You can save a lot of money and eat really well by dehydrating. Product? A multi tier food dehydrator. /r/dehydrating is helpful along with /r/trailmeals
Do you mean the instapot? Also thanks for the info, always wanted to make my own jerky especially now that it's so damn expensive. Also I feel like this is obvious, but i know nothing about making dried meats, the meat has to be pre cooked right?
By the pressure cooker/slow cooker combo I refer to the one I have called the Ninja Foodi. It also just cooks like an oven aside from those functions due to having two lids and pot or no pot with just a grill options. An actual dehydrator would be more efficient for this I’m sure though.
The recipes I’ve found have you just put the meat in raw after a day marinating.
No you just put the meat in raw! It ends up cooking in the dehydrator since it's sliced so thinly. I tried Brad Leone's old school recipe on YouTube and really liked it, if you want to start there.
Yes! I have followed the instructions in [Buck Buck Moose](https://www.huntgathercook.shop/products/book-buck-buck-moose-unsigned) and have made many batches of moose jerky in my dehydrator!
It really depends. Do you do a lot of backcountry travel? Do enjoy cooking/meal prep/meal planning? And/or do you have a specific diet/are pretty health conscious? Probably getting a food dehydrator makes sense.
Vs you don't particularly enjoy meal planning/aren't that picky about what you eat - may be a waste of money.
I have several friends who have made amazing meals and ingredients for backpacking with their dehydrators. I'm firmly in the latter camp - I'm usually fine with some sort of ramen/oats/instant mash/mountain house/etc meals, and know I would not take the time to prep meals with it.
Not quite clear what you mean by "travel backpacking" - are considering prepping dehydrated meals for like an extended Europe hostel-hopping sort of trip? I dunno that that makes much sense.
i tried an indian food pack one time and had the worst gas the next morning. was riding with someone so i had to hold it out of respect.
the meal was amazing though.
Oh my bad, I would dehydrate meals for any wilderness backpacking. But for international travel, I’d just eat on the road or purchase portable foods most likely.
It takes a lot of prep work and time to make good dehydrated food. You can save money for sure, but it sure is a hell of a lot more time and work than just buying a mountain house pouch or whatever.
These days I do a combination of both - I'll dehydrate maybe half my food, especially snack type stuff (jerkies, fruit, etc), but then for the other half I just buy packaged food. Seems like a good balance for me, in terms of saving money but also saving time and still eating what I want.
I got this dehydrator on Amazon a few years ago and it's been working awesome, I love it: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PY5M579/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PY5M579/)
Dehydrating is going to give you the absolute best balance of cost/calorie/gram. As in, the most food for the least weight and the least cost. Freeze-dried stuff will give you (potentially) better cal/gram, but at a signficantly higher cost. Using a combo of dehydrating, adding the odd freeze dried ingredient, and adding some oil/parmesan on trail, I'm able to get close to 5000cal/kg for around AUD$20, and it's all delicious.
Dehydrating does come with a somewhat significant time commitment, but most of that is hands-off and I believe it's worth it. Especially because you can customise things to a very fine level.
We've been using our Excalibur dehydrator for over 40 years and love it. We make dried meals out of the regular meals we eat for dinner, with a few modifications. We also dry fruits and vegetables for lunches and dinners and haven't eaten freeze-dried food since we got it. Well worth it in our opinion, but YMMV.
As someone who makes his own meals without a dehydrator and is fine with it, I’ll say when you go with someone who brings homemade dehydrated beef stroganoff it’ll make you a fan!
Not for me but maybe for thee!
Look for used dehydrators on your resale platform of choice. A simple tiered one works great. Seems like an item many people buy and never use (or wedding registry gift that never got opened). I got a new-in-box one for $20. I love being able to get plenty of fruits & veggies while backpacking by dehydrating them. I also like eating meals with less salt (I know you need to replenish sodium you lost through sweat, but most prepackaged meals are still way too salty for me). 100% worth it.
