Food dehydrator question

[Dugan]

I've been experimenting with a food dehydrator for a several day hike coming up soon. I've read a couple of books, and looked through some old posts here, but still have some questions:

1. The trays for mine are a framework of rigid plastic. If I want to dry a soup or stew, what is best to line the trays with? Foil? Parchment? Saran wrap?
2. I've read a couple of books that say the dried food should be vacuum bagged after drying. I understand that this will extend shelf life; however, for just two weeks, is it adequate to twist-tie it into plain food storage bags?
3. Is there a point to fully cooking dried legumes, such as black beans, and then dehydrating them - or is it just as easy to cook them quickly at a boil on the trail? Do they get mushier if cooked, dried, then rehydrated?
4. For rehydrating, beyond that hot water results in a quicker rehydration, does it really matter whether one uses hot or cold water?

I've got some broccoli I marinated in a soy/mushroom/sesame sauce drying right now - smells great!

Any other tips welcome and appreciated.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

1. I have plastic shelves that allow me to dry things like soup and sauces. I have an American Harvester.

2. I store my food in zip locks and sqeeze out as much air as I can then freeze it. I have stored and used meat and fruit that I have stored like this for years. I am not suggesting you use it over years but I have done it with no ill affects.

3. Don't know.

4. I almost always rehydrate my food with hot water.

A few pointers. I remember the first time I dehydrated blueberries. I dehdyrated them an for 4 days the little suckers didn't change size. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I finally ate one and discovered the little bugger was an empty husk with a little shriveled pulp inside of the husk. It was done about 3 days earlier.

Hamburger meat dehdrates and rehydrates great. 90% fat free, cook and drain. Dehydrate. It turns into a meat gravel. Throw it into spagetti sauce or soup or those cheese noodle meals and let it rehydrate. It tastes great.

Apple sauce turns into a great roll up with little effort.

Fruit, like melons or strawberries are spectacular. Watermelon doesn't work that great.

Keith

 

[Rick]

Hi Dugan,
I might be able to help with a couple of questions:
#1, American Harvester makes "Fruit Roll Up Trays" to use as inserts on the rigid plastic trays. These are great for stews and applesauce and such. I have never tried soup, but have done chili and stew many times. You might want to boil the soup down a bit first to a thicker consistency. I have also tried saran wrap, but it is a bit messier (IMMHO).

#2. I have never vacuum bagged, just pile the veggies in ziplocks and squeeze the air out as SAR-EMT mentions. I then refridgerate. I have rehydrated veggies after 4-5 years with no problems other than a slight loss of color and texture. I use freezer bags and always label the contents and date with a permanent marker. I wouldn't want to leave them unrefridgerated as there is always the chance of a little moisture in there that could cause mold - especially with fruits. After I dry meats or meals with meat, I bag them and freeze them, with the exception of beef or turkey jerky, which I keep in the since it is already cured.

#3. I usually buy cans of black, red and pinto beans - rinse and strain them and pat dry before putting them in the dehydrator. The cook up quickly in hot water (alternatively, you could buy raw dry "field" beans and soak and cook them before dehydrating). If you didn't soak and cook them first, you would find the beans, which are in a raw and dried state would take forever to cook unless you carried them in a nalgene bottle all day long to soak up water (and then you negate the benefits of carrying dry foods).
I don't find the beans get mushy at all, they still maintian a pretty good consistency, but then again, you must be careful when stirring them as they soften up or you could end up with what looks like refried beans

I also buy bags of frozen veggies (corn, green beans, peas...) when on sale and dump them right on the trays and dehydrate from there. They come back fine and need little cooking.

#4 When rehydrating, I usually just put whatever it is in a pot of cold water and heat it to boiling and then turn off mny stove and put the pot in a pot cozy for 5 minutes or so. After that I will start picking a piece here and there to sample and see if it has soften enough/cooked enough to eat.

Note - when doing blueberries or cherries, they have a waxy coating that must be negotiated first. I usually dump them in boiling water for a minute (My mother calls it "checking" when she used to can her fruits in the 50's & 60's) to break down that waxy coating - Then they dehydrate just fine.

FWIW, I found my original set of trays with my first American harvester lasted about 10 years before they became brittle and cracked, but I did used them quite a bit over that time - especially each summer in late summer - I would buy bushels of peppers and tomatoes at roadside stands and just run the dehydrator continuously for a few weeks at a time to dry everything.

