Author Topic: Producing my own trekking food  (Read 4663 times)

Linea_Norway

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Producing my own trekking food
« on: April 20, 2019, 04:01:12 AM »
Today I started production of a new batch for this summer's hiking trips. I have made my own trekking food before twice, with varying results. Sometimes very good, othertimes not so good. So now I want to use these experiences to male this batch good again.

My goal is to have bags with double portions (me and DH) to which we can add boiling water, wait for 15 minutes, and eat it. We have selfmade a "cosy" for the cooking pan, in which we can keep the food warm. We can also take the pan out and put on the stove if the food gets too cold.

From my previous experiences:
- no egg plant. It will become bitter, with or without the skin.
- no meat frying in the drying machine. I will do like the first time: precook in frying pan on very low heat. Then dry on low temperature.
- all vegetables need precooking, or steaming.
- chunks of vegetable don't become soft. So carrots need to be grated instead of chopped.

My plan is to make the following dishes:
- reindeer stew
- chicken curry, with turkey instead of chicken
- pasta with tomatosaus
- kale with mashed potatoes and minced meat
- fu yong hai with omelet
- broccoli/kale with spices, to go with self caught fish (to be caught on trip)
- cod stew (fish to be caught on trip)
- nasi ramas with turkey
- minced meat with some nice spices (to be defined)

For basic material, I just use what is available of very short cooked rice, pasta or couscous.
Also for brown sauce, I buy a sachet of commercial sauce. But tomato sauce, I made myself.

For meats, I have bought reindeer meat in thin slices, turkey bread topping in thin slices and minced meat with 5% fat.

Currently I have steamed broccoli in tiny pieces in the drying machine, on sheets. On another sheet, the green parts of spring union, which I got for free by putting the white parts of a bunch of spring union in a glass of water. I also have steamed chilipepper in the dryer.
Two racks of steamed mushrooms are standing in the sun to dry, because I want the rest of the veggies in the machine to dry sooner, without the wet mushrooms.
I have steamed lots of red pepper and a few squash, as well as very finely cut kale. After this, I will do the carrots and the turkey slices, after that the minced meat.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 12:35:56 AM by Linea_Norway »

AMandM

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2019, 08:52:21 AM »
My husband is starting to plan a backpacking trip for this summer, so I'm very interested in this topic and would love more details.

I'm guessing, based on the German "dampfen," that damping food means steaming it.

Is your basic procedure to steam all the ingredients separately, then dry them, then put them into bags with spices?
Do you dry the tomato sauce, too? How does that work?

Thanks!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2019, 12:34:11 AM »
My husband is starting to plan a backpacking trip for this summer, so I'm very interested in this topic and would love more details.

I'm guessing, based on the German "dampfen," that damping food means steaming it.

Is your basic procedure to steam all the ingredients separately, then dry them, then put them into bags with spices?
Do you dry the tomato sauce, too? How does that work?

Thanks!

Yes,I meant steaming.
I only steam the vegetables. The meat is put in a frying pan without oil and mostly treated to get warm/cooked and get some water out. The rice, pasta or other basic materials are added like they are. I use 3 minute cooking rice and pasta.

Yes, I steam and dry all ingredients seperately in bigger quantities. When all is done, I make the bags and take from the ingridients what I need. Then I add the spices that fit with the dish. Apart from the tomato sauce where I add the flavours before I dry them.
The risk of adding flavours with being able to taste the dish, is that the dish doesn't have enough flavour. That is why we allways bring a bag of taco spices, or when we can take more weight, a jar with grinder of mixed spices. We also bring extra salt. When you hike, you sweat more and loose more salt. Good to have some extra in case the dish wasn't salt enough.
As a flavour instead of salt, I often add stock powder to the bags.

For tomato sauce, I use one can of diced tomatoes and a smaller jar of tomato puree. Put it in a wok. I add the flavours and dried herbs to the sauce until it tastes well. Then I reduce the sauce until it is about half the size and I don't see much wetness. You need to stirr well, because it has a tendency to stick. When it feels solud enough, I put it in the food dryer. I use a standard try with a sheet of anti stick baking material on top. That works with both anti stick baking paper or with anti stick sheets.
The sauce goes over several trays and is smeared out as thinly as possible. Then just drying like the other ingredients. When it is dry, it hangs together. I tear it into small pieces and add to the bags.

