Before the phrase "Camping food" has become on a par with the words "pesticides", "domestos" and "mivina", let's quickly understand what the "sublimation process" is.

Vacuum freeze drying is an incredibly effective method of "preserving" products, which is divided into two parts:

• Quick freezing of the product
• Vacuum moisture removal

How does this happen? Instant freezing turns the water inside the cells into ice, and subsequent vacuum drying turns the ice immediately into steam, bypassing heat treatment.

Thus, the product is dehydrated by 95%, but at the same time does not lose color, and retains its beneficial properties and taste. During vacuum drying, the product becomes almost 10 times lighter than the original.

From the Editor:

This technique was discovered and patented by the Russian scientist Georgy Vasilyevich Lappa-Starzhenetsky more than 100 years ago. A curious engineer, dismantling his vacuum unit, found a mummified cranberry, washed it and tasted it.

SUDDENLY, she appeared as fresh.

The discoverer was surprised and interested, in connection with which he continued experiments. It turned out that deep flash freezing can be applied to almost any product, be it vegetables, fruits, dairy or meat products.

Years passed before the sublimated method began to be widely used in medicine, the military sphere, astronautics and, in fact, outdoor activities.

What products can be sublimated?

Sublimation can be applied to any product:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Meat and fish
• Soups and cereals
• Mushrooms and any greens
• dairy products

Well, that is, everything that mere mortals usually eat ... Even if they are vegetarians, girls on a diet, or other space creatures.

Freeze-dried food today

Today, sublimates can be found in specialized outdoor stores, like ours, and in the USA and EU countries and in any large supermarket too.

From the Editor:

Yes, yes, the phrase "sublimated products" is now found not only in astronauts' rations or polar explorers' backpacks.

Let's define the exact wording just in case:
Freeze-dried food - food subjected to vacuum-freeze drying.

From the Editor:

Please note that between sublimation and conventional drying, the difference is the size of an abyss ... This abyss is called "heat treatment", which kills almost all the most useful things in food to death.

Today, freeze-dried products are an ideal meal for a weary traveler, which quickly satisfies hunger and saturates your body with natural beneficial micro and macro elements, vitamins and generally yummy…

As Winnie the Pooh said: “You can’t break the diet!”

Let's see why we are sure that with sublimates you will be better on a hike / in a cave / on a mountain than without them?

Sublimated products are:

• Complete food unit
• Which weighs almost nothing
• Doesn't take up space
• Very nutritious
• Perfectly stored in any conditions, from -50 to +50
• Shelf life is usually several years

And, more importantly, freeze-dried foods cook very quickly.

All you need is to open the package, pour boiling water over the contents (the required amount of liquid is indicated on the package), move and wait 5-10 minutes.

The recovery time of a freeze-dried product depends on the temperature: the higher, the faster the sublimate ceases to look like cat food and begins to resemble, after all, the same “Paste with salmon”.

Bon appetit! Eat healthy food on vacation, in the mountains, at the office, on a fishing trip or a long journey without extra effort and time.

Another major advantage is the variety of dishes.

Have you ever eaten fondue on a mountainside while enjoying the starry sky? Pfff. Easy. Or like creme brulee in the middle of the desert? Any of your gastronomic fantasies is feasible, as even confectionery can be restored from a sublimated state. Blueberry soup or exotic in the form of Chili con carne will not leave anyone indifferent

Is it really edible?

Nutritionists say freeze-dried food is healthy and safe.

Firstly, sublimates are well absorbed. This means that for a long time there comes a feeling of satiety.

Secondly, since only high quality fresh products are sublimated, this food is rich in vitamins and microelements.

Thirdly, preservatives and dyes are completely absent in it, since there is absolutely no need.

What we have?

Personal experience of eating Trek'n'Eat products while sitting on a damp spot of sushi in the middle of the river, as it were, made it clear that this is the BEST way to eat something HOT and NUTRITIONAL QUICKLY and TASTY.

Now, even on simple trips, a backup menu is always grazing in a backpack and a bonus in the form of something unusual, like an omelette, fondue or blueberry soup.

