Food in the field - freeze-dried meals

2021-01-22

Going out in the field and don't want to carry a bag of food with you? Do you have little space in your backpack and are you afraid that your food will not fit? These are legitimate concerns, especially if you want to eat a hot meal during your outing. Thanks to the "cosmic" technology, which is freeze-drying food, you can even take a few ready-made meals with you. It is enough to boil some water, then wait a few minutes and you can eat a wholesome dish. What exactly is food freeze drying? How to prepare a freeze-dried dish? You will learn everything from our article.

Where does all this freeze-drying come from? From space?!

It may sound funny, but it's true. Not literally! Food prepared using the freeze-drying method is used by astronauts during their missions. Therefore, such dishes are called - cosmic.

Let's start by answering the question what is the freeze-drying process? In theory, it is freeze-drying of frozen substances. It is a method in which the solvent is removed at low temperature and low pressure. The substance is frozen with liquid nitrogen. The sublimation process consists in the immediate transition of water into a gas state. As a result, 90-95% of the water disappears. The most important fact is that food subjected to this phenomenon does not lose anything except water, i.e. it does not change its taste, color, smell, and most importantly, the caloric value is the same as before freeze-drying.

In practice, the dish which then becomes freeze-dried is pre-prepared, frozen and sublimated. Thanks to this, it reduces its weight, i.e. from 500 g of food, we get 120 g. Of course, after pouring boiling water over the dish and waiting about 10 minutes, the food regains its specific weight, while maintaining the energy value.

Thanks to the lower weight and volume, a freeze-dried meal does not take up unnecessary space in your inventory. Additionally, while resting, you can eat wholesome food, not unhealthy instant soup.

Freeze-dried meals retain their taste, aroma and caloric value

As an interesting fact, this food was introduced during World War II at the request of the United States government. The main idea was to produce food rations for the army that would be as light as possible.

How to prepare a freeze-dried dish?

The process of preparing a dish is as simple as brewing tea. All you need to do is follow the instructions, which you will always find on the packaging. All you need to do is open the package, pour water over it at a temperature of about 80 ° C. Then you close the package and wait patiently for 6 to 12 minutes. Everything depending on the dish you want to eat. When the contents are sufficiently swollen, you can pick up a fork or spoon and boldly eat your portion.

Some sets include special chemical heaters and heating bags. This solution facilitates the entire "cooking" activity. Why? Because you don't need a fire to boil the water. All you have to do is pour water into the dish, which you will put together with the heating element in a bag, into which you will also pour some water.

Why is it so good?

Exactly. This is where we come to the heart of the matter. Of course you could take to the forest all the ingredients with you separately, a cauldron and prepare everything from scratch. However, this is not a practical solution. The burden you would carry with you would be all too uncomfortable. Can you imagine lugging the cauldron? Or even a frying pan? Sure, there are people among us who enjoy cooking in the open air and over live fire. Some of us enjoy eating prepared meals. However, guided by the practicality and convenience during a trip to the field, convince yourself to the freeze-dried dishes!

You save time, space in your backpack, the weight you carry with you, and you have a guarantee that you will be fed during the trip!

Tactical Foodpack® - food for special forces

The Estonian brand dealing in the production of freeze-dried food, when creating its meals, was guided by the association of taste and aroma of dishes with pleasant elements of family life. Special units officers do not have enough of them due to the work they do.

Freeze-dried dishes from the Estonian brand Tactical Foodpack®

The choice they serve on their menu is very wide. Let's start with breakfast. You prefer rice pudding with raspberries or porridge with apples. It tasted? Then we can move on to soups. Today we have a choice of beetroot soup with feta cheese or something spicy – spicy chicken soup. Fed? The second course on the menu includes chicken with noodles in a sauce based on coconut milk. You can also choose classic spaghetti Bolognese. Maybe something more oriental? Taste the hake in curry. If you are vegan then no problem. Tactical Foodpack® also offers meatless dishes, e.g. vegan wok with noodles.

If you prefer to take a food ration with you, you have a choice of one or three meals. If you prefer more choice then check out the six packs - in this case Charlie. Are you planning a longer trip into the wilderness? A weekly set consists of 21 meals. In addition, Tactical Foodpack® in its range has provided for a situation in which you may have a problem with lighting a fire to heat the water. Therefore, choose a heating bag with a heater. Food has a shelf life of up to 8 years.