensive freeze drying equipment needed for more high-tech procedures. Your refrigerator will act as your primary tool. While the process for freeze drying foods at home may take longer, it is much more economical than buying prepared freeze dried foods or purchasing the equipment.

   Determine the Product (s) to Freeze Dry

   • If you are just starting out, potatoes and apples are good products to start with. Pick the fruit or vegetable at the height of its ripeness and then wash the product.

   Freeze Dry the Food

   • Find a mesh metal tray. The tray should have some holes or the freeze-drying process will take longer. These can be found at any restaurant supply store. Next, cut the apple or potato into very thin slices. The thinner the slice, the less time the process will take. Arrange the slices on the tray and place in freezer. Within 30 minutes, they should be frozen. Keep in freezer for about one week to completely dry. To test, remove one slice and thaw. If it is not completely dry, it will turn black. If this happens, keep slices in freezer for another day or two and test again.

   Store the food

   • Once you have determined the food is completely dry, place it in an air-tight container or zip lock bags. If you have a home version of a vacuum-pack sealer, use that. If you do not, you can simply suck the air out of the bag with your mouth and press down firmly on the bag to remove any air bubbles. Then place in freezer and store until you need it. You can reconstitute them by placing them in hot water. Apples can also be eaten in their freeze-dried state.

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As found in Meridian Magazine...

Food storage includes more than just food

Author: Connor Boyack See all from this author
20 October 2010 9:00am

Imagine a future disaster where the grocery store shelves are quickly emptied, and your access to any new food supply is immediately cut off. You'll no doubt be proud of your basement full of canned goods, right? But what if you don't have a can opener?

Food storage is about more than just food. For instance, it's not uncommon to find families who have several months (or years) of food stocked up but little to no water storage. Unless they have access to a water source they can collect and purify, these people would have an extremely difficult time preparing their food, cleaning their cooking supplies, keeping up their hygiene and hydrating themselves during a disaster.

Kenneth Moravec, a Community Emergency Response Team instructor from American Fork, Utah, emphasizes this point in his seminars. He says, "We need to seriously look and think through many different scenarios and how they might affect us. When teaching on any emergency preparedness subject, I normally ask people to think of preparing for an earthquake of the worst magnitude and prepare accordingly. This will usually cover most bases for any emergency."

Eating food you've stored usually requires first cooking it, which in turn requires cooking supplies and fuel. The extra supplies needed will largely depend on what you've decided to store. Of course, the best way to plan for using your food storage is to actually use it. Consider conducting a week-long experiment where the only food your family eats must come from your food storage. Along the way, make a list of the non-food items you use — water, propane, matches, napkins, plastic cutlery — so you can readily identify what you would need should you be living off of your food supply long term.

While food storage is an important aspect of preparing for emergencies, Crystal Godfrey of EveryDayFoodStorage.net notes that it's "also for times of unemployment, extreme price increases and for convenience." For these types of more common occurrences, Godfrey says it's important to "store things like toilet paper, deodorant, toothpaste, napkins, etc. You can only fold your paper towels into napkins for so long!"

Godfrey also suggests acquiring paper goods such as bowls, plates and cups, so doing the dishes is as easy as throwing away (or burning) the trash.

"In a natural disaster, or any scenario where there's a lack of water, you don't really want to be wasting your water to clean your dishes. Plus, there are some nights you just plain don't want to do dishes."

Whether for natural disasters or the rough and tumble of daily life, being prepared is more than buying and storing things. Jason Hall, founder of UtahPreppers.com, stresses the importance of a good plan, whether for food storage specifically or emergency preparedness in general.

"If you have your food storage, medical supplies, camping gear, tools and anything else organized ahead of time, you are ahead of most everybody else."

Why is this so important? Hall says, "If you have a plan of action on what food you'll eat, how to cook it, how long it will take, etc., you will be less stressed and more able to spend your time and energy focusing on other pressing concerns that will come up. Being organized allows you to be proactive and not reactive to the turmoil during an emergency."

When working on that plan, Moravec proposes five main topics for consideration: water, food, medical, sanitation and fuel. Each of these are interrelated under the umbrella of "food storage and should be broken down into specific items to acquire, practice with and store for that proverbial 'rainy day.'"

Most people are familiar enough with the food aspect of food storage, but what about water? Storing a large amount of water requires food-grade plastic containers, a thorough purification process and optimal storage conditions of cool temperatures and darkness. While it requires a good deal of homework, it can and should be done in order to have a well-rounded storage of food that can be cooked and eaten.

Food storage-related medicine is also important, whether it's for pain relief, indigestion or dental problems. For sanitation, it's a good idea to store dish and hand soap, toothbrushes and paste, toilet paper, paper towels, and if you're adventurous, your own portable toilet. Lastly, storing the right kind of fuel depends specifically on your cooking methods and supplies. Whatever your circumstances, you'll likely want to store either propane, wood, charcoal briquettes or any combination of the three.

Simply start with the basics, and remember food storage is not just about food. Even in the worst of disasters, you'll find yourself stressed out and starving if you're surrounded by canned goods and nothing else.