Oddbean

Spent part of the evening getting some trays of spaghetti and meatballs ready for freeze drying. One of our friends is due with their 6th child so we are putting some meals together for them. I'll weigh the tests before and after in grams. To reconstitute, add the difference in weight back in, in milliliters of water. If you want to get fancy with some things you can reconstitute in broth to add more flavor. Just heat up the water, drop in the food, cover and simmer and stir for 15-20 minutes. The trays start of at around 2400 grams (about 5.25 lbs) It's made from store bought meatballs and sauce. All we have to cook is the pasta. Then I mixed the sauce and pasta and spooned around the meatballs. Into the freezer dryer, it will probably take 36-40 hours to freeze dry. Then it's good for 25 years in a mylar bag with oxygen absorber. #foodstr #pregnancy #freezedrying https://image.nostr.build/b36316689deb13a3c0500db46fa841b319734f33f52df1e373eca4728f7a5d13.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=819x614&blurhash=%239G7h_%5EN0ywI9_NdB%3AK*Uv%7EBNbNaaekCNGV%40bboL0%24R-%3D%7BR*%24%25R*rXrWtl-VS4%251WBxaayfisTbbFySNs.bv%24*Vsn%24xtS2-%3Br%3Ds.X8xZWBRjt7V%5BIpW%3Dxun%7Es.azV%40oekW&x=0a614a6581f446116dd286774bc7324443337ac46772d7fba12e9a289d88fc98 https://image.nostr.build/9af57f87e08037a74293e06129e8fa93e28497569062e59d42c7488f0c368b98.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=614x819&blurhash=_bH.D%7C%25Mt3oMjYafR*-%3BozoKoyoKoeoL%7EpWBMxRjRjWBayRkt7WBa%23kCWCof%25LoyjboeoffPWBIUWBofjuofj%5BayRjayofj%5BWBayjsWVWBogofWBa%7BazRjazofofj%5Bj%5Bof&x=6a0cf88b426033e33700bb3fa791daeff518bf6b8b0c52459cf2b9f67459fec9

Actually, the texture is the same after reconstitution. I do not know why but it is. Even something like beef stew comes out the same as it went in. If you were to chew on the cooked beef while freeze dried it crumbles in your mouth, but reconstituted it has the same texture. We freeze dried this in particular because of storage. They don't have a lot of freezer space and a lot of other people are freezing them meals. It also lasts super long and they can store it anywhere. Other advantages... As far as survival situation, freeze drying is good because it just takes boiling water and waiting 20 minutes, not cooking. Nutrient retention is superior vs. canning or dying, not that you'd can pasta but for things like salsa or veggies. Freeze dried herbs especially are heads and shoulders above regular dried herbs when freeze dried. They retain really superior flavor and aroma. If I were to freeze dry commercially I would do herbs and pastured eggs. Herbs freeze dry overnight. But again for this application it was so it would store conveniently for them. 🙂