dehydrating refried beans

[Loneoak]

This guy has a lot of dehydrated meals (do it yourself) and they taste great. He walks you through from start to finish. Try out his latest one ( making bean dip ) that can be used on burritos.....tried it and it is great. I did use less salt tho. Enjoy and bookmark his page.http://www.hungryhammockhanger.com/

[Rain Man]

... The name is based on a mistranslation.[1] In Mexican Spanish, the prefix re is an informal form of emphasis meaning "very" or "well", not to be confused with the English re and the most common use of the Spanish prefix re outside Mexico, which indicates repetition. Thus, frijoles refritos, the Mexican name of this dish, should translate to English as "well-fried beans", not "refried beans". In this dish, the beans are often fried, but may also be baked, thus making the term "refried" a misnomer on two counts.[2]

Wow... that explains a lot. Thanks! Always felt like there was a dis-connect in my mind about "re-fried" beans. Anyway, got my dehydrator (NESCO FD-61) and have been running it ever since, experimenting. It's amazing how a plain can of refried beans dehydrates into brittle, crumbly pieces ... and ... how well it rehydrates and tastes great on a tortilla or flat bread with a little shredded cheese, salsa, and/or hot sauce.

Also discovered that a plain can of sliced or diced potatoes becomes potato chips or chunks. Crunchy and tasty, especially with a LITTLE sea salt sprinkled on at the git-go.

Rice and beans worked well. So did bell peppers (red, yellow, and orange so far).

My first try at beef jerky was too dry, but still taught me home-made is better than Jack's, no matter the Sasquatch commercials. (I tried several seasonings, pepper, taco, plain, and Jack Daniels marinade. The JD was the best so far.)

Oh, green peas and sweet corn did well too, and like the potatoes, can be eaten dry as a snack.

Can't wait to get out on a trail and eat some of this stuff! Just discovered Babelfish5 (aka hungryhammockhanger) and love his YouTube video about bean dip!

Anyone willing to recommend a good "cook book" for us newbie dehydrators? The one that came with my NESCO does not even mention pastas, grains, or legumes. Weird.

RainMan

.

[jasco]

My first try at beef jerky was too dry, but still taught me home-made is better than Jack's, no matter the Sasquatch commercials. (I tried several seasonings, pepper, taco, plain, and Jack Daniels marinade. The JD was the best so far.)

Of course the JD was best. Everything is better with a little JD in it

Anyone willing to recommend a good "cook book" for us newbie dehydrators? The one that came with my NESCO does not even mention pastas, grains, or legumes. Weird.

I have recently gotten into dehydrating in preparation for my upcoming section hike. I have found the following sites to be awesome and I am constantly referencing them.

http://www.dehydratorbook.com/
http://www.backpackingchef.com/

- Patrick

[Rain Man]

I have recently gotten into dehydrating in preparation for my upcoming section hike. I have found the following sites to be awesome and I am constantly referencing them.

http://www.dehydratorbook.com/
http://www.backpackingchef.com/

Thanks!!!

RainMan

.

[gunner76]

2nd thumbs up on this site ...http://www.hungryhammockhanger.com/

Bablefish5 has some great meal receipes that are easy to make..just be warned that he is from Texas and likes his stuff spicey.

[Lemhi]

Fiddlehead...your "Dry, but not too dry" comment hits right on a question I've been mulling over. I'm new to dehydrating (my kitchen looks like a bomb went off right now). I dried seasoned ground beef yesterday for about hours and there is still some moisture here and there. My intent is to put this mixture and others in pint-sized food saver bags, seal and freeze them and then mail them ahead. How much moisture is allowable? I do want to be able to eat this stuff (taste), but don't want to open it to mold, etc.

Frankly, I'm not sure I know enough about what I'm doing.

Tks and and all respondents.

Lemhi

[Shovel]

I, honestly believe, you can dehydrate most anything. I have been doing it for years ....... even to the point most of my meals are dehydrated. A lot cheaper. Example: bananas and apples for trail mix, spaghetti sauce and refried beans.
If you have left-over spaghetti sauce from, say a meal, Put it in a blender for a few seconds to liquify the oins, garlic, etc. Put it in the dehydrator on parchment paper (if you don't have a tray) and dehyfrate over night. Put the " leather" in a zip-loc bag or Food Saver bag and re-hydrate on the trail. You can do it with cooked noodles, also. :-)