Is dehydrated food the way to go?

[tyler0928]

Any advice about packaged dehydrated food? I'm trying to figure out foods to eat on the trail and I was looking at the dehydrated food today and its like $4-5(some are two servings). Whats the best option?

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Check out Sarbar's Freezer bag cooking web site - Try some of the recipes there and if it looks like something you would like, she has a book that is worth buying - loads of great recipes.

[Pedaling Fool]

Depends on who you ask. If you're asking me, then the answer is yes, dehydrated food is the only way to go. However, I don't buy it, I do it. It's cheaper, but more work, but it's cheaper!

Many thrus eat badly, IMHO, mostly eating a ton of snickers and the main course is limited by only stuff that keeps well on the trail, which does not include much in the way of fresh fruits/vegetables, also it's not easy to carry because of weight/bulk. I can carry 2 weeks supply of tomatoes in a ziplock bag and the weight is next to nothing.

[sarbar]

It can be cheaper and a lot easier to pack (and also having a great shelf life) but...do it yourself You will eat better as well. I am thinking you are referring to items like Mountain House freeze dried meals? Instead think buying packs of dried vegetables, fruits, easy to use carbs and meat. Or dry your own!

For the cost of a couple MH meals you can easily do many times that of homemade meals

[cachica]

Excellent advice! Just got a dehydrator for Christmas, and so far have only dehydrated split pea soup. Here might be an easy way around cost and work. I sent out an email to all the lovely ladies in my life and asked them to send me good recipes along with a nice thought so i could think about them while i'm eating their food on the trail. The coolest thing about that is that most of them said they'd cook it for me! Talk about cost cutting!

[Colter]

I didn't prepare any dehydrated food for the AT, didn't buy any backpacking freeze-dried foods, and did only a handful of maildrops.

Dehydrated foods are great, but I was quite satisfied with the foods found in a normal grocery store, which do of course include things like Just Veggies. If you wander the aisles and take a new look at all the stuff that's there, you'll find a huge variety of foods that will work just fine on the trail.

[Tipi Walter]

Here's the best dehydrated stuff I've found and it's all organic. If you buy in bulk it comes to around $2.00 a meal. I've been carrying her stuff for years.

http://products.maryjanesfarm.org/pf...t_id=150#Meals

[bloodmountainman]

One or two of these meals are ok every week, but don't depend on them only. Tortillas last a long time and are a great bread source. You can roll tuna, peanut butter and jelly, or anything else in them for sandwiches. Dried fruits and veggieges are also good to add to your meals. De-hydrated soups are great. Rice will add substance to almost anything! Experiment with some of this stuff at home.

[Fiddleback]

IMO, homemade dehydrated food is the way to go. It's tastier, healthier (more nutritious and specific to the hiker's requirements), and cheaper. And if you do it right (e.g., dry portions reserved from a regular home meal) it's almost less time consuming than purpose shopping for the commercial stuff. Use a dehydrator or cookie sheets in an oven...either way it's a win-win-win-win situation.

FB

[hopefulhiker]

ditto that, Get the book, Gourmet Backpacker

[JAK]

I tried dehydrating my food, but those damn chickens looked so miserable out there.
I just couldn't do it.

[Hoop]

Some de-hy meals are really high in sodium if that's an issue for you.

[Smile]

The pre-prepared ones sometime have vitamins added and so much sodium! It's a lot of fun too to do your own, and experiment with different stuff.

I made dinner after my first experiment and one couldn't tell it had been dehydrated. You also know exactly 'what's in there'

[JAK]

My carrots didn't grow too well either. How do you do it?

[Bob S]

Dehydrating your own food?

I have 2 dehydrators that I have only used to make jerky, is there a web site that talks about (shows) how to dehydrate regular food?
And just as important, how to re-hydrate so it comes out right.

I’m going to start experimenting with it, but it’s always good to learn what others have done.

[Pedaling Fool]

I've only used the cookbooks that came with my dehydrator, but I'd imagine some good stuff can be found on the web/library. As for dehydrating other stuff I do a lot of vegetables like tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, potatoes.... and I just mix it with my rice while cooking and rehydration was never an issue. Sometimes I get to camp and don't feel like cooking and just eat w/o rehydrating, no problems.

[hopefulhiker]

You can dehydrate almost anything.. Try dehydrating some leftovers sometime and then rehydrating it.. Also look into using a "cozy" to rehydrate...

You can save a lot of weight on the trail in fuel and food weight.. Also look into NIDO dehydrated baby milk in the latino section of grocery stores...

[Hotrod]

If I could only have one dehydrated item on the trail it would be salsa. Never done the dehydration myself, but it can turn any meal into a master piece. A great addition to mac n' cheese.

[sarbar]

If any of you want starter info on dehydrating I have a page on Dehydrating 101 on our site. It has pictorials on how to do it all

[Bob S]

If any of you want starter info on dehydrating I have a page on Dehydrating 101 on our site. It has pictorials on how to do it all

Thanks for the link, I’m going to experiment in the next few weeks.