Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf life?

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Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf life?

Postby wildwanderer » Sat 15 Sep, 2018 7:39 am

I have a few week long trips coming up and I doubt I'l have time to buy and learn how to use a dehydrator.

I was planning to buy some of the freeze dried beef(only) and chicken(only) commercial packs and then add in my usual coles sourced dehydrated peas, mushrooms and spice etc

My issue is all the beef/chicken packs come in largish sizes (3 serves+) and I wanted to open them up and repackage (ziploc) to single serve.

After I do this how long will they keep for? Is the new shelf life dependant on temperature?
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Re: Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf lif

Postby CasualNerd » Sat 15 Sep, 2018 8:21 am

Theoretically if you can transfer it without getting any moisture or contaminants in, it should be fine for it's original shelf life.

If you can do it in a warm, dry place that's very clean I don't see why you'd have any problems.
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Re: Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf lif

Postby crollsurf » Sat 15 Sep, 2018 8:30 am

They should be fine for at least a couple of weeks probably months but not as long as the date on the packaging. Wouldn't worry about temps so much but moisture is the killer so at least repackage in dry air. If you cant vaccum seal a little trick is to push the bag into water up to the ziplock, not above and then zip. Be careful though. Make sure the zip lock is properly zipped.

I find a splash of Olive Oil helps the flavour but make sure it's pretty much rehydrated first (40mins/1hour depending on ingredience)
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Re: Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf lif

Postby Heremeahappy1 » Sat 15 Sep, 2018 9:47 am

You could just take your additional ingredients seperately and add at time of cooking. I dehyde my own and once packaged, only open to rehyde and eat. In my ignorance I cant see the benefit of diddling with the original packaging.
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Re: Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf lif

Postby Warin » Sat 15 Sep, 2018 10:00 am

Heremeahappy1 wrote:In my ignorance I cant see the benefit of diddling with the original packaging.


Less weight and reduced pack size.

Then you can separate out a 2 sized meal pack into 2 separate meals and save on costs.
Or you might supplement a 1 sized meal with other things and make it into 2 with the added things - reducing costs again.

The original packing will be better at keeping the thing viable .. so I think repacking should only be done just before you leave on the trip.
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Re: Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf lif

Postby wildwanderer » Sat 15 Sep, 2018 10:08 am

Warin wrote:
Heremeahappy1 wrote:In my ignorance I cant see the benefit of diddling with the original packaging.


Less weight and reduced pack size.

Then you can separate out a 2 sized meal pack into 2 separate meals and save on costs.
Or you might supplement a 1 sized meal with other things and make it into 2 with the added things - reducing costs again.

Correct. Plus I’m unsure of the durability and resealability of the original package. I dont want to find out I cant reseal on day 1 of a week long trip.

Also I’m unlikely to use it all on a single trip. Im hoping to use 2 portions on one trip and the final portion on another a month later.

Thanks all for the advice.

Is there a way to tell if moisture is starting to get into the freeze dried food? Does it become soft etc? If so at that point does it require immediate eating?

Also I wonder if adding a small packet of silca gel (sealed) would help?
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Re: Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf lif

Postby Warin » Sat 15 Sep, 2018 11:57 am

wildwanderer wrote:Is there a way to tell if moisture is starting to get into the freeze dried food? Does it become soft etc? If so at that point does it require immediate eating?


Weight it when dry. Every 1 ml of water adds 1 gram to the weight. Easy enough to do at home.
On the track .. the food swells as it absorbs water so the size of it might be a guide?

At what point does it go off? Don't know and I don't want to find out :oops:

wildwanderer wrote:Also I wonder if adding a small packet of silca gel (sealed) would help?


To absorb water the silca gel has to be exposed to the air/water, and it must not already be saturated with water. I'd not bother.
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Re: Commercial Freeze Dried after repackaging. New shelf lif

Postby flingebunt » Sat 12 Jan, 2019 11:25 am

Freeze dried product last a very long time. The pre-packed products are vacuum sealed in a sterilised foil containers in a nitrogen environment, which means they can last for up to 20 years. Freeze dried fruits often only have a shelf life of 2 years.

Once you open them they exposed to air, water and contaminants. My understanding is that the real enemy is water. If you are in a humid climate, your freeze dried products will last less time once opened than in a desert.

Having said that, 6 months is a good rule of thumb for products that would stay good unopened for 20 years. If they are in sealed plastic bags they should easily last the length of most hikes. You probably don't want to open them, take the food you want, and then try to store the rest of the food for too long. Though if sealed back up properly and stored in a freezer, it should be good.

If they get wet or even damp though, it should be a case of eat them right away.

This means that opening them and repacking them before hiking is the best way to go. You can also open the packet, eat what you want, then put the rest away, could have dangers, such as if it gets moist from rain or damp air.
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