freeze dried and dehydrated food storage (no need to rotate 25 yr shelf life)

[Ecks311]

http://dailybread.com/

Did a quick search and did not see this site... It is excellent and they seem very legit... been in business a good while and I have tried their food and it is very tasty!  (kinda expensive but IMO worth it)

I am going to be purchasing some soon after i get money saved for it.  Seems like a good place for people to start who are just beginning into food storage.

[rustyknife]

Good idea. I use mostly Freeze dried foods in my BOB. I try to get a five or six mile hike in the woods each weekend and make one meal from them. One downside I found awhile back while hiking in some open sage brush area is water. Without thinking ahead very far I drank all the water from my canteen. When it came time to make a meal I had none and it was several more miles to the nearest water. Now I carry two canteens, one for drinking and the other for a meal just in case. Shelf life is a very long time but they don't taste good dry out of the package.

[OKGranny]

I can see keeping a few in a BOB but for everyday food even if SHTF that's way too expensive for us. Think I'll have to stick to canning and drying myself.

[Ecks311]

I can see keeping a few in a BOB but for everyday food even if SHTF that's way too expensive for us. Think I'll have to stick to canning and drying myself.

very true that it is expensive but with that shelf life and no need to rotate for the people that aren't canners it is a very good option... although expensive that is the main draw back.

[Prag]

very true that it is expensive but with that shelf life and no need to rotate for the people that aren't canners it is a very good option... although expensive that is the main draw back.

I don't intend any negativity with my following post.

We keep a mixture of freeze dried (Mountain House, Provident Pantry, & Thrive), MRE's, Bucket packed dried goods, wet pack canned goods, foods in the freezers, and foods we process through canning and dehydrating.
They all have their place in our storage plans.

But, being tangible items, they are limited...either by their cost, storage space, portability, what have you.

Learning skills, such as canning, dehydrating, sustainable gardening and such will last well beyond the limited amounts of stored items we have. At least that's the way I look at it.

There's a wealth of information here, and some good folks looking to share that info, and for that, I'm appreciative.

The LTS freeze dried foods definitely have their place. But they are, as I'm sure you know, only a piece of the puzzle.

Good luck to you on your choices. 

[Ecks311]

oh i agree 100% with your post and am building up my skills as we speak... this is a good option for people that lack another way to prepare be it someone in a city studio apt or no time to learn any of those skills... so far i am loving this place and the knowledge people are willing to share... for sure not taking your post in the negative in fact i think it really  brings up a great point in the topic.

 

[Prag]

Thank you for the kind words Ecks. 

I'm trying to learn as I go as well.
And your point is a good one.
We all have to start on the road, and each of us chooses the path we can, and work on from there.

Keep working at it and enjoy the journey.

Regards,

[hanzel]

They had last year been advertising on Glenn Beck.  They will send you a "sample" meal along with their price breakdown.

[Prag]

Out of curiosity I requested a sample.

Of course they said you had to agree with being contacted...Good Luck with that. 

With my work schedule, I can't even contact myself. 


Thanks for starting this thread  Ecks.

[Herbalpagan]

This reminds me of when I first mentioned (years ago) to my husband that we should have a years worth of food stored (or more).  He thought that the "easy way" was to just get a couple of pallet loads and dump them in the basement. He said it sounded like cheap insurance to him, in 10 years, just get another couple of pallet loads.
He's much happier with how we are doing it, but I can see some people who don't really get it doing this, at least they would have food shtf.

[Prag]

I received my sample of Daily Bread Lasagna with Meat Sauce in the mail this afternoon.

We'll give it a try tomorrow and report back. 

[Prag]

I received my sample of Daily Bread Lasagna with Meat Sauce in the mail this afternoon.

We'll give it a try tomorrow and report back. 

Well...it's a few days later than tomorrow...

But the lasagna is very good.

It's made by Oregon Freeze Dry, whose Food Division is of course, Mountain House...so I'm not surprised at the quality and taste.

Anyone else received and tried their "sample pak"?

I have a few #10 cans of the MH lasagna in my stores as well as a variety of other meals.

Handy & Tasty. 

[phargolf]

Some of us have to prep for more people than are at our homesite (or Bugin Location). We don't have the luxury of "eating what we store" or rotating our stock thru normal useage. Freezedried foods are the only long term (not having to replace constantly) option for us. yes, it is more expensive shortterm, but cheaper long term. Just an old geezers .02

[Prag]

Just a follow-up:

I had a nice telephone conversation with Sherm (Sherman Abegg) from Daily Bread.
fwiw...I'm not in the habit of speaking with telemarketers, but before he mailed me the sample, he asked permission to phone.

