Dehydrating my own food
Original post
Hi guys,
It's been a long time since I've replied here. Not due to lack of interest, just 'education' getting in the way.
Anyway, I am looking at food for tramping, and have decided that I'd really like to have my protein with me while I am tramping. Particularly tuna. I was wondering if anyone here has any experiences dehydrating their own meat? This article here makes it sound easy (probably because it's a high-quality unit to some degree):
http://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-meat.html
Secondly, dehydrating nice green vegetables. I tried to dehydrate green beans, and it was a disaster. They stuck to the trays, and were so tiny and insubstantial that I'm sure I did it wrong. I've also read about cabbage being dehydrated. Will try the cabbage at some stage.
Basically, dehydrated meat and vegetables (nice green chlorophyllous ones, not brown beans) that won't break the bank and that I can use for soups and stews. I don't think they are available for a decent price, but if they are - please let me know.
I'll hopefully be doing some more experiments with vegetables (I have a feeling I've said this before), and will post the results here.
Best regards and a merry christmas,
-CBL_Jon. :)
Spray oil on the trays before you start. Works well with all the fruit i do. Slice the vegetables thin and large in area as possible. You have to be prepared to revisit the unit to remove those pieces finished before others. Like any oven there are hot spots.
I've always had better luck dehydrating a meal after you have already made it a wet dish as opposed to doing the individual vegetables and meat. Make the pieces of meat in the wet dish(eg.casseroles, curries etc) as thin as possible. Rice or pasta cooked and then dehydrated will dramatically reduce the meal prep time. Rice can be ready in a couple of mins. Saves fuel too.
Spraying oil.. good idea. Admittedly I could also have cleaned the trays a lot more as well.
How would you dehydrate a meal? I'm only using a cheap dehydrator at the moment, if that is a barrier.
I only use a couple of sunbeam $100 dehydrators. Nothing too grand. They work though.
I spread a layer of the meal on a piece of baking paper. Three pieces per tray. Probably covers 60 - 70% of the tray. Don't want to cut of circulation. Move them around over the time period as they will perhaps dry unevenly.
Can take 8 - 12 hours to dry some things.
Important not to have large pieces of meat that when fully dried the sauce element is way over done. Yes you can overdo it. Not fully dried likely means less of a shelf life but may be more than enough to last a week or two or more. Perhaps refrigerate until taking it away.
Try dried fruit yoghurt. Just spread it on baking paper.
My most successful homemade dehydrated meal has been bolognaise sauce made with mince, tomatoes and lots of grated veg such as carrots and courgettes. I mix cooked brown rice into this before I dehydrate overnight in a Harvest Maid drying machine. It reconstitutes well on the trail by adding boiling water and steeping a while. Some of my other creations have been a bit chewy...
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| Forum | Food |
|---|---|
| Started by | CBL_Jon |
| On | 24 December 2011 |
| Replies | 4 |
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