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PostFri Jul 26, 2013 11:03 am 
Sarbar: girlfriend found this at Costco. great stuff. tell me how to do this for backcountry. on the cheap. I have a dehydrator. I can most certainly work from scratch. bk <edit 1135 am: after poking around in the food forum, I found this recipe, which is even better (with the potatoes!), but it would be a bit heavy to pack. gotta be a way to do this dried.>

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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sarbar
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PostFri Jul 26, 2013 2:05 pm 
Oh it'll totally dry up nice - and rehydrate great. Chickpeas are great to work with! How to? Make from scratch and dry on parchment paper lined trays till dry. To rehydrate? There are multiple ways. I myself? I measure out one serving per tray, marking how big it was (a cup? 2 cups?) then measure after dried (is it now 1/4 cup?) Then you have an idea how much water to add back in. You can add boiling water, insulate and let sit for 10-15 minutes or add dry + cold water and then boil in pan, let sit insulated for 10 minutes. You can add more water if necessary. PS: always carry instant potato flakes just in case you add to much water ;-)

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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PostFri Jul 26, 2013 2:11 pm 
no kiddin? so... just cook up the recipe I cited above, pour it onto parchment in the dehydrator, and go from there? really? that easy? sounds too easy. now you got me wondering if I could do this with my spaghetti sauce. and thank you, by the way..... gotta get ready for the Perseids coming up August 11-12.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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sarbar
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PostFri Jul 26, 2013 2:29 pm 
Yep! That simple. I usually dry at 135-145, if no meat. If meat, higher. Drying time depends on humidity - but expect 12 hours at least. I like spaghetti done all in one :-) http://www.trailcooking.com/dehydrating101/diy-meal-vs-commercial-freeze-dried-meal http://www.trailcooking.com/dehydrating101 and on the blog (which can be way easier to read) http://blog.trailcooking.com/category/trail-cooking/dehydrating/

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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PostFri Jul 26, 2013 2:42 pm 
okay! thank you thank you! smile.gif

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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PostSat Jul 27, 2013 8:59 pm 
Sarbar- looked at the links you posted above and read through your recipes. have a couple questions: spaghetti sauce with meat: if I'm understanding correctly, I want to use meat with a minimal amount of fat for dehydrating purposes. does that also apply to the amount of olive oil I would normally use? ie: minimal fat content = better end product? spaghetti sauce with or without meat: what is the dried product going to be like? dry powder? or something more along the line of fruit leather? or? I do not own a vacuum sealer. no time to procure one at this point. can I use conventional zip-locks for short term storage without any trouble? (maximum 30-60 days. refrigeration is not a problem.) I know you prefer to cook (or partially cook) pasta before dehydrating. if I'm understanding you correctly, you're doing this to conserve fuel and reduce cooking time. what is the trade-off in terms of physical size? pack size is limited. I can boil a heck of a lot of water with a single bottle of gas for four or five days. wondering if I'm better off (in terms of reducing physical bulk) by hauling uncooked pasta. feedback? bk just for laughs, this is my spaghetti sauce (after 40+ years of experimentation): pound of ground pork sausage one big onion, chopped fine four sticks of celery, chopped fine one small carrot, grated through the small side of the cheese grater one head (at least) fresh garlic, minced 1/4 cup olive oil 2-3 cans diced tomatoes (with or without garlic, fire-roasted tomatoes, oregano, basil, ad nauseum) half a dozen big white button mushrooms, sliced (maybe) fennel seed, oregano, basil, thyme, dill weed, marjoram, salt, pepper in a great big pot: brown pork sausage and toss in about a half tablespoon of fennel seed. drain on paper towels. heat olive oil, saute onion, garlic, celery. add cooked sausage, herbs, carrot, tomatoes, mushrooms. add twice as much water as what's in the pot. simmer two or three hours minimum. optional: half a bottle of cheap-ass red wine. cut back on water accordingly. my guess is that super-lean ground beef would probably be a better choice for purposes of dehydrating, yes?

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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sarbar
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PostSat Jul 27, 2013 9:11 pm 
Your recipe sounds delish!! up.gif Anyhow, the leaner the meat, the longer your storage can be. Freezer bags are just fine - food vac bags are not needed really, nice but not needed. As for drying just sauce? It will be a leather, and if there is residual oil you can always blot it off with paper towels. Due to its high staining power, this is why I say use parchment paper (Costco is cheeaaapppp for this). You can cook pasta on trail - angel hair and thing spaghetti really work well, cook in 2-4 minutes! I will admit that I have of the past few years done more cooking as needed - and find it quite easy to cook pasta on trail. As for storage, once dried and bagged, stash in the freezer till trail time. It'll keep nicely tucked away there. That way you can use the sausage! Just drain it well after cooking, as you already do smile.gif

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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PostSat Jul 27, 2013 9:37 pm 
okay. thank you again. sounds like we need more parchment. already found the Costco house brand- way mo' betta when you're cooking turnovers once or twice a week!

