DIY dehydrated meals

[Chubscout]

I’m going to try my own meals this season, wanted to hear if any of you have tried it, and the pros/con of it. Thanks

 

[21sailfish]

I have made a few for this year. Plan to try them this weekend. Pretty time consuming but saves a ton of money.


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[Ditchpanther]

I do all my meals myself with a dehydrator. Check out backpacking chef, that’s where I started. Pros are saving money, knowing exactly what is in your food, and being able to diversify your meal plan. I cook the meals first and try them. Only then do I dehydrate them. Also dehydrate and taste them at home. Some meals will taste nasty rehydrates but good when cooked. The cons are the time consumption and trial and error you will go through.

 

[Ditchpanther]

On a side note, get a bowl that you know will fill you up, portion wise. Use that bowl to portion out what you dehydrate. This will make sure you are eating a full meal and allow you to know exactly how much liquid to use when re-hydrating your food. I wish I would have known that tidbit when I first started out.

 

[DoritoBoy]

I've done spaghetti before. Wasn't too hard.

 

[1eyedfatman]

Dehydrate shredded meat instead of burger, it rehydrates a lot faster.

 

[JoeDirt]

I tied it, the meals never tasted the same after rehydrating..... To me they lost a lot of flavor. All I did was dehydrate meals that I already make at home.

 

[hayesplow]

I'm lucky I have a Mennonie store near me. They carry a lot of bulk dehydrated food at reasonable prices. I like their dried fruit and soup mixes.

 

[mj23polaris]

Anyone just buy campbells chunky soup for cheap and dump it through a strainer and try dehydrating it?

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[Jordan Budd]

Podcast dropping on this next week with @gatheringhealth!

 

[Dos Perros]

I do all of mine now. It's way cheaper than buying Heather's Choice (which inspired me to do this). Comparing costs to Mountain House is unfair, IMO, because Mountain House is sh*t food. When you make it yourself it's a premium product like Heather's Choice or other boutique companies making food that is actually good for you.

My favorites are:

-my family chili recipe, but I dump in some cocoa powder to make a sort of dark chocolate chili like Heather's Choice
-chicken wild rice soup, another family recipe
-curry chicken (https://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/diy-dehydrated-meals-trail-veganvegetarian-alternatives/ )
-chicken phad thai
-spaghetti

I think the taste is great, feels like I'm at home. Some flavor might be lost but when I'm hungry I can't tell, I chow it down and rack out.

There are definitely some subtleties to it, you learn as you go. I can't think of any 'cons' aside from you have to do it, so it's not as convenient as buying commercially. I'm happy to share any tips if anyone has any specific questions.

 

[Steve O]

I use extra water and most of mine end up soupy but I like that as I don’t think you can ever get enough water in the mountains. If you worry about that, weigh before and after dehydration and add that much water. I’ve not had a bad homemade meal and in particular when I dehydrated leftover pot roast dinner, I’d snack on bags before the trip without rehydrating!

 

[gadrahthaar]

OP, I've been playing with it this year and very happy. I saved the last bit of curry, chili, etc leftovers. I marked a jar that is just smaller than the bag I use so that I know I can fill with enough water later, then pour that on the dehydrated soup tray (or parchment paper over mesh). Once i think the meal is dry i put in a jar for a day or two to see if any moisture shows up and then bag or put back in the dryer. I use googou brand bags from amazon and have been able to vacuum seal them above the zip, cut and fill, and reseal with zipper. They take little longer to rehydrate than freeze dried, it seems, but less than 2x. A few times i've ended up with chunks of meat that were larger than the rest of the meal and those tasted like finding a bit of jerky in a cold cut sandwich - not perfect but worth having my own meals.

 

[gadrahthaar]

On a side note, get a bowl that you know will fill you up, portion wise. Use that bowl to portion out what you dehydrate. This will make sure you are eating a full meal and allow you to know exactly how much liquid to use when re-hydrating your food. I wish I would have known that tidbit when I first started out.

This is a good tip too. I solved for fitting in the bags I like instead, which limits spilling and underwatering, but may leave me wanting to eat 1.5 of them at a time.

 

[21sailfish]

Dehydrate shredded meat instead of burger, it rehydrates a lot faster.

Are you just using lean meat in a slow cooker then dehydrating?

 

[gadrahthaar]

Are you just using lean meat in a slow cooker then dehydrating?

21, cuts that are low in fat but high in connective tissue seem to work best for me. Dehydrated fat can turn rancid much faster than protein, it seems. Connective tissue is protein and gives that wonderful mouth coating taste, but de and rehydrates well. I like deer neck, shoulder, and shanks. I've also had great luck with squirrel, cottontail, and jackrabbit quarters. I pan sear any of these cuts, drop in the crock pot for a few hours, remove and debone (and fork shred if needed). then back into the crock.

 

[21sailfish]

21, cuts that are low in fat but high in connective tissue seem to work best for me. Dehydrated fat can turn rancid much faster than protein, it seems. Connective tissue is protein and gives that wonderful mouth coating taste, but de and rehydrates well. I like deer neck, shoulder, and shanks. I've also had great luck with squirrel, cottontail, and jackrabbit quarters. I pan sear any of these cuts, drop in the crock pot for a few hours, remove and debone (and fork shred if needed). then back into the crock.

Thanks for the information. I have some elk and mule deer in the freezer. I will do that before I head to the mountain.

 

[renagde]

I wanted to make my own meals this year tailored to my keto diet. I just bought #10 cans of dehydrated chicken and ground beef off amazon. Then I dehydrated some peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and onions. Then I mixed my meat with whatever veggies I wanted, added some heavy cream powder to give it a creamy texture, added cheddar cheese powder and I'm done. I have little packets of olive oil I'll add when rehydrating so everything adds up to about 900 calories per meal. I packed everything in cook-in-bags and my total weight came out to 6.8oz. All said and done I'm about $7.75 per meal and know exactly what I'm eating.

 

[gadrahthaar]

I wanted to make my own meals this year tailored to my keto diet. I just bought #10 cans of dehydrated chicken and ground beef off amazon. Then I dehydrated some peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and onions. Then I mixed my meat with whatever veggies I wanted, added some heavy cream powder to give it a creamy texture, added cheddar cheese powder and I'm done. I have little packets of olive oil I'll add when rehydrating so everything adds up to about 900 calories per meal. I packed everything in cook-in-bags and my total weight came out to 6.8oz. All said and done I'm about $7.75 per meal and know exactly what I'm eating.

renegade, do you have a recommended brand for that cheese or cream powder? thanks

 

[renagde]

renegade, do you have a recommended brand for that cheese or cream powder? thanks

The heavy cream powder I bought off Amazon, I believe the brand name was Hoosier Hill. The cheddar cheese powder can be bought off Amazon as well, although I bought that at a local bulk food store as it's way cheaper.