Dehydrating Canbells soup

I love Cambels Tomato Soup. I was very sucsessful drying Spagetti Sauce. I wonder If I could dry tomato soup then grind up to powder in blender? Maybe add some dry basil and T. powdered milk to the bag? Add boiling water in camp and presto?
Anyone ever try this? If it works How am I gonna dry a grilled cheese to go with it?

You can do it but 2 thoughts:
One, get the 98% fat free version, it will dry better and faster.
Two...consider getting the lower sodium version as well (Healthy Request), drying salty items can ramp up the flavor bad.

And yes you can just add hot water and it will come back. If you want it creamier add in dry milk as well.

If you want to try making a homemade soup this tomato soup is good
http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/creamy-tomato-soup

I just heard on here the other day that hard cheeses, like cheddar (real cheeses not processed stuff) will keep for quite a while out on the trail. My guess would be get the packs of butter like mcdonalds has for their hot cakes and actually do the "grilling" on site ..... seems you could take a piece of one of those throw away pans to fix it on. Just a thought, not something I've ever tried though.

Oh sure, real cheddar cheese carries well. As does bread and salted butter. Cheese will get soft and oily but is edible.

You probably could dehydrate tomato soup, but it may be worth seeing if you can find tomato "Cup-a-Soup" first and see if you like it. It takes time and energy, plus packaging to put together trail meals. Sometimes it is worth shortcuts.

CamperMom

Hi,

I have never thought to try something like this. I am curious how it comes out, please let me know(especially taste wise). I know the lighter the better and taste is a bonus.

Thank you,

Byron

Give me a couple days and I will let you know. I did dry a jar of defratella spagetti Sauce. and cooked then dried noodles. I added some dried green Peppers and also drid mushrooms and some cooked and dried ground round. I added aprox . equal portion of boiling water to the bag and let sit in cozy ten min closed up and 4 min uncovered to thicken.
I was amazed at the consistancy and flavor. Awsome, much better than any freeze dried I have tried yet.

I agree that the "Cup-a-Soup" or other powdered soup mixes will save dehydration time. Check the health/organic food stores or sections of supermarkets for other interesting powdered soup mixes. I would save the time and bother of soup dehydration for home-made soups!

For the grilled cheese part, perhaps biscuit mix with cheese in it, cooked on a stick or in a frying pan?

O Mouse, I hear ya but I have to dehydrate some onions peppers and vegies anyhow. I have plenty of hydrator trays so why not filler up? I havent been able to find dried tomato soup mix around here?

Kent, look in the soup aisle - up high. As well, Asian markets often carry Japanese brands of the same stuff (many times better tasting!), I have even found Asian versions of Knorr in cup packets.

So take a long walk in your local mega store - you will find many, many things.

It sounds practical to fill your dehydrator but more food may slow down the process overall. I think there is a point of dimishing returns here.

You may want to set your dehydrator on a back porch or at least a closed-off room that you can vent to the outside if you are dehydrating onions and peppers. I buy the club-sized dehydrated onions, so you are braver than I... And, I dry tuna, salmon, and shrimp when the guys are likely to be out for many hours. Stinky!

CamperMom

LOL,we will be fine we love Onions and Peppers. We Have used about 45 Pounds of a fifty pound bag of Onions since the end of October! I still have dried Jalopinos form last fall.

mmm the smell of onions and peppers frying is excellent.

Dehydrating campbells soup such as cream of mushroom can some how be added to other dried foods to make a tasty meal. Or dehydrating campbells chunky beef stew and throwing it on top of my instant mashed potatoes. Whaaaaaaat.

You know what grew really well for me was habaneros. Very few seeds in them, tasty, and you need less to spice things up. I love the orange color of them too though that changes a bit when you dry them.

sk

So what process would one use to dehydrate soup? Running it in some sort of double-boiler? On my SAR team we are usually just issued our meals (usually MREs), so it's never been an issue, but I think I would like to implement this myself to add variety. I've never really been a fan of beef stew and I sure as heck am not after the 5th straight packet of it.

Thanks,
WSARmedic

About 4 years ago I decided I wanted to make homemade Tomato soup. I'd asked around and couldn't find anyone who'd ever made it before, or even tasted it before, so it became a mission for me to try it.

I gathered up as many ripe tomatoes as I could find in my garden, begged for some more from neighbors, and went to work on it. I de-skinned them, crushed them with a potato masher, filled a big pot and started simmering it. I stirred and stirred for hours until it had thickened up to a bit more than a perfect "soup" consistency. Then I stirred in a little milk, added a bit of salt and pepper, and tasted it. I'll tell you, I was pretty well amazed with what I ended up with...

It tasted just like Campbell's!

Ever since I've figured that Cambells Tomato Soup is about the best you'll find anywhere and I haven't felt even a twinge of need to make it myself again. (I have had an urge to make a painting of the can though

Wsar , you need a food dehydtrator. Mine came with plastic fruit leather trays. litley grease trays with butter or olive oil and pour a can of cambells tomato soup on tray. dry till untacky. I then grind to powdery consistancy in blender. Put powder in ziplock bag with about 1/4 C powdered milk. Store in freezer till backpackin trip. Add about 1.5 C boiling water to bag let sit about ten min and enjoy!

Thank you for your response!

What food dehydrator would you recommend for doing this? I have been looking at one for a while now but have never really been able to justify the cost of buying one to myself. I think I may just go ahead and buy it though- if nothing else, I can make my own jerky!

If you do, get a jerky gun and make it out of Ground Round . This is the best tenderest jerky out. Ground venison is awsome too. I have a American Havest dehydrator, made bye Nesco. This is a great little unit. I highley recomend it. Im sure there are better high priced professional dehydrators out there, but for the buck its a dandy!

Kent, what's a jerky gun? Best, jcp

It's a Play-dough Factory extruder for meat.

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___80045

Lots of places have them cheaper too.

Wow, never knew anything like that existed. Interesting idea. Thanks, best, jcp

Obviously, you did not grow up making cookies and have not seen a "cookie (dough) press." You might know more about a caulking gun. Same idea.

Commenting on another question. Excalibur dehydrators are the "Cadillac brand." American Harvest seems to be the second choice among many of the gang at FoodPreserving@yahoogroups.com.

CM

Actually Mom, I did grow up making cookies, and still do. I was aware of the cookie gun, but never used it (either dropped or cut from rolled dough). Funny you should mention the caulking gun. It's one of the few home repair tools that I cannot seem to master (and I'm reminded of my failure every time I take a shower). Maybe I'd better stay with the french knife for jerky strips. Thanks. Take care, jcp

Great! Too few males their way around a kitchen (or pretend they don't). Someone brought you up well!

CM

I've been in construction (mainly building cabinets) my whole life. Caulking guns are one of the more tricky tools out there in my opinion. No shame in having trouble with them :P

This is way off topic, but I knew a metal worker that could run a bead of caulk that looked just like a weld after it was painted. I caught on to his trick after having to repair some of his work and I gave him guff for years after that

Bill and James, Yeah, we,re way off the thread, but. The frustrating thing for me is that there is this Irish kid, father was a mason and he apprenticed as a tiler. He works with me sometimes, and he can pick up a caulking gun and go all the way around a tub in one run and without a single bump or break in the bead! And it takes him about 60 seconds. Drives me nuts. Best, jcp