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#75296 - 06/15/07 05:12 PM Spaghetti sauce help needed
hootyhoo Offline
member

Registered: 12/14/06
Posts: 686
Loc: Cyberspace
I love spaghetti, but the sauce is too heavy. I do not buy the Mountain House type stuff( not in my budget) -- I have a dehydrator, could I get good results buy drying my own.

Any suggestions?

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#75297 - 06/15/07 05:19 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
Slosteppin Offline
member

Registered: 12/25/06
Posts: 33
Loc: NW lower Michigan
I would think so, it's not somethng I have tried.

I make soups that I dehydrate.

If you haven't already, you might try the website: http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/

I suggest get some you like and put it in the dehydrator.

Slosteppin

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#75298 - 06/15/07 06:29 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
PaulTheSlow Offline
member

Registered: 07/05/02
Posts: 47
hootyhoo:

I have dried various brands of spaghetti sauce with excellent results. I have an American Harvest dehydrator that I bought from Campmor maybe 15 years ago, and I have used the "Fruit Roll-up Sheets". I just spread the sauce evenly on the sheet (maybe 16 ounces of sauce per sheet/tray) and dry at the veggie setting for 24 hours (variable by sauce contents, humidity, etc.). I transport by folding the resulting sauce "roll-up" and sticking it into a ziplock with any additional ingredients, such as dried mushrooms. Rehyrdration can be assisted by ripping up the dried sheet into smaller pieces.

The resulting rehydrated sauce has been remarkably like the original. I'd suggest giving this a try at home first, like all backpacking recipes, but this is one of my favorites, and it's incredibly easy.

Paul

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#75299 - 06/16/07 10:31 AM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
sarbar Offline
member

Registered: 07/15/05
Posts: 1453
Loc: WA
Love drying pasta sauce <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Only tip is avoid Vodka sauces as they have more fat in them. (Though...they are so tasty!)

Anyhoo, I dry a jar on 2 parchment paper lined trays. When the top is pretty much not sticky anymore, I pop the "leather" and flip it over, so that the underside gets dried as well. I do it on 135* usually.

Once dry, I usually powder it in my blender. This helps it come back to life faster.

I also measure it out evenly into 2 servings, and bag it in quart freezer bags. Each serving will coat 4 ounces of pasta perfectly.

Rehydration? Now that can be a bit tricky, but it isn't too hard. Lets say a jar has 3 cups sauce. So that is 3/4 cup sauce for each serving! So take your dried sauce and start with 1/2 cup boiling water, and then add up to another 1/4 cup water as needed <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Easy cheesy!

As for the pasta? Even simpler! Precook your pasta (but cut off 2-3 minutes time), drain and rinse. Then dry till hard at 135*. Bag 4 ounces in a quart freezer bag. To bring back, pour boiling water over, and let sit for 10 minutes in a cozy, drain and add sauce and cheese. Also very good with home dried hamburger and mushrooms added......
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#75300 - 06/16/07 12:21 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
Haiwee Offline
member

Registered: 08/21/03
Posts: 330
Loc: Southern California
I just dehydrate spaghetti sauce until it's a leather -- just like fruit leathers. I don't even boil it to rehydrate it. Just pour the desired amount of water over it and let it sit for an hour or so, then heat it up. One suggestion: don't vaccum-seal tomato leathers in your FoodSaver. It compacts the leather into a hard, almost impossible-to-rehydrate clump.
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#75301 - 06/16/07 07:05 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
billk Offline
member

Registered: 08/20/03
Posts: 1196
Loc: Portland, Oregon
I dry the spaghetti and sauce together, then rehydrate more or less like you would a freeze-dried dinner. That is, I put it in a Ziploc bowl, add boiling water, cover, place in a cozy, and wait ten minutes or so. Obviously, good homemade spaghetti is best, but I've even done it with Stauffer's.

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#75302 - 06/17/07 05:40 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
hootyhoo Offline
member

Registered: 12/14/06
Posts: 686
Loc: Cyberspace
Thanks for the good info. I did not think about pre-cooking the pasta. Looks like there is some experimenting to be done.

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#75303 - 06/18/07 06:40 AM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
jshannon Offline
member

Registered: 02/14/06
Posts: 410
Loc: North Texas
A wealthy man was having an affair with an Italian woman for several years. One night, during one of their rendezvous, she confided in him that she was pregnant. Not wanting to ruin his reputation or his marriage, he would pay her a large sum of money if she would go to Italy to secretly have the child. If she stayed in Italy to raise the child, he would also provide child support until the child turned 18. She agreed, but asked how he would know when the baby was born. To keep it discrete, he told her to simply mail him a post card, and write "Spaghetti" on the back. He would then arrange for child support payments to begin.

One day, about 9 months later, he came home to his confused wife. His wife said, "Honey, you received a very strange post card today."

"Oh, just give it to me and I'll explain it," he said. The wife handed him the card and watched as her husband read the card, turned white and collapsed.

