Dried Ham

[PKH]

No doubt this has been done before. I just shredded a pound of lean cooked ham in my food processor and then dehydrated the stuff. Came out like "ham" hamburger. I've dried slices of ham before as a sort of jerky and while it's good to chew on it never reconstituted well enough for cooking. This shredded dried ham solves that problem nicely and I look forward to enlivening various pasta dishes. I'll pretty much use it like that other great staple, plain or spiced dried hamburger.

Cheers and Good Eating,

PKH

[jlb2012]

here in Virginia its common to find country ham slices, bits and pieces, etc. available in many stores - the stuff is fairly dry and needs no refridgeration. Dehydrated may be somewhat lighter but I suspect only 25 % or so. I can't say as I ever backpacked with it but I might think about it if I was wanting something different to eat.

[Goon]

I've seen the cubed ham in foil packs in the grocery store. Took some hiking with me once and it was great with instant potatoes and gravy.

Can't remember what brand.

[saimyoji]

I saw some "fully cooked, ready to eat" bacon at Giant (supermarket) today. 2.99 for 2.1 oz. Plastic shrink wrapped, looked pretty fatty.

[CynJ]

No doubt this has been done before. I just shredded a pound of lean cooked ham in my food processor and then dehydrated the stuff. Came out like "ham" hamburger. I've dried slices of ham before as a sort of jerky and while it's good to chew on it never reconstituted well enough for cooking. This shredded dried ham solves that problem nicely and I look forward to enlivening various pasta dishes. I'll pretty much use it like that other great staple, plain or spiced dried hamburger.

Cheers and Good Eating,

PKH

That ham thing sounds good! I know that if I am every going to get my hubby to backpack with me I am going to have to get good at preserving meat -he's really a meat&potatoes sort - not so into the pasta.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

PKH, thanks for the tip re: dehydrating shredded ham - I will give that a try. I've had the same experience with ham jerky being too tough to add to meals.

Re: ready to eat bacon - I carried this on our last trip. It was cut up into bite-size pieces and added to a four serving pack of four-cheese instant tators along with some powdered milk for extra protein. I didn't add any oil as I normally do because the bacon had plenty of fat. It was tasty and filling.

[SGT Rock]

I wonder if you took pulled smoked pork and dried it if you could re-hydrated enough o the trail to have smoked BBQ.

[sarbar]

The bags of bacon are soooo good! I like the idea for ham..that is a concept I'll have to put on my cooking site-thanks!!

[squirrel bait]

Yea, now your talking. Pulled pork, pack of Texas Pete, tortilla. Thats an easy lunch and fairly light wieght. I hope somebody has tried drying pulled pork and will let us know.

[Weeknd]

Beware as you take country ham with you. It may or may not be cooked. It will travel well but must be thoroughly cooked. I know of a family that moved to the south that was given some country ham for Christmas breakfast. They warmed it up but didn't cook it. Lets just say it wasn't a Merry Christmas. It is also extremely salty which may or may not be a good thing.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

I'll try drying some pulled pork during my next round of drying. I have a feeling it may not dry well because of the amount of fat in the meat so I'm also going to try some shredded pork loin (a less fatty cut). I'll let y'all know how it goes - may even get together with Sgt. Rock for some sampling

[PKH]

Absolutely, you must use cooked ham. And yes it will be very salty - often a good thing on a very hot and sweaty hike, but something to take into account when you're cooking.

PKH

[april2006]

The shredded ham works sooooo great. I tried it this week with the ham I got from work (Christmas bonus ). Takes a little bit of time to reconstitute, but not too much. I tried it in a pasta dish and it worked like a charm. Thanks PKH!!

[Blissful]

The bears are gonna love all this good food!!

[TooTall]

I saw some "fully cooked, ready to eat" bacon at Giant (supermarket) today. 2.99 for 2.1 oz. Plastic shrink wrapped, looked pretty fatty.

I tried a package of this last week just to see what it was about. 15 slices of pre cooked bacon in a plastic pouch that didn't require refrigeration. Oscar Mayer put paper in between every three slices of bacon which ups the weight of the pouch. Very tasty bacon which appeared to be about 1/2 fat. Expensive but might be worth taking on a hike just for a change of pace. The package also mentioned Canadian Bacon packaged in the same way but that wasn't being sold in the Shaws here in Concord.

Too Tall Paul

[sarbar]

I tried a package of this last week just to see what it was about. 15 slices of pre cooked bacon in a plastic pouch that didn't require refrigeration. Oscar Mayer put paper in between every three slices of bacon which ups the weight of the pouch. Very tasty bacon which appeared to be about 1/2 fat. Expensive but might be worth taking on a hike just for a change of pace. The package also mentioned Canadian Bacon packaged in the same way but that wasn't being sold in the Shaws here in Concord.

Too Tall Paul

The crumbled bacon is even better-Hormel sells it, as does a couple other brands. It comes in small packages, usually in the salad topping section (with the croutons). Put that stuff into pasta and it is so good......