Emergency Food Storage: Freeze-Dried vs. Deep Pantry

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Overview

Many of us take for granted knowing where our next meal will come from, but that certainty could disappear in a moment if a disaster were to strike. The two methods of emergency food preparation we will compare in this article are buying a bucket of freeze-dried meals with a long shelf life, and creating a "deep pantry" backstock of foods that you already eat.

I generally recommend the deep pantry method. It is cheaper, requires no equipment to eat in an emergency, and enables you to eat foods you already enjoy that fit your dietary preferences. It is also the recommended method of pretty much every emergency management agency, including FEMA and American Red Cross. Freeze-dried food can be the better option for people who are not very cost-sensitive, who want to spend the least amount of mental energy possible thinking about their emergency supplies, or those who don't regularly cook at home. There is no right or wrong answer, only what is best for your particular circumstances. Employing a mix of these methods can be the best choice overall for many people, to strike a balance between cost and convenience. This article will help you make those decisions and successfully execute your plan, whatever you choose.

Method One: The Deep Pantry

To create a deep pantry, simply buy extras of the foods you already eat. Once you have a large back stock of foods, continue to eat through them and replenish at a normal rate through your regular grocery shopping. By eating the oldest foods first, you ensure that nothing goes to waste, while still having enough food on hand to last you through an emergency.

Beyond preparedness for a cataclysmic earthquake, having a deep pantry of foods also gives you insurance for other, less severe emergencies. You will no longer be caught low on food during illness, winter storms, or if your grocery budget squeezes especially tight one week. Just make sure you restock when the disruption has passed!

Which foods should I stock up on?

The most important properties of pantry emergency foods are being shelf-stable and not requiring cooking to eat. For example, canned beans fit the bill perfectly. While dried beans excel for daily cooking, they cannot be relied on in an emergency since they require lots of water and heat to cook thoroughly.

Other desirable qualities in deep pantry foods include high calorie and protein content. Calories are the energy currency of the body and the critical quantity when trying to avoid starvation. Protein is the primary building block of our bodies. You don't need to eat like a bodybuilder, especially for short durations during an emergency, but getting a reasonable amount of protein will help keep you healthy and feeling better. Shelf-stable protein sources include canned beans, meats and fish; nuts, seeds, and nut butters; protein or granola bars; and jerkies.

Fruits and vegetables are easy to overlook but add vitamins, minerals, and fiber to your diet. Canned or dried fruits and veggies are good to include in your preparations. Canned soups can also be a good way to add vegetables to your diet, but can sometimes be very high in sodium.

Beyond physical health, including some comfort foods and treats can be a great help to morale and keeping your spirits raised during difficult times. These could be packaged foods like cookies and juice, chocolate and candy, crackers and chips, or other similar foods.

Shelf-stable sauces and spice blends can add some flavor to your meals. Vinegar-based sauces typically don't require refrigeration after opening, but check the label to see what the manufacturer recommends.

Instant coffee can be a lifesaver if you drink coffee regularly. The coffee won't be gourmet, but you can simply add it to water of any temperature to get something like your regular brew.

One more food worth highlighting is rolled or instant oats. Unlike steel-cut oats, rolled and instant oats are generally steamed during their processing, making them safe to eat without cooking. Oatmeal or overnight oats is a simple, tasty, and nutritious breakfast. This makes it easy to keep a large stock of oats and eat through the supply before they expire. Cold-soaking is a well-established technique among backpackers who need to conserve fuel. Note that in warm temperatures the oats should be eaten within an hour of soaking to prevent bacterial growth that can cause food poisoning.

How do I manage expiration dates and rotation?

Shelf-stable goods can last for several years, but they don't last forever. Stocking foods you eat as part of your regular diet enables you to hold large quantities of food without letting it expire. However, problems can arise here if you leave the same cans of beans languishing in your emergency kit for 15 years without ever changing them out.

Adopting a "first in, first out" (FIFO) system can solve this problem. FIFO just means always using the oldest item of a group before any newer ones. FIFO is very effective, but can be overkill and lots of work, especially if your emergency food isn't physically located in your pantry.

