The Importance Of Emergency Food Storage For Any Kind Of Situations

Several weather changes, natural calamities and volatile economic conditions have been reminding us constantly that unfortunate events can take place any moment. Thus the question arises that are you prepared for handling these kinds of situations? There are a large number of people who are not prepared for handling these kinds of emergency situations. But emergency preparedness is of utmost importance to devise a good emergency plan that can help you in times of unforeseen circumstances. If any disaster takes place, it takes a minimum of three days before any kind of help reaches you and your family. Therefore it is very essential for you to prepare yourself for these days so that you can feed yourself and your family.

You need to have adequate food storage for emergency that can lasts for a longer time. These foods do not even require any preparation and you should select foods according to the needs and preferences of your family. 

It is extremely essential for you to select food items that are complete meal and provides you with proper and balanced nutrition. You should have food storage that can keep your health and bodies intact during long term crisis and emergencies. Food bars are the best non preparation foods that are high in calories and do not make you too much thirsty. Camping meals like light weight food and meals ready to eat can also be stored for a long period of time and these foods can last for up to two years in the shelf. If you are planning to prepare your own food then preserving and canning is the best option as these methods are the most cost efficient way of storing food. The canning process is very easy to learn and perform but for this you will need to have the right equipment and supplies.

You need to have pressure canners that are very important for home caning which is ideal for pressure canning the vegetables with low acid content. You can use boiling water canning process for preparing high acid vegetables. This method is carried on in a boiling water canner or a cooking pot where the jars are put in with adequate water for covering the jars. Food dehydrator is also important equipment for emergency food storage as it helps in drawing the moisture from the food so that spoilage can be prevented even if the food is not refrigerated.

There are a large number of emergency food kits and food items that are available in the market that is very essential for helping you to survive for three days. These kit need to be easy to grab and portable so that it can help you in case of emergency situations. These kits have dehydrated foods, freeze-dried foods and meals ready to have for providing you with enough healthy food for emergency situations. There are some food kits that even include supplements and vitamins for you and your family when you are going through any disasters, emergency situations or crisis in your life.

Posted By Carrie R. Butler

Welcome To The Wonderful World Of Legacy Food Storage

When disaster strikes, it always pays to be prepared. And there is no better way to be prepared than with Legacy Food Storage.

Since starting in 2011, Legacy has been committed in providing high quality dehydrated and freeze dried meals across the country. With a diverse menu of tasty meal selections, this company has made a massive commitment to surpassing its customers expectations in the standards of meals they prepare.

Not content to offer the same range of boring, tasteless products that are common in this industry, Legacy has raised the bar and worked closely with professional chefs in order to create a range of meals that are packed full of flavor. From the hundreds of testimonials received from customers who vouch for the great taste and ease of preparation, you won't be disappointed.
Here are 6 great reasons to consider Legacy Food Storage as your trusted provider of quality meals:

1. Ease of Preparation - When you're out in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity or comforts of home, then the last thing you want is having a meal that needs 10 steps to prepare it. However with Legacy, it's as simple as just add boiling water, stir and then dig in. No bother or fuss.

2. High Quality Ingredients - Legacy have made the commitment of using only the highest quality ingredients in their meals in order to ensure that the consistently of flavor and standard of taste is always at the highest level.



3. A 25 year shelf life - Now many companies may make this claim, but there aren't that many who can back it up with the technology and research that Legacy have invested in their meal preparation process. When you consider the advanced packaging process used that minimizes that amount of oxygen that remains in the pouches, the highest quality ingredients used in their meals and also the highest quality food packing material, if long shelf is a priority, then Legacy has you covered.

4. Gluten Free Range - If eating only Gluten free is a serious consideration for you, then Legacy is proud to announce that it has a range of Gluten free meals to offer its customers. Special care is made in the meals preparation process to ensure the highest standards are maintained and that cross-contamination is eliminated. And the full gluten free range comes with the same 25 year shelf life guarantee and ease of preparation promise.

5. Wide variety of packs and bulk options available - If it's just for yourself or you're catering to hundreds, then Legacy has the options you need. With the bulk pack options, feeding large groups is a breeze. Or if you're planning a trek, then check out their range of survival kits and accessories, including their specially designed stove.

6. Everyday Meals - Even though Legacy has made its name in the emergency food and survival meals segment, more and more people are looking to their products as a fast and convenient way of having meals on the go. Whether you work on the road or simply want the convenience of meals you can prepare in an instant, their fast and convenient meals would be a great option for you.

With a never ending commitment to using only the highest quality ingredients, Legacy Food Storage is the company you can trust to deliver you a great range of meal options at affordable prices. Check them out today.

Dried Food Recipe – An Overview

Drying food, also known as dehydrating is a method of food preservation that is carried out by eliminating water from the foodstuff thus hindering bacterial growth. Drying of food goes back in time and was still used for preservation. Then it was a very popular way of keeping food edible for very long periods of times. Though it was not always efficient it very much served the needed purpose.