Post Scriptum, or "What is a reasonable alternative to what?" as Les Poderevyansky said

All the advantages of freeze-dried food are somewhat supported by one single drawback. This is the price. In this regard, not everyone uses it in their travels, preferring the usual drying.

For a smaller price, we get food that is less, but still has the same number of advantages.
That is, it is light, but heavier than freeze-dried products ... not harmful, but not as useful as sublimates are useful ... and it is stored well, but not as well as freeze-dried ...

And it's not bad, but not too good for a long-term subsistence ...

Freeze-dried products are food products that have been subjected to vacuum freeze drying. They are often taken on hikes as they are highly nutritious, store well and take up little space. For the same reasons, freeze-dried foods are included in the diet of astronauts in orbit.

Astronaut food. Photo: RIA Novosti

What is the sublimation process?

Sublimation of products (from Latin sublimo - “elevate”) is one of the methods of conservation. It is the removal of moisture from fresh products by a vacuum method, which allows you to reduce the weight by 5-10 times. At the same time, all useful substances and taste qualities of canned food can be preserved. Freeze-dried food can be stored for up to 25 years at temperatures from -50°C to +50°C.

What products can be sublimated?

Sublimation can be subjected to:

dairy products;

Confectionery;

Seasonings.

What should be done with freeze-dried food before eating it?

It is necessary to open and put the product in water, after which it will return to its previous size. Information on the required amount of liquid is indicated on the package.

What do nutritionists say about freeze-dried food?

According to nutritionists, freeze-dried food is healthy. It is well absorbed, and after it, a feeling of satiety quickly and for a long time comes. Due to the fact that only fresh high-quality products are subjected to sublimation, such food is rich in trace elements and vitamins, and flavors, dyes, preservatives and tasters are completely absent in it.

Sublimates - how many in this word! Here you have something frightening, alien to Russian hearing, and something alluring, hitherto unheard of. In fact, everything is terribly simple: freeze-dried products (or freeze-dried products) are food. To understand to which "category" of edibles sublimated food can be attributed, we will conduct a small educational program.
In fact, all "camping" food products can be divided into 5 groups:
1) Sterilized canned food (stew, condensed milk, jam, etc.)
2) Dry groceries (cereals, flour, etc.)
3) Specialized concentrates (, survival rations, food in tablets, etc.)
4) Deep Freeze Supplies
5) and finally Freeze-dried products (vacuum-dried freeze-dried products, etc.)

All this is good, of course, but not everyone can keep at home a “disturbing backpack” stuffed with cereals, canned food and dry foods. Here we face such a practical side of the issue as the expiration date. Which of the five groups listed above should be purchased in order to forget about the rotation for at least a few years and not suffer with replacement with a new one? You should also take into account such an important factor as weight. Of course, you can carry away a box of the same stew, but ... only not far and not for long.
Everyone knows that for hiking, hunting and survival you need a special type of food: something light, compact and (ideally) with a long shelf life, as well as resistant to external influences, such as: weather and climate (temperature and precipitation) , shaking, shock, falls, wind-moisture-dirt resistance .... On the one hand, you can be flattered by ready-made ones, on the other hand, look for something else. Sublimates are exactly the same thing, exactly the case that meets all the specified conditions.

What are sublimated products (sublimates)?
Initially, fast food was intended for a poor customer. As a rule, the manufacturing technology of such products is based on fairly cheap thermal drying: the product is heated to 100-120 degrees and the moisture evaporates from it. At the same time, the structure of the cell is destroyed, the consistency of the product, its taste and aroma change, and only 20-30% of vitamins remain. Such products are abundantly saturated with all sorts of "chemistry". On the packages you can find: “beef flavored”, “chicken flavored”, etc., but not “chicken”, “beef”. Be sure to add various flavors, preservatives, binders.
Sublimation is a completely different method, and, accordingly, sublimated products are completely different.

What is sublimation of products (or “sublimation is…”)?
Sublimation (from lat. sublimo - I lift) means the process of transition of a substance from a solid to a gaseous state, bypassing the liquid stage. In the production of freeze-dried food products, the evaporation of moisture from a quick-frozen product bypasses the liquid phase. Sublimation technology includes two main steps: freezing and drying. During vacuum freeze drying, moisture is removed from the product by evaporation of ice.

