recomend a dehydrator that works well on meat?

[cabalot]

can anyone recomend a dehydrator that works well on meat? campmore has a couple but the box only shows fruits and vegies being dryed.

[walkerat99]

I can't actually recommend any dehydrator over another, however I have used the cheap American Harvester with good result for meat. I have dried ground beef, roast beef, chicken as well as chili and various sauces. I have never had any problem with any of the foods. I have kept the dried food over 2 years in a freezer and it is still good. I also kept if for several weeks out of the freezer when I thru hiked. Some of the better dehydrators do have thermastats and ect, which mine doesn't but I still did not have any problems. Hope this helps.. just be sure you cook the meat first, and then break it into small peices and put on the racks. Ground beef should be browned in a skillet first and then spead on the dryer sheets in a thin layer. It will dry and look like gravel which is what it is called. Good luck... I would guess most dehydraters will work fine... hope this will help... Happy trails..
Sincerely,
Ed

PS. I just bought a cheap $17 dehydrator today as a Christmas gift for a fellow hiker. It was Sunbeam brand at Walmart.

[Jumpstart]

can anyone recomend a dehydrator that works well on meat? campmore has a couple but the box only shows fruits and vegies being dryed.

I also used the American Harvest dehydrator to dry hamburger, chicken, corn, salsa, and spaghetti sauce for our thru-hike. Everything reconstituted VERY well on the trail (actually, I'll admit I was a skeptic and was completley suprised by how good everything was!) It's very simple to use, comes with a recipe book, and with a little practice and experimenting you shoudl be able to supplement your hike with lots of homemade goodies. I reccommend getting the sauce trays (they are completley solid trays that slip into your dehydrator tray) to do things like spaghetti sauce and salsa, as well.

Good luck...

[cabalot]

I also used the American Harvest dehydrator to dry hamburger, chicken, corn, salsa, and spaghetti sauce for our thru-hike. Everything reconstituted VERY well on the trail (actually, I'll admit I was a skeptic and was completley suprised by how good everything was!) It's very simple to use, comes with a recipe book, and with a little practice and experimenting you shoudl be able to supplement your hike with lots of homemade goodies. I reccommend getting the sauce trays (they are completley solid trays that slip into your dehydrator tray) to do things like spaghetti sauce and salsa, as well.

Good luck...

which model American Harvest do you have?

[kank]

Don't read too much into the Campmor photo. A dehydrator is a dehydrator. You can even dehydrate in your oven if your oven thermastat goes below 170F or so, but it is usually better to buy or build a dehydrator for the purpose (so you can use the oven for real cooking). A dehydrator simply heats the air around the food enough that it evaporates the moisture out. Stick a light bulb and a thermometer in an insulated box, make some vents to keep the air temp below cooking temps (170F or less), and use trays or screens to put your food into the box. It's probably easier to just buy one at Walmart, but there isn't anything special about a commercial model except that they use a heating element instead of a light bulb for heat. The models with thermastats can be useful sometimes, though, to have better temperature control.

Have fun!