Dehydrated Curry Sauce From Jars

[canthardlywait]

Hey folks,
I've had my first attempts at dehydrating some food for a one week hike beginning the 6th July. I cooked a peanut satay jar sauce with some veg and then threw it in the dehydrator for about 12 hours.
Upon finishing I realised the fat content was rather high, about 75g in the 550ml jar, and earlier when i removed the glad bake it had a slight sheen of oil on it.

I'm doing the overland track and temperatures will be low, and until the 6th the meals will be kept in the freezer and stored in ziplock bags.

What do you think the chances of spoilage are in this veg/satay sauce.

CHeers

[dee_legg]

I reckon it'll be fine!

Enjoy the walk, I'm heading out there on Sunday

[Tortoise]

+1 I wouldn't be worried about it. I had a similar problem with a fattier than normal lot of mince. I did the same with the freezer, and used it sooner rather than later.

[Orion]

Dehydrated thai curry is one of our mainstays for walking. It's always oily. There's a green chile recipe that I sometimes make that is also pretty greasy. I keep these in ziplock bags in the freezer for months and have carries them in my pack for over a week. Sometimes they aren't eaten and I put them back in the freezer when I get home. I've never had a problem with spoilage or any noticeable off-flavors.

That said, one thing I've been experimenting with is using dehydrated ingredients to make curries, just to save the trouble of running the dehydrator. Coconut milk powder and thai curry paste form a very agreeable base. Add some dehydrated vegetables and it's ready to go in the pack. I made one of these that was almost indistinguishable from the dehydrated canned curries we'd been using. Then I made a second one and screwed up the amount of ingredients.... I need to figure out the right proportions.

[Gadgetgeek]

My understanding is that fats are mostly broken down by oxygen rather than anything else, so vac-sealed would probably be the best, but freezing is a good idea as well. Once you have a oxygen poor, highly salted environment its going to be difficult for much to grow. Botulism would be one possibility, but that's solvable by making sure your cooking temp is high enough, and your dehydrating and sealing methods are good.

[GBW]

I've dehydrated hummus which contains a high percentage of oil and was still fine after 3 weeks. Fats and oils go rancid over a longer period of time through oxidation etc which results in a flavor/smell change but generally is still safe to eat so I reckon your good to go.

[icefest]

IMHO the bigger problem with fatty dehydrated meals is rehydrating. The more fat they have the harder they are to rehydrate.

[Orion]

Icefest, can you give some examples?

Could it be that the foods where you've seen this happen were slow rehydrate for another reason?

The two items I mentioned rehydrate very quickly. The green chile in particular needs only a brief soak to soften completely. The Thai curries are essentially sauces and also rehydrate like instant food. The only part that takes time are some of the dehydrated vegetables, which themselves are not fatty. They take a long time on their own.

[icefest]

I don't remember band names anymore as this was several years ago. I tried pre-cooking butter chicken, several curries and some stroganoff (all with veggies) and was really disappointed with rehy time.
Since then I've always steamed or boiled my meats, removed the fat and then slightly browned them on the frypan, and cooked the veggies separate. This then get combined with dried spices and flavoring afterwards.

Eg Tom Kha:

Stir-fry chicken boiled as per above
+dried blanched mushrooms
+dried galangal
+dried chilies
+dried lemongrass
+dried keffir lime
OPTIONAL: +dried blanched carrot/other veggies
+couple fresh cherry tomatoes
+Chicken stock cubes
+1 sachet coconut cream powder per person
+ semidried coriander leaves

Butter chicken
Mix ghee+spices at home, after warming them up on the frypan
+chicken as above
+dehyd tomato can, diced
1/2 way through add the spice mix.

[Nuts]

Supermarket mince wont cut it, buy from a butcher. Properly trimmed to order, oil (and excess water) is not a problem, dry fry etc.
I tired different curries, pre-cooked as a ready to serve meal. In the end it was just a lot of messier work for minimal reduced weight or convenience.
Rice based, a few dried vegies (capsicum /peppers/green beans, tried potato/sweet potato but it wasn't too successful cubed), paste, coco powder a piece of fresh carrot.

The curry paste pouches work well (for several serves), maybe they can be cut in half and resealed?

To add something to the original question, I think it will be ok, hard to say
If possible and stuff can be drier, you can leave it open to the freezer air, sublimation will take care of any excess moisture (ie. it only gets drier).

[zac150]

Hi pretty sure the above comments cover your current situation.

I use curry powders try, sauce and spicy or spices down under (google them). I then dry the ingredients separately and cook as normal on the track. Working this way I don't have any issue with fatty ingredients or trying to dry the oil out.

[canthardlywait]

Thanks folks, I'll let you know how it goes. Finished all my food prep and keen to hit the trail.

[tom_brennan]

What do you think the chances of spoilage are in this veg/satay sauce.

Buggerall!

If you're concerned about length of storage, the main thing with dehydrating is to make sure that whatever you are drying is truly dry. If it's crunchy (rather than leathery), then it will generally last a long time. We keep our meat meals (curries, bologneses, stews etc) in the fridge, and they have been fine for 12-18 months. They often also get carried in 25+ degree temps for a week or more before use.

Some of them would be fairly fatty - though I do try to skim unnecessary fat off, since it's probably more likely to go rancid, and it makes things harder to clean in the bush.

[canthardlywait]

Dehyrated meals went really well - fav was spag bol. Rice worked really well too.