Starting out in Dehydration

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Dehydrating raw materials is OK, but you still end up cooking on the trail. You might want to explore dehydrating complete meals which can be reconstituted with minimal effort on the trail. Two outstanding resources for this IMO are:
www.trailcooking.com
and
www.hungryhammockhanger.com
he also has some excellent videos under Mrbabelfish5 on YouTube.

The great thing about those sites is that they prep food for hiking,not just "prepping".
 
My first lot of jerky was ready this morning having been on at 65 degrees for 11 hours.

I'm pleased with the results. Very good flavours and distinctly different flavours imparted by my concocted marinades.

Lessons learned. Too much salt makes the meat whiten. This is still edible but isn't appetising looking. Would be useful for a trail stew up.

Many of the recipes I found on line suggested using oil but this coats the meat even after dehydration and this detracts from the texture. It can be blotted off but again this is a PITA. Might be better to avoid using oil in the first place.

Laphroigh Malt doesn't take a lot in the marinade to impart a delicate smokey flavour.

Well that's it for now. I have just mixed all my left over marinades and sliced just under a pound of Roe into them. Nothing ventured!


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My first lot of jerky was ready this morning having been on at 65 degrees for 11 hours.

I'm pleased with the results. Very good flavours and distinctly different flavours imparted by my concocted marinades.

Lessons learned. Too much salt makes the meat whiten. This is still edible but isn't appetising looking. Would be useful for a trail stew up.

Many of the recipes I found on line suggested using oil but this coats the meat even after dehydration and this detracts from the texture. It can be blotted off but again this is a PITA. Might be better to avoid using oil in the first place.

Laphroigh Malt doesn't take a lot in the marinade to impart a delicate smokey flavour.

Well that's it for now. I have just mixed all my left over marinades and sliced just under a pound of Roe into them. Nothing ventured!


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I like the idea of using Laphroig for the taste but cant bring myself to use a good malt without drinking it.

You can get liquid smoke online which I use in a lot of my jerky which is a really nice flavour.
 
When backpacking I used to dry a lot of food. Cooked beans dry well and rehydrating them takes a fraction of the time that cooking does, so they are a useful protein source to carry. I do soup vegetables too, cut the veggies into thin pieces or small dice, cook for a few minutes until they are just starting to soften but not disintegrating. Again, these are great to carry and easy to use.
 
Chicken curry is a good one. Just limit the fat as it won't dry don't add any milk products (fats again) and I tend to get my local butcher to mince all my meat so it dehydrates and rehydrates far better. I found coconut milk to be relatively limited from fats. And drain the meat before adding spices. The key mostly is watching the meat. And beans! Always good. If you like porridge that's a good breakfast. Add milk powder and any dried fruits.


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