On the card was written: "Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Two with meatballs, one without! Request bread..."
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#75304 - 06/18/07 09:46 AM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: jshannon]
sarbar Offline
member

Registered: 07/15/05
Posts: 1453
Loc: WA
Lol..that is good and cheezy <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
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www.trailcooking.com

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#75305 - 06/18/07 01:21 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: sarbar]
midnightsun03 Offline
member

Registered: 08/06/03
Posts: 2936
Loc: Alaska
Would that me mozzarella or parmesean?

SNORK

Thanks for the laugh js...
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#75306 - 12/02/07 08:40 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed Better Thought [Re: Slosteppin]
markswarbick Offline
member

Registered: 06/25/06
Posts: 36
Loc: Newtown Square pa
I am repeating an idea I found on another blog. You can take your favorite sauce "lets say two cups and put it in the food dryer. First take the fruit leather tray and use a light canola cooking spray and then add the sauce. This will help with seperation later. crush the flakes into a rough powder. Second instead of pasta which can take longer to cook, use ramen without the packet. Most supermarkets now carry gormet mushrooms and add dried burger for a complete meal. hope that helps for an alternate idea.

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#75307 - 12/03/07 06:21 AM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: Haiwee]
frank Offline
member

Registered: 03/27/04
Posts: 38
Loc: Alameda CA
I do the same.

I grow my own tomatoes. I puree them in a food processor and then reduce them in a cast iron pot. By reducing them it cuts down on the dehydrating time.
I use a lot of garlic and pepperocino (pepper flakes) and salt. It is a very simple sauce.

Once it becomes a leather I break it up again in the food processor and then grind it to a fine powder in a coffee mill. Then it can either be used as a sauce alone or combined with a pasta and cooked and dehydrated as a one pot meal.

frank

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#75308 - 12/03/07 09:17 AM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed Better Thought [Re: markswarbick]
sarbar Offline
member

Registered: 07/15/05
Posts: 1453
Loc: WA
Parchment paper lining the trays works better in my view. No oil needed then <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It peels off when done (and for me, I peel the leather off when it isn't "wet" anymore and flip it over. Gets it dry faster and no wet spots!)
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www.trailcooking.com

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#75309 - 12/05/07 10:21 AM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed - how to dry soup? [Re: Slosteppin]
cwmoore Offline
member

Registered: 05/19/03
Posts: 69
not trying to hijack the thread, but I've been considering getting a dehydrator, and soup was one thing I was wondering about. how do you dehydrate something so 'wet' ?

thanks in advance

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#75310 - 12/05/07 11:49 AM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed - how to dry soup? [Re: cwmoore]
sarbar Offline
member

Registered: 07/15/05
Posts: 1453
Loc: WA
If you can cook the soup down, so much the better. Place it on lined trays - either with fruit leather inserts or line with microwave wrap. It will dry up nicely usually.
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www.trailcooking.com

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#75311 - 05/21/08 11:43 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
thomasz Offline
newbie

Registered: 03/10/08
Posts: 11
Is parmesan better than mozzarella?

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#75312 - 05/22/08 01:09 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: thomasz]
sarbar Offline
member

Registered: 07/15/05
Posts: 1453
Loc: WA
The Parmesan sold on the shelves is mostly shelf stable. You can carry it without worrying.
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www.trailcooking.com

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#75313 - 05/22/08 04:00 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: thomasz]
Earthling Offline
member

Registered: 02/22/03
Posts: 3228
Loc: USA
Quote:
Is parmesan better than mozzarella?


You asking this Italian <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Depends on your purpose for it. Hard grating cheeses like Parmesan or Grano Padano carry easily in your pack in a nice hunk, with a tiny grater. Mozzerella is best eaten fresh, like within a day or so of it's being made. Fresh mozz' is one of life's luxuries IMO <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> Once you've eaten it fresh, you'll easily recognize when a resturant tries to pass off 'pizza cheese' on your entree as 'fresh mozzerella <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Iz luvs me cheese <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
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PEPPER SPRAY AIN'T BRAINS IN A CAN!

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#75314 - 05/22/08 04:04 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: hootyhoo]
Earthling Offline
member

Registered: 02/22/03
Posts: 3228
Loc: USA
Quote:
I love spaghetti, but the sauce is too heavy. I do not buy the Mountain House type stuff( not in my budget) -- I have a dehydrator, could I get good results buy drying my own.

Any suggestions?


Hooty, Ragu now makes and sells a good sauce in a ziploc type bag <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> makes it easy to pick out your favorite pasta, and lug along the ready made sauce <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> yeah, it's heavy, but i backpack to eat well, and vice versa <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> Very worth the food weight IMO.
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PEPPER SPRAY AIN'T BRAINS IN A CAN!

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#144722 - 01/11/11 08:43 PM Re: Spaghetti sauce help needed [Re: midnightsun03]
stonemark Offline
member

Registered: 12/07/10
Posts: 82
Loc: China
you can't made the two ends meet~ heavy&durable/ light&fragile ~
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