dehydrating

[Pickleodeon]

I have a question about dehydrating. Could I dehydrate something with different textures and moistures, like say, a casserole, or spaghetti with sauce- (I saw Sarbar's example of comparing Mt House to her own foods) so what about like, macaroni with cream of mushroom, beef cubes, and carrots? If I were to make the casserole, could I dehydrate the whole thing? Or homemade mac and cheese with ham pieces and peas in it? Would the moisture content and textures be weird?

[gdwelker]

Yes, you can dehydrate casseroles, stews, lasagna, etc. Just make sure to do a couple of things:

1. Keep the fat/oil content as low as possible
2. After placing on the dehydrator trays, break up in small pieces to speed up drying and aid in drying uniformly. This will also help the food rehydrate more quickly and uniformly.

I routinely make a casserole for dinner, eat a portion, and dehydrate the other portion.

[theinfamousj]

^^ This. That's how I get all my backpacking meals. And I often dehydrate restaurant leftovers, so that can be done, too. Haven't rehydrated any of them yet (that's for the spring camping season) so cannot speak to rehydrating restaurant leftovers.

[Blue Jay]

Would the moisture content and textures be weird?

I would not say weird, but it is hard to get the texture exactly the way you like it. You have to experiment. Often it is better to separate components, dehydrate them and then mix them during heating and rehydrating.