A simpler way to achieve the same goal is to periodically check and rotate your emergency food. Before you put a food item into your stock supplies, check its expiration date. If the item expires more than one year from now, put it in your kit. When you check on your foods, pull out any items that will expire within six months and add replacements for them to your grocery list. I call this method "going shopping" in your emergency supplies, since you are pulling out foods to your pantry to eat. Just make sure you also replace the items you pulled out with fresh ones from the store!

How much food do I need?

Any amount of food is better than none, so I recommend starting small and continuing to build up your supplies with every trip to the store. A rough target to aim for would be 2,000 calories per person per day, for 14 days. This would mean 28,000 calories per person total. A person's actual calorie needs depend on their size, activity level, and environment. Young children likely don't need quite 2,000 calories, while an adult who is walking frequently and sleeping in the cold outdoors may need substantially more to fully replace their daily energy consumption.

Method Two: Freeze-Dried Food

Freeze drying is a highly effective way to preserve food while maintaining nutritional value and food quality. Many brands offer buckets of this food specifically for emergency preparedness.

Do I need equipment to cook this food?

Most brands of freeze-dried foods recommend reconstituting their food with hot water. However, many also say that any temperature of water can be used if heating is not feasible, to just increase the soak time before eating.

To get the most from this food, and truly enjoy a hot meal, you will need a way to boil water. Some of these solutions simply have you pour water into their pouches, which you then eat out of. Others require a pot you pour their food into with the boiling water. Our kits do not come with a stove, so if you want to pursue this route make sure you procure a way to boil water. If you do not already own a camping stove, many brands can be purchased for this purpose. When buying a stove for emergency food readiness, I recommend getting a model that can burn both biomass (like twigs) as well as a solid fuel like Esbit. This ensures that if you run out of fuel that came with the stove, you can still gather materials to cook with.

How much food do I need?

Most of these brands advertise their products by "servings". The "servings" are almost always very small, and rarely a full meal. The best way to evaluate how much food you are getting is to look at the total calories included in a bundle or container. Similar to the deep pantry, estimating 2,000 calories per person per day is a good starting point for how much food you may need to prepare.

What brand food bucket should I buy?

I have some wide-ranging dietary restrictions that prevent me from testing these brands and weighing in with a personal recommendation.

ReadyWise offers low prices for their food buckets. In particular, their "duration" buckets come out to about $10 per person per day. Their products can also be purchased at Costco. They get mixed reviews online ranging from "fine/not bad", to "inedible trash". Across the board people recommend using less water than the manufacturer recommends to avoid making the food too soupy.

Mountain House seems to be the most uniformly recommended brand for taste and reliability. The downside is that they are substantially more expensive, around $30 per person per day.

Wirecutter also published a guide to emergency food kits, which surveys several other brands available for purchase.

Does it matter how I store freeze-dried food?

The advertised shelf life of these products relies on storing them in a cool place, away from sunlight and moisture. Read the specific directions from the manufacturer you purchase from. If you store them in non-climate controlled areas or outdoors, they may have a shorter shelf life. Always inspect your food before eating and discard it if the packaging shows signs of damage, or if the food shows any signs of spoilage.

Summary

I recommend stocking your own deep pantry if you are cost sensitive, have dietary restrictions pre-made meals cannot easily accommodate, or don't have a dry, cool, dark place to safely store freeze-dried foods for decades. Emergency food kits can be a good solution for those who don't regularly cook or shop, or those who really don't want to deal with rotating food supplies.

I also don't want to give the impression that you have to swear allegiance to one of these strategies and scoff at the idea of implementing the other one. Diversification of food sources provides extra redundancy and can reduce your risk of a single point of failure in your food system. Buying a smaller amount of freeze-dried meals can reduce the price pain, while letting you eat some hearty warm meals in an emergency. Supplementing the rest of your foods from a less-deep pantry can round out your food supplies and reduce the amount of regular rotation and replenishment in your food stocks.

Feeling overwhelmed? Stocking up on food isn't an all or nothing proposition. I encourage you to add one extra item to your shopping list right now, and/or spend the next five minutes perusing the catalog of an emergency food vendor I listed above. All of our kits come with a description of the deep pantry system and our deliveries include reminders to add foods to your regular shopping trips. We want it to be easy to get this done. Reach out if you have any questions, or if we can help in any way.