I did find another American Harvester dehydrator at Sam's Club for $29 several years ago I thought it was a great buy - I got the entire package for what new trays and rollup sheets would have usually cost me.
WhatI liked is that they changed their design and put the fan and heater coil on top, which is a great idea - especially if you have ever taken apart the old style dehydrator (where the fan and coil are on the bottom) to clean and find all that gunk from years of drippings down there.
Anyways good luck - Hope this helps

 

[Nessmuk]

I've been experimenting with a food dehydrator for a several day hike coming up soon. I've read a couple of books, and looked through some old posts here, but still have some questions:

SAR-EMT40 has given you some good quick advice. I also have an American Harvester and although you can use saran wrap for liquid stuff, the plastic tray inserts are invaluable for this http://www.nesco.com/products/?category=300&id=28 Dehydrators and optional trays and inserts are available from many online sources, including Amazon.com.

If you could have only one book on dehydrating, "Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Book" is the "bible" to get you going. I've also discovered some wonderful and odd things for backpacking in my second recommendation, Linda Yaffe's "Backpack Gourmet: Good Hot Grub You Can Make at Home, Dehydrate, and Pack for Quick, Easy, and Healthy Eating on the Trail". Experimenting with that book has led me to dehydrate many other food items I never would have thought of. All kinds of casseroles work well too, including chili and spaghetti.

I do like fruit and dried melons of any kind, including watermelon. Be sure to lightly oil the trays to prevent sticking when drying fruit. Watermelon comes out like taffy, chewy and very sweet. The only problem is if you keep dry watermelon around in warm weather for a few days the pieces tend to all stick together.

To rehydrate most hot dinner items, as a rule of thumb I heat enough water to slightly more than cover the dehydrated home cooked food, cover to insulate (fleece cozy or a shirt or jacket works well), let stand. Stir once after 15 minutes and check for enough water, otherwise do not touch for 20 minutes. Some items will be done before 20 minutes, you will learn with experience. Cooked chicken (as in something like jambalaya) seems to take particularly long.

I would like to vacuum pack my food, but the high price of bags seems out of line. Instead I just bag the food in zip-lock bags, and usually double the bags with measured amounts before a camping trip. I have had no problem keeping dry food at room temperature for weeks. If I dry much ahead of time then I store everything in the freezer. I've eaten food that has been stored for more than a year with no noticeable degradation.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Try this

Now is the season, when basil and tomatoes are fresh, so try making this while experimenting.

Slice tomatoes about a quarter inch thick. Glue a basil leaf on it with a drop of olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of salt, and dry. You end up with delicious tomato chips. Healthy junk food.

 

[KMartman]

I was just looking for books the other day on dehydrating foods. Can you give me the names of any? I have done TONS of jerky (marinate at least a day in Stubbs beef marinade mmmm GOOD), i've done fruits, strawberries, bananas, apricots, etc, but would like to expand. I think my dehydrator is an "excalibur" http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/ mine has 4 trays.

Any help is greatly appreciated...

M

 

[Artex]

Great answers from the others. Here's my two cents...

1. The trays for mine are a framework of rigid plastic. If I want to dry a soup or stew, what is best to line the trays with? Foil? Parchment? Saran wrap?
If you don't feel like running out and getting the plastic trays, foil works well. It's a little messier, but if you roll up the outer edges like a pizza crust you'll minimize spilling.

2. I've read a couple of books that say the dried food should be vacuum bagged after drying. I understand that this will extend shelf life; however, for just two weeks, is it adequate to twist-tie it into plain food storage bags?
Another ghetto method to this concept is putting the dehydrated food in a ziploc bag, place a straw inside, zip around the straw as much as possible, and suck the air out and seal. But for just two weeks, you should be fine, so long as it's super dry.

3. Is there a point to fully cooking dried legumes, such as black beans, and then dehydrating them - or is it just as easy to cook them quickly at a boil on the trail? Do they get mushier if cooked, dried, then rehydrated?
I've brought pre-dried beans on the trail and cooked them there, and that worked fine. I've also dehydrated canned black beans mixed with cooked brown rice, and that's worked very well also (that's one of my favorites).

4. For rehydrating, beyond that hot water results in a quicker rehydration, does it really matter whether one uses hot or cold water?
Good question. I'd imagine hot water is better for killing any nasties that might be present.

Best of luck.

 

[Dugan]

Thanks to all for the advice.

I wasn't going to bother with tomatoes or fruits since I can by those already dried but that Pete's idea sounds good. At home, I sometimes broil cherry tomatoes halved with basil as described, yum.

The broccoli dried nicely. In its non-rehydrated state, it's crunchy and with the salt from the soy sauce it could satisfy the salty/crunchy snack cravings. I'm going to try some marinated in a lemon sauce next.

