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  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo L. View Post
    I'm everything but a great cook, but being a temporary single houshold, I thought this would be a perfect time to test one of the home-dried deliciousies my wife had made. It was Spaghetti with Bluecheese and Garlic Sauce (including Olive oil)
    This was one of the meals I was a bit concerned of the expiry date, and were the reason I've started this thread ~3 weeks ago.
    So I just opened the Ziplock bag, poured approx. 300ml boiling water in, and let it soak for 15 minutes.
    The Spaghetti rehydrated to a really perfect "bite", and the sauce was tasty, but there was way too much water so the whole look&feel, the consistency, was completely off.
    Which now leads me to the above question.

    OK, so I not only have to sign the packs with what is in them, but also note the amount of water needed, as far as I've found out by experience.

    @Walter:
    Same here, from almost every trip I bring back one or two unused dinner packs. Always calculating a bit too much, food-wise.
    I like your idea of the Brown Rice blending.

    Like I said, sometimes you end up with spaghetti soup.
    76 HawkMtn w/Rangers
    14 LHHT
    15 Girard/Quebec/LostTurkey/Saylor/Tuscarora/BlackForest
    16 Kennerdell/Cranberry-Otter/DollyS/WRim-NCT
    17 BearR
    18-19,22 AT NOBO 1562.2
    22 Hadrian's Wall
    23 Cotswold Way

  2. #22
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    There will be an opportunity to get a reasonable priced vacuum sealer in a local shop tomorrow.
    Is there any feature or technical data I should be aware of?

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo L. View Post
    There will be an opportunity to get a reasonable priced vacuum sealer in a local shop tomorrow.
    Is there any feature or technical data I should be aware of?

    Getting it for a Christmas present was a nice feature.

    The availability and and price of bags or rolls may be a consideration.
    76 HawkMtn w/Rangers
    14 LHHT
    15 Girard/Quebec/LostTurkey/Saylor/Tuscarora/BlackForest
    16 Kennerdell/Cranberry-Otter/DollyS/WRim-NCT
    17 BearR
    18-19,22 AT NOBO 1562.2
    22 Hadrian's Wall
    23 Cotswold Way

  4. #24

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    Play around with different types of bags you can seal with vacuum sealer. I can seal ziplocks with mine. I also have stash of old MRE bags which are super heavy duty plastic. I can reseal them with my sealer. Amazon has bags for a lot less than at Walmart. Amazon also sells O2 absorber packs. Just remember that when you get them you need to reseal them before you store them or they will go bad.

  5. #25
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    Thanks!
    According to your advice, we got a set of bags that fit to the machine, too.
    At the first glimpse the device is on the brink of crap, but will give it a try anyway.

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hosh View Post
    I have found that it's better to use canned chicken or pressure cook your own. Regular chicken dries really, really hard and takes forever to re-hydrate. For both tuna and chicken, I use a food processor or blender to pulverize the meats. Taste remains the same, but re-hydration is much faster, softer.
    ive bought freeze dried chicken to go with dehydrated meals.

  7. #27
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    Well, tried the vacuum sealer and it works very fine.
    The resulting food bags are much less clumsy than any other food container I've seen so far, and due to the vacuum there is no food odor on the outside (at least nothing my nose coud detect)
    Highly recommended.

  8. #28
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    I had the same question. I'm planning in doing the same but more so meats. My plan is to do some meals with leftovers the rest dried meats and veg. Planning on more meat only so I can add to Knor sides to save on drop boxes. Thinking dubble up on meat and veg's in drop boxes for less to buy when town and to add to the verity. Going SOBO in 2019, so I still Have a while to play around trying new ideas. Did one last night 4 cheese resoto with pulled pork loin and baby portobella wasn't to bad. Good as any store bought meal cost about $2.50. As for knowing how much water you just have to play with it to your taste. Some things are better pre-soaked, like add water at lunch to soak for dinner.

  9. #29
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    We have some mixed experiences with rehydrating meat. If cut in not tiny enough chunks, and depending on the specific kind of meat, it didn't rehydrate too well, and left us with a soup (a tastey one) with crunchy meatpieces swimming in.
    After all we tend to go vegetarian mostly, not by religion, but for the simplicity of it.

  10. #30
    Registered User Hikes in Rain's Avatar
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    If you're using ground meat, Chef Glen (http://www.backpackingchef.com/) recommends adding bread crumbs, half a cup per pound, prior to cooking. It's suppose to help a lot in rehydrating. Mind, I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds good, and he can cook better than I.

  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Two more miles View Post
    I had the same question. I'm planning in doing the same but more so meats. My plan is to do some meals with leftovers the rest dried meats and veg. Planning on more meat only so I can add to Knor sides to save on drop boxes. Thinking dubble up on meat and veg's in drop boxes for less to buy when town and to add to the verity. Going SOBO in 2019, so I still Have a while to play around trying new ideas. Did one last night 4 cheese resoto with pulled pork loin and baby portobella wasn't to bad. Good as any store bought meal cost about $2.50. As for knowing how much water you just have to play with it to your taste. Some things are better pre-soaked, like add water at lunch to soak for dinner.
    New to this; do you recommend pre-soaking whole wheat spaghetti noodles?

  12. #32
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    I was looking at the Mountain House Meals in the store and bust out laughing when I read the expiration date. "Good through October 2046". I was wondering how they figured they were good through September and not October??

  13. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by Odd Man Out View Post
    I was looking at the Mountain House Meals in the store and bust out laughing when I read the expiration date. "Good through October 2046". I was wondering how they figured they were good through September and not October??
    They figured that when they realized that if they didn't put a month that customers would call and ask.

  14. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo L. View Post
    We have some mixed experiences with rehydrating meat. If cut in not tiny enough chunks, and depending on the specific kind of meat, it didn't rehydrate too well, and left us with a soup (a tastey one) with crunchy meatpieces swimming in.
    After all we tend to go vegetarian mostly, not by religion, but for the simplicity of it.
    This is mostly my experience as well with re hydrating meat. My solution is leave out the meat (almost always chicken) and carry the extra weight of 3 oz canned chicken. This will only be for night one or two after my start or resupply, due to the weight. After that is all vegetarian.

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hikes in Rain View Post
    If you're using ground meat, Chef Glen (http://www.backpackingchef.com/) recommends adding bread crumbs, half a cup per pound, prior to cooking. It's suppose to help a lot in rehydrating. Mind, I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds good, and he can cook better than I.
    I highly recommend this website and his book. he goes into pretty good detail about how to prepare meat and dry it, as well as storage and rehydrating. I learned a lot from him and have since made my own recipes and stuff. In my experience, the vegetables keep for a long while. I also use Mason jars and vac seal them. It seems every week or so, I am going through my fridge and either using for drying whatever vegetables didn't get used.

    I food dehydrator, even a cheap one, will work wonders for you, but the oven will work just fine if you are ok with using the electricity and warming up the house.

    I haven't had much luck with dehydrated chicken. I recommend purchasing the freeze dried kind like Ethesis suggested.

    Noodles, ramen, and rice are easy additions. Dried bell peppers and onions are my favorite and add a ton of flavor. As do dried tomato slices. I look forward to every meal I make.

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