trouble rehydrating foods

[ncmtns]

whenever I rehydrate my dehydrated veggies, fruits, meats, the food is chewy and almost tasteless. doesnt matter how long i boil it, it comes out the same. is this normal or am i doing something wrong? thanx, bill

[Pedaling Fool]

I throw my veggies/jerky (chicken/beef) in my water (cold water) that I boil for rice (add the rice after the water begins to boil). I don't have a problem with chewiness. However, dehydrated foods will never be rehydrated as they were prior to dehydration.

My meat/poultry can actually be fairly tender, but dehydrated stakes will never be like a juicy hot cooked steak. Just one of the hardships of the trail.

[Pedaling Fool]

whenever I rehydrate my dehydrated veggies, fruits, meats, the food is chewy and almost tasteless. doesnt matter how long i boil it, it comes out the same. is this normal or am i doing something wrong? thanx, bill
As for tasteless food; my dehydrated veggies has more flavor, especially tomatoes, because there is less water to dilute the taste. Maybe you are dehydrating too much, past the point of being pliable/leathery. I'm guessing.

[Two Speed]

Or boiling too much. Maybe investigate cozy cooking?

[Pedaling Fool]

Or boiling too much. Maybe investigate cozy cooking?
That is another possibility. I have experienced that when I was impatient while cooking my food.

[sarbar]

Small uniform pieces! And keep the water to a lower level if possible. The water does leach out flavors.
For example...go soak a couple Tablespoons of dried red bell pepper in equal amounts of cool water. After 15 to 30 minutes come back. The water still left behind will be deep red! So if you boil your veggies briskly in a ton of water....you just lost all that flavor.

If you are using the cooking water as part of your meal this is OK though - like adding a bunch of veggies to ramen water for example. Then your broth is deeper tasting.

But for most meals you can either do the FBC cozy way (where you know exactly how much water needs to be added to a dehydrated meal, add it and let it sit cozied for 15 minutes) or soak the veggies in a 1:1 ratio of dry food to water, then add to your meal.

[Pedaling Fool]

I throw my veggies/jerky (chicken/beef) in my water (cold water) that I boil for rice (add the rice after the water begins to boil). I don't have a problem with chewiness. However, dehydrated foods will never be rehydrated as they were prior to dehydration.

My meat/poultry can actually be fairly tender, but dehydrated stakes will never be like a juicy hot cooked steak. Just one of the hardships of the trail.
I should clairify how I cook my dehydrated stuff. I throw the dehydrated stuff in cold water, then heat up for the rice, once the water starts boiling (NOT a very robust boil, just barley some bubbles), then I throw in the rice, cover and simmer until done.

Like Two Speed says, boiling too much will make food a little tasteless.

[ncmtns]

thanx for all the replies, i will work on this. aint forums great?!

[Compass]

I have found that a 5-10 minute soak in warm or cold water before heating to boil will help with tenderness. It is almost like boiling to soon sets it so the water is trapped out. This is especially the case with dehydrated carrots.

[skinewmexico]

Most of my problems like that could be traced to over dehydrating.

[Sailor (The other one)]

We eat our large meal at lunch. Before we start hiking in the morning, we put that day's dehydrated meat and vegetables in a ziplock with some cold water. They rehydrate slowly while we walk. At lunch we cook them in whatever water is left with them, plus what ever amount we need for rice or noodles. I'm sure I learned this from someone else on WB.

[J-Rod]

Most of my problems like that could be traced to over dehydrating.

you can not over dehydrate ......could be what he is dehydrating ...some freezer items need to be cooks some befor they are dehydrated....also most fresh veggies will need to be half way cooked or what they call blanched befor dehydrating ...
here is a link to a site that will help you out...very good info on this site about dehydrating food


http://www.dehydrate2store.com/

[HeartFire]

I found that when my dehydrated fruits sat in the freezer for a year (vacuum sealed) they lost their flavor. But, any meals I made (not individual ingredients) re-hydrated and tasted like fresh cooking. I did not boil or simmer them, just put boiling water into the freezer bag and let them re-hydrate for a while. Rice does not need simmering, if it's been cooked and dehydrated, just add boiling water and let it sit.

[LaurieAnn]

I found that when my dehydrated fruits sat in the freezer for a year (vacuum sealed) they lost their flavor. But, any meals I made (not individual ingredients) re-hydrated and tasted like fresh cooking. I did not boil or simmer them, just put boiling water into the freezer bag and let them re-hydrate for a while. Rice does not need simmering, if it's been cooked and dehydrated, just add boiling water and let it sit.

That's why I tend to lean towards whole-meal dehydration. Plus it's easy to take leftover suppers from home and put them on the dehydrator. I use a wide mouth Nalgene or one of those screw-top Ziploc containers. When I add the boiling water the steam seems to create a bit of pressure that forces the water to be taken on by more difficult foods, such as chicken.