What's your best dehydrated meal?

[Bob B.]

For me canoe tripping, I am so hungry that meal time is really just calorie replacement. One of my favorite meals on long travel days is a Knor rice packet ( broccoli and cheese ) with about a pound and a half of dehydrated ground venison. This is a serious helping of food, but I have no problem consuming it all. I like it because it takes up little pack space, keeps a LONG time, is fast to cook, replaces carbs and protein and is ( to me at least ) very tasty.
It is funny, at home on occasion I make it … it is ok, nothing special and way too much to eat. In the bush it is like there is a party in my mouth and everyone is invited! Man it is tasty … I can feel my body responding happily to the sudden intake of calories. I finish it off with a glug or two of honey and stout cup of coffee … wow, it feels kinda good just remembering …

Bob.

 

[ppine]

I really don't like pouch food at all. Dehydrated mashed potatoes are okay and some of the soups. I like to bring things like smoked salmon or canned chicken for protein in small amounts. I have never used a dehydrator at home. We don't portage much in the West and bring fresh food. I don't go that far on backpacking trips either.

For winter trips, I have made food ahead of time and frozen it in plastic bags. Then it just needs to be thawed in hot water on a fire. My dog pulls a sled to carry some extra weight.

 

[billconner]

Eat to live OR live to eat. I'm mostly in the latter group. Plenty of room for both and in betweeners.

 

[Odyssey]

Best. Dehydrated. Meal. Those three words don't quite fit together, at least in my experience. But that's not to say things can't be tasty.
In the last decade there's been a shift in popular culture away from fussy extravagant and towards simpler mindful. Food writers have reflected this in vlogs, blogs, and books, to the appreciative benefit of impatient foodie fantasists like myself. As much as I'd love to prepare the perfect meal I just don't have the focus to stare down a slow simmering sauce for more than a few minutes at a time. Quick and easy suits me fine, or at the very least, cozy up the 1-2 pots on low and let them take care of themselves. This translates to camp cooking as well. She OTOH considers kitchen time play time/comfort time. Her perfect end to a busy day, whereas I look at kitchen time as just more busyness but with a delicious result. Oh well. To each our own. So long as we're both slowing down and eating well, that's what counts.
Today being the culmination of Shrovetide, Shrove Tuesday, aka Pancake Tuesday, means that she'll insist on pancakes for supper tonight. She also happens to have book club tonight which means I'll be chained to the stovetop tonight. No worry. It'll be just like a canoe trip breakfast minus the smoke, burned bits, and bugs in our food. Pancakes are more dry than dehydrated, but still fit Best and Meal quite comfortably any time of day.

 

[recped]

I've also heard "farm fresh" eggs that haven't been washed can stay at room temperature for quite a while. I'm going to find a way to pack them, because a good fish fry needs them.

Yes quite awhile, the longest I've kept them (and still eaten) is 36 days and they were just regular grocery store eggs that are washed in a disinfectant, unwashed should be better. The yokes tend to transition from the light yellow of most fresh eggs to a deeper orange (the eggs you leave in the fridge at home change similarly when they approach the BB day), the whites tend to thin slightly. To avoid illness all you need to do is skip the sunny side up, go for thoroughly cooked scrambled or omelettes.

For safe transit I use the paperboard cartons, cut down to 8 egg size you can fit 16 eggs in a larger zip-lock, blow into the bag to create an air cushion. Two options from here, I usually have a soft sided cooler (the fruit/cheese bag) if there is room I use it for the eggs, on long trips there may not be space for a week or so, in that case the zip lock goes in a plastic shopping bag which is stuffed into the bow or stern.

Bacon and eggs are my go to meal for layover days!

 

[billconner]

Agree you can keep store bought (washed) eggs for a couple weeks. Probably keep out of sun.

I wrap paperboard carton with two layers of bubble wrap and a Bungee Dealee Bob. Set in top of CCS food back. No losses in many trips.

