Dehydrated food isn't like freeze-dried food- that is, it doesn't reconstitute. The structure of the food is chnaged in drying, with cells collapsing, etc. It toughens and takes a long time to soften in boiling water. You can dry fruit, if you don't dry it to the point of complete dehydration, but you may find (as I did) it's cheaper to buy dried fruit. I played with a drier in the past, but nowadays I buy most of my camping foods in the supermarket- prepared couscous mixes are my staple, with canned seafoods(tuna, sardines, mackeral, octopus, squid, etc) added. Breakfast is instant oatmeal. Lunch is usually something I can eat in the boat, or on the trail- dried salamis, hard cheeses, pilot biscuits, hardtack, nuts and dried fruit. Homemade granola bars. Dessert? Mix powdered cocoa mix, powdered milk, grape nuts and dried or freeze-dried fruit. Add boiling water. Mmm. mike ===== -------------------------- Michael Edelman mje_at_spamcop.net http://foldingkayaks.org http://findascope.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
<Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com> wrote: >I'm the proud new owner of a food dehydrator. Looks like fruits and >veggies are easy to do and I've found lots of info regarding it. Jerky >appears to essentially be in the same boat. SNIP I'm >interested in stuff that I can add boiling water to, and be eating >within a short amount of minutes. That is, I'm trying to use my >dehydrator for meals not snacks, if that makes sense. Hi Rick, I've found tinned hash dehydrates pretty well - lay it on paper towel and change the towel until it stops emitting grease. The result will look pretty unlikely as food - sorta the texture of grit, but put some boiling water in and then fry it up in a little corn oil and it actually tastes better (less oily) than straight out of the can. Put some onion flakes in the dried mixture before rehydration if you like a bit of zip and the illision of "vegtables" with your meal. My other suggestion is a not a complete meal, but it makes a meal complete, IMHO: on wax paper, dry chutney to a fruit-leather like consistentsy. Rehydrate it in camp in simmering water. Serve with a rice and dried curry dinner, sprinkled with some unsalted peanuts to add texture (the bane of one pot meals is often their mushiness.) Packbacking books and websites are a good source of more ideas, as they have to go lighter.... Happy eating, Philip *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> You can dry fruit, if you don't dry it to the point of > complete dehydration, but you may find (as I did) it's > cheaper to buy dried fruit. > > I played with a drier in the past, but nowadays I buy > most of my camping foods in the supermarket- prepared > couscous mixes are my staple, with canned > seafoods(tuna, sardines, mackeral, octopus, squid, > etc) added. Breakfast is instant oatmeal. Lunch is > usually something I can eat in the boat, or on the > trail- dried salamis, hard cheeses, pilot biscuits, > hardtack, nuts and dried fruit. Homemade granola bars. > Dessert? Mix powdered cocoa mix, powdered milk, grape > nuts and dried or freeze-dried fruit. Add boiling > water. Mmm. Same here. Even menu is largely the same - there isn't much to chose from, when the goal is calories with some taste and minimum cooking (the latter I can pursue in comfort of home). Supermarkets don't have all I need. Recently I scouted through local Chinatown, looking for dry bananas (couldn't recognize them, and no English words on the pack, of course - luckily the store was big and they spoke English). They foisted on me some other pack as well, - Chinese Yam, tasty, but probably has no more vitamins or calories than dry crackers. There are also dry lemons (I didn't like the taste), costly dry pineapple, mangos, papaya, and routine apricots and raisins (cheap in supermarkets). Dried cranberries are good in boiled water - better thirst-quencher than tea or cacao, and more vitamins (also cheap in supermarkets). Grape (raisins) and nuts (walnuts) act as laxatives if you eat them a lot, alas. Powder milk - well... little calories, but source of calcium (not too importantin a trip shorter than a month :-). Hard cheese - yes, of course. Unfortunately, in hot weather it melts in the sealed pack, and then dries when you open it (but doesn't return to its original condition). Good for 3-4 days in hot weather, I guess (it didn't have a chance to live longer in my trips). Canned seafood is largely a water, and not much calories, not weight- or volume-effective. I didn't try making my own granola bars, and use PowerBars and CliffBars (preferably with little or no coating, so it wouldn't become a messy goo in my hands). Good thing too, more balanced than dry fruits, tasty (if you take different sorts), and a lot of calories. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
--- alex <al.m_at_3web.net> wrote: > Recently I > scouted through local > Chinatown, looking for dry bananas (couldn't > recognize them, and no English > words on the pack, of course - luckily the store was > big and they spoke > English). They foisted on me some other pack as > well, - Chinese Yam, tasty, > but probably has no more vitamins or calories than > dry crackers. <snip> I buy a lot of camping food at Chinese markets- little cans of tuna with vegetables, eel, peanuts and gluten, instant rice porridge (add the peanuts and gluten and other goodies), pickles, dried shrimp, packets of freeze-dried fried rice, packets of seasoned tofu, dried seasoned squid (good snack food), etc. But no ramen. I don't care for most of it, most of the "soup" is 90% MSG, and the noodles are full of palm oil. mike ===== -------------------------- Michael Edelman mje_at_spamcop.net http://foldingkayaks.org http://findascope.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I've had good luck with dehydrating Hormel Vegetarian chili, and it reconstituted well too. Greg Welker *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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