Sublimates are a twofold product.
At first glance, it may show that sublimates are exclusively sublimated products, however, this will be an erroneous opinion. In the production of freeze-dried food, unique and innovative processing methods are used: products can be either freeze-dried or dehydrated.
The most important thing here is to correctly determine the type of food. Some products are more amenable to dehydration (dehydration) than sublimation, while others, on the contrary, tolerate the lyophilization process better. Some ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables, retain their flavor better by undergoing the sublimation process. Other ingredients like noodles or rice taste much better when dehydrated. Despite these differences, both processes provide an extremely long shelf life and the preservation of all useful substances.


Thanks to an extensive system of scientific research and testing, in the production of freeze-dried products, either a sublimation or dehydrogenation process is used for each type of product separately, taking into account its unique properties and characteristics. This hybrid processing method ensures the best taste, texture and nutritional value of the product. Such a production process is especially well suited for "assorted" dishes - for example, freeze-dried meat with vegetables or something similar.
Why are sublimates so good? How are they better than ordinary, familiar food? There are several answers here:

Plus the first - usefulness.
It is important that during sublimation the product is NOT subjected to heat treatment. The greater the temperature and duration of the heat treatment of the product, the more it loses useful substances. Therefore, in general, a freeze-dried product has a greater nutritional value than canned in another way, such as heat or microwave drying.

The main idea of ​​sublimation is the most gentle preservation mode. According to laboratory studies, the absence of heat treatment of the original products retains more than 95% of nutrients, vitamins, enzymes and other biologically active components.
Sublimation removes moisture from food, not flavor or texture. Unlike heat-dried foods (which shrink and dry out), freeze-dried foods almost completely regain their original appearance and texture after cooking. It is enough just to add water - and after a few minutes of rehydration, the sublimate will return to its original state. With taste and aroma - an identical situation: they are completely preserved, which makes freeze-dried products terribly appetizing.

Plus the second - low weight and volume.
One of the important properties of sublimation is to reduce the weight of the product by removing water from it. Here you just need to remember how many percent of a person consists of water, so that everything becomes clear. Freeze-dried products can be either in small pieces or in powder form. This allows them to reduce their volume and weight by almost 90% compared to the original product. The weight of sublimates can easily be 5-10 times less than the original weight of the product - it all depends on the type of product. Something perfectly goes through the process of sublimation, something is a little worse. Basically, it depends on the texture of the product and its category: meat, vegetable, liquid, desserts, etc.

For example: if you take a kilogram of meat, then it turns into 200-400 grams of sublimates, but a kilo of vegetables turns into 150-300 grams of sublimates. From 10 kilos of strawberries, 1 kilogram of sublimates is obtained - the weight is reduced by 10 times! In a word, for each type of product, the process is purely individual - some food can really be reduced up to 90% of the original volume and weight.

Plus the third - a variety of choices.
Omelette? Lasagna? Hamburger? Chicken tobacco? Sweet corn? Thanks to modern technology, the number of types of flavors of freeze-dried products is amazing. Here are the first courses (soups), and second courses (with a side dish), and meat products, and fish, and vegetables, and cereals, and even! In total, there are over 500+ different items.

Plus the fourth - a long shelf life.
On average, the shelf life of freeze-dried products ranges from 7-10 to 25 years, which is most suitable for a survivalist.

With all this, the freshness of the product remains intact and it doesn’t matter how many years the packaging of sublimates has been lying in your backpack.
___________________________________________________.

Innovative technologies burst into our everyday life like a whirlwind. New hygiene products and household chemicals, never-before-seen kitchen utensils, consumer electronics, high-tech fabrics successfully coexist in modern homes. Innovation has made its way to our table, to our plates and glasses. In recent decades, due to people's interest in the topic of healthy eating, freeze-dried products have become increasingly popular.

The principle of physical sublimation

Sublimation, or sublimation, is the transformation of substances from a solid directly into a gaseous state, excluding the liquid stage.

Freeze drying, or lyophilization, is the process of extracting liquid from frozen biological objects. It is based on the evaporation of ice contained in frozen foods, that is, its transition directly to the vapor state, excluding the liquid phase.

