Dehydrating food

[Joe]

I do the same with apples (no whole though - cut in pieces), they turn out lovely and chewy if you soak them in pinapple juice before putting them in the dehydrater.

my grandmother has a dehydrator...she does apples saoked in lemon juice....mmm mmm mmm they are good

[Penguin]

I bought the EziDry at Campbells in Burnie. Very helpful and lots of spare parts available. We looked around all the other shops and no much on offer.

Now we will have to start experimenting. Since dehy rice is no longer available that could be the first thing to try.

[frank_in_oz]

Has anyone tried cooking rice and then dehydrating it? Does it actually rehydrate quicker than cooking it in camp? I'm just wondering whether there is a weight savings to be made either in the weight of the rice (I doubt it) or in fuel. I think I may be overly enthusiastic about my new toy...

Tried it and it worked Ok but we have ended up just buying the Continental stuff. Works pretty well and does not consume a lot of fuel.

[Natt]

Rice is still available - or it was last time I checked

Its now in the instant bowls that you pour hot water into for lunches (cup of noodle - but it has rice instead)

No more red packs

Also Leggos has a canned bolognaise sauce (with meat) that dehydrates & rehydrates well.

[frank_in_oz]

I saw the Continental instant rice in the supermarket a couple of days ago. In the foil packets , with the instant noodle stuff. Maybe only in Victoria??

[Son of a Beach]

I saw the Continental instant rice in the supermarket a couple of days ago. In the foil packets , with the instant noodle stuff. Maybe only in Victoria??

Yeah, we bought some (in Tasmania) just a couple of weeks ago. Took one packet with us walking last week (didn't need to use it though).

[Penguin]

We had been using the Sunshine dehy/freeze dried three minute rice -which was great. Sunshine have stopped making it.

Obviously I have not been scouring the supermarket shelves well enough. I will lookout for the continental packets.

With the advent of of microwaves food producers seem to be loosing interest in dehydrating/freeze drying for a general market.

After Christmas we should have fun playing with out new toy.

[alex]

have a look at this website, helped me a lot when i first started drying stuff...
http://people.aapt.net.au/marcelle_cameron/

[GraemeSpedding]

Have you tried dehydrating bananas?
I like to dry them whole, (I don't like hard chips) until they become firm & chewy.
Bananas done like this are also great for desserts. Cok them up for a minute or two in a little water to get the sugar coming out and then add Instant Custard, some sugar and milk powder. Sensational. for a change add some Cocoa Powder and coconut milk powder - Choc Banana Custard.
Enjoy.

G

[climberman]

If dehydrating minced meat, get the leanest meat you can. The cheapo fatty meats tend to dehdrate very poorly and consequently rehydrate poorly.

Don't try rabbit.

[Son of a Beach]

Don't try rabbit.

Can you elaborate? I would have guessed that rabbit would be good for dehydrating. I haven't noticed much fat on the rabbits I've butchered, so is there some other reason?

[corvus]

Its because you cant eat the Easter Bunny
Seriously I also thought that with it being fat free it would be suitable .
c

[climberman]

Don't try rabbit.

Can you elaborate? I would have guessed that rabbit would be good for dehydrating. I haven't noticed much fat on the rabbits I've butchered, so is there some other reason?

A mate tried it on my dehydrator back in the share house days of inner-city terrace living. It was spectacularly unsuccessful, and he managed to short out my machine in the process, plus didn't clean the trays well at all.

It was a long time before I ate rabbit again !

[Son of a Beach]

You do know that you're not supposed to do it with live animals, don't you?

[corvus]

And you are supposed to skin them first

[Joe]

A hair dryer in a rabbit hutch does not a dehydrator make

[Nuts]

Getting them to remain sitting till they shrink down to size would be the difficult part. you would need a brick on the lid

[delphin]

Oh? I thought everyone knew the secret to successfully dehydrating rabbit.

[corvus]

We had been using the Sunshine dehy/freeze dried three minute rice -which was great. Sunshine have stopped making it.

