food dehydrator?

[Rexplorer]

does anyone use a food dehydrator and incorperate that into their meal planning? we do for canoe trips but so far not for truck adventures. could reduce the need for a fridge as large. for the cost of 4 or 5 mountain house meals we bought a dehydrator and make our own. maybe share your favourite recepie if you do rock one.

 

[Winterpeg]

We dehydrate our vegetables for camping. We then add them into pasta sauces, etc when we're on the trail. One day we'll get on top of things a bit better with our dehydrator (Xcalibur) and put whole meals together....

Between that and our FoodSaver vacuum sealer we compress things pretty good. Any greasy meats like hamburger and sausage I usually precook at home so we don't have to worry about getting rid of the grease in bear country.... and it simplifies our life greatly. Good meat like steak we cook over the open fire when camping.

 

[The other Sean]

We dehydrate our vegetables for camping. We then add them into pasta sauces, etc when we're on the trail. One day we'll get on top of things a bit better with our dehydrator (Xcalibur) and put whole meals together....

Between that and our FoodSaver vacuum sealer we compress things pretty good. Any greasy meats like hamburger and sausage I usually precook at home so we don't have to worry about getting rid of the grease in bear country.... and it simplifies our life greatly. Good meat like steak we cook over the open fire when camping.

Same/similar here. For me the dehydrating and vac sealing are awesome additions to my kit.

To be honest, the vacuum sealer gets more use. I pre chop all my veggies for a meal and vac seal. Makes it easier to cook up your eggs in the morning. I also vac seal multi packed meat items separately so I can open just one and not have an open package with the rest. works great for hot dogs / brats.

 

[Rexplorer]

sounds like i should look into a vacuum sealer. thanks for the feedback.

 

[000]

I occasionally use the dehydrator, it takes so long that it is usually is a whole weekend affair for me to make it worthwhile to mess with. I use the food saver probably every day. Extremely useful tool, I get a assortment of rolls and pre made bags from Costco. I vac seal leftovers and boil in the bag all the time. Also, I got a case of mountain house dehydrated meals from Costco a couple months ago. I think it was about 14 of the 2 serving size meals and worked out to about $4 a meal, or about $50ish for the case.


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[brianb2]

Dehydrator is great if you can get in the habit of using it. I do a lot of backpacking, and a lot of our leftovers end up being dehydrated and taken on the trail. I've also got a list of recipe's that I cook up especially to be dehydrated. A recent discovery that is awesome is dehydrated banana peppers. (Save the juice for your marinades.) Google some tips on using your dehydrator, and don't be afraid to experiment. Don't mix sweet and salty recipes in the same batch on different trays. Good luck, if you get into it you can produce some great meals for the trail.

 

[000]

Dehydrator is great if you can get in the habit of using it. I do a lot of backpacking, and a lot of our leftovers end up being dehydrated and taken on the trail. I've also got a list of recipe's that I cook up especially to be dehydrated. A recent discovery that is awesome is dehydrated banana peppers. (Save the juice for your marinades.) Google some tips on using your dehydrator, and don't be afraid to experiment. Don't mix sweet and salty recipes in the same batch on different trays. Good luck, if you get into it you can produce some great meals for the trail.

Now I’m inspired, I use a lot of jalapeños, dehydrated would work out great. I don’t know why I never thought of it before. It’d be nice to have several vac sealed packets of dehydrated jalapeños to throw in the dry food box rather than taking up room in the fridge. Thanks for the idea!


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[brianb2]

I use a lot of jalapeños, dehydrated would work out great.

Yeah, I'm a big pepper guy myself. I mix chopped dried peppers in with my trail mix. Excellent.

 

[The other Sean]

You can also run your dehydrated peppers through your coffee grinder and make your own hot pepper powder. It's nice to be able to mix and match what peppers go in to your own jar.

 

[Scarab]

With Dehydrated and ground Peppers, Lime and Garlic you can make anything into a good meal.

Can't go without a vacuum packer too. Those things are the dogs.

 

[billum v2.0]

Good thread. Any brand/model recommendations when it comes to vacuum packers? Anything in particular to look for or avoid?

 

[000]

Good thread. Any brand/model recommendations when it comes to vacuum packers? Anything in particular to look for or avoid?

I’ve been using the food saver brand for years now, I got the package deal at Costco that comes with a ton of bags. Costco also is very easy with returns, which I had to do once for one that was acting up. I did process two deer and countless birds and fish besides the usual leftovers and bulk stuff I buy and separate that year... but the last one has been going strong. I get the bulk pack of bags there too that works out to be a good value. My brother has a cabelas model that he is very happy with. I might try one of those if this one dies, the food saver has an automatic clamp and seal mechanism that can be finicky until you figure out the sweet spot, the cabelas model is a manual deal that seems easier and maybe quicker in some ways if you’re processing a lot of stuff.


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