AMandM

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2019, 09:39:40 AM »
Thank you so much, Linda. That is very helpful. I have a food dehydrator ($5 at a garage sale!) already. I think I will make a few trial packets as a surprise for my husband. It's the sort of project he'd be enthusiastic about in principle but would find overwhelming in practice.

bacchi

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2019, 09:47:34 AM »
I've always used the cheap dried mix for tomato sauce with some self-dehydrated mushrooms and garlic and onions. I also dehydrate apple slices (and fresh apples last a while, too, if they're packed well).

But your menu sounds a lot more varied and delicious than what I eat most of the time (rice&beans and cous-cous with nuts).

stoaX

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #5 on: May 03, 2019, 02:28:22 PM »
My plan is to make the following dishes:
- reindeer stew
- chicken curry, with turkey instead of chicken
- pasta with tomatosaus
- kale with mashed potatoes and minced meat
- fu yong hai with omelet
- broccoli/kale with spices, to go with self caught fish (to be caught on trip)
- cod stew (fish to be caught on trip)
- nasi ramas with turkey
- minced meat with some nice spices (to be defined)



Wow!  My meals and snacks on the trail are so lame compared to this.  I gotta up my game!  Thanks for sharing.

El_Viajero

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2019, 07:58:33 AM »
Personally (and I'm a very avid backpacker who does long trips), I try to keep it simple with food. My general opinion on backpacking food is that prepping for a trip and managing your gear in the backcountry is a challenge in and of itself. Therefore, make the food part as easy as possible. If you're putting in some good miles, you won't care how fancypants your food is at the end of the day. You'll just be happy for whatever it is you've got.

First of all, two words: Harmony House

They sell dehydrated everything in large quantities. It sounds like you're more ambitious with the prep work, though, so a dehydrator may be the way to go.

A Cliff bar or two in the morning is way easier than preparing food and it gets me on the trail sooner so that I can cover more ground. If I do choose to cook in the morning, which is nice during the cold season, straight up instant oatmeal with a little brown sugar, nuts, and raisins is easy and yummy. Put some powdered milk in there for creaminess.

Like coffee? Instant coffee is easy and requires no additional (heavy) machinery. It ain't Italian espresso, but hey – we're in the woods, not Milan. After your outing, "real" coffee will taste just that much better.

For lunch, make your own favorite GORP combo. Eat it on the go or at little breaks.

For dinner, instant polenta (grits), couscous, angel hair pasta, etc. along with some nuts + savory seasonings and dehydrated veggies from Harmony House is the way to go.

Also: the above recommendations are super duper lightweight.

Goldielocks

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2019, 05:52:06 PM »
I have been dehydryating my backpacking food for a couple of years now.
I like to dehydrate a stewed chicken (with herbs and salt), and use the shredded meat to make a variety of dinners. I mix up dry seasonings  / plan starches in the week before the trip. 

Chicken for dinner 2 out of 3 days.   
The only casserole that works for me is backpacking chili, dehydrated after cooking as chili.   
Ground beef is a bit nicer in casserole form, rather than dried straight. 
I also make Jerky and dried fruits, and pre cook / dehydrate  my pasta and rice.

I was using my oven, but recently picked up a round (basic) dehydrator at the thrift store for $10.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2019, 12:59:11 AM »
I have been dehydryating my backpacking food for a couple of years now.
I like to dehydrate a stewed chicken (with herbs and salt), and use the shredded meat to make a variety of dinners. I mix up dry seasonings  / plan starches in the week before the trip. 

Chicken for dinner 2 out of 3 days.   
The only casserole that works for me is backpacking chili, dehydrated after cooking as chili.   
Ground beef is a bit nicer in casserole form, rather than dried straight. 
I also make Jerky and dried fruits, and pre cook / dehydrate  my pasta and rice.

I was using my oven, but recently picked up a round (basic) dehydrator at the thrift store for $10.

@Goldielocks
How exactly do you do that chicken? You stew the whole chicken in the oven with some fluid until it is done? Or in a stew bag? And how small pieces do you cut it in?

I have tried cutting chicken breasts in extremely small bits and frying them to that they were done (not raw) and dried these. I thought they were a bit clumpy. I have stopped using that sort of meat, because my method didn't work.
What I've done now is using slices of chicken or turkey bread topping and drying those. But they don't get so very tender either after rehydrating. I would love to hear a better method.

AMandM

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2019, 07:06:20 AM »
I've got a pouch of past with sausage and tomato sauce and a pouch of veggies and pork with rice, ready for DH's little trip next week. It was a surprise for him and he was thrilled, so thank you again, Linea!

