Freeze dried -vs- Dehydrated

[Frog123]

Hey Dave, (or anyone else)


Do you have any experience with freeze dried meals versus dehydrated one's on the trail? I've got a couple of dehydrators at the house for making deer jerky. I was thinking about drying some veggies and making up some items for the trail. I thought I'd check around and see what works and what doesn't and hopefully save myself a headache and some frustration.

Frog

[Lead pot]

Hi Frog>Well I dont take freeze dried food ,that usually freezes when I carry it HI.HI.But I do carry Jerky I dry in the oven at 150 deg for about five hours or so with the door open a little.It kind of filles the empty cavity if I dont find anything running around or swimming.Never tried the vegies but I think they would be tasty throne in the soup can with the rabit or bird.Lp.

[Frog123]

Hey Lead Pot,



I likes that jerky myself. I marinade my meat in the fridge for two or three days then spend an entire day making jerky. Luckily, I can carry the dehydrators to work with me and make it in the station during down time. Between my partner and myself we have had as many as five dehydrators going at the same time. I've made so much jerky that I once burnt up a fan motor on a dehydrator. I received one of those food saver 500 vacuum sealers for a B-day gift two years ago. Talk about handy. That's about the only thing that I have ever found that works almost as well as they advertise it to. I have dehydrated jerky then vacuum sealed it and stored it in back packs, dry boxes and ammo cans for two years with no noticeable change in flavor or pliability. A guy I work with son's in the Army in Germany right now. His wife made some cookies, we froze them then vacuum sealed them before mailing them over seas. I talked to him on the internet and he thanked me for packing 'em. he said they were still soft and moist when he received them over a week later.
       I'm wanting to dehydrate some vegetables. I figure I can mix some dehydrated veggies, a little chopped jerky and some powdered bullion in a small bag and fit it inside a canteen cup. Add a little water and heat it over an esbit stove with a trioxane bar and I'll have a little hot soup on the trail or in the duck blind.



Frog

[Lead pot]

Hay Frog I think Jerky is a good pack food It keeps good and it curbes the hunger.The way I make mine is I take what I call junk meat from the deers neck and front shoulder and trimmings from the ribs put my seasoning on the trimmings and course grind it,than I have a gun like a caulking gun and make flat strips and dry it.Gooood stuff.Lp.

[Frog123]

I've never tried to make it with ground meat. A buddy of mine on the Fire Dept. tried to make some once with a jerky kit like you described. He spent the whole day making jerky. I remember watching him strip the meat off the deer before putting it in some big rubber maid tubs before grinding and seasoning. When he finished, that deer was reduced to a hanging skeleton. You could've sold the thing to the museum of natural history for a anatomical display. I don't know what he did or didn't do but he used a kit like you described(big caulking gun, shoots flat strips onto a drying screen) He mixed the ingredieints and followed the instructions but something went wrong. After drying he placed the jerky in tupperware and ziplock bags and placed 'em in the refridgerator. In about three days all his jerky had turned rancid and soured. Leaving us both to figure out what went wrong. The only thing I can figure is he didn't get all the tallow off the meat and while ginding, it spread through the mixture. I know how fast deer tallow can spoil and this is the only thing I can think of.  He hasn't tried to make jerky with that thing since and has me pretty spooked to try it either.


Frog

[Catahoula]

We've used our dehydrator for years to make all of our trail meals.  Chowders, vegetable soups, and Jerkey are all great.  We've also found (through the suggestion of a friend) that browning and drying hamburger works great.  We've used it in soups and even plain old hamburger helper, and can't tell the difference from fresh ground.  We generally take a 7-10 day kayak trip each year, with lots of portages, so light weight is important to us.  Drying your own food is light, saves money, and usually tastes better than the backpacking meals sold in stores.

[Frog123]

Hey Catahoula,


You've got me interested in that dehydrated burger. Tell me more about it. How do you go about doing it? Aren't there concerns about the fats in it going rancid? How well does it keep?


Frog

[Catahoula]

Frog,
When drying hamburger, we start out making sure it's browned completely.  After that, we drain it well, put it in a pot of water, and bring it to a boil.  We let it boil for 2 minutes or so, then drain and rinse well.  This takes care of most of the fat.  Then it goes in the dehydrator for about 8 hours if I remember right.  We store it in zip lock bags.  We've kept it in the freezer for up to two weeks before packing it for a trip, and have had it in the field for 8-10 days with temps in the 70s with no problems.  We tried skipping the boiling process once, and the burger spoiled pretty quickly.  It's worked great for us, been using it for 4-5 years,  and the guy that suggested it to us has been doing longer than that.  Give it a try & let us know how it works for you.  Jeff & Carol