View Full Version : Non-canned chicken sources?
Jonnycat
08-30-2010, 08:34
So I have been using canned chicken for my FBC meals, after draining and dehydrating it, but the amount of "other than chicken" ingredients is leaving me less than happy.
So, I am looking at making some dried breasts that are more from scratch. Anyone done this?
I'm thinking of baking some breasts, letting them cool, then cutting them into thin strips, and dehydrating the strips.
The only catch is that I'm guessing the strips will have to be fairly thin, so perhaps I might end up needing one of those fancy slicer gizmos?
No need for anything fancy to cut chicken with other than a good, sharp knife.
Remove as much fat from the meat as you can befor baking it and blot up any that remains after drying so the meat will keep longer. Store it in the freezer until you are ready to use it.
You can dry canned meat. Tuna is best dried out on the porch though or it will make your house smell like a fish market.
Press as much moisture out of the meat and flake it onto a solid dryer sheet. Start out at high temp and reduce it as the meat dries. It will be crispy when done and not bendy like jerkey. Like all dried things, start with good quality meat for a better end result.
Allow a bit more time for the meat to rehydrate befor adding the rest of the ingredients to the pot but do not leave the meat to rehydrate all afternoon in a warm pack.
Although it is very expensive, freeze dried meats rehydrate quickly and evenly and are very good as a change of pace. The light weight leads me to save some for the last meals on the trail--I usually use up the heaviest food first.
Farr Away
08-30-2010, 11:32
I've tried drying my own baked chicken. It didn't rehydrate very well for me. It came out beyond chewy. YMMV.
I've heard that pressure-cooking chicken works better, but I don't have a pressure cooker.
I've tried drying my own baked chicken. It didn't rehydrate very well for me. It came out beyond chewy. YMMV.
I've heard that pressure-cooking chicken works better, but I don't have a pressure cooker.
Don't give up yet--the first time I dried meat I was sure I had discovered a new petrification formula.
I think the trick is to use high heat just until the pieces are well heated through and then keep decreasing the temp until it is quite dry all through each piece--test the biggest piece on the tray and check often.
Rehydrating with hot water is better and cooking it a bit befor adding other food, which reduces the water temp and sucks up a lot of water, will help as well.
A pressure cooker will help to tenderize raw meat and to cook beans and rice faster, thus saving fuel, and works at altitude. If you are on an expedition this makes sense, otherwise not so much.
Farr Away
08-30-2010, 13:52
Oh, I didn't mean using a pressure cooker on a hike. I meant to pressure cook the chicken before dehydrating it at home.
max patch
08-30-2010, 14:38
Just buy the chicken breast, chicken breast pieces, tuna, salmon in a pouch at the grocery and be done with it.
Jonnycat
08-30-2010, 17:16
I've tried drying my own baked chicken. It didn't rehydrate very well for me. It came out beyond chewy. YMMV.
I've heard that pressure-cooking chicken works better, but I don't have a pressure cooker.
Ah, interesting, thanks Farr. I do have a pressure cooker up in the attic somewhere, and I'll have to try that.
The canned chicken turns out great for rehydrating, but I don't know what kind of source it comes from, or if it is just comes from some kind of "ground and clumped" method.
How thick did you cut yours when you did it? I wonder if cutting it in paper-thin slices might help with the rehydration?
Hmmm....
Farr Away
08-31-2010, 10:59
I cut mine quite thin - maybe an eighth of an inch, and I'm sure I overdried it. (Paranoid that it would spoil.) From earlier threads on WB though, the consensus seemed to be that non-pressure cooked chicken would not rehydrate well.
Some of the canned chicken is quite good. My main objection to it is just that it's quite expensive.
-FA
Oh, I didn't mean using a pressure cooker on a hike. I meant to pressure cook the chicken before dehydrating it at home.
Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean you should carry one, only that people on long trips sometimes do.
As an aside, would a pressure cooker make a good bear resistant container? 2.5 lb for canister/3.5 for pressure cooker= 1 lb extra for dual use item, hmm...
I think that canned chicken may well have been 'pressure cooked' in the canning process, that is how I have done it at home when I used to raise chickens.
So, I meant to say that pressure cooking will help to tenderise.
Thin slicing across the grain will dry better but turns into mush when rehydrated--but still tastes good.
Another option, expensive but good, is chicken and turkey jerkey or tender bites--Jack Links or something I think. Also steak versions are good. They work well in cooked foods but beware of additives.
Jonnycat
08-31-2010, 16:29
I cut mine quite thin - maybe an eighth of an inch, and I'm sure I overdried it. (Paranoid that it would spoil.) From earlier threads on WB though, the consensus seemed to be that non-pressure cooked chicken would not rehydrate well.
Some of the canned chicken is quite good. My main objection to it is just that it's quite expensive.
-FA
Thanks Farr, I appreciate that. I also dry the heck out of my meats, so I'll need a method that allows for that.
I've only used the pressure cooker for canning, so I'll have to come up with a method for using to actually cook. Maybe some kind of roaster deal with an upper porous tray, and a catch dish to collect the fat and water. Maybe cutting it up before cooking would work, too, I dunno.
Canned chicken tastes great, but my main problem with it is all the phosphates they put in; that really messes with me after I eat six ounces of the stuff.
www.wildernessdining.com I buy my freeze dried meats from them--a small package makes several meals. Its not the same as packing in an envelope of chicken (or tuna or whatever), but it is nice for freezer bag cooking--one less thing to do when you are prepping the meals.
Jonnycat
08-31-2010, 19:35
Aye, thanks Gumball. I was looking at packitgourmet.com the other day, they have a similar price structure for the FD chicken.
It's $40 for a pound, with 2oz being equivalent to 7oz of raw chicken, so it's about $5.00 a meal (which is about the same as the burger I cook turns out to be).
I'd still like to do some myself, though. I'm funny like that.
Dry a jumbo can o' chicken from Costco or similar - cuts the cost down. The salt also helps in preserving it.