DEHYDRATING FOOD FOR CAMPING

[Denis Dwyer]

I like to cook, but not while camping, so I dehydrate my favorite one-pot dishes and package them in vacume bags. When I am ready to
re-hydrate a meal in the field I heat some water and empty a package into the pot where it sits for a while. After about 30 minutes, heat it up again and it's ready to eat. The only trash that is left is the packaging so there are no food scraps left to dispose of.
You can dehydrate any food you want. I usually do dishes with rice, beans, potatoes, onions, ground beef, pork, chicken, and shrimp.
Try not to make the dish too watery or it will take a long time to dehydrate. After 24 hours on one side turn the food over and let the other side dry for another 24 hours. Break it up into little pieces in a big bowl and then seal it in vacume bags. You can use zip-locks if you only need the food to last for a few weeks. I have had food stored in vacume bags last over a year.

 

[BackCountryPunk]

Dehydrators are brilliant, I picked up a second unit at a yard sale last week for $5. I spent the rest of the weekend dehydrating 8lbs of strawberries.

 

[WGalbraith]

dehydrating food

We have a convection oven that can be programmed to dehydrate. I make stews, chili and spaghetti sauce that can be poured into cookie sheets and dehydated until it is crumbly. When you get to camp, simply rehydrate for an hour or so before reheating. It also works for frozen vegetables like corn, peas or mixed veges. I have bought bottled, canned sauces that dehydrate well also. Have a look at your manual if you have a convection oven. You can do large quatitiies easier than the commercial round multitray dehydrators.

 

[Jurfie]

Re: dehydrating food

Have a look at your manual if you have a convection oven. You can do large quatitiies easier than the commercial round multitray dehydrators.

Nice, thanks for posting that! I never thought convection ovens could dehydrate. I'll be in the market for a new stove soon; I'll be sure to check for that feature when shopping. :cool

 

[wannabeaduck]

Forgot to mention in my last post, there is a book called "A Fork in the Trail" by Laurie Ann March that is amazing for dehydrating for trips.

 

[Gecko Paddler]

We recently started dehydrating in preparation for our upcoming 10 day excursion into the Gulf Islands. I was really skeptic about how a re-hydrated meal would taste but this weekend Robyn (the owner of my kayaks) made spaghetti with meat (ground hamburger), peppers and onions while out on a day paddle.

I'm sold that dehydrating is a great way to extend your supplies for those long trips. BTW ..... beef jerky OMG!!!

Mark

 

[SheilaP]

And note how carefully Denis labelled all his meals! :big_thumb When I went to Haida Gwaii with Jo, we dehydrated a bunch of meals in the winter and put them in the freezer for extra protection. When packing for the trip it was like playing Russian Roulette with the meals. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Everything looked a lovely pinkish-brown colour.

Would you like that wrap with chili inside or perhaps quesadilla filling? Is that meat sauce for breakfast? Is that coleslaw or pesto sauce? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :yikes:

 

[Tsunami]

So I am guessing an extra amount of water is going to be needed in your camping supplies. Double the regular amount for drinking I would think?
Fantastic idea and I am all for it, I don't think it would save any weight though.
Cleaner, easier to prep (provided labeled properly), and less trash to pack out.
If I see a dehydrator at a garage sale for five bucks its all mine

Tiger Tsunami.

 

[Canoedog]

Another excellent resource for dehydrating food - http://www.backpackingchef.com/ Lots of tips, techniques, recipes etc, sign up for his monthly newsletter it's a worthwhile thing to do :cool