View Full Version : Tuna Helper
JaxHiker
10-17-2008, 09:13
Well, this isn't really specific to tuna helper, but that's my immediate concern. I'm a first-time dehydrator as of last night. I love tuna helper and thought I might try that on my next hike instead of MH foods. I made up some tettrazini last night and put it on overnight for about 7 hours.
Since it's fish, how do you know you're done? The pasta was very hard, as was the tuna itself. I guess my point of concern is that my fingers got greasy as I broke it up to bag it. I tried blotting it with a paper towel and didn't get anything off, though. I just don't want to have it go rancid while I'm on the trail or in the days before and them I'm stuck with nothing to eat.
Here is something to try, prepare the tuna helper sans tuna (prepare what is provided in the box). Dehydrate the pasta and sauce, and then when you rehydrate it in camp, add a foil pack of tuna to the bag once the pasta starts to come back.
You can always leave the oil/butter out till camp time as well. Just add in a Tbsp or two when rehydrating :)
JaxHiker
10-17-2008, 13:29
Grrr. Why didn't I think of leaving the tuna out? I planned on carrying a tuna pack anyway for lunch.
It calls for butter. I planned on adding oil when I rehydrate but would that be a good substitute for the butter too? I'm culinary challenged so I don't know what substitutions you can make.
Do you think I'm ok with that batch I made?
It calls for butter. I planned on adding oil when I rehydrate but would that be a good substitute for the butter too? I'm culinary challenged so I don't know what substitutions you can make.yeah, oil works fine. Fat is fat, although olive oil is probably better for you.
JaxHiker
10-17-2008, 14:47
Cool. Just found this.
Butter 1 cup =
7/8 to 1 cup hydrogenated fat and 1/2 tsp salt
7/8 cup lard plus 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup margarine
7/8 cup oil plus 1/2 tsp salt
Stir Fry
10-17-2008, 15:46
Try Mack and Chease with tuna. Quick to cook and tast great. Cook a litle Brockly when you cook the posta, drain water little powdered milk in a ziplock bag. Good eats.
JaxHiker
10-17-2008, 15:51
That sounds good. What's the shelf life of opened powdered milk? I saw it at Wally World for $6+ for the smallest package and it's still more than I think I'd use in a long time.
Stir Fry
10-17-2008, 15:54
That sounds good. What's the shelf life of opened powdered milk? I saw it at Wally World for $6+ for the smallest package and it's still more than I think I'd use in a long time.
I have used it 2 years after opining. just keep it dry
JaxHiker
10-17-2008, 16:08
Wow! Ok. Thx.
That sounds good. What's the shelf life of opened powdered milk? I saw it at Wally World for $6+ for the smallest package and it's still more than I think I'd use in a long time.
powdered milk will clump here in Jax. I keep mine in sealed bag in the fridge. It last a long long time. I can't remember when I bought mine but it has been a coupla years.
Clyde
Jax, if you are using commercial Tuna Helper and use olive oil instead of butter, do NOT worry about adding in salt. You don't need it - TH is very, very high in sodium ;)
As for salted butter....I only buy unsalted. Once you get used to it (like a couple uses) you never miss the salt in it. Rather, you can taste the quality of the butter. You can make Ghee at home, which is clarified butter, which is highly shelf stable. Perfect for backpacking.
What's the shelf life of opened powdered milk? I saw it at Wally World for $6+ for the smallest package and it's still more than I think I'd use in a long time.
Keep it well sealed and it lasts for a long time.
But! If you buy full fat Nido dry milk, that needs to be stored in the frig due to the fat content. Most dry milk is non fat - fat is what can go rancid in long term storage.
Jax, if you are using commercial Tuna Helper and use olive oil instead of butter, do NOT worry about adding in salt. You don't need it - TH is very, very high in sodium ;)
As for salted butter....I only buy unsalted. Once you get used to it (like a couple uses) you never miss the salt in it. Rather, you can taste the quality of the butter. You can make Ghee at home, which is clarified butter, which is highly shelf stable. Perfect for backpacking.
