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Message started by chandasue on Jul 25th, 2008 at 5:14pm

Title: Re: Dehydrating your own food
Post by Ghost Paddler on Aug 10th, 2008 at 8:50pm
I've had good luck with frozen peas and corn.  I have dried salsa (it helps if you blend it, it dries evenly), beef (as beefman described, worked well) and several home cooked meals.  Pasta with redsauce and beans is a favorite as is black bean stew.  I make a potatoe/veggies sausage/onion/egg dish, dry it, rehydrate it and fry it as a hash--this is very popular.  I've tried dishes that have not worked so well, but mostly I've had good luck.  Try to keep veggie pieces, etc even sized so that they dry well.  
I purchase dry mixed veggies at the local co-op  because they are relatively cheap and make a good soup base-easier than drying all the separate veggies.  I got a lot of ideas from a book called Backpacker's Gourmet (I think that's the title) by a woman who's name is Linda_____?  I can't say that I've liked all of her recipes, some were actually bad, but it's a good jumping off point for figuring out what works.  She aims for one pot meals, which I appreciate.
For a while, I just made extra of whatever I was having for dinner and tried drying some of it.  Give it a few weeks and rehydrate and consider whether I would want to eat it next to a lake somewhere.
One thing I've found.  I prefer to dry beef apart from a meal like chili.  It seems like I have less incidence of spoilage.  Also, the chili itself will keep for a long time if treated well, the beef not so well.  I just dry what I need in beef and mix it into the meal before rehydrating.  
 Much really depends on your style of camping cooking.  I used to like to have lots of dry ingredients and could make up different dishes depending on my mood.  Now I tend to like it as simple and light as possible, as I usually solo paddle and rarely want to put extra energy into feeding myself when there are other interesting things to do.  I tend to bring one or two meals that are more than simple rehydration to give myself some variety.
All this being said, I have grown overly fond of the "just add boiling water to the foil pouch and wait ten minutes" style of food for ease.  It feels like cheating, but oh it's nice when you have had a long day.
Nuff said for now.
Good luck,
gp
 

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