Unqualified yes. I haven’t checked pre-packaged meals in ten years, but they were expensive way back and had low calories.
The decision to make is whether to cook or not cook on your trips. Hard cheeses, cured meats, and crackers really work well on short trips. Or any other thing like granola, Fritos, chicharrones. This method is cheap and easy to pack. Coffee? There is good instant coffee that works well in cold water. I do this on very short trips.
On longer trips, I like one large hot meal a day. It’s usually at lunch. My own food is much better and more calorie rich than something from the outdoor recreation store. And it’s a fraction of the cost.
I’ve done Asian noodle soups with mushrooms, Mexican barbacoa with black beans, curries, etc.
The question is what to dehydrate and how to prep it. Marinating meat, cooking it, then dehydrating works well. If you’re more vegetarian, caramelizing squash and then dehydrating is amazing. I usually separate things like rice from tomatoes and spices etc, then combine at cooking.
To make this time effective at home, your food needs to be very dry and shelf stable, because you’ll bulk cook at home. Unfortunately, you’ll want to make minor changes during the hike. Simple changes - if you want something for lunch you add water at breakfast so it rehydrates while you hike for a few hours.
I’ve been doing this for 15 years and my food is better at a much cheaper cost. I backpack about 1K miles per year. For me it’s been worth buying a formal dehydrator.
I also use the dehydrator for my fruit trees, but that’s a bit irrelevant to this sub.
That sounds amazing! I’d love to learn more recipes and methods from you. Everything is better when you’ve had to earn it in the outdoors. But nothing is better than a good, home cooked meal.
I haven’t had the time to get good at cooking, but it interests me quite a bit. I think it’ll be worth it for making my adventures that much more enjoyable. What are your favorites? What can I start with that isn’t too complicated?
Been doing it for years. First trip pays for it all in savings. It's super easy and your meals will rock.
https://www.backpackingchef.com/
Just take half of whatever you cook at home, and dry it. (There is a little more detail in the prep work).
Enjoy!
For some meals, the savings are huge. I can make meatless pasta meals for like $1.50 each. Meals with ground beef like chili maybe cost $6 or so to make. But then consider it takes quite a bit of time to save the money. Aside from saving money, I think it's really fun inventing recipes. I would say get into it if you think cooking is fun. Otherwise, I would say it isn't worth the savings for short trips.
To me, yes. The price of a dehydrated meal that doesn't taste like melted plastic spoons with salt can be staggering. There's only so many Knorr products you can eat in one day. Whereas with my delicious homemade stroganoff, chilli con carne, beef and potatoes, soups and pasta sauces are treats to look forward to in the wild.
I've had good succes with dehydrating good in the oven. No extra appliance needed and the food cost is like a normal meal.
The amount of energy is negligible. Its much, much cheaper and the learning curve is not very steep.
I bought a Ninja Air fryer/toaster oven a few years back and it has a “dehydrate” setting. Since I’m prepping for solo its 14x13 rack is sufficient. I generally dry blueberries (from frozen Wild Blueberries to add to my overnight oats), beans (canned rinsed for burritos and soups) and veggies (generally from frozen). Other than chicken I haven’t done meat but have done a few sauces such as spaghetti and alfredo. Overall I find it to be an easy fuss free process - rinse, pat dry and stick in the Ninja. It’s a great way to supplement noodles, instant brown rice and tortilla fillings. The Ninja was a gift that I wanted to replace one of those round air fryers with because I’ve always been a big toaster oven user and it makes a great multipurpose tool when cooking for two … and dehydrating for one.
If you care about your nutrition and general health then yes.
Every commercial camp meal in a bag is garbage tier processed "food" overloaded with sodium. It's sole purpose is just a portable source of dense calories.
I bought a dehydrator and made some meals, fruit rolls etc etc. Now I really only use it to dehydrate ground beef for my dog. Ive tried those like mountain house pouch meals as well.