The sublimation method was developed at the beginning of the 20th century by the talented Russian inventor Lappa-Starzhenetsky G.I., who in 1921 patented the method of sublimation under reduced pressure. For the first time in the world, freeze-drying was used in the forties in the USSR for the conservation of serum, blood plasma and penicillin.

Secrets of industrial production

Sublimated products are made by vacuum sublimation.

Before processing, the original natural product is flash-frozen at temperatures down to -200 °C. Its advantage, in contrast to conventional freezing, is that ice crystals are formed in biological tissues so small that they are not able to destroy even cell membranes.

Then they are placed in a hermetically sealed chamber, from which air is pumped out. After lowering the pressure in the chamber, the temperature is gradually increased. The ice evaporates and the resulting steam is pumped out. When all the ice crystals from the products have evaporated, the technological process is finished.

Next, nitrogen or helium enters the pressure equalization chamber. The chamber opens, the dried products are unloaded, hung out, packaged in gas-vapor-tight bags. Air is pumped out of the package, nitrogen is pumped in instead, and the package is sealed.

Sublimated products: benefits and harms

Freeze-drying ensures the safety of all useful properties and organoleptic characteristics of products without exception. This method is excellent and berries, vegetables and mushrooms, herbs, dairy products and confectionery, meat and fish, soups and cereals.

Application experience shows that sublimates even surpass natural analogues in nutritional and taste properties. It is hard to imagine that someone is happy to drink natural beetroot and cabbage juice or celery and parsley juice, and drinks that were used in the preparation of similar freeze-dried products have the most excellent reviews. Sublimated berries and fruits, as well as dairy products, were also highly appreciated.

Sublimates do not contain any preservatives or dyes, and this is their main advantage in comparison with other long-term storage and instant products.

The only danger that may accompany the purchase of sublimates is the low-quality raw materials used by an unscrupulous manufacturer. You can protect yourself by purchasing products from trusted companies.

Sublimation - the solution to many problems

Freeze-dried products can be widely used both as instant products and as industrial semi-finished products in confectionery, food concentrate, meat and dairy, perfumery and other industries.

In the production of fermented milk products, dry, easily soluble antibiotics, viral and bacterial preparations, dietary supplements, starter cultures and enzymes, vacuum sublimation has no alternative.

Freeze-dried products are the best option for providing food on long hikes and trips. The method of their use is as simple as possible: water is added to the product, and it is ready. It should only be remembered that the rate of recovery of the sublimate depends on the temperature of the water with which it is poured.

home production

The process of vacuum sublimation is technologically complex, requires special knowledge and training, and uses specific industrial equipment.

Therefore, amateur recommendations on the Web on how to cook freeze-dried foods at home can be a good help to tourists and hunters who want to reduce the weight of their luggage by drying cooked meals, but they have nothing to do with vacuum sublimation of quick-frozen foods.

Another thing is drying products in the cold, as the peoples of the northern countries have done for centuries. Chunks of meat and fish weathered in the cold do not deteriorate, they become lighter, while maintaining their size, shape and organoleptic properties.

Sublimates are widespread all over the world, in the Russian Federation they are only gaining popularity. But every day it becomes more and more obvious that they are a great option for a healthy diet. The sublimated product is a valuable innovative find, a gift of science to mankind.

What is the most important thing in food from the point of view of a survivalist? Food must be nutritious enough to provide all necessary needs. Well, except that vitamins can be added additionally. Food must have an extremely long life so that after many years it does not lose its useful qualities. Food must be able be stored in almost any conditions, since it is not always possible to properly equip the cache. All these parameters are satisfied sublimates.

Sublimates. Pros, cons and basic principles

Sublimation is a process during which ice turns into vapor, bypassing the state of aggregation of the liquid. That is, the original product is subjected to deep freezing to -45 degrees, after which, under vacuum conditions, ice is sublimated immediately to the state of steam. But why is it better than ordinary drying, when water is removed in much simpler ways?