How do you know how much water to put in? Do you just eyeball it or is there a rule of thumb of some kind?

As an aside, I feel like I should confess to being an idiot. I have believed for ages that your username was Linda_Norway. I only just noticed it is actually Linea.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2019, 07:22:00 AM »
I've got a pouch of past with sausage and tomato sauce and a pouch of veggies and pork with rice, ready for DH's little trip next week. It was a surprise for him and he was thrilled, so thank you again, Linea!

How do you know how much water to put in? Do you just eyeball it or is there a rule of thumb of some kind?

As an aside, I feel like I should confess to being an idiot. I have believed for ages that your username was Linda_Norway. I only just noticed it is actually Linea.

We eyeball the amount of water. Rether start with too little then too much. In the last case, you just get soup.

I changed my user name, to be a little more anonymous. Changed just one letter.

Goldielocks

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2019, 11:45:32 AM »
I have been dehydryating my backpacking food for a couple of years now.
I like to dehydrate a stewed chicken (with herbs and salt), and use the shredded meat to make a variety of dinners. I mix up dry seasonings  / plan starches in the week before the trip. 

Chicken for dinner 2 out of 3 days.   
The only casserole that works for me is backpacking chili, dehydrated after cooking as chili.   
Ground beef is a bit nicer in casserole form, rather than dried straight. 
I also make Jerky and dried fruits, and pre cook / dehydrate  my pasta and rice.

I was using my oven, but recently picked up a round (basic) dehydrator at the thrift store for $10.

@Goldielocks
How exactly do you do that chicken? You stew the whole chicken in the oven with some fluid until it is done? Or in a stew bag? And how small pieces do you cut it in?

I have tried cutting chicken breasts in extremely small bits and frying them to that they were done (not raw) and dried these. I thought they were a bit clumpy. I have stopped using that sort of meat, because my method didn't work.
What I've done now is using slices of chicken or turkey bread topping and drying those. But they don't get so very tender either after rehydrating. I would love to hear a better method.
Ah!
I actually use a crockpot, lot heat (200'F?), no added moisture (because the crockpot)..6+ hours approx.   I add in seasoning - salt, garlic, lemon juice.  I start with a whole chicken because that is easy, cheaper, and breast meat dries out.
It cooks and gets quite wet / mushy... DH does not like it that way to eat, normally.    I can then shred it with two forks.
The shredded meat is spread out on the drying racks until crunchy.  It tastes good dry or reconstituted.
The salt helps it taste great when dry, so use a little more salt than you normally would.

If you don't have a crockpot, the bag in a closed roast pan, very low heat for 4-8 hours would work.

Another one is to make mashed potatoes and spread it on the trays, like you would applesauce... Sweet yams and white potatoes both work well, and this "bark" is easy to reconstitute at camp, or the sweet potatoe / yam ones taste great as bark for a snack.

AMandM

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2019, 09:08:37 PM »
DH just came back from his trip. The food I made was overall a success. His comments:
-spaghetti sauce was wonderful, but pasta came out gummy. Maybe he should have cooked the pasta first, then added the sauce.
-veggies & pork were under-seasoned.  In fact when I made them I only seasoned the pork, so next time I will add seasonings to the veg as well.

It was more work than his usual trail food but also more tasty, so probably worth doing in the future. Thanks again for the idea and instructions!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #13 on: May 21, 2019, 10:45:30 PM »
DH just came back from his trip. The food I made was overall a success. His comments:
-spaghetti sauce was wonderful, but pasta came out gummy. Maybe he should have cooked the pasta first, then added the sauce.
-veggies & pork were under-seasoned.  In fact when I made them I only seasoned the pork, so next time I will add seasonings to the veg as well.

It was more work than his usual trail food but also more tasty, so probably worth doing in the future. Thanks again for the idea and instructions!

I use 3 minute cooking pasta, which turns out well. We put the food in a pan inside a self made insulation thing (called a cosy). We stir it well and then put on the lid and close the insulation. Then we leave it for 10-15 minutes, stirring maybe only once. Then we put it on the stove and warm it up a little more, carefully and stirring, because it could burn onto the bottom of the pan.

