Meat, dehydrating and rehydrating

[RE8ELD0G]

I hope someone can help me a bit.
I have bought a dehydrator and tried a few meals in it (carbonara, spag bol and a tin of all day breakfast)

I have learned that pastas/sauces/beans all de/re-hydrates very well but so far im not having such luck with meats.

My mince meat for the spag bol was still tough and chewy after 40 mins re-hydrating.
The bacon in my carbonara stayed like jerky and didnt seem to re-hydrate at all even after an hour.
The sausage and burger in my all day breaky was also still very hard and chewy.

Can anyone tell me whats going wrong....???

 

[Goatboy]

Hi,

When we were saving fuel on expedition to in turn save weight we'd often hydrate out evening meal at lunch time and whack it in a storage jar like a wide mouth Nalgene. It has half a day to hydrate and the only fuel you use is to heat it up. I's also a good way to use any warm water left over from lunch time brews. Waste not want not.

Hope it helps.

GB.

PS Just looked at your hydrographics page! Wow where were you when I wanted my rifle dipped? Used non-residue tape and it looks good but the stuff on your page is lovely.

 

[RE8ELD0G]

Thanks Goatboy, i did a few bits for myself and tried to turn it into a money maker but sadly it has died on its feet,
There are too many big companies that can do it cheaper than me due to bulk buying films and activators.

Did you find that by leaving it for a few hours the meat re-hydrated well or was there still some 'chew' to it?
And how long/ how big etc did you dehydrate the meats?

 

[rik_uk3]

With mince beef 'hamburger rocks' dry fry the mince, into a colander and rinse under boiling water to remove fat then dry.

I've dried food for some years now but don't dry whole meals, you get better results making up the meal at camp. Carry some dried onions, mushrooms/veg of choice, use dried tomato/oxtail/chicken/mushroom soup/curry powder/gravy granules as your sauce base which you add at the end. When your hydrating a meal with a sauce content the water is not making full contact with the dried ingredients hence tough and chewy meals. Soak the ingredients in plain water, cook and add the soup mix for the last five minutes of cooking. I've never dried a burger but don't think it will ever be good. Lean thinly sliced meat is the way to go. I was sent a few freeze dried pork chops from America a few years ago and they were...interesting lol.

 

[Shewie]

Are you rehydrating with boiling water and using pot cosys?

I've never had any problems and I find lean minced beef the easiest ingredient to get right, ten to fifteen minutes and it's done.

 

[Goatboy]

Pretty much what Rik says. On expedition most of the meals were commercially packaged though I tried to supplement with other dried and fresh goods. But didn't do the dehydrating myself. Leaving it for longer definitely helped with the more stubborn meats and pulses though. Made it a lot more palatable and it's using spare water and saving fuel and time. All important when your trailing everything on your back.

Pity about the graphics, would like it done one day.

 

[RE8ELD0G]

They were De-hydrated seperatly, ie sauce on one tray meat on another.
but i did re-hydrate all together in a pot cosy.
Maybe i will try redoing the meat on its own a few hours before adding it to the sauces and pasta.

 

[RE8ELD0G]

The Hydrographics is actually fairly easy, just need a big enough tub to dip it in and a few tries on some inanimate objects before you do the main piece.
Hardest part is spraying the Clear coat on after........

 

[Shewie]

They were De-hydrated seperatly, ie sauce on one tray meat on another.
but i did re-hydrate all together in a pot cosy.
Maybe i will try redoing the meat on its own a few hours before adding it to the sauces and pasta.

That is weird, I do all my meals all in one, i.e I'll make a curry, chilli, stew, pasta etc and then dehydrate a couple of portions and then stick them in the freezer.

Using the Pour & Store bags I just add enough water to cover the contents and then drop it in a cosy and leave it for ten minutes, the only problem I've ever had was with chilli beans being like bullets, I think that was because I didn't cook them enough to start with.