Dehydrator meal idea's

“what are some of the meals that you use in your dehydator?
can you make things like

beef stew
scrambled eggs
bacon
chicken soups

meals like these, do they come out good?
I can't wait to try mine!!
but i'd like some food idea's. I'm not a big fan of dried fruit.”

“M. L., I don’t have a dehydrator yet but it sounds like you could dehydrate any of those. I’m sure there are many people here who will have great foods they dehydrate, but why not experiment with foods you like and see what happens.”

“HAHAHAHA sorry no comment..my judgement is actually working today”

“opie,
uumm ok?”

“the concept of dehydrated bacon confuzzles me...i'd rather take a few of the precooked strips in a vacumn pouch..and i'm thinking homemade dehydrated eggs wouldn't be a good idea either...also search the past threads..there are volumes and 100+ post threads on this subject and they are full of recipes”

“but what about dry eggs
wouldnt that work? and arent they just dehydrated eggs?
as for the recipes i'd like to hear about ones that people have tried. easy ones maybe 1 pot meals
and you are right about the bacon. i was thinking about the bacon that you find in salads that come in a jar. I think its called bacon bits?”

“why would you dehydrate already dehydrated things? Bacon bits are imitation..there are real bacon peices in small containters. store bought Powedered imitation and real powdered eggs are easier and cheaper and will taste just as "good" hahaha

look for the threads with stikmons shrimp fried rice..”

“On an earlier thread I listed about 5 books that have good recipes for dehydrating meals. No dehydrated bacon, though.”

“real powdered eggs are easier and cheaper and will taste just as "good" hahaha





its called having fun and trying out new things”

“sorry cant finds the thread can you send the link??”

“then if you want to do that then why ask us what works...try new things..and have fun!”

“Opie, who p!ssed in your food today??



haha”

“oh and its called asking friends for there advice?
and im not into wasting food cause my pockets arent that deep!
just ask gear slut!
and the thread is???”

“I brought it up for you ML, it's "Favorite dehydrated meals..." should be right around the top.”

“**wonders if he should start a thread on if you can dehydrate pis...errr nahh*”

“Hi Maple Leaf,

Last Spring I bought the NESCO Snackmaster at Wal Mart. Here are the meals I've made so far with it...

Chili
Gumbo
Spaghetti Sauce

All are homemade from scratch. I got the recipes from the internet @ recipes.com. After fully dehydrated, I partition the dried meals into individual portions, then
crunch 'em down to a granular texture, and store in freezer bags, which I then stick in the freezer to extend the shelf life.

On the trail, I re-hydate the meals, and hydrate some macaroni for the Chili, rice for the Gumbo, or Vermicelli for the Spaghetti Sauce. Sometimes I just put the pasta or rice right in the pot with water and the meal and let 'em hyderate all together over low heat (it's faster that way).

The meals are lightweight and absolutely delicious! I've quickly become spoiled rotten on 'em, and I'll probably never go back to those all-basically-taste-the-same
freeze-dried backpacker meals again - unless I'm starving. There is simply no comparison.

I've also made several batches of hamburger jerky and have dehydrated some apples, strawberries and Italian plum tomatoes (one of my favorites!).

For this coming winter, I'm planning to make a variety of homemade soups for dayhiking. And experiment with some new meal recipes (jambalaya, stews, souffles, etc.). I hear that dehydrated eggs do not keep well (bummer).

Good luck with your new adventures in dehydrated meals!”

“M silver, its funny you should mention the pasta and sauce. It was you who got me going on the dehydrtating meals after I watched you enjoy your meal. Then tasting Artex's jery which by the way was great!!
so thanks guys”

“Lasagna dehydrates well..”

“What is "Artex's jery"....... and why was Maple Leaf tasting it?”

“the dairy stuff doesn't do to well. buy your dry milk and eggs and cheese at the store. you can dehydrate anything if you slice it thin enough. i've got a ton of stuff in my freezer. when it comes time to take a trip i just pick through it. i try to keep some hamburger and chicken ready at all times in case something comes up. i dehydrate leftovers when i cook, too so i'll have something good and easy for the trail. took hamburger helper last time:)

number 1 rule: if it's too dry it won't rehydrate right.”

“I tried chicken once, and it sucked. What are the secrets to dehydrating chicken?”

“This weekend I dehydrated some spanish rice, refried beans, and a little bit of seasoned hamburger (leftovers). Oughta be interesting. The beans dehydrated really well, better than I thought they would. Rehydrating them is going to be the interesting part.”

“I have a book called the "Backpack Gourmet"

They have an awesome recipe in there for something called "Canyon Country Chili".... It's made with beans, couscous and soy ground round...

Tastes fabulous and very filling! It's got enough spice to make things taste good without overpowering the senses....

Beans in general rehydrate very well. I haven't ventured into dehydrating any meats (except beef jerky and salmon jerky). Good luck--it sounds yummy!”

“Beef dehydrates and rehydrates pretty well. I've got a recipe for chili mac that has beef in it, and it's always good.

