Post by: Doublelunger on February 28, 2018, 11:37:36 AM
Post by: j_h_nimrod on February 28, 2018, 12:11:09 PM
Post by: mburrows on February 28, 2018, 12:23:42 PM
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.
Post by: NRA4LIFE on February 28, 2018, 03:19:00 PM
Post by: cougforester on February 28, 2018, 03:49:30 PM
Post by: mburrows on February 28, 2018, 04:34:10 PM
Post by: BULLBLASTER on February 28, 2018, 06:15:08 PM
Post by: davk on February 28, 2018, 07:14:03 PM
Post by: Stein on February 28, 2018, 07:18:02 PM
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.
Post by: Calvin Rayborn on March 15, 2018, 01:32:40 AM
Post by: elkchaser54 on March 24, 2018, 09:51:29 AM
Post by: jsnmac on May 09, 2018, 10:28:48 AM
With that said I have found some great info on backpackingchef.com Lots of good recipes to try.
I like the chili the best.
Post by: Jonathan_S on May 09, 2018, 10:38:55 AM
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 :tup:
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 :drool:
Post by: Jonathan_S on May 09, 2018, 10:42:37 AM
Or that chorizo, fire roasted green chile and white cheddar penne... bruh
Post by: BULLBLASTER on May 09, 2018, 11:03:15 AM
The first time you have warm banana cream pie or huckleberry crisp, that $3,000 is nothing :chuckle:
Or that chorizo, fire roasted green chile and white cheddar penne... bruh
:yeah: and the mtn hash! :drool:
Post by: Bushcraft on May 09, 2018, 12:38:50 PM
I enjoy cooking and can take the time to make gourmet meals every night while at home if I want to, but when I'm packing for a 8-10 solo hunting trip it's all about decent tasting nutrition and making sure I will have enough fuel to power me around the backcountry.
The trick is making sure all the components of your dehydrated meals are relatively small, and fat/oil free to the extent possible. Another trick is to pre-soak the ingredients before warming them up. You'll use a lot less fuel that way by not having to bring everything up to a boil for a while. For example, just toss the dry ingredients into a designated Nalgene bottle with enough water a couple hours before dinner and heat it up to eating temps after camp is set up. Rinse out the Nalgene or slug down the slurry...you're going to want to stay hydrated anyway.
Try this simple test: Dehydrate a can of chili con carne that is readily available off the shelf at your nearest grocery store, or make your own. A full can is a pretty good sized meal for most folks and you can mix in some carbs and fats to make it more filling. Might only cost you a couple bucks and you can juice up the seasoning to your liking before you dehydrate it. Once dehydrated, you'll notice that the meat is already pretty small but the beans will turn into little rocks that will take some time to reconstitute in the field. Just take the dehydrated material and zap it a couple times in a Cuisenart or food chopper until the beans are busted up and pour it into a Ziplock freezer bag. After you've reconstituted it, pour in some fats. Try the same thing with spaghetti if you like. I guarantee it will taste good, pack up much smaller than freeze-dried stuff, weigh the same as the freeze-dried stuff and you can burn the plastic bags instead of having to pack around the MH bags. Just make up a big batch and throw them in the freezer to use when you need them.
Sometimes if I know I'm going on a longer trip, I'll just compartmentalize the ingredients so I can whip up whatever sounds good that night. Marinera and white sauces. Precooked and seasoned ground red meat or finely diced chicken. Angel hair pasta, cous cous, rice or potatoes for carbs. Plenty of Ghee and Olive Oil to round out the all important fats.
Post by: hirshey on May 29, 2018, 02:50:58 PM
Post by: GBoyd on June 10, 2018, 06:59:17 AM
I end up spending way under $1 for a meal and enjoy knowing it's food that I grew or killed myself. The result sometimes tastes worse than Mountain House, but when it's bad I get to think of how I can improve the recipe rather than just thinking about how much I hate Mountain House.
Post by: cougforester on July 24, 2019, 03:33:00 PM
I picked up this book: https://www.backpackingchef.com/recipes-for-adventure-ebook.html and there's a lot of really good stuff in here. 2 questions.
1) I'd imagine using ground elk/venison would be pretty ideal for dehydrating because of the low fat content. Then I could add a packet of olive oil or so after adding water for bumping fat levels back up?
2) He recommends using a pot to rehydrate meals. I have a JetBoil, and really don't want to have to pack a pot. Anyone tried to rehydrate in a used Mountain House meal bag? I'd sure think it would work.
Post by: Stein on July 24, 2019, 03:41:45 PM
I rehydrate in a quart or gallon Ziploc in a home made insulating pouch made from the car window shade shiny stuff. With dehdrated, make sure you aren't in a hurry as it takes much longer than freeze dried. Like 30 minutes or more unless you don't like crunchy stuff.
