I have found a very interesting book from the end of the seventies about dehydrating food! It seems that quite many hikers here do it home to get "fresh" (more tasty than canned) meat, vegetables, herbs or fruit to their trips. Very interesting...even if some shops can be found from the local coastal islands. It can be done in oven under a very low heat [50 degrees C/80 degrees F?] and might take, depending on the size of the stuff and how you cut them to pieces, from five to nine hours. Very healthy, light to carry & take with you. It takes some 10 minutes to "rehyrdrate" the food in boiling water, before actual cooking. As for an example a full litre of bananas is only a quarter of itīs original volume after dehydrating it...like me during these long Friday afternoons ;-) The book is very detailed, so I might be trying this during next weeks. Some specific details are given, how one is supposed to cut the vegetables, and if some of them should be cooked before drying to fasten the actual cooking time. I am interested in the idea of making the food smaller in the volume and keeping the taste. Less canned food and more space for the Claudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc! Does anyone have experience with this? Comments? Still too much ice here. Cheers, Ari Saarto "Home of the Famous & Traditional Scandinavian Skinny-dipping [TM]" Finland - Europe GSM +358 - 50 - 526 5892 fax. +358 - 3 - 828 2815 e-mail: asaarto_at_lpt.fi *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
> I am interested in the idea of making the food smaller in the volume > and keeping the taste. Less canned food and more space for the > Claudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc! > From what I've heard, most stoves don't have a low enough temperature so the trick is to leave the door open a crack to let some of the excess heat to escape. I've been looking for a method of sun drying fish while on a trip so you could catch a fish one day and have some of it on the second or third days. I imagine the recipe is lots of sun, air and dryness. Don't know if you have to cook/boil it first or hang them out raw. From the pictures I've seen, native Americans just hang salmon out to dry & cure and just saw off a chunk in the winter as needed. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, Sisler, Clyde wrote: > > > I am interested in the idea of making the food smaller in the volume > > and keeping the taste. Less canned food and more space for the > > Claudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc! > > > From what I've heard, most stoves don't have a low enough > temperature so the trick is to leave the door open a crack to let some > of the excess heat to escape. > > I've been looking for a method of sun drying fish while on a > trip so you could catch a fish one day and have some of it on the second > or third days. I imagine the recipe is lots of sun, air and dryness. > Don't know if you have to cook/boil it first or hang them out raw. From > the pictures I've seen, native Americans just hang salmon out to dry & > cure and just saw off a chunk in the winter as needed. > Ugh! Think about the little insects.. yum yum... Ari *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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/ ***************************************************************************
Clyde Sisler wrote: >I've been looking for a method of sun drying fish while on a trip so you could catch a fish one day and have some of it on the second or third days. I imagine the recipe is lots of sun, air and dryness. Don't know if you have to cook/boil it first or hang them out raw. From the pictures I've seen, native Americans just hang salmon out to dry & cure and just saw off a chunk in the winter as needed.< I've found when drying meat outdoors that probably the most critical thing is keeping flies and other insects off until the outer surface has dried sufficiently that it is no longer attractive to them. I've used combinations of brine solutions and smoke from a slow burning hardwood fire successfully in the past. The degree of humidity can be a big factor in the speed and success or failure of outdoor drying also. I'm not certain that you could dry fish effectively while moving from place to place on a trip - especially on the water. Sun drying in the areas that I've lived - upper midwest - generally has taken three to fours days (for beef or venison) of good dry sunny weather - along with a slow, dry smoke fire for the first day. I wouldn't even begin to try it here in rainy Juneau. Dave David Seng / david_at_wainet.com Wostmann & Associates / phone - 907.586.6167 223 Seward St. / fax - 907.586.2996 Juneau, Alaska 99801 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
At 11:14 AM 4/17/98 , Ari Saarto wrote: >I have found a very interesting book from the end of the seventies >about dehydrating food! It seems that quite many hikers here do >it home to get "fresh" (more tasty than canned) meat, vegetables, >herbs or fruit to their trips. Very interesting...even if some shops >can be found from the local coastal islands. Dehydrating is a good thing. It's not the holy grail, however. >It can be done in oven under a very low heat [50 degrees C/80 degrees >F?] and might take, depending on the size of the stuff and how you >cut them to pieces, from five to nine hours. I prefer a tray-type dehydrator. It blows warm air across the food, rather than just overcooking it. It's also difficult to control the heat that low on a conventional oven, and can be dangerous. You need to find/buy/make drying racks anyway. Drying your own food is a labor-intensive process; trying to make things work can take all of the fun out of it. >Very healthy, light to >carry & take with you. It takes some 10 minutes to "rehyrdrate" the >food in boiling water, before actual cooking. I prefer a longer soak of an hour or more in a sun-warmed container. One problem with improperly re-hydrated food (aside from the unappealing chewy texture) is the resultant incredibly smelly farts. If you're sharing a small tent, this