Dehydrating food

[Summitview]

Hi there

I want to start dehydrate meals for bushwalking. There are quite a few posts on this topic, but would appreciate further advice.

1. Choice of dehydrator. I am prepared to spend about $300. A lot of people seem to recommend the Excalibur but that would mean the 4 drawer. I would appreciate advice as to whether people find a 4 drawer unit is adequate or too limiting. Alternatively, are there any other 8-9 drawer units which are cheaper?

2. I am pretty conscious of not wanting food to spoil - is vacuum sealing a good idea?

3. And similarly, are there good places to get a clear idea how to do this in a way which means the food is tasty and hygienic? I am thinking of either good websites or booklets.

thanks
Jonathan

[michael_p]

Hi Jonathan,

Have you seen this site: http://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-food.html. Has a lot of useful information for those considering dehydrating. Also there are lots of videos on youtube about dehydrating.

Vacuum sealing your food is a good idea. Dehydrated food that is vac sealed will last for a long time when stored in the freezer. You can re-hydrate your meals in the vac bag which helps cut down on what you have to carry.

As far as what one to buy, I just have a cheapie I picked up off the web and it works fine.

Hope this is of some help.

Michael.

[Nuts]

You don't really need extra trays unless you plan on doing a large amount. I'm not familiar with excalibur but the sunbeam/harvest maid dehydrators (trays) hold up to 7/800 grams of fresh food, meat and/ or veg at capacity. Goes a long way, especially if for adding to pasta/rice etc.

That said, if you do intend to use it often more trays make for efficiency as each round can take 8-10-12 hrs.

You could try Supercheap Auto for the sealer (if you need one)? I hear they are now selling their own unit and cheaper bags.

[zac150]

Hi

I started off with a cheaper vacola, which I used for about 10 years, whilst it did the job it doesn't come close to the Excalibur I have now. I have been able to dry food successfully in the Excalibur (yogurt) that I could never do in the fowler. So I would personally go for the better quality dryer.

In terms of size I have the 8 draw and can dry all the food for a four day walk for five guys in one go.

I also use a vac sealer and would highly recommend for the reasons stated above.

In terms of taste, stick to mince as it rehydrates better. I also prefer to dry the ingredients separately and then cook on site using fresh spices. I think this adds a little weight maybe 50g - 100g per meal but I get much stronger flavours cooking this way.

Apart from that just experiment and enjoy.

[Summitview]

Many thanks everyone for your help with this.

Jonathan

[peregrinator]

I have a question for Caro Ryan regarding her excellent article on food dehydration in BWA No.6, August 2014. So I hope she reads this, or that someone who knows her can mention it to her. I've decided to have a go at making some meals following her detailed explanation on how to do it. She points out that:

You’ll find that when it is dried it’s hard to figure out how much a portion is. So make this calculation before you dry. Look at your cooking pot and decide that how many dinners it will cover.

This seems like a useful tip, but I do not understand what is meant by the final sentence.

[Orion]

This seems like a useful tip, but I do not understand what is meant by the final sentence.

It just means to take the amount you started with and decide how many portions that is. Then apply the same to the final dried stuff. In other words, if a pot of food would feed six people then divide it when dried into six parts.

It's a simple idea but if you don't think about it in advance you'll look at the relatively small amount of dried food and not know how much it really is.