Freeze dried food is available at most sports stores as well as emergency preparedness suppliers online. It is freeze dried in order to increase shelf life, and with some packages can last for more than 30 years if unopened. In order to understand how to use freeze dried food it will help if you understand a bit about how it is processed.
Freeze dried food first came on the market when NASA needed to send food with the Astronauts to space. They found that by lowering the temperature of the food to a certain degree in a chamber where the barometer pressure was very low, the food would freeze and dry at the same time. Basically, they froze the food, then lowered the barometric pressure, and added heat. The liguid would then go directly to a gas form getting rid of all water from the food. Because of the drying and freezing process, pockets where left in the food similar to a sponge that would then allow rehydration very similar to food that was not processed at all.
The process of freeze drying permits the food to hold back all smells, texture and nutrient value of food freshly prepared. Some may need cooking after reconstitution such as pork chops and beef patties but others will be, add hot water and wait about 10 minutes.
Many of the packages are actually easier to prepare than regular food and will taste just as good. For those busy people looking for quick meals on the go, organic freeze dried food is a great choice. Almost all of the packages of this type of food will provide guidance on how to reconstitute them. The difficult part is going to be finding hot water, which definitely, can come directly from the tap, warmed up on your microwave or cooking appliance.
For the group of busy people looking for speedy meals on the go,. Certain people prefer freeze dried food to those foods which are frozen or canned in a traditional manner.
Some of the types is packaged to eat within a year or so and others are packaged specifically for emergency preparedness. The long shelf life is due to the process of packaging the food and then storing it in can that has a ceramic coating. This ceramic coating protects the can from oxygen and moisture, which can deteriorate the can itself, which of course would be detrimental to the food inside.