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Say Nuth Khaw Yum, British Columbia
Canada
418 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 08:36 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by ginsengjoe
How much is a decent dehydrator, and can you recommend a brand?
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Pro Regina et Patria
The best ones are the Excalibur. The fan is vertically mounted in the back so all trays dry evenly and they are large square trays so hold the most. It is a family company based in the USA. They are more expensive but well worth it for the use you will get out of it. You can get one for $60 but if that one breaks you will just buy another one - consumer junk - while the Excaliburs are a quality product worthy of repair. Not that you will ever need it. It's kind of like a Vita Mix blender. I used to go through a $100-$150 every year, then one year I spent $250 on a used Vita Mix, it still runs as good as the day I bought it, and I'll never need another one. The most it will ever need is a new container which contains the blades and is easily replaceable, or worst case scenario some new brushes in the motor.
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Say Nuth Khaw Yum, British Columbia
Canada
418 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2012 : 08:39 AM
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| My favourite thing to dry is raw nuts. I soak them in water with some grey sea salt for 12 hours (shorter for cashews) to activate the sprouting process which activates the enzyme inhibitors and makes them far more healthy as well as tasty - it gets rid of the bitter taste - and then they are crunchy and lighter to boot after. I like the taste of them better than toasted nuts which I prefer to raw. Hazelnuts, macadamias and walnuts are my favourite. |
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Burns Lake, BC
210 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2012 : 10:33 PM
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We love our American Harvest (Nesco).
A few of our favourites.
We just make a double batch for supper and dehydrate the leftovers.
Baked anything (lasagna, spaghetti, shepards pie)
Chinese Laundry (noodles, bean sprouts, mushrooms, broccoli, celery, hamburger, can of mushroom soup)
Fried rice (with chicken and eggs!!!)
Yogurt leather
Plus all the basics so you have stuff to beef up or adjust recipies. (peppers, hamburger, fruits, etc...)
Cheap parchment paper is just that. Buy good stuff.
Pinebushman,
Our general rule is 1/3 food, 2/3 boiling water in a new ziploc baggy.
Rice takes more water.
We stash our rehydrating supper in a cozy inside our sleeping bags for an hour or so then dig in to a wonderful hot home cooked meal with no cooking.
Dehydrate your meal closer to your trip to avoid long storage. Otherwise store in a freezer.
I wouldn't worry about your curry stuff though.
Canoeheadted
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93 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2012 : 9:05 PM
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| You might think twice about putting food in your sleeping bag! You might get an ursine visitor in the middle of the night. |
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6 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2012 : 2:17 PM
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Hi Club Tread! I've been cruising the site for years, but finally signed up. I can't think how many years its been since I did a backpacking trip, but in a couple of weeks I'm heading out on my first multi-day kayaking trip and so I have to wrap my head around back country menus again. My poor little American Harvester has been sitting in my closet all these years and I think its time to put it into service. Some good refreshers here, but I have a few questions:
Lasagne? Really? Isn't it too thick to dehydrate well? How do you set that up? Surely not a big block of lasagne in the dehydrator? Does that work? Sounds fantastic if I can do it, but I feel there must be more to it.
I'm also trying to understand the rational behind cooking pasta or rice, then dehydrating and rehydrating it again. Wouldn't you just put the uncooked pasta or rice in with your dehydrated ingredients when you are cooking your meal?
Finally, my traveling companion is a vegetarian, so I'm looking to modify some of my usual recipes. I thought the pork and beans idea is an interesting one and may look into that, but what about other veggie products? Can I use the veggie "hamburger meat" to make a chili and dehydrate the same way? What about things like chickpeas? Does it make sense to cook, dehydrate and then rehydrate? Should they be cut into smaller pieces first?
Thanks for your thoughts on this stuff. Now, to dig out the American Harvester, dust it off and see if it still works... |
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| piika
Intermediate Member
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Burnaby, BC
Canada
745 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2012 : 5:06 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by FairWeather
Lasagne? Really? Isn't it too thick to dehydrate well? How do you set that up? Surely not a big block of lasagne in the dehydrator? Does that work? Sounds fantastic if I can do it, but I feel there must be more to it.
I'm also trying to understand the rational behind cooking pasta or rice, then dehydrating and rehydrating it again. Wouldn't you just put the uncooked pasta or rice in with your dehydrated ingredients when you are cooking your meal?
To get meals like lasagne to dehydrate well, you need to break them up into small pieces after you cook them and before you put them in the dehydrator. Then you need to keep breaking up the still-moist pieces periodically during the time it takes to dehydrate.
The benefit to dehydrating it all together is that when you need to "cook" it at camp, you just put it in the pot, add water until it's level with the food, bring it to a boil, and it's done. Quick, easy, and the pot stays pretty clean this way too. Of course the lasagne doesn't look quite as appetizing as it does coming out of your oven, though.
I've found tofu put in a meal rehydrates well, just be sure to use the soft, not firm kind, or it tends to stay hard and chewy.
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3829 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2012 : 5:45 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by FairWeather
I'm also trying to understand the rational behind cooking pasta or rice, then dehydrating and rehydrating it again. Wouldn't you just put the uncooked pasta or rice in with your dehydrated ingredients when you are cooking your meal?
Regular pasta takes 8ish minutes of boiling to cook. Regular rice needs to simmer for 20 minutes or more. One of the goals for backcountry cooking is usually to reduce cooking time, because every extra minute of cooking means more fuel to carry.
By cooking and then dehydrating the stuff, you make it a much quicker rehydration process rather than the standard long cooking process. |
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6 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 08:47 AM
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Thank you thank you thank you. So the cooked and dehydrated pasta cooks faster? Ok, that makes sense. I would have expected putting water in and then taking it out again was the same thing. :>
I found some good info yesterday in my roamings around the internet, so today its a shopping list and cooking! :> |
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the mountain parks, Alberta
Canada
102 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 10:16 AM
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quote:
Wouldn't you just put the uncooked pasta or rice in with your dehydrated ingredients when you are cooking your meal?
You didn't really get a clear answer. Let me try.
When back country camping, the benefit of dehydrated meals is you don't have to "cook" them. You simply boil water, add the boiling water to the food in a ziplock bag, or a container or whatever, and let it sit in the hotwater for 10-15 minutes and voila, cooked meal without using anymore fuel than it takes to get the water to a boil.
If you were to try this with uncooked pasta or rice it will never cook. To get uncooked pasta or rice to cook you have to continue to boil it (or simmer with rice) for the duration, which you already know obviously. So by cooking it, and then dehydrating it you can "recook" it by just soaking in boiled water thus saving you fuel and hassle.
If doing this it is best to use some sort of insulated mug or cozy as your food rehydrates so that it does not cool off. I have never had an issue with food getting cold, even in -20c. |
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Qualicum Beach, BC
Canada
1332 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 5:07 PM
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| I'll also add that you can't just add uncooked rice or pasta to a pot of stew or whatever meal you're cooking. You'd end up with a gluey mess. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3829 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 5:22 PM
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| ^Potato flakes, on the other hand, are an awesome idea to carry around a small baggie, as they can quickly thicken up any stew or dish that ends up a little watery with little change to the taste and texture. |
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Maple Ridge, BC
Canada
9 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2012 : 9:44 PM
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After reading this, I'm buying one tomorrow.
My trip to the Rockwall will greatly appreciate it <3 haha |
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I love you, Mr. Dehydrator