Obviously I have not been scouring the supermarket shelves well enough. I will lookout for the continental packets.

With the advent of of microwaves food producers seem to be loosing interest in dehydrating/freeze drying for a general market.

After Christmas we should have fun playing with out new toy.

Back Country Cuisine make a Freeze Dri Rice which is readily available and a little goes a long way.
c

[Penguin]

Back Country Cuisine make a Freeze Dri Rice which is readily available and a little goes a long way.
c

Must try it. Having a very good rice cooker (Japanese) and a dehydrator I can make good dehy rice by the kilo cheaply and easily.

Freeze dried fish is the tricky one. can get some stuff a the Asian shops but variable quality and taste. Any thoughts there?

Last lot of swordfish jerky was good but very labour intensive and has a self life of only six weeks.

[corvus]

[





Freeze dried fish is the tricky one. can get some stuff a the Asian shops but variable quality and taste. Any thoughts there?

.

Yes Penguin give up fish and start eating meat
Seriously I did have a go at dehydrating fish and it was an unmitigated disaster but I have not considered fish jerky but would be interested in your recipe.
c

[climberman]

Getting them to remain sitting till they shrink down to size would be the difficult part. you would need a brick on the lid

You g\folks gave me a good laugh. Thanks !

[Penguin]

Yes Penguin give up fish and start eating meat
Seriously I did have a go at dehydrating fish and it was an unmitigated disaster but I have not considered fish jerky but would be interested in your recipe.
c

The jerky is great. Basically salt (and more salt), lemon juice, onion flakes, garlic and sage from memory. I will dig out the recipe for you. The strong flavour is great at the end of the day.

P

[climberman]

Sounds like chewing Bacalau without the extended soaking and cooking bits (that actually make it edible !).

[Steve73]

by Son of a Beach on Fri 30 Nov, 2007 12:29 pm

Nice one! Here's a link pinched from frank_in_oz' blog, which has some of the best dehydrating advice I've seen: Loads of Dehydrating Information.

This link doesn't seem to work. Anyone know where I can find this info?

[sunbernd]

We have been dehydrating our trek food for many years. Using a Fowlers Vacola. Excellent results if used correctly. My wife is a nutritionist, so we have a slight advantage
Our longest trek without food drops has been 13 days. All with our own dried meals. I also make protein bars, kangaroo jerky, and dried fruits and fruit leathers. A few tips:
- Cut everything VERY thin. We use a mandolin to cut all veges into matchsticks. For meats we only use mince. Kanga is best due to low fat content. Fatty meats can go rancid, even if completely dry. Small sizes are critical in keeping cooking time (and fuel) to a minimum.
- Precook everything!! All groups can be dehydrated after cooking. Steamed veges, cooked rice, cooked mince (on very hot BBQ plate gives a great flav). But no need to precook stuff like thin Thai egg noodles, or cuscous (cook very quickly in field). Precooking helps to stabilise the food, and speeds up the infield cooking time - no need to cook, just rehydrate (saves fuel).
- For any meal, keep your groups seperate, as cooking time varies. That way you dont end up with mush. eg mince, curry spices, veges, rice (precooked, dehydrated rice is ready in 1-2mins!).
- Limit cooking pots to 2. Heat water for carbs first (noodles, cuscous, rice), set aside covered then cook other ingredients.

Biggest tip of all - dont take anything into the field that you have prepared yourself without first trying it at home. A failed experiment can lead to disaster if the meal is not edible

And yes - experiment!!

[corvus]

Good advice sunbernd .
c

[climberman]

sunbernd - two questions:

Other than the instrument, what is a mandolin in a food context; and

What's your protien bar recipe ?

TIA

[corvus]

A Mandolin is a bit like a V Slicer that you can get cheap from HS stores ,it is a tool that allows you to get really thin slices or ribbons of vegies from an infernal device (unless you use a cooks cloth to hold them) this is easier than my description of my 40 year old classic French version
http://www.nextag.com/mandolin-vegetabl ... oducts-htm
c

[climberman]

Ta Corvus.

Still keen for that protien bar recipe.