Dehydrator

[ootini]

I'm considering having a go at making my own dehydrated trail meals. I'm just curious though, as to whether a dehydrator is really required, why not just a very low temp fan oven overnight?

[Mariner]

See here http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival- ... ied-foods/
Would you be using proteins or meat to you and I?
I would be very wary of keeping meat at the levels you would need as it would be above storage temp and below cooking temp
or to put it another way ideal bug growing temps.
Give it a go and let us know how it goes.

[whitestone]

I don't think you need a specific dehydrator, if you have a fan oven that can run at about 50C it should be enough but it does take several hours to dry things out.

One tip seems to be to weigh the tray before and after drying then you know how much water to add back to reydrate properly.

[ianfitz]

I don't think you need a specific dehydrator, if you have a fan oven that can run at about 50C it should be enough but it does take several hours to dry things out.

One tip seems to be to weigh the tray before and after drying then you know how much water to add back to reydrate properly.

Bob has the answer

I've done exactly this before with success. Advice I'd give is to use 'sloppy' meals like daal or chop up every thing in thin slices or small cubes to ensure easy and effective rehydration. I used freezer bags, poured on boiling water and used a pot cosy (or pocket/hat) no need to re-cook in a pan.

[ootini]

I don't think you need a specific dehydrator, if you have a fan oven that can run at about 50C it should be enough but it does take several hours to dry things out.

One tip seems to be to weigh the tray before and after drying then you know how much water to add back to reydrate properly.

Bob has the answer

I've done exactly this before with success. Advice I'd give is to use 'sloppy' meals like daal or chop up every thing in thin slices or small cubes to ensure easy and effective rehydration. I used freezer bags, poured on boiling water and used a pot cosy (or pocket/hat) no need to re-cook in a pan.

I'm thinking of knocking up a big batch of chilli, spread it out on a tray and throw it in the oven at about 60*c over night..... Trial and error I guess.

[ootini]

What sort of portion size, of the dried food do you bag up? 100gm of dried food sound about right? That's what most of the commercially available options seem to go with.

Also, once portioned and bagged up, how do you store the foo

[whitestone]

If you make enough food for say four portions then simply divide it in to four, you don't have to follow the manufacturers portion size.

Do a search for "freeze drying food for hiking" and you'll get lots of hits, mostly American. The tip about weighing came from one of them but I can't remember which one.

The big enemy of dried food is, surprise, surprise, moisture so ensuring that you have really sealed the bags is very important, a home vacuum sealer might be an option. Done properly the food should last a year or so if kept in a cool environment.

[ianfitz]

I use freezer bags to portion it up. But keep it in the freezer until needed

[Paulini]

Been experimenting with this recently too, with some success.

Used the oven at 50 degrees with the door open a crack. Dried some onion, mushroom, tomato, all diced very small - took three to four hours to dehydrate. Then did some ground beef (most forums recommend lean beef as fat doesn't dehydrate well), pan cooked it first and broke it up as small as possible, soaked up the excess fat on tissue paper then dried it in the oven overnight - can see why it's referred to in backpacking circles as gravel!!

Then combined it with the dried vegetables, some herbs and spices, seasoning and flour (for thickening) and vacuum sealed it using a cheap home sealer. As this was a very simple experiment I didn't store or freeze it but I suspect it would keep for quite a while.

Next day I simply tipped in some boiling water and let it sit in a homemade pot cozy/lid for 10 to 12 minutes. The beef re hydrated quite well, better than expected. Overall it was actually quite tasty - definitely not remotely as good as tender homemade bolognase that's been simmering on the hob for three hours - but it was tender enough not be hard work, tasted like real food and I felt pretty full and satisfied.

Next time I'll make a larger amount and batch it up - 10 meals could save me £50 compared to the retail stuff.

Hope that helps.