We tend to eat "real food" whenever we can. And we sometimes start with off the shelf freeze dried meals and augment them but we mostly put our own meals together for when the fresh food runs out. We buy bulk freeze dried foods, dehydrate some things and also use a lot of off the shelf grocery store foods to put together meals.
In fact, as we rarely try a recipe for the first time on a trip our dinner tonight is a sort of Thanksgiving themed meal of freeze dried diced turkey, stuffing mix, gravy mix, and freeze dried corn, and sweet potatoes. And since we used almost all the freeze dried broccoli I had on hand to pack other meals for the next few months, we'll toss in the last of the broccoli. And I'll likely add some dried cranberries, too.
Hmm, I should have tossed in some freeze dried mushrooms. I'll have to get some from the basement......
After dinner we'll make and needed adjustments to the ingredients and/or quantities and file the recipe away for future reference. If the dried cranberries are worth repeating then the next time they will get their own little plastic bag placed in the big bag as they have more moisture than I want the rest of the ingredients exposed to.
Regarding using freezer weight zipper lock bags:
While I'm sure that other brands of freezer weight zipper lock bags will handle the heat of boiling water I do know that Glad freezer weight bags have been tested as both being safe and adequately strong for re-hydration with boiling water and to be used either boil-in bags or to be used in steam cooking (as in the Backpacker steam oven). If you are using a steam oven to cook something fatty (like a pot roast) it is strongly advised to use an oven roasting bag as none of the freezer type bags like long exposure to hot fats.
We used to process our own critters when we had our farm in New York and I kept a good bit of the associated equipment when we "retired" to our North Carolina place so we have both a Foodsaver style vacuum sealer and a commercial chamber vacuum sealer that can seal liquids, too.
The best source I'm aware of for the waffle style bags for Foodsaver type vacuum sealers is:
Find the vacuum sealer and vacuum seal bags at Vacuum Sealers Unlimited. We have helped many find the perfect vacuum sealer and bags. Order today!
vacuumsealersunlimited.com
Lisa B., the owner, is a good person and her service is top notch.
If you are not vacuum sealing your bags you can seal them with you regular vacuum sealer if it has a seal-on-demand feature, use an impulse sealer or use a household iron.
We buy our gusset bottom bags, our long term mylar bags for the chamber sealer and our oxygen absorbers, moisture absorbers etc from:
PackFreshUSA is an online seller of flexible packaging and storage solutions for commercial food products and home food storage, specializing in oxygen-free storage environments.
packfreshusa.com
Pack Fresh also has a pretty good FAQ with info on when, how and why to use the different types of bags and things like moisture absorbers, oxygen absorbers etc.
I'm not aware of any waffle type mylar bags but you don't generally want to vacuum seal those anyway. If you are not going to store your meals for months (or up to many years) you won't need the mylar bags. All you need is a bag that provides a good oxygen barrier and Pack Fresh has them at a fraction of the mylar bag price. As long as they will be used in the next month or so they are all you need whether you use an oxygen absorber or not.
Freeze dried meals need not be frozen but it's a good idea to freeze prepackaged dehydrated meals until your trip as they still have some moisture in them and some bagged dehydrated foods can spoil at room temperature.
And, for storage at home we transfer dehydrated and freeze died foods to glass canning jars and seal them with the vacuum sealer using a jar sealing attachment. As long as the item stays in a fairly cool location vacuum sealing them pretty much stops the clock on any degradation. About the only exception is home dehydrated ground beef and similar items that get vacuum sealed in a jar and placed in the chest freezer.
In the back of the cabinet you can see sealed mylar bags of freeze dried fruit and veggies from my favorite supplier of such items.
North Bay Trading Co. offers Retail and Bulk Freeze Dried Foods including Fruits, Vegetables, Beans, Lentils, Soup Mixes, Wild Rice, and Dehydrated Vegetables.
www.northbaytrading.com
I've been teaching outdoor cookery, trail meal planning and packaging etc for scouts, school outdoor programs, church youth groups and assorted adults off and on for over 35 years. I'm thinking that it's time for me to post some threads on our thoughts, tips, tricks, sources, planning etc.
We have six trips of at least five days each planned between now and the third week of October so it'll likely be a while to get to that though.
Best wishes to all.
Lance
