Anybody prepare their own dried food? Entrees in particular. I'm thinking about it. Tips, warnings...all appreciated.

Tim

Tim

You should look through the "Whats Cooking" section. There has been a lot written there! I will send you a PM later tonight or tomorrow. I have to go work today so I do not have time now. Amy and I dry all entrees and take no boughten food for dinners.

Watch your P.M. I will tell you about somethings we do when I get home tonight or tomorrow.

Mark

Hello Mark,

I would also be interested in your recipes and suggestions/tips for dehydrating meals.

One of our favorites is mexican meat for tacos or however else you want to use it.  

I use Chi-Chi's Restaurante seasoning packets, cooked ground meat, and canned diced tomatoes with chiles for the moisture (instead of water).  Experiment with amounts to suit your taste.  Cook.  

For deydrating, I add an extra amount of diced tomato, drained.  

Dehydrate on solid trays.

Rehydrates best if you can add hot water and let sit before you have to cook it.  

Thank-you,

Paula

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Ancient_Angler wrote on Jan 13^th, 2007 at 1:52pm:

Anybody prepare their own dried food? Entrees in particular. I'm thinking about it. Tips, warnings...all appreciated. Tim

Yes, I have done tried to pre-my own dehydrated meals.

I am good with my fruit.  Apples, nectories, strawberries.
I have tried watermellon, it is ok at best and very sticky.
Banannas are not that great.

hamburger is easy enough
baccon is easy
chicken wasn't that bad.

My biggest hint i can give is for you to test our whatever you dehydrate at home.  
I tried spagetti sause, it didn't work.  I am SOOOO happy I figured this out at home.  
I have tried a few other items that didn't work, but they slip my mind right now.

dunnd1 wrote on Mar 26^th, 2007 at 8:55pm:

I have tried watermelon, it is ok at best and very sticky.

You should seriously consider cutting it thinner and/or drying it longer (or avoid it altogether).

"Dehydrated" food that is still moist enough to be "very sticky" can be dangerous if not kept cool.

Other foods that are high in fat, like bacon, can also be dangerous if not kept cool, even after being "dehydrated" - it doesn't work on fat.

-aj

asmjock wrote on Mar 26^th, 2007 at 11:20pm:

"Dehydrated" food that is still moist enough to be "very sticky" can be dangerous if not kept cool. -aj

First, I over dehydrate.  Because of my schedule I have been known to leave stuff in the dehydrator for days at a time.  It just continues to dry and continues to dry.

So, I would normally agree, but watermellon is different.  It ends up with a cotton candy texture. The moisture in your hands makes it sticky.  Or maybe it is just sticky.  

It kind of reminds me of corn surup.  Corn surup is sticking and you can't dry it.  It is also so sweet that bacteria will not grow in it.

Some foods like cherries, pineapple, and watermelon will "case harden" early on in the drying process if you start at too high a temperature. After that it is very difficult to get them properly dried for room temperature storage. Maybe that's the problem.

I use relatively low temperatures for drying most fruits and some vegetables and only crank it up for meats. I also just leave it go for an extra day, when I don't have time to unload. I found out the hard way that split cherries aren't going to get any better after two days if you start out to hot. Since I lowered my temperature, I can make raisin-like cherries.

I've had gooey batches of watermelon in the past, mostly because I cut it too thick. I now cut in thinner and get it dry enough to crack instead of bend. Still has some stickiness, but not enough to "mind meld" the pieces in storage.

I agree that it and similar dried food (tomato paste and other dried tomato stuff comes to mind) can start to rehydrate from the air when the package is opened and get nasty. Using more and smaller packages helps quite a bit when there is a lot to deal with and the package will be opened and closed many times.

There is hope...

-aj

Just a reccomendation for anyone starting dehydrating.

Get "Mary Bell's Complete dehydrator cookbook"

I know I started this thread. And, with the help of many of you, I'm doing pretty well. Some disasters. But the pea soup I made my wife said was better than what she did without drying it!

I'm not going to have a problem with watermelon. I don't like watermelon off the back of the truck! Probably will get me lots of nasty comments -- but won't be the first time I got them.

And to those who have helped me, both on the site and in personal messages, thanks.

Tim

Ancient_Angler wrote on Mar 29^th, 2007 at 12:24am:

I don't like watermelon off the back of the truck!

FWIW that's the way my mother feels - but she loves my dried watermelon. Go figure  ::).

For those who don't like to dig, these threads may be interesting:

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-aj

I have had good luck dehydrating spaghetti sauce.  I use a spray cooking oil to coat the plastic fruit roll-up trays and then dehydrate until it becomes "leather".  Roll it up and vacuum bag it.  Works great and reconstitutes exactly as it came out of the jar.  We mix it with dehydrated hamburger, serve with macaroni, and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Big hit with campers.

This has all been very helpful...fb and I were just talking yesterday to try and start dehydrating.  Right now we buy everything already dried.  We have a dehydrater but it does not have a temperature control on it.  We thought that maybe if we stacked a bunch of them on top of each other and put the fruit and veggies on the top it would slow the heat down....is this correct thinking?  Our house has been under construction for the past couple of years so we haven't had much time to try dehydrating...we both have the fever really bad.  We stopped at the health food store on Saturday to get fruit to practice on.

Thanks again for all the great ideas....I think I'm qj hooked...what took me so long?

dunnd1 wrote on Mar 26^th, 2007 at 8:55pm:

[quote author=Ancient_Angler link=1168696379/0#0 date=1168696379]Bananas are not that great.

Bananas took me awhile to master.   Through many attempts they where just that... "not that great".

By mistake last year I stumbled on the banana bread secret.  If you let your bananas ripen, just about to the point of becoming mushy, but still stiff enough to slice, lay them out on the thinner dehydrator screen, cook on the "mid" fruit setting for 24 hours, they are tasty enough that others you may trip with will truthfully enjoy them as well.  They become "natural" candy that will be viewed as a treat.  though I'd have to agree, for many years and several attempts, my dehydrated bananas' where not that great either.

I'm making up a few batches now to have around through the holidays.  They have become "popular" with my friends and family.  I am looking for an alternative, such as coating them with brown sugar.  It's a thought.

Though I did have a question.  does any-one know how long dehydrated goods keep "Well" in a frozen state, and any tricks of the trade?  I searched a bit, yet perhaps not enough.  If any-one wishes to share... that would be great.  This would be a comprehensive question including all dehydrated goods.

k  

I've got a small stash of home dried apples that were dried sometime around the late seventies or so.  About once a year, I'll eat a piece - they are fine, just have a little bit of stale taste.  

String figs that are already dried somewhat, will last for years after they dry to a rock hard consistency - you just have to be careful of your teeth - kind of gum them for a while till they eventullay soften up.  I find some leftovers in the pockets of my hunting jacket every year when I get out for the first time after snowshoe rabbits.  Dried apricots will do about the same, but they never get rock hard.

I'd think, that any dried food in a freezer would get even drier over time, so most things should hold up well - texture of stuff like pasta may get iffy?   I think it depends on how you package the dried food.  If you can vacuum pack it, it should last as long as freeze dried packaged food, which typically has a shelf life of 7 to 10 years or something like that.