I finally tried mixing bread crumbs with ground beef before browning and dehydrating. It works! It rehydrates much better. Not sure where I first heard of this (maybe here) but I was prompted to try it by Dixie's video on her "Homemade Wanderlust" channel on YouTube.

I combined 1/4c each of the dried beef and couscous and 1 tbsp of Lipton onion & mushroom soup mix with boiling water, let sit in cozy for 10 minutes, and it was fairly decent. I actually ate it all, unlike some of my other experiments. I think there may be other soup or gravy mixes I'd like better. Open to suggestions.