BWCA Dehydrating Polish/Andouille Sausage Boundary Waters BWCA Food and Recipes
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MEPPS
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02/05/2014 08:17PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I am considering making dehydrated jambalaya for our trip this year. Most recipes call for andouille or polish sausage. Any issues or concerns with dehydrating polish or andouille sausage do to the fat content? Are you taking other precautions like rinsing with hot water to remove as much fat as possible before putting it in the recipe?

Thanks
 
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02/05/2014 09:20PM  
You may just need to experiment and try it.

We generally pack in a Zateran's (sp?) jambalaya and add a foil pack chicken and shelf stable summer sausage. It tastes great! But, probably a week's worth of sodium.
 
02/06/2014 02:40PM  
The recipe for Jumbalaya in the main meal section of the cookbook here is one of my family favorites in the woods.

Here it is copied

Jumbalaya- large portion to make ahead, freeze and dehydrate

2 boiler chickens
Salt pork
2 yellow onions diced
3-4 stalks of celery diced
2-3 red, yellow, and orange peppers diced
48 oz. diced tomatoes
1/2 pound Andouille sausage chopped into small bites
2 large (49 oz. cans) chicken broth
1 pound shelled and deveined shrimp
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 pound bag of brown rice

Boil the chickens in a large pot with enough water to cover them for about 2 hours- until they start to fall apart. While the chickens are boiling, render the fat of the salt pork in a large pot, add the vegetables and the sausage and cook until the vegetables are tender, and then add the cans of chicken broth. Strain the broth that the boiler chickens are in- and set aside. Chop the chicken into chunks and set aside. Boil the rice in the boiler chicken broth- until tender. Add cooked rice to the vegetables, sausage, and chicken broth. Add chicken, shrimp, and seasonings- let cook for about 30 min- until shrimp is done.

This becomes the most fought over food in the deydrated selection- it just turns out perfectly.

See the post on Main Meal Dehydrating for how to dehydrate something like this.


Notes on the sausage issue-

I always use Andouille sausage- often Amylu Chicken Andouille (Costco usually carries it), but I have used super fatty- fresh made stuff from a local shop.

This recipe rehydrates beautifully- the trick is to make the sausage reasonably small chunks. I usually cut the sausage in to 3/4" circles- then quarter the chunks. We prefer the chunks to be bigger when we eat it- but for dehydrating and rehydrating you have to stay small.

Again- dehydrating safety is all about getting all of the moisture out so this is one I leave in the dehydrator over night. The other essential to keeping the food bacteria free is to get the air out- make sure the dehydrated stuff is cooled, but immediately vaccum sealed, then I freeze just to be sure.
 
Swampturtle
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02/06/2014 02:54PM  
Hillshire farms makes lite kielbasa, but you should be fine with the real stuff as well.
 
goaljohnbill
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02/07/2014 07:26AM  
I have dehydrated and stored a course grind chorizo as part of a bfast hash cut into the sort of chunks ripple is talking about without rinsing. Granted ive only stored it for 1-2 months or so the 1st time but it was fine rehydrated. It was vacuume sealed and kept in the freezer until I cooked it to test how it was rehydrated. Now I need to make a batch for this summers trips!
 
goaljohnbill
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02/07/2014 07:35AM  
I have argued with myself about rinsing sausage but if you rinse it doesnt most of the spices and whatnot rinse out? Basically leaving you with a significantly less flavored version of the base meat? I did Italian sausage for a spagetti I made and just put it in the strainer and pressed it with the spatula to remove the "loose" grease due to the above piece of logic.
 
CrookedPaddler1
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02/07/2014 10:42AM  
how long of a trip are you going on? If you purchase some sausage ahead of the trip and feeze it, it should last several days on the trail.
 
MEPPS
senior member (55)senior membersenior member
  
02/08/2014 06:21AM  
Thanks to all;

I vacuum seal and freeze the meals as suggested. I have never had an issue with moisture but I avoid meals/recipes with high fat content ingredients due to concern with the fat going rancid.

I live in Ga and ship our food to the outfitter prior to the trip. It usually takes 5-6 days prior to our entry. So It could be 10-12 days before the meal actually gets consumed on a trip. Sitting in the back of a UPS truck/depot for hours is the real concern.

goaljohnbill: I agree rinsing/wash with hot water defeats the purpose of including the sausage in the first place.
 
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