Freeze Dried Dehydrated / Dried - Canned

Freeze Dried Foods - with out a doubt is the best way for storing food long-term from ancient times storing food in salt to drying, canning and today having the luxury of freezing foods we now know that the universal solution is freeze-dried foods. One of the advantages of storing freeze-dried foods is the shelf life of at least 25 years when vacuum packed and nitrogen sealed in #10 cans. Another benefit is preparation, just add water! If a Jet boil is not available, room temperature or cold water can be used, too. Because no cooking is needed, the freeze-dried foods require much less water and fuel than most fresh, frozen or dehydrated foods which can come in handy if you are not in a position to heat water or don't have access to clean water.

Our foods are delicious as well - the real benefit to storing food this way is the quality in consumption - the nutrients are preserved as well as flavor. The meals are prepared and cooked the same way you would cook a meal for your family at home or even eat a prepared meal at a restaurant; it is then that the food is prepared through the freeze drying process in order to provide you with the same flavors and nutrients. 

Dehydrated or Dried Foods - are susceptible to insect contamination and moisture re-absorption and must be properly packaged and stored immediately. First, cool completely. Warm food causes sweating which could provide enough moisture for mold to grow. Pack foods into clean, dry insect-proof containers as tightly as possible without crushing. Dried foods should be stored in cool, dry, dark areas. Recommended storage times for dried foods range from 4 months to 1 year. Because food quality is affected by heat, the storage temperature helps determine the length of storage; the higher the temperature, the shorter the storage time. Most dried fruits can be stored for 1 year at 60ºF, 6 months at 80ºF. Vegetables have about half the shelf-life of fruits. 

This method is typically done in the home by someone with no other means as it is tedious and does not yield a quality long-term solution for storing food. 

Canned Foods - many fresh foods contain from 10 percent to more than 30 percent air. How long canned food retains high quality depends on how much air is removed from food before jars are sealed.
Raw-packing is the practice of filling jars tightly with freshly prepared, but unheated food. Such foods, especially fruit, will float in the jars. The entrapped air in and around the food may cause discoloration within 2 to 3 months of storage. Raw-packing is more suitable for vegetables processed in a pressure canner.
Hot-packing is the practice of heating freshly prepared food to boiling, simmering it 2 to 5 minutes, and promptly filling jars loosely with the boiled food. Whether food has been hot-packed or raw-packed, the juice, syrup, or water to be added to the foods should also be heated to boiling before adding it to the jars. This practice helps to remove air from food tissues, shrinks food, helps keep the food from floating in the jars, increases vacuum in sealed jars, and improves shelf life. Preshrinking food permits filling more food into each jar.
Hot-packing is the best way to remove air and is the preferred pack style for foods processed in a boiling-water canner. At first, the color of hot-packed foods may appear no better than that of raw-packed foods, but within a short storage period, both color and flavor of hot-packed foods will be superior.
The high percentage of water in most fresh foods makes them very perishable. They spoil or lose their quality for several reasons:

  • growth of undesirable microorganisms-bacteria, molds, and yeasts,
  • activity of food enzymes,
  • reactions with oxygen,
  • moisture loss.
Microorganisms live and multiply quickly on the surfaces of fresh food and on the inside of bruised, insect-damaged, and diseased food. Oxygen and enzymes are present throughout fresh food tissues.
Proper canning practices include:
  • carefully selecting and washing fresh food,
  • peeling some fresh foods,
  • hot packing many foods,
  • adding acids (lemon juice or vinegar) to some foods,
  • using acceptable jars and self-sealing lids,
  • processing jars in a boiling-water or pressure canner for the correct period of time.
Collectively, these practices remove oxygen; destroy enzymes; prevent the growth of undesirable bacteria, yeasts, and molds; and help form a high vacuum in jars. Good vacuums form tight seals which keep liquid in and air and microorganisms out.


(portions extracted from "So Easy to Preserve", 5th ed. 2006. Bulletin 989, Cooperative Extension Service, The University of Georgia, Athens. Revised by Elizabeth L. Andress. Ph.D. and Judy A. Harrison, Ph.D., Extension Foods Specialists.)