• sublimation is much faster
• sublimation allows you to save the nutritional value and taste of the product. This is due to the fact that freezing occurs very quickly and ice crystals do not have time to destroy food cells. This keeps the flavor
• sublimated product can be returned to its original state simply by filling with water
• sublimated product loses almost all water, so its shelf life can reach 25 years
• sublimated product does not need to use preservatives and other crap - the food remains completely natural
• sublimate returns to its original state after adding water to it. If you fill with water sublimate boiled meat, then it can be eaten immediately without additional processing

And now about the shortcomings, so as not to be completely one-sided.

• The complexity of the process. Make at home sublimate impossible - we need powerful refrigeration units and ways to create a vacuum or ultra-low pressure.
• High cost. The price of a sublimated product exceeds the price of a natural one.
• Inaccessibility. On the territory of Russia, only a couple of companies are engaged in the production of this sublime, therefore, either to import from abroad, or with great difficulty to look for a product of domestic production.

But have sublimated products something that completely eliminates all possible shortcomings. The point is that in sublimate you can transform anything. Berries, fruits, vegetables, first and second courses, milk, butter, etc. That is, oil, which under normal conditions can be stored for a maximum of 3 months, will be usable for several years. And its taste will remain exactly the same as it was before processing.

Diversity is what makes sublimated product It's the perfect choice for the survivalist. Yes, they are not picky people and are ready to eat the same thing for months, but when there is an opportunity to diversify the diet and not sacrifice anything at the same time, it’s a sin not to use it. And there are many options. Almost all possible fruits and berries, dishes with chicken, fish, beef, pork, lasagna, ready-made soups and cereals, ice cream, vegetarian dishes, salads and much more. Some companies even accept custom orders if the customer has any food allergies or intolerances.

Another great property sublime- ease of storage. It is enough to block the access of air and atmospheric moisture and forget about the product for at least 10 years. Therefore, sublimates are in vacuum packaging, cans and even sealed buckets. All these methods have their pros and cons, so the nature of the packaging of the sublimated product may vary depending on the destination. In caches, for example, buckets are better suited - large volume, storage time provided by double walls, etc. And it’s better to take sublimates in packages with you on a hike, since the most important thing in this situation is light weight.

Sublimates. Application specifics

On each product, two coefficients are indicated - sublimation and recovery. The first shows the ratio of the weight of the initial product to the weight of sublimated, and the second shows the ratio of the weight restored with water to sublimated. In most cases, these figures coincide, that is, after dilution with water, we get exactly the same weight as it was before processing. However, in some cases, the final product will be less. This is because, for example, during the sublimation of butter, the volume is calculated from the original raw material - cream.

Sublimates usually produced either as powders or as small pieces. The first option is typical for products with a high liquid content, the second - for multicomponent dishes. Beef, for example, can be presented in the form of small slices, which are reduced to larger pieces, and in the form of a powder, from which something like minced meat is obtained.

Before diluting with water, sublimated products can be mixed. And as a result, we get a mixture of two ready-made dishes - porridge with meat, for example. However, many products are available in ready-made portioned form, which is undesirable to mix. Any water can be used, but in a warm process it will be faster. On average - from two to five minutes. You do not need to pour a lot of water - its amount is usually indicated on the package.

Summarizing. Sublimated Products- a thing that every survivalist should have in stock. Yes, more expensive than stew, cereals and all sorts of "doshirak". But healthier, tastier and much more durable. Well, no one said that caches should be filled exclusively with sublimates. Diversity is an important factor in successful survival, whatever one may say.

And about the specific use of sublimates and personal experience ... Further, verbatim, the words of our editor-in-chief.

I'll just tell you a short story...
We went on a hike. We walked through the snow for about 20 km, walked until dark, without stopping, fucked so that the mood was already to hell.
We dug into the woods, set up camp, somehow built a hut. The temperature was -25°C in the evening, dropped to -31°C at night, by the way...
Well, they threw spruce branches right on the snow, sat down, and like “now let's eat!” Pasha takes out sublimates, saying "... I ordered from America, let's try ..."
And in short, imagine - fuck, forest, darkness, -30 frost, everyone is crazy ... And I eat meat lasagna with cheese and some kind of sauce ... and the taste is as if I've stuck in a restaurant ...
In general, it was ... I xs how to describe ... But this does not work with ordinary products such as stew, pasta, etc. =)