Repackaging food – how far ahead?

[Anonymous]

How far in advance could one repackage freeze dried and dehydrated foods without having to worry about any adverse affects of moisture, oils, oxygen, whatever… or maybe more simply, how far in advance does everyone do this and have not had any adverse affects on the food, thanks!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

It depends on what you are packing and where you live – and how you pack the foods.

If it is freeze dried, your best bet is to pack it into food vac bags and seal, then you have 6 months to a year.

Dried foods that don't contain anything but a trace of added oil, and no cheese, dairy or meat? They can be stored in bags (but a much better choice is mason jars), in your pantry, cool and dark, for up to a year.

If it contains dairy, or meat, store wrapped in the freezer till trail time, use within 3 months.

Best long term storage is ALWAYS mason jars, tightly sealed. Second best is food vac bags. Freeze dried food must be tightly sealed, with air removed, as it will start getting soft.

PS: If you live in a humid/hot area, scale back the times for storage, or keep it all in the freezer. Freeze dried will go bad much, much faster, even in A/C homes, unless you seal it properly.

[Gary Dunckel]

OK, so it's time for me to post my annual gentle disagreement with dear Sarah. I routinely buy Mountain House #10 tins of FD ingredients when TheEpicenter.com has their spring sale. I store them in my cool, dark basement pantry until we get our first week-long Colorado sub zero (*F) cold spell in December. There is almost no humidity, which makes it the perfect time to open the cans and portion out my favorite meals (adding FD chicken and peas/green beans to the right amount of Pasta Primavera, combining FD mac/cheese with chicken and peas, measuring a proper portion of Breakfast Skillet, etc.). Then each portion is vacuum sealed and stored in the basement. I have found that these meals store well for 4-5 years. In fact, last week I found one that I had vac sealed in 2009, and I figured I should eat it and see if it was still good. It was.

I also vac-seal 1-person serving portions of Harmony House dehydrated beans and vegetables, which don't have the basement shelf life of freeze dried items, but I still get 3-4 years out of them.

My dehydrated meats, like Vienna sausage slices, Hilshire Farms Li'l Smokies (thinly sliced) or diced Spam are routinely stored either in the freezer, or just in the fridge, and they keep fine for over a year when vacuum sealed.

Keep in mind that I live in semi-arid Colorado, and I do my hiking either here, or in GNP or YNP, which are also low humidity areas. I don't see any changes in the food when I'm on a 3-4 night hike in warm weather, even when my bear hang is bathed in direct sun all afternoon.

Sarah, I don't quite understand the Mason jar superiority thing. Do you have a way to vacuum seal them, or do you fill them to the rim and add an oxygen absorber or something? I think the key to my long term storage results is the act of vacuum sealing everything, and removing all the air and humidity. I've not found a need to add oxygen absorbers to my mix.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Mason jars are glass. Unlike bags, they don't breathe. Second, yes, kids, you can seal mason jars with a Food Vac!
http://www.foodsaver.com/accessories-and-parts/jar-sealers/ They are made for both sizes of lids. I seal all my dried foods and as well my seeds for my garden this way. You can reuse a mason jar lid over and over this way (this is NOT a canning method, it is a dry preservation method).

My reason behind meat and 3 months is oils can and do go rancid. Dried SPAM and similar has tons of salt and preservatives, which ground beef doesn't have, hence why you can keep it longer.

You also live in a very arid area – if one lives in Florida for example, their shelf life will be MUCH lower.

Time in keeping food is up to the person involved. Can you store food longer than I suggest? Sure. I am going by the guidelines that Extension programs encourage for food safety. It is like canning food: it is recommended you eat it within a year. Will it last longer? Sure. That doesn't mean you should actively hoard for 3 to 5 years though. Cycle through and keep it fresh!

[Gary Dunckel]

I get it now about the Mason jars, Sarah. Thanks for that.

[Steve M]

Sarah, Thank you for all the excellent food advice you have posted. I'm a very infrequent poster/reader here but whenever I see a post with your name on it I'll usually read it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the input!

[Author]

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