Hi Ari- I got a dehydrator last year before going on a longer trip, and have been using it ever since. You can buy them here for around $100, which isn't much compared to the cost of prepared dehydrated/dried food. I got a dandy little book called "Trail food: drying and cooking food for backpackers and paddlers" by Alan Kesselheim which talks about drying techniques, how fruits and veggies need to be prepared, whether or not they need to be cooked and what the approximate drying times are. There are also recipes which I found to be quite good. Even though most of my trips are weekend trips, I find I still keep using the dried food. I make batches of a particular dish ahead of time and them use them over the course of the summer. Making dinner takes only 15 minutes and prep time is minimal. Since I can dry all kinds of things I can eat pretty much what I like to eat at home without worrying about spoilage or having to prep food on a sandy beach... And I'll never eat macaroni and cheese again!! Drying food will certainly save you weight and space, although for some things the savings in space is minimal or non-existent. Dehydrating cooked beans and rice results in grains that are larger than they were to begin with. If space is your main concern I have found it's more efficient to bring extra fuel and cook the beans in the field (after pre-soaking of course). But either way it's a huge improvement over canned food. For longer trips, this is a great way to get your daily fruits and veggies without spending a fortune or making frequent resupply stops. It's also a great option for winter trips - I have a friend who brought canned food along on his first winter camping trip and had to chip it out of the can with his knife... Sarah Ohmann *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Apr 17 1998 - 10:35:58 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:29:55 PDT