Seasoning is difficult if you don't taste the dish at preparation. So bring a set of additional seasoning in the trip. Just some general varied mixture. On trips where you sweat, eating enough salt is also important. So an additional pot of salt, or the small satches from work, are good to bring along.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2019, 01:18:27 AM by Linea_Norway »

King35

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #14 on: June 05, 2019, 01:05:19 AM »
 Yes, I also often struggle with that. A couple of friends taught me some on the go recipes but it's not always easy to make cooking them feasible for long term hiking. Their recommendations were somewhere along these lines: https://under-the-open-sky.com/five-great-food-ideas-for-your-outdoor-adventure/ I wonder what you think about them and whether you have your own recommendations about the rations.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #15 on: June 05, 2019, 01:27:03 AM »
Yes, I also often struggle with that. A couple of friends taught me some on the go recipes but it's not always easy to make cooking them feasible for long term hiking. Their recommendations were somewhere along these lines: https://under-the-open-sky.com/five-great-food-ideas-for-your-outdoor-adventure/ I wonder what you think about them and whether you have your own recommendations about the rations.

This is a whole other type of trekking food. It is fresh food, cut up at home and put in aluminium foil. To be warmed up on a stove or a camp fire. Of course this will work. But you can only keep it fresh for a day or so, before it must be eaten. So this is useful for an overnight trip, where you go home the next day. My type of trekking food is dried food that can be kept for 2 years. On our last canoeing trip, we brought fresh food for the first night. And ate dried food at the last evening.

I have no particular opinion about those portions of fresh food. But for dried food I have measured the bags and made sure that the total weight of the daily package is the same as a commercial dried food product that we are used to. They weight about 130 gram for a 1 person portion.

expatartist

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #16 on: June 05, 2019, 03:46:31 AM »
Excellent inspiration here @Linea_Norway! Thanks for starting this thread. On my occasional brief island camping trips I've only used dried fruit and nuts. If doing a longer trip I'll try some of these out.

Goldielocks

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #17 on: June 05, 2019, 05:12:37 PM »
This is the recipe  / cookbook that started me out.  I found that 90% of the basic advice and recipes really worked out well.  No, it is not gourmet cooking like at home.. It is food to take on a 10 day trek, that feeds you pretty reliably.   I was frankly a bit skeptical because the cookbook did not look / sound too great.. but the advice and tips worked very well.

The hint about ground beef was good, potato bark, dehydrated chili, fruit leather,  chicken, etc.   Also advice to premake and dehydrate rice / pasta for faster cook times and less fuel (if you are carrying your fuel, too).


https://www.backpackingchef.com/

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #18 on: June 05, 2019, 07:03:44 PM »
Good idea, I personally just eat nutella + banana burritos.

Radagast

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #19 on: June 11, 2019, 10:53:52 PM »
Good idea, I personally just eat nutella + banana burritos.
Apples, Fritos* and store-bought jerky ended up being my staples. Peanut M&M's are a fairly balanced diet as well. Peanut butter and honey burritos, if I manage to bother, are like a sweet tasting kick n the ass.

*An under rated health food. Three ingredients: Corn, corn oil, salt. I seriously wonder why they don't market an organic version.

AnonymousCoward

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2019, 12:24:41 AM »
Three cheers for Fritos! One bag is ~2000 calories. Add a cup of chili and some shredded cheddar and you've got a feast. If you eat it cold you can prepare it in <30 seconds.

Fancy food is nice too :p

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #21 on: June 13, 2019, 12:35:45 AM »
This thread is digressing.

I just hope that my batch of trekking food that I made some time ago is well enough dried and that it won't spoil. I guess I could check that by heating the bags a bit in the microwave. If the bags shows some fog on the inside, the content is not dry.

AMandM

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #22 on: July 05, 2019, 08:16:52 PM »
Made a second batch for another trip last week: chicken, soy sauce pork, carrots, and corn. Some was added to a vacuum-sealed pouch of precooked rice (shelf stable, store-bought), some to a couple of packages of fancy ramen.  Verdict from the hikers: "Veggies seem to reconstitute pretty well; meat tends to go from being dry to being somewhat moist. Maybe I just need to let it soak for longer? Whatever; when you’re camping, everything tastes great!"

I think I may have over-dried the meat. How do you know when it is dry enough? My dehydrator is very basic--just on/off, no variable temperature, no humidity sensor.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #23 on: July 06, 2019, 03:34:35 AM »
Made a second batch for another trip last week: chicken, soy sauce pork, carrots, and corn. Some was added to a vacuum-sealed pouch of precooked rice (shelf stable, store-bought), some to a couple of packages of fancy ramen.  Verdict from the hikers: "Veggies seem to reconstitute pretty well; meat tends to go from being dry to being somewhat moist. Maybe I just need to let it soak for longer? Whatever; when you’re camping, everything tastes great!"

