[Markus]

I usually stick with the normal apples, bananas, and jerky... but I had a friend who used to make "turkey chips" by dehydrating Carl Buddig sliced turkey. Anybody else have some favorite or unusual dehydrated food ideas?

[nitpacker]

Cooked ground beef dries well and is not bad rehydrated and used to add to other food. I have also dried chili with good results.

[Newt]

Buffalo Chips & Chinese mustard. Hard to find but delicious. mmmm Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm feelin good cause my water is runnin again. Otherwise just the usual. N

[jenjen]

Dehydrated watermelon is really good. Sounds very strange, I know. But seriously, try it. Those teeny dried shrimp you find at Asian markets are good added to trail mix. I think they're too strong tasting on their own. Spaghetti sauce dried like a fruit leather is really easy to carry and tastes great re-hydrated on the trail.

[McFarnell]

[Markus]

I think I'm going to try that granola bar thing this weekend... thanks a bunch for sharing.

[pianodirt]

Yah, I'll be trying the raw granola recipe too, sounds great. I actually tried making my own raw food bar recipe once. It was okay, I used a lot of carrots. I think I needed more citric acid or vitamin E as preservatives, because the carrots oxidized fairly quickly. My vote is also for the dried spaghetti sauce. Yum yum! Cooked beans dehydrate/rehydrate well, so does quinoa. I've tried drying rice, but it's easier to buy instant rice as it is easy to overdry rice. Buffalo jerky is quite tasty too. You can buy hummus powder in a box or bulk. Try it at home first! A little goes a long ways and soaks up a lot more water than you would think. I recommend a book "Lipsmackin' Backpacking" by Christine Connors. It's full of recipes that are contributions from other hikers. She also has a vegetarian version of the book coming out soon. I submitted a couple recipes for that one, see next post.

[pianodirt]

Jason's Beans and Sauce 3/4 cup dried beans 3/4 cup dried quinoa (or substitute instant rice, instant brown rice will rehydrate in the same time as quinoa, white rice less) 1/3 leather of dried marinara sauce (one full leather=one full 25 oz jar of sauce) 1/4 cup of nuts 1 oz. cheese or olive oil At camp, after adding hot water, add sliced garlic, cheese or oil and kale. Wrap your pot or food container in something insulating and wait 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice. This is a very filling meal, but even in warm Hawaii, I found my appetite was in full force! For less filling use 1/2 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 piece of beans, quinoa, sauce respectively. Serves 1. Quinoa (or Rice) Hot Cereal 1/2 cup cooked and dried quinoa (or instant rice) 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (or 1/4 c. of your favorite nuts) 1/4 cup raisins or other small chopped dried fruit 3 tsp brown sugar 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon Add just a bit more than 3/4 cup of boiling water, wrap in some insulation and let sit for 8-10 minutes. Superfood Smoothie all measurements are "heaping" 2 tbs. Superfood (or any other smoothie powder) 1 tbs. Powdered rice protein (or omit or use protein powder of your choice) 2 tsp. raspberry powder 1 tbs. flax seeds (optional) 2 dashes ground cinnamon Package ingredients in a small paper envelope, envelopes in a ziplock. At camp, use a wider-mouth bottle, such as an empty Gatorade or plastic Snapple bottle. Add the mix to the bottle, fill 3/4 full with water (cold or warm, not hot) and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Drink! PLEASE try Superfood at home first! Definitely an acquired taste, but I *love* it. Superfood is a great way to get nutrients that can be hard to come by, especially on the trail. Great for folks who don't like pills (such as vitamins). It can be purchased from the number below. I made the raspberry powder. Raspberries work very well. I tried blueberries, but they dry too sticky. Dry the raspberries until very dry and grind in a coffee mill or blender until a coarse powder. Rice protein and flax seeds (don't use flax seed meal on the trail, it can spoil) can be bought from health food stores. The flax seeds give a thicker and chunkier texture to the smoothie, hence being optional. They add some good omega-3 fats and fiber power. Purchase Superfood (contains spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass, beet, alfalfa, and much more, tastes "green" by itself) from: American Botanical Pharmacy: 800-HERB-DOC

[marzsit]

dried pineapple is really good, i'm lazy so i buy canned pineapple rings in juice, and dry 2 cans at a time. sometimes you can find dried pineapple in the bulk aisle at the store, but it's usually frosted with sugar....

[Dogpatch]

To those of you who are dehydrating your own foods: I don't have a dehydrater. Any reason not to try this in the oven, at lowest temperature? Any suggestions? I'm intrigued by the kohlrabi jerky recipe.

[jenjen]

Unless you have a gas oven, its hard to set the oven temperature low enough to dry without cooking (and burning) the food. If you have a gas oven you just use the pilot light. You have to leave the door slightly open to let moisture out, and you have to make sure and rotate the food so it doesn't dry unevenly. All of that said, I have used the oven to dry fruit successfully.

[McFarnell]

I've used an oven to dry spaghetti sauce successfully. I just taped saran wrap over a cookie sheet and poured the spaghetti sauce on. Then I set the oven low, like 150 or something, put the sauce in, and left the door open a little. It worked fine. After one side was dry, I turned it over and dried some more. I think fruit leather works good in the oven as well. I also like Christine Conner's Lipsmackin' Backpackin' book, and I also submitted a couple recipes to her new vegetarian book. Any ideas on when that will come out? I tried e-mailing her a while ago, but it didn't go through.

[Dogpatch]

[Newt]

Most, if not all electric and probably gas ranges, have a vent in the oven. It usually is under the RR burner. Don't put anything on that burner to allow max ventilation. N

[pianodirt]

A secret to any dehydration in the dryer or oven is... PARCHMENT PAPER! It is like wax paper, but instead of wax, it's coated with food-grade silicone and good for up to 500F or something. Everything comes off easily, including dried fruit, roll ups and sauces. Things like beans and meat literally slide off. Find it at most grocery stores or in health food stores in the baking section. I cut sheets to fit my dehydrator and can usually reuse them once or twice. The only thing I like to dry directly on the rack is jerky and I am rethinking that since the racks are so messy to clean.