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25 thoughts on “Dehydrating Foods for Backcountry Camping Meals”

  1. jwdyss:
    I can’t compare units as I have used only one. It sells for $130 (Cdn). You can find them used on E-bay, Craigslist, Kijiji for much less.
    We use ours ONLY for camping meals. If you add up the cost of commercial, freeze-dried camping meals, the unit will pay for itself in a week’s worth of camping meals for 2 people. After that, you’re saving money.
    As for books, you don’t need one. It will come with a manual.
    Get one at Walmart or Costco and you can return it if you? don’t like it.

  2. I just recently found your videos on dehydrating food. I’m a canoeist too, I live in southern Florida. I am a complete novice to dehydrating food. Don’t know where to start. ? I don’t know if I would use one for much more than my canoe/camping trips. I might make fruit snacks for myself on a more regular basis. Nesco or Excalibur. Doesn’t make sense to spend 3 and 400 dollars on something I may only use for camping trips. I would appreciate your advice on units and/or books. Thank you!

  4. There’s no need to be too precise about it. We just add enough to cover the dehydrated material with water and that’s usually about right, except for soups or sauces. Just add more as needed. We’ve never had to pour any excess water? off.
    A good practice is to rehydrate a meal or portion at home to see how much you need. This will also teach you how long it takes for it to rehydrate. Things rehydrate faster if you use hot water and let it sit in a covered or insulated container.
    – Martin

  5. How do you determine how much water to use for rehydration? Is it a matter of checking before? and after weight or do you just wing it and pour off the excess?

  6. I do remember? those old Environment Canada commercials from the 70’s. And you’re right, my opening bird song (the white-throated sparrow) is reminiscent of the little bit of flute music as the start of those commercials. Just a coincidence though. You can find those old Hinterland Who’s Who spots on YouTube.
    Cheers,
    – Martin

  8. Freezing worked. I just set it so it was really cold but not frozen and the apple sauce peeled off in sections. Not pretty like your Mrs’s roll up but it salvaged the roll up? and cleaned the tray so I have little wash up to do.

  10. Oops. I forgot the Pam. I’ll never forget again. Freezing the? tray now to see if that will help separate the apple sauce from the tray.

  16. Thanks for saying that. She keeps threatening to cut it and I keep imploring her to keep? it long. So far, I’ve been winning.
    Cheers,
    – Martin

  18. Thanks for recommending that FlashGeiger. We don’t have a precise food scale, so we’ve never done this. We’ve found that such a degree of precision isn’t required, but doing it as you suggest takes any guesswork out, so I would recommend it to anyone who already owns a precise food? scale.
    Cheers,
    – Martin

  19. Re rice. I’ve recently found brown Minute Rice ™ in the store (oh, the horror) It does need? to be boiled for a few minutes, but it’s way better than the white stuff and is backpacking friendly.

  20. What I’ve done is to measure my serving and weigh it. Then put it? on a tray of the dehydrator until done. Then I weigh the dehydrated product and pack. If it lost 350 g of weight tthen I rehdrate with 350 ml of water.

  24. Aluminum foil will inhibit air flow.? A better option would be to do what another said in the comments below. I’ll quote:
    “Another idea for […] screens is ‘plastic canvas’ that is used for crafts/needlepoint projects. A sheet that will fit your dehydrator runs about $1 at a craft store, and you can cut it to fit. I’ve got ground beef? and beef jerky in my dehydrator right now.”
    I’ve not tried this myself, but it sounds like an effective and very inexpensive solution.
    Hope this helps,
    -Martin

  25. I Have a stainless steal dehydrator but no way to do small? stuff, could I put foil on my trays they are about quarter inch squares?

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