I think I may have over-dried the meat. How do you know when it is dry enough? My dehydrator is very basic--just on/off, no variable temperature, no humidity sensor.

If vegetables are precooked before drying, you can just add boiling water and wait for 15 or so minutes. If the vegetables were raw during drying, you need to soak them for ages, like hours.

With some food it is easy to know when it is dry enough. That is when it becomes crispy dry like paper. But some food doesn't become paper-like, e.g. tomatosauce. Then you just need to talk a wild guess. I trick to see whether it was dry enough, is to put it in a plastic bag in the microwave for a short time. If the food still contains humidity, it will show damp on the inside of the plastic bag.

For meat, I have used sliced chicken and turkey bread topping and dried the slices. They become quit fatty and salty, at least, that will he sitting on the outside. But they become very brittle. And it is not difficult to know whether they are dry. I once tried chicken from a chicken filet, cut really small. But that was more difficult to dry and I trink the rehydration was not as good. But I don't remember it so well.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2019, 03:37:32 AM by Linea_Norway »

Case

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #24 on: July 18, 2019, 10:44:09 AM »
Personally (and I'm a very avid backpacker who does long trips), I try to keep it simple with food. My general opinion on backpacking food is that prepping for a trip and managing your gear in the backcountry is a challenge in and of itself. Therefore, make the food part as easy as possible. If you're putting in some good miles, you won't care how fancypants your food is at the end of the day. You'll just be happy for whatever it is you've got.

First of all, two words: Harmony House

They sell dehydrated everything in large quantities. It sounds like you're more ambitious with the prep work, though, so a dehydrator may be the way to go.

A Cliff bar or two in the morning is way easier than preparing food and it gets me on the trail sooner so that I can cover more ground. If I do choose to cook in the morning, which is nice during the cold season, straight up instant oatmeal with a little brown sugar, nuts, and raisins is easy and yummy. Put some powdered milk in there for creaminess.

Like coffee? Instant coffee is easy and requires no additional (heavy) machinery. It ain't Italian espresso, but hey – we're in the woods, not Milan. After your outing, "real" coffee will taste just that much better.

For lunch, make your own favorite GORP combo. Eat it on the go or at little breaks.

For dinner, instant polenta (grits), couscous, angel hair pasta, etc. along with some nuts + savory seasonings and dehydrated veggies from Harmony House is the way to go.

Also: the above recommendations are super duper lightweight.

I second this opinion.  If you're going to back, then backpack.  Food is not the top priority.  Most things will taste good enough when you're 10-15 miles in with 40 lbs of weight on your back.  That said, it can be a bummer if the food success (no 'reward' for the long days work).  But, I agree that there are plenty of readily available freeze dried foods out there.

That said, if making your own meals is what you're passionate about, go for it.  For most people that go backpacking though, backpacking/hiking/being outside is the passion.

For me, if I want really tasty food in the outdoors, then I go car camping.

I've eaten some Harmony House, and I would not say I was overly impressed with it.

moof

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #25 on: July 28, 2019, 01:26:46 AM »
Go buy this guys book:
https://www.backpackingchef.com/

Seriously, it is the best reference out there for DIY dehydrated meals.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #26 on: August 04, 2019, 02:00:12 AM »
Go buy this guys book:
https://www.backpackingchef.com/

Seriously, it is the best reference out there for DIY dehydrated meals.

Thanks for the link. There is also a lot available for free on the website. He uses similar techniques for drying ground beef as I do, apart from the bread cumbs. He also uses bread topping ham, which I also use. I do that for chicken and turkey as well. But I'll have a look to see if I can find canned chicken over here. It is not a common product. I will also try drying shrimp.

By the way, we have been eating some of my meals this vacation. I got compliments from DH that this time it tasted very well again.

Goldielocks

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #27 on: August 07, 2019, 08:56:00 PM »
Go buy this guys book:
https://www.backpackingchef.com/

Seriously, it is the best reference out there for DIY dehydrated meals.

Thanks for the link. There is also a lot available for free on the website. He uses similar techniques for drying ground beef as I do, apart from the bread cumbs. He also uses bread topping ham, which I also use. I do that for chicken and turkey as well. But I'll have a look to see if I can find canned chicken over here. It is not a common product. I will also try drying shrimp.