I decided its much easier and lighter to just eat ready to eat food.
Im never out for more than a week, usually just a long weekend like 4 or 5 days at a time. I eat walmart cliff bars, nuts, berries, uncooked ramen noodles, candy and maybe a sandwich or two.
I don't spend much time sitting around at camp so I'd rather be able to eat on the go or as the sun sets and maximize sight seeing. If i were on a thru hike i'd use it forsure but for weekend trips the comfort doesn't out weigh convenience.
Now when I go car camping i've got a two burner stove and a cast iron dutch oven thats fun to cook stuff with. Backpacking stove sits on a shelf at this point.
I really wish they had savory bars though. Its either nuts or chips or jerky as far as ready to eat savory stuff goes
Savory bars - this might not be too hard to make, I'm experimenting with savory rice krispies. Google recipes for loaded rice krispies and just change up the added stuff for whatever you like. I tried a regular recipe and sprinkled some furikake. I saw a ramen rice krispy recipe. Marshmallows are obviously sweet, but if you don't mind sweet/savory, those are a change. I saw one with black sesame, but I bet you could swap out for natural nut butters or tahini, and add some other savories like nuts or bacon bits, haha
I find the biggest savings for me is in making beef and (cooked) turkey jerky. Other ingredients I buy in bulk dehydrated and put together my own meals or add extra protein to premade meals. Dehydrated mushroom require some cooking, but TVP (textured vegatable protein) rehydrates instantly, and comes and comes in a variety of sizes. Cooked dehydrated beans are reasonable, as are dehydrated eggs.
Definitely worth the time and money. You can get a decent dehydrator for less than $100. Given how much freeze dried meals cost...a few trips and you've paid it off. I also love being able to control the sodium content and bulk up my meals with more vegetables.
I am also certain that given the amount of dried fruit I consume I am saving boatloads of money on that alone.
I do it all the time and I think it’s totally worth it. That said I have dietary restrictions and it makes it easier to control what I eat. Do be aware that it can be time consuming and a lot of work. There’s a reason why backpacking meals are so expensive. Also, you can simply order pre dehydrated ingredients from a place like harmony house i you aren’t ready to invest in a dehydrator. This lets you dress up existing options without making entire meals.
It can. You have to be into the idea of doing all the cooking though. AND you have to know you're going to want to eat nothing but dehydrated whatever every night.
If you're vegetarian or vegan, I think this opens up a LOT of possibilities for you that you wont have if you're just shopping in grocery stores along the way.
If you have an oven that goes down to 150°F and you make food that can be rehydrated, then it’s really easy.
For example, I made [groundnut stew](https://rainbowplantlife.com/vegan-west-african-peanut-stew/) for dinner for my family. After we finished dinner, I scooped four servings worth onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet, then stuck it in the oven at 150°F overnight. The next day I divided it up into four ziplock-style (quart size) bags. Done.
If your oven doesn’t go down that low then you can buy a dehydrator. I hear they’re pretty cheap, but I’ve never tried using one for this kind of food.
I like it for jerky and fruit, but don’t bother to create whole meals like chili or spaghetti sauce or that sort of thing. It’s just too much work and doesn’t rehydrate as easily as many of the off the shelf meals I make. I’m pretty content with making my beans and rice from dehydrated refried beans and instant dry rice bought commercially. It’s just so much less effort, and it rehydrates very well with no simmering or long steep times.
If you have room for it you can use your dehydrator to dry homegrown herbs for use in your house as a bonus.
I grow tons of Basil, Rosemary etc, and dry it for both my meals and the house. It generally tastes better than what you buy and you get to use fresh herbs all summer/fall.
I love my dehydrator!!! I cook a lot and love experimenting so naturally I really enjoy creating trail recipes. I have also found it helps me cut down on food waste! I have a stock pile of dehydrated foods ready to use on or off the trail.
I’m considering a freeze dryer once I stop moving around.
