Dehydrating Food.

For this weekends expedition, i want to try alot of backpacking things. My moms making chili tonight, so i'm going to dehydrate some. Does anyone know how long to dehydrate chili?

I know that i wont have that much time to do alot of cooking, but i figured if i come up with something to try for every meal, i'll be able to try a few things. i've already got my food packed tentively. i've got couple cans of potted meat [i love it for some reason] couple packs of instant oatmeal and a couple of granola bars. this will get me basically a day, and its all packed in my Quick 1 cook set.


If yal have any easy cooking ideas right off, let me know. i've got my most of my ideas i wanna try from trailcooking. Thanks

The easiest way to get a hot evening meal is to start with a base ( ramen/cous cous/instant rice,instant potatoes) add your protein ( tuna in foil packs, chopped cabanossi or similar, dried mince/cubed meat) and some dried veggies, cheap at your supermarket (peas,corn,carrots,beans,mushrooms)
Add if you like olive oil, dried tomato powder, herbs and spices.
Other foods that are easy to mix and match are hard boiled eggs, hard cheese (will last up to a week not refrigerated) full cream milk powder, salami, Parma ham (my favourite...) beef/fish jerky.
Because dried veggies take a long time to cook (and give you wind if not properly cooked) a good trick is to put them inside a small container (any plastic jar that contained food, like peanut butter, will do ) at lunchtime with some water and by the time you stop for dinner they will be softer. A pinch of baking soda may help.
A good boost of calories is a hot cup of chocolate before you go to sleep. Use the full cream milk powder for that.
Franco

i work in the grocery store, so i have access to everything i should need. so i do alot of thinking when i'm at work.

Have you checked out Sarbar's site, Trail cooking (formerly Freezer Bag Cooking)? Lots of ideas there for instant stuff from the supermarket.

For winter camping, you might want a heaver cozy for rehydration. While in summer you can use your knit hat, in winter you'll undoubtedly be wearing it!

I've spent alot of time over there lately. i wont be going to the smokeys next weekend, so it'll be febuary before i go backpacking again, but i was told to prepare for 10 miles of hiking for saturday so i wanna be well fed.

I'll probally do some overnight camping between now and my next backpacking trip though

On dehydrating the chili...expect at least 6 hours and up to 12. If you have parchment paper use it as a liner. That way when the chili is tacky dry you can flip it over to the other side. Dried faster and more evenly

And hey, I have friends who love potted meat...lol! Each to their own

i love potted meat, and drink the juice in vienna cans.. i love it.

Vienna sausages are one of the four food groups, along with cheese whiz, mustard sardines and smoked oysters.

No, no, no, no, no! The four basic food groups are sugar, fat, chocolate, and alcohol (or caffene depending on how your day is going )

Almost right. The four basic food groups are fat, sugar, salt, and alcohol. Chocolate is a vitamin.

If you like meat, tuna or salmon in soft foil packages (instead of cans) works great. I think you can also get chicken that way.

Minimus.biz carries the 3 ounce chicken pouches, which are quite hard to find otherwise

Wow Sarbar! Thanks, that is one cool website.

Lots of good stuff we can put in our 'hurricane box'.