Anyone ever dehydrate a main dish?

backintime

Sustainable Newbie
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
7
I originally got to thinking about dehydrating a "one pot meal" for camping but now am thinking about it for emergency preparedness. For example, each time I make spaghetti sauce, I could set some aside, mix it with some cooked pasta, and dehydrate. When needed, boiling water could be poured over it, and the whole thing allowed to stand (or simmer) to reconstitute. Any other ideas out there?

Would I just weigh the food before dehydrating and write the weight/amount of water removed on the package, and add that same amout to reconstitute?

I'm thinking dehydrated meals should probably be stored in a baggie in the freezer (especially ones containing meat) but a person wouldn't have to panic if the power went out - certainly the meals would last weeks in a cool dark place and would not become unusable very quickly.

This idea also appeals to me because it is difficult to wash pots, pans and dishes in power outages, and this type of meal would require only one bowl or pot to "cook."

As an added plus, the "emergency" meal would taste at least somewhat similar to what our families are used to. Might make an emergency less traumatic? (Think comfort food!)

Any ideas/suggestions/recipes?
 

BrookValley

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
105
Reaction score
0
Points
83
Location
Maryland
Hhhmmm....very interesting idea! Like you said, it would be nice to have whole meals on hand in an emergency, especially ones that are family favorites! I don't know the logistics of doing this. I think that most shelf-stable meals (like MREs) are aseptically packaged; I don't know if the means to process foods this way are cost effective or even readily available to the general public (I really have no idea what the process involves).

You could always dehydrate veggies (potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, etc.) and mix your own dry soup base--and of course you can always keep on hand (or probably already do) things like beans, canned tomato sauce, etc. to make one-pot meals or to round out a soup. Not a whole meal, but maybe a little more convenient than just a bunch of dry single ingredients?

ETA: I was intrigued enough to consult "the Google." :lol: Look what I found: http://pct-hike.randsco.com/Planning/05.1-Recipes.html Maybe it is as easy as just dehydrating and then re hydrating the whole meal? I'm sure that there are certain meals better suited to dehydration/reconstituting than others (and these particular people don't recommend cooking with eggs unless you use pasteurized powdered egg) and so it might take some experimentation...Well, if you try it let us know how it works out for you!
 

the simple life

Yard Farmer
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
758
Reaction score
3
Points
99
Location
S.Weymouth, Massachusetts
There is a book all about dehydrating everything you can imagine. The woman that wrote it is an avid camper as well. Her name is Mary Bell and the book is called
Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook.
 

backintime

Sustainable Newbie
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
7
Great link to recipes, Brook Valley! I was wondering about the meat "chunk" size, and this site answered my question. It also answered my question about water -- adding slightly LESS than you took out, rather than risking a runny dinner.

I have already tried cooking pasta (the heavier shapes like Penne or twirls) to the perfect al-dente doneness and dehydrating them on trays. They re-hydrate really well! I can't tell the difference between rehydrated and fresh cooked. So I might be tempted to dehyd. the pasta along with the sauce to save lugging along (and washing) another pot. This is such a cool idea! I'm going camping in a few weeks and will try the spaghetti recipe. It looks SO GOOD!

Simple life, thanks for the tip on the book - does it contain "whole meal" recipe ideas? I will look for it at the library next time I'm there.

Let's experiment! My kids and husband already think I'm a MAD SCIENTIST in the kitchen because I cook up all kinds of bloody, ugly concoctions for emergency medical training purposes (fake injuries, fake vomit, fake sweat, fake eviscerated bowels). This won't be nearly so scary! I can just hear the comments when I take out the dried "disk" of goulash or spaghetti . . . "Hey mom, nice fake vomit!" No, honey, that's dinner . . .
 

heatherv

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
232
Reaction score
2
Points
79
backintime said:
Let's experiment! My kids and husband already think I'm a MAD SCIENTIST in the kitchen because I cook up all kinds of bloody, ugly concoctions for emergency medical training purposes (fake injuries, fake vomit, fake sweat, fake eviscerated bowels). This won't be nearly so scary! I can just hear the comments when I take out the dried "disk" of goulash or spaghetti . . . "Hey mom, nice fake vomit!" No, honey, that's dinner . . .
:lol: Let us know how it goes!!! Or better yet, get it on video so we can see their faces when you say that!
 

BrookValley

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
105
Reaction score
0
Points
83
Location
Maryland
I was browsing cookbooks in the library today and I happened across this one: http://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Cuisine-Prepare-Cookbooks-Restaurant/dp/0899971148 and thought of this thread. It seemed to have a section about drying whole meals. When I searched on Amazon for it to copy the link here, the link for the book also brought up several books related to the same subject--a few of which look even more comprehensive than the first. Anyway, just a thought--I thought that maybe your library might have a few of these. It seems like the camping/backpacking books are a good source of information for drying and/or storing whole meals (and easy ways to make whole meals from simple ingredients that don't require refrigeration).

Good luck! I think if you're kids are used to fake eviscerated bowel-type foods coming out of your kitchen, a dried pasta dish is going to seem pretty tame.... :lol:
 

Latest posts

Top