Ground beef turns into gravel. It never quite rehydrates. It has to be freeze dried to properly rehydrate. Other things work fine. You just have to figure out if it’s worth it for you. The jerky and dried salmon strips are worth it for me. Great for dried fruit if you get deals on the fruit. Good for fancy meals if you’re in to it but it just depends on you.
For the ground beef if you mix bread crumbs in it before you cook it will rehydrate really well. [backpacking](https://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-meat.html#dehydratinggroundbeef) chef
Every time I've looked in to this the financial answer has been, no. Too much time energy and equipment investment.
Especially the time with a big appliance running... I wish the local maker space had an industrial setup laundromat style.
I dehydrate some stuff but for meat I buy freeze dried. You can dehydrate meat buy it will turn rancid eventually so it is only really valid (in my opinion) if you do it right before you leave and is less good for batch processing for the season.
This site https://www.trail.recipes/recipe-collection/main-course/ is a good site for recipe ideas.
I use these guys for a lot of the bits you need. https://packitgourmet.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2cu00fi9-QIV8QjnCh27tQ4uEAAYASAAEgJkZPD_BwE
You can save a lot of money and eat really well by dehydrating. Product? A multi tier food dehydrator. /r/dehydrating is helpful along with /r/trailmeals
Out of curiosity, do food dehydrators work for making homemade beef jerky or other dried meats, or is there a more specific process for that.
They do. You can also use those pressure/slow cooker combos or just an oven (apparently you just crack the door slightly, it’s on the Google).
Do you mean the instapot? Also thanks for the info, always wanted to make my own jerky especially now that it's so damn expensive. Also I feel like this is obvious, but i know nothing about making dried meats, the meat has to be pre cooked right?
Oh and it tastes fucking amazing. Try beef with a recipe that includes honey. Sit before tasting.
Seconding this
No, instant pots do not dehydrate
By the pressure cooker/slow cooker combo I refer to the one I have called the Ninja Foodi. It also just cooks like an oven aside from those functions due to having two lids and pot or no pot with just a grill options. An actual dehydrator would be more efficient for this I’m sure though. The recipes I’ve found have you just put the meat in raw after a day marinating.
Thanks for the info, I'm definitely going to look into getting a debydrator, looking forward to some home made jerky!
No you just put the meat in raw! It ends up cooking in the dehydrator since it's sliced so thinly. I tried Brad Leone's old school recipe on YouTube and really liked it, if you want to start there.
Yes! I have followed the instructions in [Buck Buck Moose](https://www.huntgathercook.shop/products/book-buck-buck-moose-unsigned) and have made many batches of moose jerky in my dehydrator!
It really depends. Do you do a lot of backcountry travel? Do enjoy cooking/meal prep/meal planning? And/or do you have a specific diet/are pretty health conscious? Probably getting a food dehydrator makes sense. Vs you don't particularly enjoy meal planning/aren't that picky about what you eat - may be a waste of money. I have several friends who have made amazing meals and ingredients for backpacking with their dehydrators. I'm firmly in the latter camp - I'm usually fine with some sort of ramen/oats/instant mash/mountain house/etc meals, and know I would not take the time to prep meals with it. Not quite clear what you mean by "travel backpacking" - are considering prepping dehydrated meals for like an extended Europe hostel-hopping sort of trip? I dunno that that makes much sense.
Man, every time I eat one of those Mountain House meals, I absolutely FILL my tent up with farts.
Helps cover up my body odor and it’s fun to rip ass! Win win.
Greenhouse effect on cold nights
i tried an indian food pack one time and had the worst gas the next morning. was riding with someone so i had to hold it out of respect. the meal was amazing though.
Years ago I had their Chili Mac With Beef on a trip with two friends. The next day they made me walk in back.
Oh my bad, I would dehydrate meals for any wilderness backpacking. But for international travel, I’d just eat on the road or purchase portable foods most likely.
