PDA

View Full Version : Freeze dried Meat



thunderbolt1971
05-14-2012, 06:50
Does anyone have any experience using freeze dried meat with standard hiker meals? (Velveeta shells and cheese, stove top stuffing, Lipton dinners,etc...) Does the amount of water need to be increased in order to properly reconstitute the meat or do you just throw in with the meal right away? Looking forward to hearing from people whom have tried it.

RedBeerd
05-14-2012, 07:25
Ill be doing this on an upcoming LT thru. I am just going to repackage the meals in ziplocs and add in freeze dried chicken I bought. If the meal calls for 2 cups ill just add a little more until i get it right. Ive read a tip on here about carrying instant mashed potatoes to use as a filler if you add in too much water.

Grinder
05-14-2012, 10:31
I use my own dried meats. Freeze dried would rehydrate even better/faster.

I like to boil for a bit, rather than just adding boiling water. Sauces thicken and meat is tenderer that way.

Based on Mountain House meals, this isn't needed with freeze dried.

I'd like to know what Mountain House uses for their sauce thickener.

peakbagger
05-14-2012, 10:56
I used to buy bulk dehydrated chicken and bought dehydrated veggies from the same source (out of buiness). My standard meal was a lipton rice meal with the chicken and veggies dumped in after simmering for a couple of minutes. I would the pot sit for few minutes and everything was rehydrated. I didnt add any extra water.

Stir Fry
05-14-2012, 11:18
I use Mountain House freezed dryed Hamburger and Chicked. Rehydrates easley tasts great. Add to any thing. It's the only thisg I do a mail drop for. Get the #10 cans and your set for a 3 to 4 week section, Im planing on 5 cans Hamburger and 3 Chicken for my thru in 2014. Great with Hamburger helper, Chicken helper, Mac. and cheese. Any of the Korr sides, and Tacos. get smaller quanity from packit Gourmet. They sell as small as 2oz I think.

Stir Fry
05-14-2012, 11:19
Hers the site http://www.packitgourmet.com/

QiWiz
05-14-2012, 13:49
I buy the Mountain House freeze dried beef, chicken, peas, and corn - in the large #10 cans. I then repackage these into small individual meal packets with combos of beef/corn, beef/peas, chicken/corn; chicken/peas using a vacuum sealer. I use about 1/4 cup each of meat and veggies. I add these to my hot water then add a carb (couscous, mashed potatoes, rice side, pasta side, stuffing mix, mac&cheese, etc) with some olive oil and seasonings to make a tasty meal with more vegetables and protein and flavor. To my palate, these are much tastier (and less expensive) than the prepackaged backpacker meals. Have done this for years and find it gives me dinners to look forward to. Can send the packets to yourself in resupply boxes if on an extended trip.

BobTheBuilder
05-14-2012, 14:02
Dehydrated ground beef works great and rehydrates nicely in a freezer bag meal. A couple of things - First, use the leanest ground beef you can get, then brown it completely and makes sure it is broken down into small pieces. (Picture the beef you get at Taco Bell.) Second, put the cooked ground beef in a collander and rinse thoroughly under hot water. This is to remove any leftover fat, as that is what goes rancid. Finally, put the ground beef crumbles in your regular dehydrator. When they are hard like gravel, they are done. Rehydrate with hot water and they are great trail food.

FarmerChef
05-14-2012, 14:39
As far as water is concerned you don't have to add extra water but you may want to experiment a bit to make sure your sauce or texture still comes out like you want. Adding too much water at the beginning is the biggest issue.

As far as how to prepare it: I use my own dried meats in our meals but it's functionally the same. The only difference might be that the freeze dried method produces a product that rehydrates faster. To that end, I keep my meat separate from the rest of the meal and "presoak" it before I add the other items. By presoak, I mean that I take the amount of water I think I'll need for the meal and place it in my pot cold. Then I add the meat and let it sit for 5-10 minutes depending on how hungry we are. Even cold soaked these will rehydrate and it saves some fuel. It also prevents you from having tender noodles but crunchy ground beef or soft ground beef and noodle paste.

Of course, it takes longer and I build in enough time to cook dinner at the end of the day. If you just want to pull in and fire up the stove and eat in 10 minutes then pre-soaking might not be the way to go. In fact, I did this for quite some time. In my experience, you want to add the protein first, let it rehydrate a bit and then throw in your noodles, rice, sauce packet, etc. For what it's worth, I cook with dehydrated ground beef, ground chicken, scrambled eggs (still meat in my book), fish, crab and shrimp while on the trail and either of these two methods can make a satisfactory meal.

Wil
05-15-2012, 01:46
Dehydrated ground beef works great and rehydrates nicely in a freezer bag meal. A couple of things - First, use the leanest ground beef you can get, then brown it completely and makes sure it is broken down into small pieces. (Picture the beef you get at Taco Bell.) Second, put the cooked ground beef in a collander and rinse thoroughly under hot water. This is to remove any leftover fat, as that is what goes rancid.I have been doing this for decades, with lots of onions and garlic in the ground beef, also browning sauce or something like Gravy Master or Bovril, and I flour it.

I depart from the standard method you describe in that I use 90% or even 85% lean ground beef rather that 93 or higher, and I do nothing to remove fat other than draining liquid while sauteing (I undercook just a bit). Fat makes it taste better. I also don't work at getting the dried mixture broken down into tiny bits. A few clumps adds a more interesting texture and the clumps are full of air passageways so the drying can be complete. I dry at 140 F until all trace of moisture is gone, plus 90 minutes. My bias is undercook and over-dry.

After drying I store the ground beef in vacuumed canning jars in the freezer, with moisture and oxygen removal packs. Once out of the freezer I have not seen or tasted or otherwise experienced any rancidity or other degradation in trips as long as a month and I would be confident up to about six weeks.

oldbear
05-15-2012, 04:23
"I'd like to know what Mountain House uses for their sauce thickener"
Grinder
Best guess : Modified corn starch
Here's Mountain House's nutrition link
http://mountainhouse.com/nutr.cfm

hunter121
05-15-2012, 04:58
this is really cool, I like here!
http://www.yourfinancehelper.com/article/today/act.jpg
http://www.yourfinancehelper.com/article/today/lk.jpg