can make for a disasturous evening. >As for an example a >full litre of bananas is only a quarter of itīs original volume after >dehydrating it...like me during these long Friday afternoons ;-) Have you ever eaten dried bananas? An interesting snack, but no way could you confuse it with the real thing. I've found that buying quality dried fruit is better than I can make it. DOing beef jerky, on the other hand, is *always* better if you do it yourself. >The book is very detailed, so I might be trying this during >next weeks. Some specific details are given, how one is supposed to >cut the vegetables, and if some of them should be cooked >before drying to fasten the actual cooking time. You might want to read Linda Daniel's "Kayak Cookery" (ISBN 0-89732-236-3). Although it's 10 years old, it still has many good ideas and procedures. It also has an extensive section on drying. >I am interested in the idea of making the food smaller in the volume >and keeping the taste. Less canned food and more space for the >Claudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc! I wouldn't be throwing out the cans too quickly. If you spend a lot of time eating a lot of poorly dried food, you could probably work out the kinks in the system. Depends on how much free time and desire you have. On my last week long trip, I was drooling over the fresh cabbage salad that another member of our party was enjoying every evening. I'll never do a long trip without a cabbage again! ________________________________________________________________ Doug Barnard Virtual Acreage Agoura, California (near L.A.) Visualization in 2D/3D/4D http://virtualacreage.com 818-991-9328 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Ari wrote: > >Very healthy, light to > >carry & take with you. It takes some 10 minutes to "rehydrrate" the > >food in boiling water, before actual cooking. > & Doug wrote: > I prefer a longer soak of an hour or more in a sun-warmed container. One > problem with improperly re-hydrated food (aside from the unappealing chewy > texture) is the resultant incredibly smelly farts. If you're sharing a > small tent, this can make for a disasturous evening. Oh - this might mean the end of my relationship with Rita... Well, seriously: since the power-food I made during the long trip last summer (rice and dried soup-powder added to the boiling water, looked like a colourful porridge..) nothing can break our relationship! We had to leave the tent door QUITE OPEN sometimes during the nighttime... especially after I did add the Mexican soup to the boiling rice ;-) We went merrily farting along the southern coast of Finland... Once we didnīt have possibilities to wash ourselves, it took four days to find fresh water...there was too much algae in the water. It seems that the most advisable way to rehydrate the food is to soak it at least two hours! [Check the hilarious methane dicussion between Doctors Inverbon and Pharr Horissons...] > Have you ever eaten dried bananas? An interesting snack, but no way could > you confuse it with the real thing. I've found that buying quality dried > fruit is better than I can make it. DOing beef jerky, on the other hand, is > *always* better if you do it yourself. I think it would be even very dangerous to eat dried bananas - but to have dried-something to add in your soup or risotto which does not take very much space might make things very nice...like carrots, zucchini, eggplant, peas, beans, or shrimps. Since Rita has spent her childhood at the countryside, she is very familiar with various species of fungi. > I wouldn't be throwing out the cans too quickly. If you spend a lot of time > eating a lot of poorly dried food, you could probably work out the kinks in > the system. Depends on how much free time and desire you have. On my last > week long trip, I was drooling over the fresh cabbage salad that another > member of our party was enjoying every evening. I'll never do a long trip > without a cabbage again! > Yup. You can get odd addictions sometimes :-) The reason why I am interested about dehydrating food is that I am planning two long trips for the next summer: paddling the whole southern coast of Finland. That means one trip with Rita along the coast to west of Helsinki, to the most south-west part of the peninsula and back (some 220 miles). Then to the Russian border and back, solo (maybe 280 miles). I am familiar with the places and have found last summer some 6 village shops along the coastline - but I am not willing to go near the coast, except in an emergency situation, or if the weather turns bad because of the southern winds. [Fortunately, not very many long crossings, so I am able to keep myself relatively safe in the midst of the coastal islands] The water routes near the coast are filled with all kinds of boats - not to mention all kinds of people... Cheers, Ari Saarto "Home of the Famous & Traditional Scandinavian Skinny-dipping [TM]" Finland - Europe GSM +358 - 50 - 526 5892 fax. +358 - 3 - 828 2815 e-mail: asaarto_at_lpt.fi *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
At 09:44 AM 4/17/98 , Sisler, Clyde wrote: > > I've been looking for a method of sun drying fish while on a > trip so you could catch a fish one day and have some of it on the second > or third days. I imagine the recipe is lots of sun, air and dryness. > Don't know if you have to cook/boil it first or hang them out raw. From > the pictures I've seen, native Americans just hang salmon out to dry & > cure and just saw off a chunk in the winter as needed. Now Clyde, don't you be thinking about hanging that salmon on the deck of your kayak to dry out! Probably smell worse than that guy who goes doo-doo in his rear hold. (I laughed till my sides hurt when I saw that post. I sure hope that he posts something again soon!) ________________________________________________________________ Doug Barnard Virtual Acreage Agoura, California (near L.A.) Visualization in 2D/3D/4D http://virtualacreage.com 818-991-9328 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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