Freeze drying already cooked meals for backpack hunts?

[Jfarrell13]

Looking to see if anybody and how they do it, making meals with game meat then vacuum sealing it and somehow freeze drying it to use on future backpack hunts. Don’t want to spend 2k on a freeze dryer. Thanks guys. Any ideas and recommendations are sure welcome!

 

[lamarclark09]

Unfortunately, I only know two methods and that is using a normal freezer or using dry ice. You can try one of them if you want. If dry ice is accessible to you because using the freezer for freeze drying is a lil trickier and requires much more concentration during the process. But if you wanna save up money on the freeze dryer then you gotta add something in return.

 

[87TT]

You need to look into dehydrating. You can dehydrate almost anything. The main thing to look out for is oily/fatty stuff as it can go rancid. I have taken left over dinner at home and dehydrated and rehydrated it just fine. Heck, I dehydrated ketchup. Any lean meat will dehydrate just fine (think jerky). A favorite is spaghetti. But just about anything works. A big plus is you get what YOU like.

 

[JoeB]

we have a freeze dryer that I'm planning on using for this same project. Not sure how to achieve the end results without one. Possibly using a dehydrator might work.

 

[Buglebrush]

I got into a freeze dryer last year, and I'm totally hooked now. Absolutely delicious meals including hot desserts and none of the gut rot. My wife is an amazing cook, and it's crazy how much better these are than anything for sale. I'm actually a dealer for freeze dryers now too. Should've bought one years ago!

 

[SwiftShot]

To make backpacking meals you could just dehydrate them. It is not hard. Search here on ROKSLIDE.COM for meal ideas. There is a big thread about it with links to whole YouTube Channels on it.

 

[87TT]

I just looked up the cost of an actual freeze dryer. Holy crap! You can buy a cheap dehydrator on ebay for less than $50 that will work just fine. Unless you're Ritchie Rich rich, then buy me one too and send it. Just kidding. I would just sell it and buy some other neat stuff.

 

[EdP]

Buy freeze dried meat, dehydrate everything else.

 

[Dirtscoots]

Dehydrate your own meats too. There are many options and they make way better meals then store bought freeze dried. With that said I would love to have a freeze dryer. But I can’t justify the cost considering what I can accomplish with my dehydrator. I found this resource on here it’s great baseline ideas to build your own recipes on.

DIY Backpacking Food | Recipes for Adventure

Tired of freeze-dried meals? Make your own backpacking food. Recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and desserts. Grab a spoon and let’s get started.

www.backpackingchef.com

 

[Jfarrell13]

Awesome thanks for sharing !

 

[Dirtscoots]

It’s like reloading your own ammo. Intimidating looking at it. Once you start you get addicted and in deeper and before you know it you are dehydrating a ton. Chicken I’ve tried many ways. I’ve made chicken rocks a few times. The only good way to dehydrate chicken has been to pressure cook it and then dehydrate. Elk burger I’ve done a lot of. Always turns out great. I did start adding breading with it but haven’t noticed a lot of difference.

 

[robcollins]

Eggs and fatty anything need freeze dried, unless you mix with enough starch, like potatoes.

Eggs, for me, mostly go into a Powerade bottle in the creek in Colorado.

A freeze dryer would be rad, but wife would freak.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[logan123]

Eggs and fatty anything need freeze dried, unless you mix with enough starch, like potatoes.

Eggs, for me, mostly go into a Powerade bottle in the creek in Colorado.

A freeze dryer would be rad, but wife would freak.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

You just put cracked eggs into a bottle and they come out hood next day etc?

 

[OutOfStater]

Would you pay for a service to freeze dry your own food, or maybe freeze dry a specific meal for you?

Let’s say you’re local. Would you be willing to pay money for someone to freeze dry meals you already cooked?

What about a service that would prepare and freeze dry meals for you?

A friend bought a freeze dryer for his kid to start a business selling freeze dried candy. I’m just brainstorming.

 

[Dirtscoots]

After having a freeze dryer and hunting a season eating my own meals, knowing what I know now absolutely I would have paid someone to freeze dry meals for me. The catch is, before I started making my own meals I’m not sure I would have realized how much better it can be. I don’t see it as much of a business model. I would guess be more something you could do to help buddies out.

 

[bpurtz]

Would you pay for a service to freeze dry your own food, or maybe freeze dry a specific meal for you?

Let’s say you’re local. Would you be willing to pay money for someone to freeze dry meals you already cooked?

What about a service that would prepare and freeze dry meals for you?

A friend bought a freeze dryer for his kid to start a business selling freeze dried candy. I’m just brainstorming.

I bought a Harvest Right that last year and love it. IMO almost everything I processed was as good or far better than any of the name brand freeze dry meals. However, some meals that I thought were exceptionally good fresh, didn't turn out as well as I thought they might be once rehydrated.

The actual freeze dry portion is easy - the machine does all of the work. The original meal preparation and then the finished freeze dry portioning and appropriate packaging is time consuming. Having some meals privately processed probably won't save you money, but you might find the meals to have much better flavor - I guess it depends how good of cook you are.

I would suggest trying meals that when rehydrated have a normal sauce base - like chili or stew.

If you wanted to try an exceptionally good snack, have him process some fresh pineapple. It's absolutely my favorite!