Quote:

Have you tried adding hot water to speed the reconstitution? We took some jambalaya that had wild turkey in it (the fowl; not the beverage) and it reconstituted fairly quickly using hot water. All except for that little ball of lead. (luckily I was the one who found it)

Also, if you are going to shred / dry chicken, protect it somehow when you pack it or you might be disappointed when you find some fiend replaced your shredded chicken with chicken dust.

Quote:


Same plan here, but I save the soft plastic jars that Red Hots come in. Perfect for reconstituting dried stuff and making pudding. BTW, I have quite a few and keep coins (seldom  spend change) and lots of other things in them.

Gimp: Yeah, I've boiled the meat a few times when I forgot to start the process at noon (sometimes I don't stop to eat). It definitely helps, probably even is the best way to do it, but the extra fuel  . Maybe I should burn more wood.

I have had tuna and salmon powder, so know that problem. Both of them are also really sharp when dried and will destroy single plastic bags.

-aj

I had a dehydrator hit this year at the last meal of my August group trip with a stir-fry meal. I dehydrated three 16 ounce bags of Flav-R-Pac Quick 'n Easy Rice Stir Fry, 14 ounces of chicken, and 12 ounces of lean pork. This fed eight paddlers, although a couple are vegetarians and only ate the stir-fry and the garlic bread side.

The packaged Rice Stir Fry is unseasoned and includes rice,  broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, red peppers, and green soybeans. This comes frozen in one pound plastic bags. I just emptied the bags onto dehydrator trays and dried the stuff all at once.

The meats were cooked, unseasoned, in a microwave oven, patted dry (from fat), loaded into the dehydrator and dried.

Everything was double-packed in zip-lock freezer bags.

At lunch time, the stir-fry stuff was put into two large plastic jars and covered with water. Same with the meats, but in a smaller plastic jar. About an hour before the start of cooking, some more water was added to cover the expanded stir-fry mix.

The stir-fry stuff and the meats were drained and prepared separately (so the vegetarians could get a meatless meal) in wok-like conditons (lightly oiled, high heat) using the camp frying pan. Everyone was warned that nothing was seasoned, so there was a mad dash (no pun intended) for the remaining spices (last day).

Both the veggies and meaties were happy enough with the meal to want it on the menu for next year. Everyone in the group of eight likes broccoli, and it was well represented in the stir-fry mix.

What I liked about it was easy to prepare (dehydrate), fast and easy to cook (few minutes in a hot pan), and no complaints from any the judges.

There is quite a variety of stir-fry mixes to choose from. On solo trips I have taken Asian theme mixes (no rice) and added combinations of chicken, turkey, and shrimp.

-aj

Quote:

Same experience K. The camp cook was very disappointed and after considerable searching has still not found a replacement.

I do the same thing as flpaddler.  Never thought of adding the sloppy joe or chili mix first.  Have to give that one a try.  One other tip.  Line the dehydrator tray with a paper towel.  The hamburger dries down to the size of instant coffe and will fall thru the tray other wise.