 

[Paddlinhal]

The secret to drying chicken is to start with canned chicken. That's because it's cooked in a pressure cooker which somehow keeps it porous while it dries. Cauliflower Curry (see hurrythefoodup.com) has protein and is very tasty. Also add that chicken if you want. The simplest, of course, is to cook one- pot slop like chili, then dry it.

 

[Mason]

If you have a dehydrator, add some silicone disks and dry your own homemade (or store bought?) sauces. I dried some homemade bolognese sauce, and it worked really well. The problem was grabbing a bit out of the bag while I tested its shelf life--very robust flavor.

 

[billconner]

I use parchment paper for sauces in dehydrator.

 

[Tryin']

The best boughten dehydrated meal I have ever eaten has to be the Peak Refuel Biscuits & Gravy, with their Breakfast Scramble being a close second. Plenty for two, and I can EAT. The Breakfast Scramble will easily fill 4 large tortillas with leftovers. Pricy, but man...

Best homemade is some chicken chile I did last year. Unfortunately, I have lost the recipe.

Using canned chicken definitely yields better dehydration than fresh, just be sure to use a brand you like, rinse well, and season before dehydrating.

 

[scoutergriz]

If you have a dehydrator, add some silicone disks and dry your own homemade (or store bought?) sauces. I dried some homemade bolognese sauce, and it worked really well. The problem was grabbing a bit out of the bag while I tested its shelf life--very robust flavor.

I use parchment paper, it helps absorb some of the grease and moisture, and it seems to dry faster.
some people swear by breaking your eggs into a Nalgene- DON'T DO IT!!! breaking those eggs exposes them to air and contaminants, and lovely things like salmonella, botulism, and even Staph (Staphylococcus aureus) can cause severe illness or even death. Even worse, noner of these pathogens cause any major change to the colour, taste, or smell until it's far too late. Staph especially can set in in as little as 3-6 hours and can be extremely debilitating. I remember one church group I was teaching did this, and by lunch most of them were tossing their cookies and crapping their pants, all ended up dehydrated and 3 spent a couple of days in hospital...

 

[billconner]

I use parchment paper, it helps absorb some of the grease and moisture, and it seems to dry faster.
some people swear by breaking your eggs into a Nalgene- DON'T DO IT!!! breaking those eggs exposes them to air and contaminants, and lovely things like salmonella, botulism, and even Staph (Staphylococcus aureus) can cause severe illness or even death. Even worse, noner of these pathogens cause any major change to the colour, taste, or smell until it's far too late. Staph especially can set in in as little as 3-6 hours and can be extremely debilitating. I remember one church group I was teaching did this, and by lunch most of them were tossing their cookies and crapping their pants, all ended up dehydrated and 3 spent a couple of days in hospital...

I agree. The egg shell is nature's perfect container. Carrying raw eggs outside of the shell seems extremely risky.

 

[Odyssey]

recped says..."For safe transit I use the paperboard cartons, cut down to 8 egg size you can fit 16 eggs in a larger zip-lock, blow into the bag to create an air cushion."
I do the same without breakage. Inflating the ziplock is a great idea!! Thanks for that.
Tryin says..."Using canned chicken definitely yields better dehydration than fresh,"
I like the sound of canned chicken as a dehydrating shortcut, unfortunately I've yet to find any on our grocery shelves. That means taking leftover roast chicken and processing it (removing skin and bones, shred, chop). This works well.

 

[Gamma1214]

I like the sound of canned chicken as a dehydrating shortcut, unfortunately I've yet to find any on our grocery shelves.

I can it fresh using a pressure canner. Grocery stores here regularly run boneless chicken cheap so I grab a box or two (40#/box) and restock the basement shelves. It falls apart when opened & dehydrates way better than canned from the store. (note: venison, IME, does not rehydrate as well as pork and pork not as well as chicken.) With any meat, you'll get 1 pretty close to 1 lb per pint, 2 lbs in a quart jar.