Dehydrating pasta?

[bigcranky]

TT,

If your method worked for you, then more power, man. When I've tried that with uncooked pasta, I got gluey uncooked pasta after 12 minutes in the cozy. Dehydrating cooked pasta works a lot better for me.

[Booley]

Yeah, the bigger the pasta is in diameter, the more you need to cook it first and dehydrate it. It'll save fuel. When on the trail, put your water and pasta in the pot and boil it together. Don't waste fuel just to boil water, and then your food. This will help out those poor dead dinosaurs knowing you are saving their little precious fossil fuels for the next drive to the trailhead! Check out Sarbar's site or grab her book for some awesome recipies on dehydrating/cooking.

[rafe]

When I've tried that with uncooked pasta, I got gluey uncooked pasta...

Sorry to hear that. Odd that I should be succesful on my first try; that's so very not like me.

We at Chez Panisse refer to (slightly) uncooked pasta as al dente, but the stuff I ended up with was not. And I'm not sure what you mean by "gluey" pasta, honest. I ate it liberally sprinkled with Kraft Parmesan, and it was fine. By trail-food standards, anyway. Next time, I'll try this technique with angel hair spaghetti, which I prefer to the regular kind in any case.

I'm only interested in a food strategy that doesn't rely on pre-prepared meals, or stuff that only comes from specialty food stores or outfitter's stores. Ultimately that (probably) means a lotta Liptons, summer sausage, Pepper Jack cheese, salmon steak in foil packages, etc. Catch-as-catch-can, from whatever stores I find along the trail.

I've got a dehydrator in the basement somewhere. Ages ago, I made some half-decent beef jerky with it, but that was about the extent of it. (It was way too much work, IMO.) Now it's just another of many forgotten bits of "hiking gear" cluttering my basement, along with the crampons, camp pillow, Nalgene bottle cozy and one very sooty Sierra Zip stove.

PS, please just call me terrapin. Forget the too. Thanks.

[LastHonestFool]

question answered, thanks again fellas

I think I'm just gonna cook it regularly at camp, I bought some angel hair spaghetti, today, and I'll just use the rigatoni I planned to use on my trip, at home

[sarbar]

Sorry to come in late. We had major power outages and no internet service till tonight.
Anyhoo, precooking and drying pasta does a couple things:
One, it shortens cooking time.
Less fuel in camp.
Frees up a pot, and allows you to use one pan.
The pasta is not starchy, from being boiled in too little water.
Less water needed in camp.

I boil my pasta at home, but cut it back a minute or two on tim. It will finish "cooking" in camp. I dry it till brittle dry. I weigh it out and usually use 4 ounces dried per serving.
When ready to eat, I park said pasta in a quart freezer bag and cover with boiling water. That I leave in a cozy for about 10 minutes. If any water is left, you can drain it off by opening a corner of the bag carefully.
So basically what it does is make it so you don't have to boil water for 8-10 minutes, and not have to carry a large pan. It also makes it so if you are a one pan cooker (and who isn't?) you can use the pan to make a sauce, etc.
And your pasta isn't all starchy. Yick.

Anyhoo, you can dry in an oven. Just set your oven to the lowest setting, and crack the door with a wooden spoon. Stir every hour till dry (4-8 hours or less usually).
This method also lets you take high fiber/protien pasta of whole wheat without the 15 minute boiling time.

[rafe]

question answered, thanks again fellas

I think I'm just gonna cook it regularly at camp, I bought some angel hair spaghetti, today, and I'll just use the rigatoni I planned to use on my trip, at home

By all means, please -- test out your cooking methods at home before you head up the mountain, OK? Don't take anybody's word for anything, especially around here. . Make sure it works in your back yard before you depend on it working in the woods. I described what works for me, but you have to make it work for yourself. Good luck and bon apetit.

[rafe]

And your pasta isn't all starchy. Yick.

What is pasta if not starch? Accusing pasta of being starchy is like accusing wine of being alcoholic. I guess my taste buds aren't sufficiently developed to appreciate a fine noodle.

[sarbar]

What is pasta if not starch? Accusing pasta of being starchy is like accusing wine of being alcoholic. I guess my taste buds aren't sufficiently developed to appreciate a fine noodle.

Well, what I was trying to say was that when you cook pasta in too little water (ie. 4 ounces of pasta in 3 cups water on the trail), all that extra starch that turns the water milky white has nowhere to go but all over your pasta. That makes the pasta have a gluey texture. Yumm! Hehheh.
Precooked and dried pasta is boiled though in a lot of water, and that starch goes goodbye, down the old drain.

[Skidsteer]

My favorite reason to cook pasta first and then dehydrate it doesn't seem to have been mentioned.

I cook and dehydrate the complete meal. IOW make spaghetti at home, add your sauce, parmesan, and whatever else you normally would if you were sitting down to eat it immediately; But dehydrate it instead. Put it in a ziploc in the freezer and it's ready for your next trip.

