Not looking for any jerky recipes cuz they're pretty cut and dry (no pun intended - okay, a little one). But I'm trying to cut down on food weight since it's what I believe is my group's biggest packing "flaw".

So, I'm interested in anyone's specific recipes for dehydrated foods. Something along the lines of "add this, mix that, dehydrate at x degrees F for y minutes, and to rehydrate add z cups of boiling water".

I've heard of spaghetti sauce w/ mushrooms, chilis, stews, etc. but I'm looking for a strong starting point, in these recipes, without resulting to trial and error from the beginning.

g

Lots of good stuff here:

http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/

I get a lot of my backpacking recipes from this site.

If you learn how to dehydrate just one thing, learn how to dehydrate hamburger. Then a whole bunch of supermarket foods open to you, mainly in the form of Hamburger Helper: Stroganoff, Spaghetti, Oriental Rice, the list goes on. Put your hamburger in a zip lock. Get rid of the Hamburger Helper box - ie repackage the ingedients along with the directions. Rehydrate the burger in a pot (cover with warm water for at least an hour. Drain most of the excess water off. Then simply follow the directions using a pot instead of a pan, starting at the point after the hamburger has been browned. Maybe a little extra water.

Here's how to dehydrate the meat:

1 # of Ground Meat (beef, venison, turkey).

Brown in frying pan or cook in microwave till all redness is gone. Drain off all fat. "Flash off" meat (Add 1/2 cup water to cooked meat, bring to a boil, and drain off all fluids. This process is to reduce fat to as little as possible.). Repeat flashing off process two or three times. Spread crumbled, cooked ground meat on tray. Dry in dehydrator for up to eight hours or overnight turning meat occasionally to ensure even drying (this can be done in an oven as long as the temperature is under 150 degrees and door is opened a bit to vent moisture). The stuff looks and feels like large pieces of ground coffee.

Put the dried meat in a Baggies sandwich bag (you might have to use two separate bags). Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible and it tie shut with a simple knot (don’t use a twistie -- it can puncture the bag. Put that bag(s) in a second bag. It should be a zip-lock freezer bag. Store in freezer until the trip.

I also wanted to make you aware of two other Helpers that are even easier -- Chicken and Tuna Helpers. There is the foil pack tuna and now foil pack chicken available in the supermarkets. So you can avoid dehydrating altogther!

Once you're armed with dehydrated hamburger, foil chicken, foil tuna, powdered milk, and dried eggs (health food stores or co-ops), you can just wander the supermarket ailses and find all types of dried/dehydrated foods that will work for you.

Oh! One more thing that might be useful - tomato paste. Cover your dehydrator tray with a fruit leather sheet or plastic wrap. Spread a 6 oz. can of tomato paste about 1/4 inch thick. Dry 6 - 8 hours. After 4 hours, peel up tomato leather and turn over (this speeds the drying process). Tear it into small pieces and store in a zip-lock bag in freezer.

With the tomato paste and dehydrated hamburger you can add it to Bear Creek Darn Good Chili mix or a spaghetti sauce packet (gravy section). You're good to go.

Don't forget that Jacklink's has foil packed hamburger too! I have used it the last two trips in hamburger helper and it is fine!

Bruce

Arkansas man, where do you find Jacklinks dehydrated hamburger. I think I remember past posts that said Walmart. I checked several in the Twin Cities area and have been unable to find it. Checked several grocery stores too. Maybe its just a southern thing. Thanks

tony

I have not seen it for a while and last time I saw it was at Walmart Supercenters on the grocery side.

I agree it is palatable in dishes once you get passed the fact that it looks and smells like dog food coming out of the foil. I do not find dehydarting and rehydrating hamburger very time consuming or difficult so I do that instead. Better taste and texture than foil burger.

Foil tuna and chicken on the other hand is very good and I will buy that and not dehydrate those meats.

In January this year I did a winter camping trip off the South Brule Road (see trip reports) and I dried venison burger as above and it was wonderful. I also tried dehydrating diced venison chops, diced chicken breast, and sliced venison polish sausage. First I cooked the chops and chicken on a George Foreman grill and then cut it into cubes. I re-hydrated the diced meat in my instant pasta and rice dishes on the trail. I wouldn't do the chicken again as it was pretty chewy. Maybe I didn't let it soak long enough in water to rehydrate but that really isn't an option winter camping anyway. The sausages I boiled first, then sliced and dried. They worked out great and I will do them again along with the burger and chops. I imagine beef would work about the same as venison if the fat is removed first.
I need to try that tomato paste idea - it sounds great.

Bog...
You don't like Dogfood??? I agree it does look like dog food!! but it is handy! and come to think of it... I have not seen it lately either. I guess I will have to dehydrate some burger to take with me this year! The foil pack tuna we use for lunches, for two people we carry a foil pack of 6 oz. 1.2 pita each, one mayonaise packet each and one relish packet each, a small hunk of cheese, and trail mix for dessert. Have plenty of instant sugarfree peach tea and you have a great meal while traveling or daytripping.

Bruce

I believe Jack Links pulled the burger from the market about a year ago.

Guys,
On your dehyrated burger do you use leaner burger such as gound chuck, ground round or just regular hamburger?

Bruce

You want the leanest burger possible, and you want to rinse out every bit of fat you can after it's cooked. The fat is what will cause it to go rancid.