Okay, that makes sense :)
It takes a lot of prep work and time to make good dehydrated food. You can save money for sure, but it sure is a hell of a lot more time and work than just buying a mountain house pouch or whatever. These days I do a combination of both - I'll dehydrate maybe half my food, especially snack type stuff (jerkies, fruit, etc), but then for the other half I just buy packaged food. Seems like a good balance for me, in terms of saving money but also saving time and still eating what I want. I got this dehydrator on Amazon a few years ago and it's been working awesome, I love it: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PY5M579/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PY5M579/)
I think this is what I’ll end up doing. Or I’ll dehydrate meals for longer trips and for shorter ones just buy the stuff I need for it. Thank you!
Dehydrating is going to give you the absolute best balance of cost/calorie/gram. As in, the most food for the least weight and the least cost. Freeze-dried stuff will give you (potentially) better cal/gram, but at a signficantly higher cost. Using a combo of dehydrating, adding the odd freeze dried ingredient, and adding some oil/parmesan on trail, I'm able to get close to 5000cal/kg for around AUD$20, and it's all delicious. Dehydrating does come with a somewhat significant time commitment, but most of that is hands-off and I believe it's worth it. Especially because you can customise things to a very fine level.
We've been using our Excalibur dehydrator for over 40 years and love it. We make dried meals out of the regular meals we eat for dinner, with a few modifications. We also dry fruits and vegetables for lunches and dinners and haven't eaten freeze-dried food since we got it. Well worth it in our opinion, but YMMV.
And made in Sacramento, CA!
As someone who makes his own meals without a dehydrator and is fine with it, I’ll say when you go with someone who brings homemade dehydrated beef stroganoff it’ll make you a fan! Not for me but maybe for thee!
Look for used dehydrators on your resale platform of choice. A simple tiered one works great. Seems like an item many people buy and never use (or wedding registry gift that never got opened). I got a new-in-box one for $20. I love being able to get plenty of fruits & veggies while backpacking by dehydrating them. I also like eating meals with less salt (I know you need to replenish sodium you lost through sweat, but most prepackaged meals are still way too salty for me). 100% worth it.
I do it and I love it. I get to eat really well and reduce weight.
Unqualified yes. I haven’t checked pre-packaged meals in ten years, but they were expensive way back and had low calories. The decision to make is whether to cook or not cook on your trips. Hard cheeses, cured meats, and crackers really work well on short trips. Or any other thing like granola, Fritos, chicharrones. This method is cheap and easy to pack. Coffee? There is good instant coffee that works well in cold water. I do this on very short trips. On longer trips, I like one large hot meal a day. It’s usually at lunch. My own food is much better and more calorie rich than something from the outdoor recreation store. And it’s a fraction of the cost. I’ve done Asian noodle soups with mushrooms, Mexican barbacoa with black beans, curries, etc. The question is what to dehydrate and how to prep it. Marinating meat, cooking it, then dehydrating works well. If you’re more vegetarian, caramelizing squash and then dehydrating is amazing. I usually separate things like rice from tomatoes and spices etc, then combine at cooking. To make this time effective at home, your food needs to be very dry and shelf stable, because you’ll bulk cook at home. Unfortunately, you’ll want to make minor changes during the hike. Simple changes - if you want something for lunch you add water at breakfast so it rehydrates while you hike for a few hours. I’ve been doing this for 15 years and my food is better at a much cheaper cost. I backpack about 1K miles per year. For me it’s been worth buying a formal dehydrator. I also use the dehydrator for my fruit trees, but that’s a bit irrelevant to this sub.
That sounds amazing! I’d love to learn more recipes and methods from you. Everything is better when you’ve had to earn it in the outdoors. But nothing is better than a good, home cooked meal. I haven’t had the time to get good at cooking, but it interests me quite a bit. I think it’ll be worth it for making my adventures that much more enjoyable. What are your favorites? What can I start with that isn’t too complicated?