[Lone Wolf]

question answered, thanks again fellas

I think I'm just gonna cook it regularly at camp, I bought some angel hair spaghetti, today, and I'll just use the rigatoni I planned to use on my trip, at home

That's what I do. I carry 2 pots. 1 for sauce. 1 for angel hair. I make a sauce of Knorr tomato/basil and add pepper/onions and foil pack chicken breast.

[ZEKE #2]

The glory of dehydrating pasta (and most everything else) is that instead of using 10 minutes of fuel to cook your pasta you need only to boil the water. I like the idea of just adding the boiled water in the freezer bag, no dirty kettles, no burnt food, and no dish washing. Less time doing chores; more time enjoying the great out of doors. Less chance of getting sick due to inadequate cleaning of utensils.

[rafe]

The glory of dehydrating pasta (and most everything else) is that instead of using 10 minutes of fuel to cook your pasta you need only to boil the water.

Did you read through the "experiment" I described, earlier in the thread?

The only advantage I can see is that my method (supposedly) produces a "starchy" tasting pasta. But I must have poorly developed taste, 'cuz somehow I didn't notice.

[Ewker]

My favorite reason to cook pasta first and then dehydrate it doesn't seem to have been mentioned.

I cook and dehydrate the complete meal. IOW make spaghetti at home, add your sauce, parmesan, and whatever else you normally would if you were sitting down to eat it immediately; But dehydrate it instead. Put it in a ziploc in the freezer and it's ready for your next trip.

that is a good idea. I never think about dehydrating leftovers.

How much water do you use to rehydrate?

[sarbar]

that is a good idea. I never think about dehydrating leftovers.

How much water do you use to rehydrate?

Ewker, when I dry leftovers of pasta dishes, I usually do a 1:1 ratio of water to product. Or you can "just cover" it with water.

[Groucho]

I must be dumb... I still don't get it. First you cook it and then you dehydrate it. Then in camp you cook it again ??

Wouldn't plain old store-bought pasta cook just as well, in camp, using the method you describe above?

What am I missing here?

Have no idea if this will explain anything but:
This site on freezer bag cooking gives ideas on cooking with couscous and pre-cooked, re-dried pasta. Scroll down about 7 pages to ‘Pasta/Ramen/Oriental Noodles to see cooking instructions etc. dealing with complete dinner rehydration.. These homemade dinners are probably like Lipton’s, freeze-dried pasta dishes and lasagna noodles that you do not have to precook; the noodles are problably redried after cooking.

Your pasta might do, but there probably isn’t enough heat left to reconstitute the sauce, vegetables and meat. This might have to be done by reheating, using more fuel.. I just cooked some pasta with your method. It is pasty, but edible, and maybe I let it go too long.. You might be able to add dried , cooked vegs and meat, and extra boiling water with the uncooked pasta, and add sauce and butter at the end. I’ve done this myself.

[rafe]

I just cooked some pasta with your method. It is pasty, but edible, and maybe I let it go too long.. You might be able to add dried , cooked vegs and meat, and extra boiling water with the uncooked pasta, and add sauce and butter at the end. I’ve done this myself.

I really wasn't considering anything beyond "just plain pasta." If it's got other ingredients in it (ie., involves any real "cooking") then obviously there's a stronger rationale for cooking in advance and dehydrating. As I explained in another post, I'm not really interested in doing that for long hikes, since I've given up on mail drops entirely. YMMV and all that.

[adh24]

that is a good idea. I never think about dehydrating leftovers.

How much water do you use to rehydrate?

This is all I do for my trail meals. I currently have homemade Mac & Cheese, a thick hamburger soup, chili, Beef Strogi, and Pasta Fagioli in the freezer already dehydrated. Just did some sgetti sauce with chunks of pork and pepperoni in it. MMmmm

[Skidsteer]

that is a good idea. I never think about dehydrating leftovers.

How much water do you use to rehydrate?

About 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups of water.

Regular spaghetti and sauce would be at the low end because I don't like it watery. Stews and such I usually use a bit more.

It's easy to get the portion right, too. When you finish your dinner at home, just fix another plate the same size and put it in the dehydrator; In the morning, put it in a freezer bag and store it in the deep freeze for a future hike.

Depending on the type of food, it usually ends up weighing 5 1/2 to 7 ounces in the bag(for me, anyway). A bit of chocolate for dessert, a nightcap, and all's well with the world.

[LastHonestFool]

tried it out on my stove tonight, made a big 'ole pot of size 8 spaghetti (the regular stuff, nto angel hair...I usually end up over cookin them thin buggers!) it took 20 minutes max to make the meal...including makin some fast pasta sauce, so I won't be dehydrating for this particular outing, but I'll refer back to the information in this thread for dehydrating!

thanks again guys n gals!

[rafe]

That stuff is da bomb. Anything Barilla makes, if I buy it, I buy it from them. Their garlic, olive oil, pasta, and spices are best of class, and always reasonably priced.

Amigi, that was one great tip. Thanks! Do you happen to know how long this stuff will hold, once the package is opened? It is da bomb, for sure... but probably more than I can eat at one sitting.