DIY Dehydrated meals?

[Doublelunger]

Does anyone dehydrate their own meals for the back-country? I don't own a dehydrator but I've been thinking about getting one mainly for this reason.  The cost of the Mtn. House type meals can add up pretty quick.  Between hunting and recreational backpacking with the wife I'd think the money saved could pay for a decent dehydrator in just a year or two. I like the idea of knowing exactly what I'm eating too. It doesn't seem too complicated as far as I can tell either, just cook something you like, spread it out in the dehydrator, and let it sit for half a day.

[j_h_nimrod]

Its not quite that simple. Mtn. House is freeze dried which makes a marked difference to something dehydrated, you can Google the particulars but one of the main issues is rehydration time. Freeze dried foods rehydrate quickly whereas dehydrated food usually rehydrates quite slowly. Certain foods don’t dehydrate or rehydrate well and if there is something with high oil content then your dehydration time can go up significantly. A dehydrator is best used to dehydrate ingredients that you can then make meals out of. I use mine for mushrooms, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, venison burger, fruits, etc. that I bring along to add to meals.

[mburrows]

I dehydrate all my own meals.

Its pretty simple if you keep it simple. My favorite is any sort of crockpot stew, shredded meat with some sweet potatoes, chili or spaghetti.  You can also throw in some instant mashed potatoes to the stew or shredded meat after its dehydrated.

When you go to dehydrate, keep all of your pieces of meat and veggies small so they dehydrate consistently. $2-$4 per meal if you throw in packaging and oxygen absorbent packages (off amazon) for a little longer shelf life. Anything I wont eat within a month or so I throw in the freezer once its dehydrated.

[NRA4LIFE]

I've done it many times.  I don't like using beef because of the fat content.  Fat is your enemy.  Lean, trimmed chicken breast and venison/elk/moose work the best.  Dehydrated stews and chili are my favorites.  Dehydrated chicken breast alone, cut into small pieces is great.  Just bring along some mayo packs and add to the chicken when done and you have a great chicken salad.  You can also rehydrate  jerky also to make soup or stews with.  Veggies are good too.  Dehydrated corn is my favorite.  You can dehydrate onions and garlic but do that outside, it will stink up your house something terrible.

[cougforester]

Do you guys then vaccuum pack them, or what storage contraption do you use when actually backpacking for the food? I'd probably buy one Mtn House per hike then re-use the bag to re-hydrate the food in for the rest of the trip.

[mburrows]

I use mylar ziplock bags off of amazon and try to get as much air out of them as possible when I seal them up.

[BULLBLASTER]

THere is no comparison between freeze dry and dehydrated food. Freeze dry is the only way to go imo. A buddy of mine makes awesome freeze dried food. But he dropped the cash on a commercial freeze dryer.

[davk]

It has been on my list for quite a while.  I did quite a bit of dehydrating for a 2 month backpacking trip quite a few years ago.  Wasnt overly happy with some vegetables rehydrated.  Definitely takes much longer to rehydrate.  I have started to lean more towards snacks during the day and have a Mountain House at night to keep costs down, less stopping for longer periods of time during the day when Im hunting, and I dont need to carry stoves, gas, cookware.  Getting a good variety of sweet and salty/fatty snacks is the key to actually wanting to eat it.  Not sure how some people choke down bar after bar.  I also have been buying my Mountain House in bulk.  So I think my last ones came out to 4-5$ each.  Get good enough variety and Im not a super picky eater so it works for me.  I almost think I would start buying freeze dried foods and building recipes before Id start dehydrating again.  It seems to be what places like Packit Gourmet does ... could be wrong though.  Not sure what the cost would be. 

[Stein]

I've done them and mine have varied from awesome to pretty bad, it's all in the experimentation and recipe.  Ground venison, veggies, potato flakes and a gravy packet was my best so far.

The key is extra time and getting the water ratio right.  If you can cook them over heat, it works even better.

There are tons of Youtubes.

[Calvin Rayborn]

Never give up my Ronco

[elkchaser54]

Freeze dryers are like 5 grand? Damn your friend has some money to burn on dehydrating food haha

[jsnmac]

I've done and it works great. I see a lot of negative comments on here about it. The thing to remember is that you just need to be fed. Eat a nice meal the first night and when you get home. Everything in between is just calories.
With that said I have found some great info on backpackingchef.com Lots of good recipes to try.
I like the chili the best.

[Jonathan_S]

Freeze dryers are like 5 grand? Damn your friend has some money to burn on dehydrating food haha

It was only $3 grand.  "Only" might make it sound like we're wealthy but it's really a cost savings when you consider the fact that we were consuming hundreds of Mountain House per year 

Plus being able to cook up a huge skillet of your favorite meal then freeze drying it just a couple days before eating it is next level comfort on the mountain 

[Jonathan_S]

The first time you have warm banana cream pie or huckleberry crisp, that $3,000 is nothing 

Or that chorizo, fire roasted green chile and white cheddar penne... bruh

[BULLBLASTER]

The first time you have warm banana cream pie or huckleberry crisp, that $3,000 is nothing 

Or that chorizo, fire roasted green chile and white cheddar penne... bruh

  and the mtn hash!