You are currently viewing the archived version of Portland Hikers. To view the new version go to http://www.portlandhikers.org.

Welcome to Sign in | Join | Help
in
Home Field Guide Forums New Posts My Gallery Photos Maps Find a Hike! Links

What else should I dehydrate?

Last post 12-31-2006, 12:21 PM by turtle. 12 replies.
Sort Posts: Previous
  • What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 12:18 PM

    I've got one of those stand alone dehyradtors with the trays and the fan and have been very succesful at making jerky. What's the next logical step? I tried apple and banana once and it was a total flop so I decided to stick with beef jerky.
    -jeff
    OregonLens.com
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 12:28 PM

    My mother and father in law made great dried apple slices.  I think they stopped the apples from getting brown by dipping them in a pectin (ascorbic acid) solution or lemon juice before drying them.

    Here's a link: http://www.ehow.com/how_3906_dry-apples.html

    Since I just bought that new dehyrated meals book, I'm going to be trying out a few things.  I'll let you know what works.


    John (Jack) Oppelt - Site Sherpa
    My Photo Gallery
    Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 12:43 PM

    Please do! You can be the guinea john.
    -jeff
    OregonLens.com
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 12:57 PM

    • Joined on 06-20-2006
    • Portland, OR
    • Posts 905
    • Top 10 Contributor
    Try blending a whole bunch of fruits together and then spreading the mixture out on covered trays.  If you don't have the inserts to cover your trays, you can use parchment paper or good plastic wrap and make your own.  You can make some pretty interesting fruit leather.  You can also add in other stuff, like honey, cinammon, raisins, nuts etc.

    If you want to get more experimental, you can make things like pasta (with the sauce and ingredients, just make sure everything is cut up small, and the noodles are thin and broken up), chilis or soups.  Same thing as the fruit leather, you spread them out on covered trays.  After they start to dry, put them into a large bowl and break them up, and then put them back in the dehydrator.  It takes a long time, but you can make ready to eat meals, that only require you add water and then boil.




    Dan - Site Cartographer
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 1:07 PM

    I've had the best success with cherries and chantrelles. It's still cherry time, and in the fall, I can let you all in on the best chantrelle collecting locations in the mid-coast range.
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 4:23 PM

    Martell:
    .  It takes a long time, but you can make ready to eat meals, that only require you add water and then boil.

    Just my plan.  Dried meals and snacks including fruits and jerky.  Thanks for the ideas.


    John (Jack) Oppelt - Site Sherpa
    My Photo Gallery
    Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 4:33 PM

    Wow, this stuff is making me hungry. I love pasta so I have to give that a try next time. And it would be so much less $$$ than the prepackaged stuff. Looks like I have some experimenting ahead of me.

    This new forum will be a great place to post recipes as well in separate threads to make it easy for folks to find. Bring them on!


    -jeff
    OregonLens.com
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-02-2006, 9:35 PM

    Attachment: CIMG0001.JPG
    For the hardcore, I recommend the "Backpack Gourmet" by Linda Yaffe.  In addition to covering the basics, it has a wide range of meals, appetizers, and snacks.  A big difference between the Yaffe book and a lot of others I reviewed is that Yaffe's recipes are, for the most part, based on very healthy ingredients.


  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-08-2006, 7:55 PM

    Martell has the right idea.  Cook up complete meals (including rice or noodles) and dehydrate them.  If the pieces aren't too large, you can rehydrate by pouring boiling water over them (use zippered freezer bags), stir or shake the bag a little, cover with a cozy or wrap in your jacket, let sit 10-15 minutes, enjoy.  No cooking pan to wash!   Do experiment at home, first.  A few caveats:  My efforts at dehydrating peas resulted in green shotgun pellets capable of breaking a tooth even after 15 minutes cooking over the stove.  If you want peas, get the freeze-dried kind by "Just Tomatoes" (sold at Wild Oats and Fred Meyer that I've seen) and add before packaging.   Also, ladele out your portion size and dry each portion individually, at least until you have enough experience to know how much of the dehydrated stuff is enough but not too much.  Finally, remove as much of the fat as you can so it won't turn rancid.  Meats (especially hamburger) should be cooked separately first and as much of the fat removed with paper towels as you possibly can.

    For less advance prep, couscous (I prefer the whole-wheat kind) makes a great instant meal.  You can use seasonings, dried boullion, TVP or dried hamburger, and some of those "Just Tomatoes" freeze-dried veggies to spice it up.  The "Spice Hunter" risotto carried by Safeway in their health food section is also really good (again, I add a little TVP and veggies).  I also use the dehydrator to dry store-bought dried fruits for another hour or so to get more of the moisture out of them.  They are chewier but definitely lighter after this treatment. 

    http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/index.htm is an excellent source, especially if you want your outdoor meals simplified.  Of course sarbar is trying to sell her book, but there are lots of recipes and hints on the website. 


    May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-09-2006, 1:40 PM

    I guess I should mention that it's a good idea to close the ziploc freezer bag and carefully double-check to make sure it's completely sealed if you're going to shake it!  I prefer to use a spoon and stir, but if you have a "spork," shaking is better than poking holes in the bag.

    Also, if you use bouillon powder (don't use the cubes) for seasoning, don't add any extra salt.  Commercial bouillon is extremely high in salt. 

     


    May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     08-10-2006, 9:22 AM

    Last year I did a lot of dehydrated meals and found that drying bean soups with vegetables and maybe some sausage (puree it before drying) was easier and seemed to always taste good. Also I dehydrated home made hummus (with some good olive slices) for tasty lunches. Tomato sauces with slightly unusual spicing seemed worth the effort but not just plain jars of sauce.  I also had poor results with most of the vegetables and think that the freeze dried are better unless you incorporate the veggies in a soup first. I tried a lot of the recipes in the two "Lipsmaking Backpacking" books with very mixed results. Sometimes, the effort was not worth while for the results.
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     09-04-2006, 7:58 PM

    Jane was nice enough to post this event in another area of the site.  I thought I would copy it here for those following this thread

    Sportsman's Warehouse
    9401 SE 82nd Ave
    Portland, OR
    503-777-8700
    (registration: N/A)
     
    Food Dehydration
    Sat., Sept 9th
    2:00p.m-4:00p.m.
    From jerky to fruit leather, Kelsy can do it all.Come and see how easy it is to do nutritious snacks from this year's game or harvest.

    Jeff - Site Admin

    Someday you'll take me home to live forever....up on the mountain
    S. Chapman
  • Re: What else should I dehydrate?

     12-31-2006, 12:21 PM

    Hikingdude,

    For an easy fruit leather try canned apple sauce.  Use cinnamon to taste.  For vegetables I have had good luck with frozen veggies.  Use a low temp to save the nutrients.  The corn seems to resist re-hydrating for me.  Carry a small plastic jar with a good sealing lid or a resealable baggy on your hike.  A few hours before the meal put your veggies in and cover with water.  Place in an outside pocket of your pack and they should be mostly re-hydrated by meal time. 

    Canned chili works well in a dehydrator.  At camp you can mix/heat with instant brown rice for a good, filling meal.   Nature's Northwest has a really good split pea soup mix and a corn chowder mix in the bulk aisle that goes well with re-hydrated veggies, onions, and dried hamburger.   Adding a splash of olive oil to dried hamburger helps the taste when rehydrating.   


    "There's always more, a little further--it never ends." Jack Kerouac
View as RSS news feed in XML
Powered by Community Server, by Telligent Systems