BTW - dried legumes, depending on the legume, can be cooked in as little as 15-20 minutes without presoaking. Boil 5 minutes, let sit covered 5 minutes, then boil again for another 10 to 15 minutes. I've only tried this with the quicker cooking beans, like kidney beans (3 C water to 1 C beans). This also avoids the loss of nutrients caused by presoaking. If you have a mill, you could also crack the dried beans before hand at home. The cracked beans will cook more quickly, but the water ratio stays the same. Lentils, especially the little red ones, take no time at all to simmer soft (2 C water to 1 C lentils/split peas). Various rices (as opposed to the styrofoam bits that Minute Rice packages) can also be cooked quickly with a similar method. Toss lentils over the rice, add dried tomato bits, walnut pieces, some herbs & sprinkle cheese - yummmm.

For how much water to use for rehydration - I usually get an approximate weight of the food before and after, figure the difference is water loss, then add a little less than that to rehydrate.

 

[arghman]

anyone know how to make doit-yourself dried cranberries? I've been buying them from the store but have considered trying myself, only I have no idea how... (especially how to add the sugar) the ones I usually buy are very moist and tasty, yet the only ingredients are cranberries and sugar, & I'm wondering if I have any hope in doing that on my own.

 

[KMartman]

anyone know how to make doit-yourself dried cranberries? I've been buying them from the store but have considered trying myself, only I have no idea how... (especially how to add the sugar) the ones I usually buy are very moist and tasty, yet the only ingredients are cranberries and sugar, & I'm wondering if I have any hope in doing that on my own.

Personally i've found that whatever process the big companies use to dehydrate in large quantities can't be replicated at home at least in my experience. Example...those berries in cereal these days...you CANNOT get that kind of dehydrated strawberry at home....they are like light and airy...the ones I get at home are leathery..still tasty but leathery....the cereal ones soak up milk instantly...same with like apricots and whatnot...

Maybe its just my methods...I don't know.

M

 

[Rick]

....Example...those berries in cereal these days...you CANNOT get that kind of dehydrated strawberry at home....they are like light and airy...the ones I get at home are leathery..still tasty but leathery....the cereal ones soak up milk instantly...same with like apricots and whatnot...

Maybe its just my methods...I don't know.

M

I beleive those fruits in those cereals are freeze dried, and not dehydrated, hence the different texture and weight.

 

[KMartman]

I beleive those fruits in those cereals are freeze dried, and not dehydrated, hence the different texture and weight.

Ahhh that would explain it...see how dumb I am...

M

 

[Dugan]

Thus far:

Found some of the thin plastic sheets. After 2 days of drying, a very thick stew showed no appreciable water loss. A fully cooked rice casserole, on the other hand, dried on foil perforated by a fork on top of the plastic frame, was fully dried within 24 hours.

The lemon marinated broccoli is also yummy, as are some baby carrots I sliced lengthwise then dried. Plan to try bell peppers and mushrooms over the next few days.

For added nutrition, yesterday at Whole Foods in Hadley, I found some good stuff like freeze dried refried beans, freeze dried tofu, etc. Toss those and some of my dried veggies over some millet, quinoa, or rice - should be good.

I'm packaging according to Artex's "ghetto" method, though all perishables will be refrigerated until leaving home. Will post upon my return how well things lasted.

 

[Rick]

Dugan, I don;t know if this is the problem but the stew needs to be spread out faily thin in order to dry, otherwise you end up with a skin covering mushy stew beneath.

 

[Dugan]

It was no more than 1/4" thick, as a book had suggested. My hike is coming up in a few days, so I opted to shift to drying things that I knew would dry successfully. I'm certain about the lack of water loss because I was weighing periodically. I'll have to play more with stews upon my return.

Also, my dehydrator is a cheap one (the box reads, "as seen on TV") that was given to me. If I do this regularly, I think it'd be worth investing in a good one.

 

[Rick]

Dugan, if it doesn't have a fan, you will find it will take a long time to dry anything that has a significant amount of moisture. (older Ronco's don't have fans)
If you decide to go for a better one, check Sam's Club, they had American Harvesters for $29.99 at one point.

 

[Dugan]

Correct, mine is a cheap-o: no fan, no temperature control. Broccoli florest pared small take 12-18 hours! If I get back into overnights other than winter, I'll probably invest in a good one.

 

[Cactus Jack]

I have a Ronco dehydrator and all I have used it for so far is making my own jerky. It comes with a instruction manualon what to do for certain foodstuffs.

I sure would love to learn how to freeze dry though!