In this modern day, a lot of food is used in its dehydrated state to lengthen its shelf life and make it easier to handle. Some of the most common dried foods include:

• Instant coffee
• Powdered milk

• Freeze-dried ice-cream


• Oatmeal
• Instant noodles etc


Fruits and vegetables may also be dehydrated and eaten in the dry state or soaked in water or alcohol to reconstitute them. Food may be dried for purposes such as camping or going on long road trips or even for emergencies.
Methods of drying food

There are modern and traditional methods of food preservation some of which are still being used. The most common techniques include, but are not limited to:

I. Drying- water is removed via evaporation by being exposed to sunlight or wind. It is a traditional method hence takes time before the desired result is achieved.

II. Smoking- this is mostly done on meat hung over a fire place. It was used by hunters to preserve meat.

III. Salting- salt has a dehydrating effect and sprinkling it over meat or vegetables essentially removes the moisture and conserves it.

IV. Spray drying-it is a modern method of producing a powder from a liquid such as milk by use of very hot air.

V. Household oven- this is a thermal furnace that can cook as well as dry food.

VI. Food dehydrators- they basically eradicate moisture from food by blowing warm air over the food.

VII. Freeze drying- it is a method of drying food by exposing it to extreme cold conditions then sublimating the frozen water to gas immediately.
VARIOUS RECIPES THAT CAN RESULT FROM DRIED FOOD

• Tuna fish soup
• Vegetable soup
• Dry onion soup
• Hamburger rocks

• Cooked beans etc

Here is an interesting fact- you may cook a whole meal and dry it the all you have to do is boil it in some water to rehydrate it. How convenient.

An example of a great dried food recipe is:

Chicken noodle soup

Ingredients; (all dehydrated)

• A slice of well ground garlic
• 3 cups Egg noodles

• 3 tablespoons Olive oil

• Half a cup of Carrots
• 1 lb Previously cooked dehydrated chicken

• 5 cups Chicken stock
• A quarter a cup of Onions

• Seasonings and salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

i. Rehydrate all the items above by dipping in cold or boiling water until

ii. Adequately succulent.
iii. Add olive oil to a medium heated pan.

iv. Add onions and cook till golden brown.
v. Add the chicken stock, the garlic, carrots, egg noodles and the chicken and cook

Posted By Carrie R. Butler

Importance Of Freeze Fried Foods

Freeze during is the modern method of preserving foods for quite a long period normally 10 to 15 years. This method involves the freezing the foods to almost zero temperatures and removal of the moisture in a vacuum chamber last covering it inside an airtight container. Frozen foods have the advantage of maintaining its taste and color and can withstand normal temperatures during transportation. The foods also require minimal preparation.

This method was developed in the advent of second World War as a means of preserving the blood plasma for injuries and blood transfusion during the battlefield accidents and health injuries without requiring cooling. This method has been incorporated into preparation of consumer food after the end of the war and coffee was among the fist foods to be prepared, Other foods followed suit in the preservation like chicken, eggs, vegetables, meat and food flavorings.

The removal of 98% of the moisture content in the food makes it light and convenient in handling and shipping hence this minimizes cost of shipping. The food requires no refrigeration or storage hence can withstand the normal conditions.

The food also relatively free from any contamination since the drying process does not allow the formation of yeast and infectious bacteria to survive hence contaminating is inevitable. The process also maintains the test, color, texture and flavor with no alteration of these properties is done during the process. Preparation for consumption of this food is also simple since it requires only addition of water. Freeze dried chicken is one of the best popular foods made up of 100% wholesome poultry having a very pleasant taste and have been inspected and approved by USDA as fit for human and meets all the regulatory standards.

Freeze Dried Chicken Process

The Manufacturing Process

Freeze-drying machinery and equipments must be available and approved by USDA plus all the employees. The process plant must include the storage and receiving area, deep freezing vessels, cooking area, packing for chicken.

Testing and Preparation

The plant must all the necessary tools and testing machined to check on the quality of the raw materials for any contamination and purity.

Freezing

The precooked chicken pieces are evenly spread out in a flat metal trays for cooling and are subjected to temperatures of -40F (-40 Celsius) in a trolley for sometime in cold rooms operation until they are removed for drying.

Drying

frozen chicken is taken to the vacuum drying chambers. This a large drying chamber composed of 20-30 drying chambers which remove the solid moisture from the chicken by sublimation method. This is a change of the solid state to gaseous state without the liquid phase while raising the temperature to 38 Celsius by direct conduction.

Sizing and Blending

Dried chicken are taken away from the drying chamber and tasted for purity and moisture content and sixing and finally blending of two or more varieties to meet the customer tastes and preferences.

Packing

Packing in airtight containers is essential after blending to prevent the food from absorbing moisture in the atmosphrere. The material of the containers rangers from plastic to metallic can.

Posted By Carrie R. Butler