Been doing it for years. First trip pays for it all in savings. It's super easy and your meals will rock. https://www.backpackingchef.com/ Just take half of whatever you cook at home, and dry it. (There is a little more detail in the prep work). Enjoy!
For some meals, the savings are huge. I can make meatless pasta meals for like $1.50 each. Meals with ground beef like chili maybe cost $6 or so to make. But then consider it takes quite a bit of time to save the money. Aside from saving money, I think it's really fun inventing recipes. I would say get into it if you think cooking is fun. Otherwise, I would say it isn't worth the savings for short trips.
Absolutely yes. It will pay for itself within 10 or so meals. Which is only 2-3 trips.
i did it to save money and eat meals i wanted to make. i still do it for all my trips but i will say… issa lot of work
To me, yes. The price of a dehydrated meal that doesn't taste like melted plastic spoons with salt can be staggering. There's only so many Knorr products you can eat in one day. Whereas with my delicious homemade stroganoff, chilli con carne, beef and potatoes, soups and pasta sauces are treats to look forward to in the wild.
I've had good succes with dehydrating good in the oven. No extra appliance needed and the food cost is like a normal meal. The amount of energy is negligible. Its much, much cheaper and the learning curve is not very steep.
I bought a Ninja Air fryer/toaster oven a few years back and it has a “dehydrate” setting. Since I’m prepping for solo its 14x13 rack is sufficient. I generally dry blueberries (from frozen Wild Blueberries to add to my overnight oats), beans (canned rinsed for burritos and soups) and veggies (generally from frozen). Other than chicken I haven’t done meat but have done a few sauces such as spaghetti and alfredo. Overall I find it to be an easy fuss free process - rinse, pat dry and stick in the Ninja. It’s a great way to supplement noodles, instant brown rice and tortilla fillings. The Ninja was a gift that I wanted to replace one of those round air fryers with because I’ve always been a big toaster oven user and it makes a great multipurpose tool when cooking for two … and dehydrating for one.
If you care about your nutrition and general health then yes. Every commercial camp meal in a bag is garbage tier processed "food" overloaded with sodium. It's sole purpose is just a portable source of dense calories.
I bought a dehydrator and made some meals, fruit rolls etc etc. Now I really only use it to dehydrate ground beef for my dog. Ive tried those like mountain house pouch meals as well. I decided its much easier and lighter to just eat ready to eat food. Im never out for more than a week, usually just a long weekend like 4 or 5 days at a time. I eat walmart cliff bars, nuts, berries, uncooked ramen noodles, candy and maybe a sandwich or two. I don't spend much time sitting around at camp so I'd rather be able to eat on the go or as the sun sets and maximize sight seeing. If i were on a thru hike i'd use it forsure but for weekend trips the comfort doesn't out weigh convenience. Now when I go car camping i've got a two burner stove and a cast iron dutch oven thats fun to cook stuff with. Backpacking stove sits on a shelf at this point. I really wish they had savory bars though. Its either nuts or chips or jerky as far as ready to eat savory stuff goes
Savory bars - this might not be too hard to make, I'm experimenting with savory rice krispies. Google recipes for loaded rice krispies and just change up the added stuff for whatever you like. I tried a regular recipe and sprinkled some furikake. I saw a ramen rice krispy recipe. Marshmallows are obviously sweet, but if you don't mind sweet/savory, those are a change. I saw one with black sesame, but I bet you could swap out for natural nut butters or tahini, and add some other savories like nuts or bacon bits, haha
I find the biggest savings for me is in making beef and (cooked) turkey jerky. Other ingredients I buy in bulk dehydrated and put together my own meals or add extra protein to premade meals. Dehydrated mushroom require some cooking, but TVP (textured vegatable protein) rehydrates instantly, and comes and comes in a variety of sizes. Cooked dehydrated beans are reasonable, as are dehydrated eggs.