I carried a small plastic jar of ghee on my Hundred Mile Wilderness hike last month. I added it to each evening meal for calories and flavor. Mine was store bought and lasted through 10 days in Sept. in Maine without going rancid.
squirrel bait
10-17-2008, 23:11
Always remember with ghee to keep all moisture out of it. Keep covered when opening in the rain, no dipping wet utensils in the container and that sort of thing. Water bad for ghee.
Ghee properly stored (ie...no moisture) should be good for at least a year once opened.
JaxHiker
10-18-2008, 21:12
Hmm, I'll have to check out this ghee stuff. Like all this it's new to me.
The more I think about this tuna helper I did the more worried I get that it's going to make me sick. I think I'm going to pitch this and make a new batch leaving the tuna out until I rehydrate.
Pokey2006
10-18-2008, 22:32
I'd definitely toss it. I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard from more than one that dehydrated tuna is just nasty. There's apparently something about it that doesn't rehydrate well.
It's inevitable that you'll end up tossing out some of your experiments. Don't fret over it too much.
Remember, too, that with a dehydrator, you can make almost anything. You don't have to be stuck with powered flavorings and box meals. Try making something homemade. Or even just spaghetti and sauce.
Pokey2006
10-18-2008, 22:35
Oh, and as for worrying about stuff going rancid...I usually store my dehydrated meals in the freezer until ready to use. That way, they're only at room temp for a few days, at most. Doesn't help much if you're mailing stuff ahead of time for a thru, but it works if you're dehydrating stuff for weekend trips.
trouthunter
10-18-2008, 23:42
Isn't every thing in tuna helper already dehydrated?
Just repackage and add tuna from the foil pack as suggested in an earlier thread.
I do it all the time, except I use fresh fish with my meals.
You guys are making me hungry!:o
skinewmexico
10-19-2008, 00:17
Isn't every thing in tuna helper already dehydrated?
Just repackage and add tuna from the foil pack as suggested in an earlier thread.
I was thinking the same thing.
Well, this isn't really specific to tuna helper, but that's my immediate concern. I'm a first-time dehydrator as of last night. I love tuna helper and thought I might try that on my next hike instead of MH foods. I made up some tettrazini last night and put it on overnight for about 7 hours.
Since it's fish, how do you know you're done? The pasta was very hard, as was the tuna itself. I guess my point of concern is that my fingers got greasy as I broke it up to bag it. I tried blotting it with a paper towel and didn't get anything off, though. I just don't want to have it go rancid while I'm on the trail or in the days before and them I'm stuck with nothing to eat.
The weight saving from dehydrating tuna helper is minimal at best. Just carry the dry ingredients, and add a pouch of tuna when cooking them on the trail. Five minutes in boiling water and another five with a jacket or sweater or cozy covering the hot concoction saves all the time and cost of dehydrating and getting the food to the trail, as well as worries about its safety.
Weary
fiddlehead
10-19-2008, 01:17
But, those foil packs are not lightweight.
I think perhaps you could dehydrate the tuna itself and then rehydrate it when you cook the tuna helper on the trail.
Many people dry fish here in Asia and i don't see why you couldn't dry tuna also. Would take some work but should save many ounces, especially if you eat it a lot.
Was just talking to some world travelers who have lived on their yacht for 14 years and we talked about the similarities with long distance backpacking. They catch or buy a lot of fish and dry what they cannot eat quickly (they live without refrigeration)
They say the worst part about no refrigeration is learning to drink warm beer.
Of course, here in the tropics, we just dry it in the sun. easy.
fiddlehead
10-19-2008, 01:18
...
Something I did while on the trail was Ramen (minus the spice pack), a foil package of chunked chicken (7oz) and a slice off the cheddar cheese block. relatively light weight...cheap...and YUMM!
NorseWoman
10-19-2008, 05:46
I dehydrate tuna (packed in water) and I've had no problems rehydrating it and it tastes fine to me, maybe tuna packed in oil is the nasty kind
Nana
JaxHiker
10-19-2008, 13:37
Isn't every thing in tuna helper already dehydrated?