A lot of people say to pat the fat off of stuff so it won't get rancid, but you've got to remember to add some fat back in when you rehydrate, or it won't taste very good. Amazing the difference a littl fat will make.”

“A while back, I cut up some store sausages, cut them up into little bits and dehydrated them. My hope is to make biskets and gravy on the trail.

Anyone try rehydrating sausage on the trail before?”

“Rehydration is easy bit.

Put some hot water in the bag and let it sit about a half hour. Ziploc freezer bags should do the trick nicely.”

“Oh sure, but how much water to add? I gotta figure that out so the beans don't come out too runny. Hate runny beans.”

“I've never had runny beans butt I have had beans that made me run.”

“You can add about the same volume of water as the deydrated beans. Let it sit a half hour and if you need more, add more hot water until it's just right.”

“I'm going to have to run a test, I can see that already...”

“Weigh whatever you are dehydrating and re-weigh it when done. The difference is water removed, so add that weight of water.”

“I gotta get a good scale to do that!

And those cost money!”

“The book I have recommends covering your food with liquid just above the level of the food that you're rehydrating.. with soups, you should add 1-2 inches above the level of the food...”

“Great idea, Old Timer. Never thought of that.

Bit - I have a cheapo scale that my wife got for weight watchers. It's an ounces and grams thing, I think it costed about 20 bucks at arget.”

“I highly recommend hash browns with chicken for breakfast. Boil some taters, grate them, dehydrate canned chix, add it to the taters. They rock. I can't wait to get my dehydrator out of storage.

Rehydrating you have two options. Add warm/hot water to the dried stuff in a ziplock to hydrate. Add cold water to the bag in the morning and let it rehydrate all day while you're on the trail. Reheat in a fry pan or by immersing the ziplock in boiling water. Have had success with both techniques.”

“yum, the hashbrowns with chicken recipe sounds good! do you have to reheat the chicken before dehydrating? or jsut go ahead and dehydrate? I'm guessing you have to "shred" the chicken as well?”

“The canned chix is really crumbly so just crumble it up before dehydrating. Place dried chix and potatoes in the same bag. Add spices. You then rehydrate and reheat both at the same time. I rehydrate with water, either cold the night before or hot in the morning (takes about 20 mins to rehydrate that way). Then fry it up in a pan with some oil.

I must give credit to Mel for turning me on to this one...”

“Rosey,
that sounds really good! Do you think I can add some ofthat Hormell Shredded bacon bits to it as well?

Sounds simple to make! do you think I could make something like a beef stew in the same way? -- using canned beef and sliced vs. shredded potatoes and maybe some peas & carrots?? or do you think I would still have to shred the potatoes?”

“I think I'm gonna have to try that recipe with ham.”

“Hey, I have another question.
I have a dehydrator, but it doesn't have a thermometer on it.

Is there anything I should be worried about? Mostly, I've tried to dry things that don't have any meat in them, so I wasn't too worried.

I have dried a bean & tuna fish dip, as well as beef jerky and Salmon Jerky, but I keep reading that you should dry things at a certain temperature...

Any pointers or hints or should I be worried about anything special?”

“I've never had another trouble dehydrating meat in mine, and it doesn't have a thermometer.”

“You can dehydrate just about anything but remember the smaller the size, the faster it will rehydrate.”

“Why did I type "another" instead of "any"? I swear my fingers have a mind of their own some days....



HEY! Get out of there you ten!”

“Yup, I got that part figured out....

I saw some "freeze-dried" veggies (I think they are called "Just Veggies" or something like that) at the local Whole Foods Store (they carry organic foods).... Has anyone ever tried using these veggies on the trail? I'm thinking they might be good additions to other dried foods? (like in making my own soup or something?)

How about mixing bouillion with dried veggies? do you think that would work, or would it be better to make a soup first and then dehydrate it?”

“Has anyone ever tried making any granola or trail mix using "Kashi" cereal? If so, was it successful?

I was thinking that maybe we could make some kind of trail mix using the golean cereals-- they are mostly whole grain, or is that a bad idea?”

“mine never gets put away...it sits majesticly on my table, awaiting usage, which starts tonight. I got a local watermellon that I cut up last night, salted it down and will dehydrate tonight. Let the backpack preparation games BEGIN!!!

I can't wait to get back on the trail.”

“salted watermelon? That sounds interesting... how small does it shrink to? and how big do you cut your slices?

Have you ever had watermelon seeds? (don't eat the shells...) they're pretty good.

My hubby & I had fun making all sorts of recipes from the "Backpack Goumet" last year for our trip to yellowstone.

However, we decided that it is far easier to buy prepared crackers than to make our own.... LOL

Do you use instant mashed potatoes, or do you prefer to make your own?”

“stikmon

everything i own has been in storage for over a year now while i was backpacking through south america.”

“Almost every year at this time there are questions about de/re hydrating. There are a list of books posted in the dusty room that will help you.

Can you try the "SEARCH" option?”