Freeze-dried Canned Food… (lasts up to 30 years)

Companies manufacture and sell a wide variety of freeze-dried canned foods that are designed for long-term storage.

The best known of these is Mountain House…

Their foods are cooked and then freeze-dried before canning…

“Freeze-drying” is a unique process that provides product characteristics that cannot be achieved with other processing methods. Fresh or cooked foods are flash frozen and then placed in vacuum chambers that are as cold as -50 F. As low level heat is applied, the ice evaporates without going back through the liquid phase, and removes approximately 98% of the product’s moisture.

This freeze-dried food is then packed in airtight #10 size cans. #10 cans are a little smaller than a gallon.  The filled cans are then nitrogen packed (the air has been replaced by nitrogen). The inside of each can is coated with a protective enamel, including the lid. This enamel helps protect the can from deteriorating elements.

As long as the can is not opened or punctured, the food inside have the longest shelf life available…up to 30 years!

After opening, they recommend using the contents with 2 to 3 weeks for best results and taste; using the convenient resealable plastic lid between uses. Treat any leftover cooked food as you would fresh food.

Some of their popular items include:

Entrees like Beef Stroganoff, Rice & Chicken, and Lasagna with Meat sauce (each can has about 30 servings)
Breakfast Items like Scrambled Eggs and Bacon
Canned Meats like cooked hamburger, turkey, chicken, diced beef
Fruits and Vegetables
Dessert Items like Blueberry Cheesecake, and others.

They also manufacture these foods in pouches which have 1-4 servings and which have a shelf life of 5-7 years.  These are very popular with backpackers…

These pouches make excellent additions to your 72 Hour Emergency Kits…