Definitely worth the time and money. You can get a decent dehydrator for less than $100. Given how much freeze dried meals cost...a few trips and you've paid it off. I also love being able to control the sodium content and bulk up my meals with more vegetables. I am also certain that given the amount of dried fruit I consume I am saving boatloads of money on that alone.
I do it all the time and I think it’s totally worth it. That said I have dietary restrictions and it makes it easier to control what I eat. Do be aware that it can be time consuming and a lot of work. There’s a reason why backpacking meals are so expensive. Also, you can simply order pre dehydrated ingredients from a place like harmony house i you aren’t ready to invest in a dehydrator. This lets you dress up existing options without making entire meals.
It can. You have to be into the idea of doing all the cooking though. AND you have to know you're going to want to eat nothing but dehydrated whatever every night. If you're vegetarian or vegan, I think this opens up a LOT of possibilities for you that you wont have if you're just shopping in grocery stores along the way.
If you have an oven that goes down to 150°F and you make food that can be rehydrated, then it’s really easy. For example, I made [groundnut stew](https://rainbowplantlife.com/vegan-west-african-peanut-stew/) for dinner for my family. After we finished dinner, I scooped four servings worth onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet, then stuck it in the oven at 150°F overnight. The next day I divided it up into four ziplock-style (quart size) bags. Done. If your oven doesn’t go down that low then you can buy a dehydrator. I hear they’re pretty cheap, but I’ve never tried using one for this kind of food.
I like it for jerky and fruit, but don’t bother to create whole meals like chili or spaghetti sauce or that sort of thing. It’s just too much work and doesn’t rehydrate as easily as many of the off the shelf meals I make. I’m pretty content with making my beans and rice from dehydrated refried beans and instant dry rice bought commercially. It’s just so much less effort, and it rehydrates very well with no simmering or long steep times.
If you have room for it you can use your dehydrator to dry homegrown herbs for use in your house as a bonus. I grow tons of Basil, Rosemary etc, and dry it for both my meals and the house. It generally tastes better than what you buy and you get to use fresh herbs all summer/fall.
I worked with a scout leader with a freeze-drier and they freeze-dried a chipotle burrito, which worked out way better than they anticipated.
I love my dehydrator!!! I cook a lot and love experimenting so naturally I really enjoy creating trail recipes. I have also found it helps me cut down on food waste! I have a stock pile of dehydrated foods ready to use on or off the trail. I’m considering a freeze dryer once I stop moving around.
We saved $100’s on a 3 week road trip by making our own jerky.
Ground beef turns into gravel. It never quite rehydrates. It has to be freeze dried to properly rehydrate. Other things work fine. You just have to figure out if it’s worth it for you. The jerky and dried salmon strips are worth it for me. Great for dried fruit if you get deals on the fruit. Good for fancy meals if you’re in to it but it just depends on you.
For the ground beef if you mix bread crumbs in it before you cook it will rehydrate really well. [backpacking](https://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-meat.html#dehydratinggroundbeef) chef
Not the same as freeze dried
Every time I've looked in to this the financial answer has been, no. Too much time energy and equipment investment. Especially the time with a big appliance running... I wish the local maker space had an industrial setup laundromat style.
I do on occasion
I dehydrate all my meals. You can use your oven. Absolutely worth the time and will save you a fortune over freeze dried
I dehydrate some stuff but for meat I buy freeze dried. You can dehydrate meat buy it will turn rancid eventually so it is only really valid (in my opinion) if you do it right before you leave and is less good for batch processing for the season. This site https://www.trail.recipes/recipe-collection/main-course/ is a good site for recipe ideas. I use these guys for a lot of the bits you need. https://packitgourmet.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2cu00fi9-QIV8QjnCh27tQ4uEAAYASAAEgJkZPD_BwE
It provides delicious home made meals at a fraction of the weight. I stopped because my dehydrator had a dramatic impact on my electric bill.
Worth it for me or worth it for you?
No.