Well, the downside (other than having to carry the powdered milk and oil) is that I have a very small pan that fits my Snow Peak mug. It's not really conducive to mixing a full batch of the stuff. That's why I figure if I fix it at home and just rehydrate on the trail I can manage it in qt size bags. Also, as it's been mentioned the packs are heavy.
I might shift gears and do spaghetti for now. I have the sauce so I just need to make some more noodles.
Thx everyone!
Well, the downside (other than having to carry the powdered milk and oil) is that I have a very small pan that fits my Snow Peak mug. It's not really conducive to mixing a full batch of the stuff. That's why I figure if I fix it at home and just rehydrate on the trail I can manage it in qt size bags. Also, as it's been mentioned the packs are heavy.
I might shift gears and do spaghetti for now. I have the sauce so I just need to make some more noodles.
Thx everyone!
I carry at least a 1.5 liter pot to avoid such hassles. A larger pot also helps to keep me and my gear cleaner, and provides boiled water for use when suspicious water appears the next day. An extra 2 ounces is a good trade off for such convenience.
Weary
Sure, tuna dries up easy. Just get as good as you can - Albacore and a good brand - water packed. Dry on a day when you can open all the windows - it does get stinky ;)
As for oil packed? It is actually very good tasting if you get it in olive oil. Yum.......but no, it is not what you want to dry ;)
JaxHiker
10-19-2008, 22:42
Weary, tried responding earlier, let's see if this works.
I do have a GSI set that I could probably use to take for a larger pan. Only concern is weight. I'll have to throw it on the scale to see what it would do to me. You have a good point about the convenience factor though.
Maybe I'll try the tuna by itself instead of in the dish and then mix them on the trail. We only buy it in the water not the oil so that's not an issue.
JaxHiker
10-23-2008, 09:56
Ok, last night the wife made some Mexican and we had leftovers. I threw it in the dehydrator and checked on it this morning. Looks good and I feel much better eating that. We'll see how it is this weekend when I hit the trail.
flemdawg1
10-23-2008, 11:39
Isn't every thing in tuna helper already dehydrated?
Just repackage and add tuna from the foil pack as suggested in an earlier thread.
I do it all the time, except I use fresh fish with my meals.
You guys are making me hungry!:o
That's what I'm thinking. The instructions are normally, bring to boil, simmer 10mins. Basically you can FBC this by, adding boiling water to a freezer bag w/ noodles, sauce mix, dry milk (use 1/3 the called for liquid milk amount + all the water), olive oil (instead of butter), a pouch of tuna, then cozy it for 15-20 min.
JaxHiker
10-23-2008, 13:15
Ok, I might have to FBC the whole meal. I need to swing by Wal-Mart tonight so I'll pick up some nonfat powdered milk.
Farr Away
10-25-2008, 21:47
Ok, I might have to FBC the whole meal. I need to swing by Wal-Mart tonight so I'll pick up some nonfat powdered milk.
You may not like the noodles cooked that way, so you might want to try at home first.
Unless I precook and dehydrate the noodles, they taste 'gluey' to me. If I precook them, when I drain and rinse, I get rid of the 'pastyness'.
JaxHiker
10-26-2008, 21:08
Good idea. I've heard of the need to pre-cook the noodles before. I ended up just going with the pre-packaged meals this trip. I need to try the stuff first before I depend on it on the trail. Just more reason to plan another trip. :)
randyg45
10-26-2008, 21:24
I've often partially dehydrated hamburger (blotted and dried until semi-stiff) and kept it for two weeks in August by vaccuum-packaging it after I dried it.
Let me jump in late on this thread:
I love tuna Helper (and Stroganoff Helper for that matter)
I find, with the Freezer Bag cooking method, that the sauce doesn't thicken like it does on the stove top, with a five minute simmer. Typically, I use a half package at a time and around 1 1/2 cup of water.
I do precook the pasta and then dehydrate it, since I found the noodles to remain crunchy if I didn't. I also dehydrate the tuna to save weight.
Any ideas to help the sauce thing?
Grinder
Farr Away
10-27-2008, 13:06
...
Any ideas to help the sauce thing?
Grinder
Less water? Some mashed potato flakes? (Not a lot, maybe a couple tablespoons).