[Solvo Pium]

I am not particularly pushing a certain company vs. another, but trying to buy dehydrated or freeze dried foods can be expensive at a lump sum, however something I have done recently. I bought 3 months worth of Mountain House from Sportsmansguide not too long ago, but then was concerned on getting balanced meals, etc. For it's me, my super wife and worlds cutest little girl. SO, I found Shelf Reliance, you can buy certain packages,etc. OR you can set up a payment plan, increase or decrease the monthly withdrawal at anytime, no penalty. You can specialize your plan to how many people, sex, age, and how many calories you'd like to eat on a daily basis, and pick out the duration to save for. BUT, then I found some emergency foods at Sam's Club that are half the price. So, maybe setup a plan through Shelf Life, and then pick out the items through Sams that are half price that match that of Shelf Life, and you can save money, but at the same time stock up on a balance meal plan for the family. OH, and the time frame of 72 hours for an emergency kit, folks, I am here to tell you, 2 weeks at the minimum. That includes water, fuel, etc. Especially water. I am in the military and I am involved in emergency repsponse and preparedness, and I am here to tell you, this forum is excellent, and don't wait till it's too late. Buying a little at a time adds up very quickly. I will try to post more, just very busy with college and raising a baby girl. Did I mention she's the cutest thing you'd ever see? Anyhow, stock up, interest rates are on the rise.

 

[SaskBound]

I have used Thrive (Shelf Reliance) products, and they are pretty good. The thing I like about them is that you can buy ingredients (broccoli, powdered cheese) instead of pre-made meals. That way, you can cook what you like, rather than relying on someone else's tastes (those packaged ones always seem salty to me).

 

[SurviveNthrive]

For me, the dehydrated and freeze dried foods are major parts of my long term storage. Some items are very inexpensive like the various potato cuts, some are expensive like the meats. I personally don't like TVP for more than taste and texture reasons, but despite that, I'll store it figuring it beats starving and it does provide protein. Much of the veggie stuff is expensive for what you're getting and there isn't much nutrition there. I must learn what I can gather and eat if needed...we've fortunate, we don't even know what 'famine foods' are out there because we've never been there.

In addition to these items I also buy vitamins. 10 year vitamins are very expensive, especially compared to bulk purchased ones with shorter shelf lives but I bought some. Even taken every other day, I figure I'd be better off with some vitamins than none.

 

[Herbalpagan]

I have dehydrated foods as a part of my food storage plan. However, I signed up for many different companies so I get their sales flyers, over time I have tried many of these places and products. I've found that it pays to investigate different places, although, for the most part, I've found the greatest variety and best shipping and pricing from Emergency Essentials.

 

[gypsysue]

Honeyville is another online place to order freeze-dried long-term food. They have monthly sales and will email it to you, if you choose that. We've gotten some good deals there, and the quality of the foods we've opened and tried has been good. The best part is their shipping policy!

 

[tac803]

SPAM. :2thumb: Balance is a good thing when storing long term foods. Canned goods, dehydrated, veggies and fruits...get a little each week, and it'll add up before you know it.

 

[nj_m715]

I'm learning to do it myself. We have a small batch of potatoes drying right now. I want to try some eggs and ground beef next.

 

[gypsysue]

I'm learning to do it myself. We have a small batch of potatoes drying right now. I want to try some eggs and ground beef next.

Good for you! :2thumb: That's the way to go!

I dried 26 dozen eggs over the summer when our chickens were laying in abundance. Now over the winter while the chickens are "resting", we'll still have lots of eggs!

You can even make instant mashed potatoes by whizzing the dried potatoes in the blender.

 

[The_Blob]

You can even make instant mashed potatoes by whizzing the dried potatoes in the blender.

while it definitely is commendable to know how to do this, isn't it a better use of resources (time, money, effort) to buy some of this stuff done for you? I'm asking because I'd personally much rather eat the potato whole, fresh or preserved. On a side note, do you leave the skins on? I was told not to because the (very tiny) amount of toxins outweighed the nutrient content in the skin, of a preserved potato... I like to take all of the peeled skins when making mashed potatoes & brine them for a week or so & then deep fry them into homemade 'tatorskin' potato chips :2thumb: ...

 

[gypsysue]

Blob...

Yes and no. It depends on what you have more of: time or money.

We grow bushels and bushels of potatoes. Most are in bins in our root cellar. I canned up one canner load so I'd have some ready to go in a hurry. Sometimes we come in from hunting, ice fishing, or just playing in the snow and want a quick dinner.

I dehydrate some potatoes because in the summer I can run my electric dehydrator using our solar panels/power system, so it costs me nothing. If I have a lot of potatoes left in the spring I dehdrate them near the woodstove --still free to process. That way over summer, when the ones in the root cellar would have sprouted and shriveled, and the ones in the garden are still growing, we have homegrown potatoes to eat.

The dehydrated potatoes are also used for meals on backpacking, bicyclecamping, or hunting/fishing trips.

We have the best of all worlds, when it comes to potatoes.

I have lots of time, very little money, and I love working in my garden!