Sherm told me they have several manufactures producing their products, and they appear to have a pretty extensive product line.

Their products are not the most inexpensive I've seen, but not the most expensive either.


I generally purchase my #10 cans of freeze dried foods when they are on sale.
And I see a value in having these on hand for blending with my other stores, or for an immediate post-event situation to allow you to stay well fed for a few days while you repair and/or set up your means to care for yourself and family.


I don't get any discounts or anything like that from mentioning any of this, but Sherm struck me as a decent guy.


If you haven't contacted Daily Bread for a sample yet, and you are considering storing freeze dried food, you might want to try this out.

Just my $.02 worth. 

[Ecks311]

I tried the beef stew and lasagna. Both were very tasty. My sales rep was super friendly too and had been with the company over 5 years.

[ncjeeper]

Some of us have to prep for more people than are at our homesite (or Bugin Location). We don't have the luxury of "eating what we store" or rotating our stock thru normal useage. Freezedried foods are the only long term (not having to replace constantly) option for us. yes, it is more expensive shortterm, but cheaper long term. Just an old geezers .02

Im in the same boat as you. I try to eat as much as I can to keep things rotated, but MRE's, Mountain House, Wise, etc sure help out for the long term.

[Wrangell]

We received a sample from Sherwin at DailyBread and the food was very tasty Chicken ala King). When I talked to Sherwin he was by no means a pressure sales person. I had a list of questions and he answered all of them honestly.

The big thing for me was shipping since we are in Alaska and get hammered on shipping costs. Sherwin told me that they get a huge discount on shipping since they do a lot of business. After asking them who they used he told me and I am familiar with the company he uses to ship to Alaska since we do a lot of business with them where I work.
The shipping rate he quoted me was more than half of what others were quoting me so I knew this guy was serious about doing business.

After all the research I had done on pricing it seems that DailyBread was very competitive with other reputable companies selling freeze dried foods in bulk.

All their food options (6 plans) are for a family of five and they do not offer other options other than their Ala Carte. We chose the "A" option for 2 adults-3 children 3 month food supply which would provide my wife and myself with 3-1/2 months of food at three meals per day which comes to right around 2000 calories per day.

We will use a some of this on hiking trips and climbing trips I do, will have some for BOB and the rest in the pantry for LTS. The both of us are just getting into canning so we will have the freeze dried as a back up with our other storage items until then. Working on having at least a full years supply of food storage on hand at all times figuring in the eating what we store factor. Rotating stock is being took into consideration with the foods we can ourselves and local store bought foods.

DailyBread shipped the food a few days ago so we will see it by the end of this week. I would have to say that they offered us the best deal for what we were looking for. They don't even bombard you with a bunch of emails like other sites we have contacted about LTFS items.

[Prag]

Wrangell;

Thanks for the head's up.

It's good to hear you'll get a break on the shipping.

I read time & again where this is a big issue for most folks in Alaska.

Let us know what you think of the package after it arrives.

Good Luck with your prepping. 

[Bradbn4]

I still think even with a 25 year storage that there should be "some" rotation.  I figure around year 12  - 20 you could start dipping into the long term storage item(s) and rotate some fresh stock.  When I bought some MREs to stock for short term issues I figured I would buy a few cases each year and use the old stock for hiking, storage in my car, at work.  This way I can don't have a big bill at year 7 for the MRE's - or year 25 - 30 (depending on storage temp) for the long term dried foods.

And I do agree that if you want, you could just buy another pallet of food every 20 years and sell / give the old stuff away. 

The only problems with Daily Bread is that I would like to oh - say buy 2 - 3 weeks worth of food and use it every day during this period to see how well my taste buds and the rest of the body handles the food.
I would also like to tune  the order list to load up on chicken vs beef, or any other unique dietary needs.

Looking at the FAQ for Dail Bread has answered many of my objections about flexibility on orders. I guess I would just like to be able to price different options without having to talk to a sales person.
 

[Wrangell]

Brad, Did you get the form that had all the pricing on it from Daily Bread? They sent us a few sheets that give breakdowns of what is provided with each "plan". They also give pricing breakdown on their Ala Carte items per case.

It is somewhat of a hassle that they do not break things down to where you can place smaller orders but even with others the prices go up with the less you buy.

[Bradbn4]

Brad, Did you get the form that had all the pricing on it from Daily Bread? They sent us a few sheets that give breakdowns of what is provided with each "plan". They also give pricing breakdown on their Ala Carte items per case.

It is somewhat of a hassle that they do not break things down to where you can place smaller orders but even with others the prices go up with the less you buy.

