Dehydrated vs freeze dried DIY meal shelf life

[Thomasj1107]

For those of you that have taken on making your own meals for the backcountry…

I realize there is a large price difference between the two devices. What is the difference in practical shelf life of the meals of each type? In other words if you only do dehydrated, I know it’s a much shorter shelf life, but is it still to the point where everything you made for that season (in maybe August for example) will last for the entirety of that season?

How about texture/result? Any glaring differences or Pros/cons for one vs the other?

Any advice appreciated!

 

[LCguy]

This year, I decided to dehydrate my own meals after spending a fortune on freeze-dried meals over the years. Purchased a $100 dehydrator on Amazon, and it works great. Can't speak to the shelf life but as far as texture/result,t I think it is more than adequate. It definitely takes a little longer to rehydrate dehydrated stuff vs. freeze dried but I haven't noticed any glaring differences in texture.

There are definitely tricks to get the most out of the dehydrator (eg. mixing ground beef with bread crumbs before you cook and dehydrate will make the ground beef rehydrate way better) but I definitely recommend it over spending thousands on a freeze-drier. I also don't know what it is about freeze-dried food but it always messes with my stomach, not so with dehydrated food.

I'd recommend buying a book such as "Recipes for Adventure" because they contain alot of the aforementioned tricks and tips.

 

[Thomasj1107]

How long does it take you to rehydrate the meals? How have you gone about estimating how much water (boiling I assume) to rehydrate each meal with?

 

[LCguy]

How long does it take you to rehydrate the meals? How have you gone about estimating how much water (boiling I assume) to rehydrate each meal with?

Typically 20-25 minutes. Most stuff what I'll do is let it soak for 5 minutes cold, bring it to a boil for one minute, then let it rehydrate for 15 minutes. Basically, one cup water to one cup dry, in my experience, that works out to almost the exact amount of water to cover everything. All that to say, enough water to get everything covered.