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Why freeze-dried food weighs so little

The heaviest part of any meal is water. By drawing the moisture out under a cold vacuum, a cooked dinner that would normally weigh half a kilogram drops to around 120 grams. You carry the calories, but you leave the weight of the water behind.

Because the water leaves as ice rather than as steam, the structure stays intact. When you add hot water, the texture returns. You eat pieces of vegetables, meat and pasta.

You save time and you save gas. You pour boiling water into the bag, stir, and wait a few minutes. You eat straight from the pouch, so there is no pot to wash.

How to choose freeze-dried meals

Lyocorner brings European freeze-dried food producers into one catalogue, where meals can be filtered across brands by ingredient, allergen, protein and energy. We ship across Europe.

By diet: vegetarian, vegan, organic, gluten free, lactose free, allergens free.

By allergen, excluded one at a time: celery, egg, fish, gluten, milk, mustard, nuts, sesame, soy, sulphites, and the traces of each.

By ingredient, included or excluded: red meat, pork, poultry, fish, cheese, eggs, pasta, rice, potato, oats, legumes, grains, vegetables, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, nuts, chocolate, fruit, curry, chili.

By course: breakfasts, main courses, soups, desserts, smoothies, fruit and vegetables, basics.

If you do not eat mushrooms, you can take every meal with mushrooms out of the shop in one click.

Five European producers, each best at something different

• Real Turmat. Texture closest to a cooked meal.
• LYOFOOD. Clean label.
• Trek’n Eat. Over 1000 kcal a portion.
• Adventure Food. Outstanding value for money.
• AKTA. Organic Italian cooking.

Gluten free

If you have coeliac disease, gluten free is a legal limit under 20 ppm. LYOFOOD and Real Turmat run separate production lines for their gluten free meals. Filter by gluten free to see what the producer has declared.

Where freeze-dried food gets tested hardest

At 8,000 metres nothing arrives. Every calorie was carried up, every gram was decided before anyone left home, and the only water is melted snow. It boils below 80 degrees, so the meal has to rehydrate in cooler water than at home and still be something you want to finish.

No resupply, no cold chain, no kitchen.

Our food went on the self-supported ride on Cerro Mercedario, and on a Slovenian attempt to ski from the summit of Manaslu without supplementary oxygen.