As for peelings, we usually peel the potatoes and feed the peels to the goat or put them on the compost pile. We garden organically in a remote place, so toxins are probably not an issue. We just like them better that way. Sometimes the smallest potatoes just get scrubbed and thrown in the pot, peels and all, along with the bigger, peeled potatoes.

 

[Freyadog]

I'm learning to do it myself. We have a small batch of potatoes drying right now. I want to try some eggs and ground beef next.

Let us know how the eggs turn out. Have lots from our chickens at any given point in time and need a way to save them. At the moment I scramble them up in a bowl and pour into a zip-lock freezer bag and lay them flat until frozen and then I stack them.

 

[Dixie]

Good for you! :2thumb: That's the way to go!

I dried 26 dozen eggs over the summer when our chickens were laying in abundance. Now over the winter while the chickens are "resting", we'll still have lots of eggs!

You can even make instant mashed potatoes by whizzing the dried potatoes in the blender.

Whoa, whoa...you dehydrated eggs? How? How do you use them? I did not know you could do this.

 

[jbjr829]

Dehydrated Potatoes Turning Black

I grow a heap of potatoes and have found that when I dehydrate them, they turn black, so i have canned most of them. They are great out of the can and we use them in all sorts of soups and stews. Does anyone else have a problem with them turning black and if not is there a secret to dehydrating them.

 

[nj_m715]

My eggs are looking good. Just mix them w/ water and scramble or use them in baking dishes like cakes or pancakes.

Here's where I found some info about potatoes. We're going to try the skillet meat recipe tomorrow night.
Dehydrating Your Own Potatoes from Real Food for Real People

 

[gypsysue]

My dehydrated eggs look like yellow cornmeal. Like nj said, mix them with water and use them for anything except fried eggs. It's one tablespoon dry eggs to one tablespoon of water.

I learned the hard way to be patient and let it absorb the water! The first time, I thought it was too runny so I added more egg. I had a huge, foamy omelette! It will still look grainy when you pour it in the pan, but it cooks to the same texture and appearance as fresh eggs.

For potatoes, I bring the slices or cubes to a boil, boil them for about 5 minutes, drain them and put them back in the pan with cool water to cover. I add one or two crushed vitamin C tablets and let them sit about 10 minutes before I drain them again and put them in the dehydrator. This keeps them from darkening or turning black.

The vitamin C is ascorbic acid, the same thing they selll in the commercial product "Fruit Fresh" and others, to keep fruits from darkening. I just use the back of a spoon to crush them on the counter, sweep them into my palm and dump it into the water.

 

[Emerald]

I grow a heap of potatoes and have found that when I dehydrate them, they turn black, so i have canned most of them. They are great out of the can and we use them in all sorts of soups and stews. Does anyone else have a problem with them turning black and if not is there a secret to dehydrating them.

The reason your potatoes turned black was due to oxidation of the starch.
Many foods do much better if you blanch them before drying and/or freezing as it turns off some of the destructive enzymes that can cause darkening and off flavors.
Potatoes are really known for turning colors when exposed to air.
If you slice them or shred them or even cube them and then either lightly boil them in salted water or steam them for about 3 to 4 minutes it will deactivate the enzymes and they dry to a really nice golden color and re-hydrating them is as simple as just pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit for about 15 minutes before cooking in your dishes.
I have been buying up potatoes on sale lately as cheaply as .20¢ a pound and we eat up as many fresh as we like and then I go and dehydrate the rest.
I have even baked a few too many for dinner and then ran them thru the potato ricer onto my fruit leather trays in the dehydrator and dried the tiny little dots and add them to all kinds of things and used them to make mashed potatoes-texture is not quite like fresh or even like the boxed potato flakes but the flavor was great.
They even dry down on the higher heat in just a few hours.
Don't be too shocked tho- they dry down to almost nothing! a 5 pound bag of shredded potatoes dried down to fit in two quart jars and one pint jar! I'm sure that they would have fit in only two but the shreds are unruly and I didn't want to crush them!
I was going to put up pictures of the shreds that I took but I can't find it on the puter today--I'll have to get it off my phone again.

 

[Emerald]

LOL as I was hunting thru my pictures- GypsySue beat me to the punch!

 

[gypsysue]

LOL as I was hunting thru my pictures- GypsySue beat me to the punch!

But you at least knew WHY they darken, not just that they DO! Thanks, emerald, I learned a lot from your post!

 

[h3joe]

What company has the best value for the dollar

I would be interested to know where you have found the best value on pre package dehydrated meals. I looked at mountain house first but I went with efoods because it was cheaper. Their 2 month package for one adult is $349.95 and it cover 3 meals a day. What other companies compare? The calorie count and food values are on the site:

makeaplan.myefoods.com

I suppose the cost needs to be comparable to the nutritional value. But I figured I would use the dehydrated food as a base and add what I can to suppliment it.

 

[gypsysue]

I figured I would use the dehydrated food as a base and add what I can to suppliment it.

That's a good idea.

Do you mean actual meals, as in, portioned out, or just dehydrated foods to put together a meal?