Dehydrator recipes!

[copper_head]

I finally ordered a dehydrator in an ongoing attempt to lighten my load, spent the morning looking at some online recipes (some good ones here) but I'd like to hear about your favourites.

Oh and any top tips for the dehydrator novice ?

 

[rik_uk3]

Have a search and you'll find lots of dehydrator chat and recipes.

Some links here https://www.google.co.uk/#safe=off&...34,d.d2k&fp=45c2f917e11bca99&biw=1280&bih=593

 

[tartanferret]

I'm thinking of getting one too, I've managed a few in the oven. Still got a chillie-con-carne that I've done to try out.

I'll be interested to see what you come up with, are you a chef ? I could be mistaken.

Good luck with it mate !

 

[tartanferret]

I've had a nosey on here before..

http://www.bplite.com/viewforum.php?f=11&sid=1fca7dd32ef47e5e5474ace4340b43cd

Can anyone clarify that you should weigh the meal before you dehydrate it in order to guess the required amount of water ? (plus a little bit more ?)

 

[Globetrotter.uk]

I've just used mine to save some onions. I've got some beef mince done too. So going to try them with some beef gravy from a tube and see what it's like.

 

[copper_head]

I'm thinking of getting one too, I've managed a few in the oven. Still got a chillie-con-carne that I've done to try out.

I'll be interested to see what you come up with, are you a chef ? I could be mistaken.

Good luck with it mate !

Chilli sounds like a good one, and yeah I'm a chef .

Done jerky and fruit leathers in the oven in the past, but it never occurred to try full meals in there. I got one of those Andrew James dehydrators off amazon, it should be here monday, looking forward to giving it a spin.

 

[copper_head]

I've just used mine to save some onions. I've got some beef mince done too. So going to try them with some beef gravy from a tube and see what it's like.

That sounds good, can you dehydrate 'whole' meals or is it best to dehydrate the seperate ingredients. E.g. I make some spag bol have left overs, can I just spread it out and bung it in the dehydrator?

 

[Hammock Hamster]

I tend to dehydrate things separately so I can pick and choose what I fancy at the time.

I do a lot of onion, garlic, sweet corn, carrot, leeks as well as jerky/biltong. All goes well with some pasta or rice in the pot.

My one big tip would be to make sure everything is stored in an airtight container once dehydrated, a bit off topic I have just bought a vacuum sealer for doing just that and it works a treat.

Hamster

 

[PDA1]

Generally, I would say that complete meals would be the best way to go. Especially true if you are hiking and have less time for "cooking". The Babelfish5 recipes are marvelous. Additional ideas from www.trailcooking.com
An inportant factor is to make your meat as fat free as possible, as grease does not preserve well at all. Note that HHH usually pre-cooks the minced meat and rinses with hot water before putting it in whatever dish he is making. Make up for loss of the flavour of the fat by using herbs and spices. ALways keep your dehydrated meals in the freezer to extend their life (rancid fats ruin and otherwise good meal, making it inedible) only taking them out when you are packing for a trip. BTW, HHH has some really good youtube videos

 

[copper_head]

Good link thanks!

 

[widu13]

When buying your vacuum seal rolls, buy the thicker stuff. If you want long term storage you want the food really dry. There is a tendency with some foods to puncture the roll when it is vacuum sealed on the cheaper stuff. You're going to enjoy packing. Don't bother attempting to dry curry/pasta sauce etc. separately as it needs to be done on baking sheet and inevitably it soaks into the paper and you lose some, or have bits of paper in your rehydrated meal! Just mix the meals so that the sauces cover the rice/pasta and then dehydrate that- much better results. Rice and pasta hydrate quicker if cooked and then dehydrated first. Daft sounding I know, but it cooks twice as fast cooking for the "first" time.

I'm finding on average that a plate full of whatever meal is dehydrating down to 1/4 or even 1/5 of the size and weight.

 

[copper_head]

Thanks for the advice Widu, just working my through Babelfish5's vids some great recipes there.
Just need to get some pot cozy materials now. So off to B&Q to see whats available.

 

[widu13]

Also, until your are used to hydrating use 1/2 the water you think you will use, you can always add more but drinking a slop isn't that morale boosting. (Been there, done that!)

Are you using cosies? I'm a huge fan of them. You boil and add the water and can put the food in a cosy for 20 mins and it will still be too hot to eat, and you've saved a LOT of fuel. There is very very little lost in terms of weight or bulk size as the cosy material (insulating roll) is so light.

Bob at BPL has made a useful vid on it for the uninitiated.

http://www.diy.com/nav/build/insula...awrap-Loft-Insulation-11597554?skuId=12108260

 

[copper_head]

I'd seen Shug use them quite a lot on his hammock vids. Seems like a fine idea!

Thanks for the link

 

[tartanferret]

Something I found nice to dehydrate is ****ake mushrooms, Tesco had them in the sale section for 25p a punnet, I bought loads ! Dehydrated them in the oven and kept them in "pour and store" bags from Morrisons. The smell of them is amazing and unlike ready bought dehydrated mushrooms like Porcini you can use the stalks. They taste lovely in a Chinese.

If you wanted, you could put 'em in a p+s bag with some noodles and spring onions, chillies,............

I have a little Nalgene squirty bottle filled with sesame oil for that greeeesy / nutty takeaway flavour





Can't believe I've been edited, its the name of a Japanese mushroom for Pete's sake, lol

 

[copper_head]

Not a fan of the fungus myself but I can see they'd work great dehydrated.

Just got some thermawrap to make pot cozys, cant wait for it to arrive and I can get cooking .

 

[copper_head]

Got my first batch of spag bol drying out...

Is it normal for the lower trays to dry out before the upper ones, or have I just overfilled it?

Looking forward to seeing the end results!

 

[PDA1]

It is usual to rotate the positions of the trays to ensure even dehydration.
Babelfish 5 has a spag meat sauce - BBQ meat sauce. Notice that he cooks and then rinses the meat before making the sauce. This is to reduce the fat content almost to zero which makes for a longer store time unfrozen before spoiling.

 

[jacko1066]

I really do like the look of the BBQ spaghetti that HHH makes!!

Although iv never seen pork mince in this country so would prob have to substitute it with beef or chicken.

Also the corn bread casserole looks excellent too, but I really can't find a substitute for corn bread lol!!

My first go at dehydrating, I made a trail sheppards pie,but instead of mash I cut small cubes of potato and blanched it then mixed it up with the normal sort of mince mix for sheppards pie, it dehydrated fine, but the potatoes refused to rehydrate at all, even cooking in the microwave didn't help, so I would give potato a miss mate!!

The rest tastes good!!

My vac pack machine has stopped vacuuming out the air from the bags now, so I need another one but on the whole I'm really happy with my dehydrator.

Cheers
Steve

 

[copper_head]

It is usual to rotate the positions of the trays to ensure even dehydration.
Babelfish 5 has a spag meat sauce - BBQ meat sauce. Notice that he cooks and then rinses the meat before making the sauce. This is to reduce the fat content almost to zero which makes for a longer store time unfrozen before spoiling.

Thanks I've rotated them once, but I'll do it again and leave over night. I followed Babelfish's instructions and rinsed the mince in hot water and didn't use any other oils so should be good on that front.