No - I did not see the price form online - as a busy body - and a fact hound I will try research it.

Case pricing is find with me - Daily bread seem to use different vendors to obtain their meal plan.

When I click on pricing I see nothing more than a contact form.


Oh well - I have met this years freeze dried stock on hand, could use more - but that will have to wait until the next item on my list is met.


Brad - In Colorado

[eph2]

Full disclosure - I am a rep for Thrive (Shelf Reliance) foods and sell their product. 

Just a little heads up that their food is about 10-15% cheaper than the website advertised prices when purchased through a rep.  I joined them because I get my food at even more of a discount and that helps me store more faster.

With all the brands of freeze-dried foods, some of the prodcuts are NOT expensive and might be worth a look even for the most budget conscious.  A #10 can of eggs is $19.65 and contains almost 20 doz eggs.  Green beans are $14.35 for 50 servings.  There is a premium for the LT processing but in my own case even that is cost effective for fruits, vegitables, meats and dairy in my food storage plan because I can't rotate everything I want to have on hand fast enough to keep it fresh. 

With my food storage I do "all of the above"; store beans and rice (re-packed myself from Sam's), store and rotate cans and everyday items, can my own produce, freeze meat I buy from the meat locker or get from hunting, and store freeze dried food in #10 cans with long shelf life.  Each has its own purpose and its own place in a well-rounded strategy. 

[Prag]

Thanks for the info eph2.

I had a State Tax License for about 20 years before moving to East TN. as I was involved in firearms and shooting / competition / firearms training. Being able to utilize the license and purchase wholesale saved me a bundle of cash, and had quite a few business related benefits.

I can certainly see the benefit of being involved on the business side of this.


Food for thought. 

[gobblerblaster]

Im in the same boat as you. I try to eat as much as I can to keep things rotated, but MRE's, Mountain House, Wise, etc sure help out for the long term.

E-Foods global has the right size packs in dehydrated food, for the folks that don't have a lot of money to throw at their food preps all at once and also has some bigger packs at great prices. I have tried the Stoganoff and the Chicken Alfredo, good stuff and the best prices and right now E-foods has been delivering faster than anyone else. I guess Mountain House and Wise have huge backlogs at the moment.

http://rodmarlin.myefoods.com/

[jenncriaranch]

Check this site out for the best freeze dried foods I've had yet, and they also have preparedness products.  www.rushing.shelfreliance.com

[CTsurvivalist]

Where are you guys getting prices? I was hoping they would post pricing online. Appears that you need to phone in.

[NassPrep]

Regarding the OP and daily-bread: It is quite expensive, but search around online and you might find a way to get a sample for free. They send you the prices then as well. I have my free sample of chicken teriyaki in my pantry. They wanted me to eat it and then order some, but with the 25 year shelf life I have been putting it off. I might eat it then put a review on my site.

[GSL68028]

rustyKnife.

Pretty sure this quote is from Hunter Thompson.





Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thouroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming "man what a ride!" Author unknown

[rustyknife]

Ah thanks....I copied it from another source.

[mountainmoma]

Don't start flaming me for relying on an old thread. I think that's it's worth my time to share with this forum what experience I have with coolers/food storage and where to get the cheapest ones for good quality. So with the hope, someone will see this topic pop up again and see what I have to say. Since, I and my family got on many trips across the county, (as we have many relatives in many places) and we also have many picnics. I've had a bad past with quite a fair bit of coolers just dying out in the middle of a trip or being really bad at the main aspect of a cooler - cooling! But for the last few months, I'm happy with what I got. I bought myself an " igloo polar cooler." If you want a better visual of the cooler, I have a review you can check out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA4naycd84M. The cooler is very spacious. The chest can fit up to 188 cans or 120-quart of volume. Now that's a solid deal for what I got. You can check the prices and see descriptions of others coolers at https://under-the-open-sky.com/best-cheap-coolers/ Then again, I don't want to forget the topic here. We're talking about "freeze-dried and dehydrated food storage" coolers. Obviously cheap means bad, so... be prepared to replace ledges and handlers, as they break easily. Hey, at least it gets the job done and doesn't fall apart completely, right? Anyhow this post is my say on the matter. I was just hoping to share my thoughts and the things I know from experience. If you have any better ideas would like to hear them.

this is the wrong thread to talk about coolers.  It is not that it is an old thread, it is that this thread is about DRY FOOD STORAGE that means food that specifically does not need to be in a cooler.  There is a place on the forum for recomendations, it is here : http://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=60215.msg759844#new    which is where you already made this exact post and review a couple days ago -- so no need to repeat. 

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