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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PostSun Jul 28, 2013 2:33 pm 
Wow! Great info and thanks for the spaghetti recipe! Go to try that out! I really need to start trying this dehydrated stuff, I think I am packing to much food weight! Side note: (Thread Hijack) Id it better to buy a dehydrator or make your own? Also any links to this subject you would recommend? Wolfman

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sarbar
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PostSun Jul 28, 2013 8:42 pm 
Wolfman, I'd say it depends on if you like to tinker or not :-) If you go the buy route, Nesco ones are good, dependable machines - and often quite affordable via Amazon. They key is to make sure whatever machine you buy has a fan and an adjustable heat setting. Stay away from no-name ones as they tend to be bad performers smile.gif

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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PostMon Jul 29, 2013 5:17 pm 
Okay, following Sarbar's advice (for which I am eternally grateful), here's how it worked with the spaghetti sauce: Let's review the recipe again in a bit more detail:
spaghetti_sauce_ingredients
spaghetti_sauce_ingredients
one pound of ground pork sausage (sweet Italian sausage here) one big onion, chopped fine (I used a big Walla Walla sweet) four sticks of celery, chopped fine one small carrot, grated through the small side of the cheese grater one head (at least) fresh garlic, minced (I used two heads, minced fine) 1/4 cup olive oil 2-3 cans diced tomatoes (with or without garlic, fire-roasted tomatoes, oregano, basil, ad nauseum) half a dozen big white button mushrooms, sliced (maybe) (for purposes of dehydrating, I did not use mushrooms, as I don't really care for the leathery texture of dried mushroom) half a tablespoon of fennel seed one third cup of oregano leaf two teaspoons sweet Italian basil one teaspoon thyme one teaspoon dill weed one teaspoon marjoram one teaspoon rosemary one tablespoon salt one teaspoon black pepper pinch dried red chile flakes I ground all the herbs, salt, and pepper (except for the fennel) into a powder with a mortar and pestle to bring out the flavors. in a great big pot: brown pork sausage and toss in about a half tablespoon of fennel seed. drain on paper towels. for purposes of dehydrating, I cooked the hell out of the sausage to reduce the fat content as much as possible:
sausage_browned
sausage_browned
heat olive oil, saute onion, garlic, celery, and add the herbs:
onion_garlic_celery_herbs_sautee
onion_garlic_celery_herbs_sautee
add cooked sausage, carrot, tomatoes. add twice as much water as what's in the pot. I added half a bottle of red wine:
everything_in_the_pot
everything_in_the_pot
simmer two or three hours minimum, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. I used a wire whisk to break down the tomato as small as possible:
simmered_three_hours
simmered_three_hours
spread sauce thinly onto parchment-lined drying racks in the dehydrator:
spread_out_on_drying_racks
spread_out_on_drying_racks
dried at 135° F for fourteen hours:
fourteen_hours_at_135_degrees
fourteen_hours_at_135_degrees
drying reduced the volume by about half. one cup of sauce yielded just over half a cup of dry product resembling bacon bits:
dry_yield_just_over_half_a_cup
dry_yield_just_over_half_a_cup
now it's time for the field test. I figured I may as well try it with the equipment I'll actually have in my pack, so I dug out the Dragonfly and my camping cookware. I added 1/2 cup boiling water to the dried sauce and let it reconstitute in my bowl while the pasta was cooking:
reconstituting_sauce_with_boiling_water
reconstituting_sauce_with_boiling_water
when the pasta was cooked, I drained it and added the reconstituted sauce and mixed it in and let it stand for a few minutes:
sauce_added_to_pasta
sauce_added_to_pasta
a little parmesan on top, and it was just like home:
a_little_parmesan_to_finish
a_little_parmesan_to_finish
this entire process (including time required to post this) was just shy of 24 hours. we had spaghetti last night for dinner, and I had enough left to get five one-cup servings, one of which I just had for lunch. the dehydrator, if you are wondering, is an American Harvest Snackmaster. again, many thanks to Sarbar.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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sarbar
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PostMon Jul 29, 2013 5:39 pm 
Damn, you did good up.gif You wanna be my guest post this week on my blog? agree.gif biggrin.gif

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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PostMon Jul 29, 2013 5:45 pm 
guest post? if you want to copy and paste that, go right ahead. use the pics too if you like.... it's spaghetti sauce, for Pete's sake... it ain't some secret map to buried treasure! now I have to figure out the Channa Masala stuff. smile.gif brian by the way: end product turned out far better than I had anticipated. it wasn't greasy or oily. finished product wasn't gritty or chewy. may have been a little heavy-handed on the salt, but hey- this is camping stuff!

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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sarbar
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PostMon Jul 29, 2013 5:52 pm 
But you know - you did it. People love seeing that their scary dehydrator can do awesome stuff biggrin.gif It can be intimidating to try it up.gif Thank you and it'll be cool to share your pics - thank you!

https://trailcooking.com/ Eat well on the trail.
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PostMon Jul 29, 2013 5:55 pm 
you're quite welcome. looking forward to trying the Channa Masala now. forgot all about the thing about salt concentrating when reducing volume. might have had something to do with the additional head of garlic, but I've found that seems to be an effective bug deterrent. in the field I wouldn't use Farfalle (bowtie pasta). takes too long to cook. have to find some good Capellini (angel hair) to take with me.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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