Taste Test of Dehydrated and Freeze Dried Foods

Over at the Preparedness Advice Blog, they conducted a taste test of dehydrated and freeze dried foods of different types and from various manufacturers. (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). They describe the test:

A panel of five people was chosen that were not overly familiar with any of the brands of food that were in the test. The panel met at one location and was given the foods without any information. They were not told either the product or brand. After tasting the products, they then scored them on a scale of one to ten. The foods were judged on four factors, taste, texture, appearance and an overall score. They were instructed to use five as a base line for average and if they varied from this to make comments as to why.

The panel tested fifty items and did a great job. As you read the results, you will see that on occasions there were great variations in the judging of a product by them. Most products received some good and bad reviews depending on the tastes of the individual panelist. Below you will find the list of individual items. They are divided into groups such as entree and dairy. Under the name of each item you will find the following information. The average score of all five panelists for taste, texture, appearance and overall. In addition, you will find calories per serving, sodium and a remarks section.

I don't recommend freeze dried foods for anything but an short term emergency supply (such as a bug-out bag) just because of the cost. However, I have used freeze dried food for camping/hunting trips. Its always good to get reviews of the different foods.