Mix ground vension with mashed potatoes, dried corn, peas and carrots and then 1/4 of a gravy packet. I do the meat first, then veggies, then gravy and finally mashed potatoes when it's all done.
Water amounts are tricky, using mashed potatoes at the end makes it easier as you can add more or less.
Post by: j_h_nimrod on July 24, 2019, 08:00:56 PM
Post by: mburrows on July 24, 2019, 08:55:42 PM
Just getting into this.
I picked up this book: https://www.backpackingchef.com/recipes-for-adventure-ebook.html and there's a lot of really good stuff in here. 2 questions.
1) I'd imagine using ground elk/venison would be pretty ideal for dehydrating because of the low fat content. Then I could add a packet of olive oil or so after adding water for bumping fat levels back up?
2) He recommends using a pot to rehydrate meals. I have a JetBoil, and really don't want to have to pack a pot. Anyone tried to rehydrate in a used Mountain House meal bag? I'd sure think it would work.
Amazon sells mylar bags for pretty cheap, same style as a mountain house bag, I get some of those small oxygen absorbents to throw in the bag as well.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 24, 2019, 09:16:18 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 24, 2019, 09:22:38 PM
Small pieces are your friend
Cut burger with breadcrumbs and then boil it if you want the leanest possible.
Canned chicken is super easy vs cooking and chopping your own
I add some water to my meal about an hour before I want to eat it and then finish with boiling water when I'm ready. Cuts cook time in half.
Post by: Jonathan_S on July 24, 2019, 09:24:37 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on July 24, 2019, 09:26:07 PM
Plus the way @Karl Blanchard preps them, it doubles as a killer bait for the crawdadssecret is in the peas :chuckle:
Post by: cougforester on July 24, 2019, 10:01:50 PM
My go to meals for the dehydrator are spaghetti, Spanish rice, a burger noodle veggie brown gravy concoction, stir fry, and chili sometimes.
Small pieces are your friend
Cut burger with breadcrumbs and then boil it if you want the leanest possible.
Canned chicken is super easy vs cooking and chopping your own
I add some water to my meal about an hour before I want to eat it and then finish with boiling water when I'm ready. Cuts cook time in half.
I had thought of adding water a bit before I was truly ready to eat might help speed the process along. And yep definitely was planning on the bread crumbs and canned chicken, seems to be a common refrain. Good stuff, good tip about wrapping the Zip lock over the mouth of the jet boil too.
Post by: Bango skank on July 24, 2019, 10:33:54 PM
Dont overthink it guys. Meal in a ziplock. Add boiling water from jetboil into the bag. Stuff bag back into jetpoil and pop the lid back on. When ready to eat, fold the mouth of the bag over the jetboil and you are left with a nice bowl to eat from. When done zip it closed and dispose.
https://www.tripsavvy.com/ziploc-omlets-in-bag-504142
Post by: yakimanoob on July 29, 2019, 08:36:48 AM
Dont overthink it guys. Meal in a ziplock. Add boiling water from jetboil into the bag. Stuff bag back into jetpoil and pop the lid back on. When ready to eat, fold the mouth of the bag over the jetboil and you are left with a nice bowl to eat from. When done zip it closed and dispose.
Definitely gonna try that. :tup:
Post by: baker5150 on July 29, 2019, 09:47:36 AM
Dont overthink it guys. Meal in a ziplock. Add boiling water from jetboil into the bag. Stuff bag back into jetpoil and pop the lid back on. When ready to eat, fold the mouth of the bag over the jetboil and you are left with a nice bowl to eat from. When done zip it closed and dispose.
:yeah:
Just don't use cheap bags. Cheap bags can not only fail due to the heat, but can also (supposedly) leach chemicals into your food at certain temps.
Zip lock brand bags hold up really well, and (again, supposedly) don't leach chemicals.
I have pre-mixed and separated into zip lock bags for a couple years now with great success. I've also tried vac packing, but the zip lock bags have been easier for re-hydrating due to their flexibility.
Post by: eyesinfront on November 23, 2019, 03:20:57 PM
Post by: 7mmfan on November 23, 2019, 05:39:35 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on November 27, 2019, 05:22:06 AM
The backpacking chief book is really good. i have been doing my own meals for years on my dehydrator but i learned a lot from it. I used to vacuum pack everything but not i just use freezer bags and a reflectix pouch to rehydrate my meals. The refletix pouch really keeps the heat in and really shortens the time to rehydrate (it also doubles as a pretty decent but pad).got a pic of it?
Post by: Aginor on June 10, 2020, 12:39:06 PM
Post by: fzy on November 14, 2020, 11:55:17 AM