By the way, we have been eating some of my meals this vacation. I got compliments from DH that this time it tasted very well again.
Instead of canned chicken, do your own -- just slow cook a whole chicken, crock pot style with salt and lemon seasoning added.

Crock pot temp -- tight lid, heavy weight pot held in slow oven at 90'C for 5-8 hours.    I have used a "dutch oven" type pot for this in my oven, too, if you don't have a crockpot cooker.

tawyer

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #28 on: August 08, 2019, 09:12:33 AM »
Thanks for sharing your experiences, @Linea_Norway. We're also converts to home dehydration of backpacking meals: after a certain level of stability in one's life, there's nothing mustachian about buying Harmony House, and junk food just doesn't provide the nutritional profile or sustained energy needed for longer trips. We've been cycling through the same set of ziplok bags for the last five years now.

I like your idea of bringing some seasoning along because we have found quite a big difference in flavor profile compared to pre-dehydration of the sauces.

The backpacking chef website has been a source of inspiration for us, too. I just recently pulled out a bag of beef bolognese from the freezer (too much fat to be stored at room temperature long term, but fine during a trip) and was very happy at the end of a long day on my last trip.

For starches, I'm a big fan of dehydrating cooked rice, lentils, beans separately so that they can then mix and match with the sauces. The other benefit of dehydration being that they can just soak in boiling water, freeing up the stove, or even cold soak for a few hours to then be mixed in with the heated sauce later, which minimizes fuel consumption and setup time.

moof

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #29 on: August 15, 2019, 12:00:08 AM »
One of my personal favorite recipes for colder weather, for the truly hungry:

Mega Beef Strogonoff

3 oz whole wheat pasta (egg noodles, or spirals that stick/burn less)
1/2 c freeze dried beef chunks or 1/4 dehydrated ground beef
1/2 c (10g) dried sliced shiitake, crimini, or white button mushrooms, crumbled into 1/2” pieces
2 Tbsp dried onions
1/4 cup dried peas and carrots
1 tsp tomato powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp paprika
3 Tbsp Nido milk powder
1.5 Tbsp sour cream powder
1 tsp beef bullion, or one bullion cub broken up a bit
5 cracks black pepper
1/4 tsp dry thyme
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp soy sauce (soak meat or mushrooms in it and dry 125 for 1-2 hours), or one small pouch from Panda Express.

2 1/4 cups water with all ingredients and let soak for 5-10 minutes.  Bring to boil over medium heat, boil 2 additional minutes.  Insulate for 8 minutes.

moof

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #30 on: August 15, 2019, 12:04:27 AM »
Another stand by of mine:

Curry Chicken and Rice

3/4 cup instant brown rice (minute rice brand)
1/3 cup dehydrated chicken, or 2/3 freeze dried
1/4 c dried veggie soup mix (Delish brand preferred)
1 Tbsp each dried corn, peas, carrots, sweet potato (very forgiving in choices here)
2 Tbsp. coconut milk powder
1.5 tsp. curry powder
1/3 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 tsp ginger root powder
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/3 tsp salt, few crack pepper pepper to taste

2 cups water to rehydrate.  5 minute soak minimum (ok to soak up to overnight with 3/4 of the water), bring to a simmer plus an additional 2 minutes over medium/low.  Insulate and let rest for another 8 minutes.

moof

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #31 on: August 15, 2019, 12:07:15 AM »
Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles

3 oz whole wheat pasta spirals, or linguine broken in fourths in separate bag.  Spirals won’t clump or burn onto the bottom of Titanium pots as readily
1/4 c dried chicken
3 Tbsp dried carrot dices
2 Tbsp bell pepper flakes
1.5 Tbsp coconut milk powder
3 Tbsp peanut butter powder (PB fit)
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (medium spicy, double for pain)
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted (best added as garnish)
2 tsp soy sauce (2 packets from Panda Express)
1 tsp dried brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp chili powder

2 c water to rehydrate

Soak 5-10 minutes, boil over medium (add linguine now and return to boil 2 minutes if not using spirals), rest insulated 8

moof

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Re: Producing my own trekking food
« Reply #32 on: August 15, 2019, 12:10:01 AM »
For drying onions I like to sauté them in a non-stick pan first until translucent.  It greatly reduces how much onion smell your kitchen will reek of.