missmary Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 My folks are loaning me their dehydrator so I can make up a bunch of backpacking food for the summer. I've got some ideas, but what are your favorite dehydrator recipes, tips and websites (backpacking or not!)? What are the things I must try? Bonus point for organ meats, sardines and obscure seasonal vegetables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slpears Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Friends just gave us a dehydrator, too. I would love to piggyback on any ideas you get... I saw this and thought it was interesting, but I am very new to the dehydrator thing and this may be like dehydrating for dummies: http://www.backpackingchef.com/sweet-potato-bark.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Kale chips - I use apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and sea salt and massage really well. They are my food with no brakes! :-o Zucchini is a lot of fun. I think I blanched it and added a little olive oil. It was my favorite veggie so far, aside from the kale. Let's go with favorite portable veggie. I was told that I could to salsa, but had no luck. Roasted peppers worked, but I didn't taste them. Not sure about the texture and I would definitely store them alone unless you want everything to taste like peppers. I can share my husband's recipe for jerky. We just made it with ground elk a few days ago. I'm thinking you could add chopped organ meat, right? Most of what we have found about dehydrating is for storage, not for eating, so I will be watching the replies. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmary Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Most of what we have found about dehydrating is for storage, not for eating.... Storage ideas are good too: lots of times people will rehydrate the backpacking food on the trail as needed. Thanks Nico and Slpears! and YES, I would love to see the jerky recipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Slpears, I think that sweet potato bark is a fabulous and unique sounding idea. MissMary, I have a dehydrator but have not done a lot with it. I love beef jerky but found myself snacking too much on it so I cut myself off. I will make it for spring, summer and fall hikes though. Derval tipped me off to dehydrated lemons. Love them. I'll toss them into a glass of hot or cold water or into recipes I am making. I am going to do orange slices next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Storage ideas are good too: lots of times people will rehydrate the backpacking food on the trail as needed. Thanks Nico and Slpears! and YES, I would love to see the jerky recipe. I will transcribe the jerky from chicken scratch later today. I will also look for this handbook that we printed with tons of tips for more storage style. What we did was more paleo pack style for when he couldn't get too good food while travelling. We were early on and wanted to avoid too much sugar in fruits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Here is a document about safe temps for jerky: http://www.foodsafet...Dehydrator3.pdf Here is the PDF for fruits and veggies: http://www.foodsafet...Dehydrator3.pdf Also, canned peaches and pears worked great when I used to prep for long backpacking trips. My husband loved the bananas we did. We sliced them and dipped in a melted vitamin C tablet and then dried until no moisture beaded up when bent in half. Jerky recipe to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 And, the hubby's jerky recipe following precautions listed above. (Our dehydrator tested very warm, so we skip the oven step, but store in the fridge in between use.) 1 pound of ground meat 1/2 T salt 1/2 t granulated garlic 1/4 t cayenne 1/4 t paprika 1/4 t mustard powder 2 oz apple sauce splash of coconut aminos (we don't use them, so feel free to add to taste) Our dehydrator has a little sausage press and we use the jerky one to squeeze out sticks. We found that it is easiest to squeeze long sticks, let them dry, and cut with kitchen shears after. Ours is flexible, but dry in about 4 hours. slpears and Susan, what might you sub for the maple? I tried some veggie purees and they did not hold shape. I'm thinking th maple might be key to the integrity of the bark. Plain, blanched sweet potatoes weren't much fun, but they get the job done. I think the golden ones were better and peeled would be even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Nico, I was thinking just leave the maple out. Not sure I would try to substitute. I'm kind of in the mood to dehydrate some stuff so I may make it this weekend and report back. Ooo..I'll make two batches and use maple in one and have a trusty taste tester compare them. I will report back. If all else fails, the dogs will love having them in the cookie jar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Nico, I was thinking just leave the maple out. Not sure I would try to substitute. I'm kind of in the mood to dehydrate some stuff so I may make it this weekend and report back. Ooo..I'll make two batches and use maple in one and have a trusty taste tester compare them. I will report back. If all else fails, the dogs will love having them in the cookie jar. I would love to hear a report. If it holds shape without maple, we'll be making them for the next business trip! Well, a friend just sent some maple from Quebec and we'll be in between, but... Speaking of dehydrating, I have a box of kale that needs to be dehydrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLC1968 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I had a huge dehydrator when we had our farm. We did mass quantities of apples, pears and plums because those were our bumper crops every year. We also had great luck with zucchini chips. Just slice them all the same thickness (mandoline slicer), dust with seasoning (loved garlic salt and rosemary combo!) and dehydrate until crispy. Great for snacking! Oh and onions...I did millions of onions. I still have some of those! Diced veggies (onions, carrots, celery, zucchini, blanched potatoes, etc) mixed into baggies with seasonings and maybe some powdered bullion and you've got the makings for hot soup for backpacking. Shredded and dried sweet potatoes are nice to mix with dehydrated eggs (store bought) for making breakfast fritters while backpacking, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Missmary, check this out if you haven't already: http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/3580-backpacking-paleo-compliant-foods/page__hl__backpacking__fromsearch__1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmary Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Missmary, check this out if you haven't already: http://forum.whole9l...__fromsearch__1 awesome! I remember that thread...but I've been too lazy to search for it again. Thanks for doing the heavy lifting for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillwalker Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 thanks all for inspiration and suggestions! we're hiking in the scottish borders next week (brrrr..coldest spring in decades) so I've been dehydrating away in preparation .. beet chips, black radish chips, rutabaga chips and beef jerky .. that should keep me going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmary Posted April 2, 2013 Author Share Posted April 2, 2013 dehydrator exploits to date...just testing things out, but I thought I should record what I did so I can refine my recipes. SPROUTED ALMONDS: rinse raw almonds in a collander until the water runs clean. put almonds in a glass container, covered with water in the fridge 24 hours. spread them out on the dehydrator sheets* and dry until satisfied--I did maybe 6 hours? They are crispy but not burnt. *I slipped them out of their skins at this stage, but not required. TURKEY JERKY adapted from heather loves apples Combine lemon juice (juice of two lemons), olive oil (maybe 1/2 cup?), 1 t dehydrated garlic, 1 t ground cumin, sea salt. Place one skinless boneless turkey breast in a glass container, cover with marinade and rest in the fridge overnight. Transfer glass container with liquids and meat into a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes* Remove from marinade and cool. cut turkey breast into 1/8" thick slices spread onto dehydrator sheets and dry until just pliable--hoping for 4-6hours, TBD. *lots of recipes I've read online skip this step, but I think heather loves apples has it right. I would not dehydrate raw poultry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapstitching Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Now to figure out which dehydrator to purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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