I've fancied one of these for a while now and finally bit the bullet last week and bought one.
The idea being that I can make my own lightweight backpacking meals to take with me on fishing trips.
I opted for a 9 tray "Excalibur" dehydrator from America.
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To try it out I made a monster sized pot of Chili Macaroni (enough for about ten meals) which I dehydrated overnight before storing in ziplock bags and freezing. After dehydrating, the whole lot weighed less than 200grams
I left one portion (unfrozen) in the cupboard as a sort of control measure which I had tonight for my tea.
This dog-turd like substance is how it looks prior to rehydrating.
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To rehydrate, I boiled it for 5 minutes and left it to stand for a further 5 minutes although "in the field" I plan to place the whole lot in a thermos jar with boiling water and leave it covered for about twenty minutes
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Now that looks interesting. How much did it cost?
All in- just over £300 (there are a couple of extra things you need over and above the unit itself in order to dehydrate saucy-type things like my chili).
You can pick up different designs for quite a bit less but I opted for this version as they seem to be the most user friendly.
IMHO - you can't put a price on never having to eat another fecking packet of super noodles! :D
At the moment, my cousin and I are planning an eight day fishing trip for June this year. We don't kill and eat fish so everything we eat will have to be carried in on our backs. This will hopefully mark an end to pot-noodles and quaker oats every other meal. The alternative I suppose, would be to buy the freeze dried or dehydrated camping meals but they are so expensive. Even if we purchased them on offer, it would cost more to support two of us for 8 days than the cost of even this unit.
Quote from: claretbumble on December 05, 2013, 11:34:26 PM
£300!?!?! :shock: Christ on a bike - I'd have fillet steaks helicoptered in to my campsite, with Gordon Ramsay to cook them for me, at that price!!! :crap
Liam, if you can get a helicopter for that price, let alone Gordon ramsey, please let us know..... :8)
What's the advantage of the £300 model. I ask because there are others available for under £100
It's to do with the distribution of the heat. The cheaper models tend to have the heat source and fan mounted on the bottom or top. It will still do the job but will require some more intervention from the user (ie swapping the trays every few hours to ensure that food on all the trays are getting equal times at all levels). The 300 quid jobs have the gubbins mounted in the back which eliminates the need for this. This suited me as (with very little free time on my hands) I will be using it mostly during the night.
That and the fact that I'm a greedy bastard (the 9 tray one has 15 ft of drying space :D)
In other words Fred- A man leading a life of leisure such as yourself would get excellent results from the sub £100 ones :D
So how do they work? Just gentle heat and air?
Don't think I'd spend £300 simply because I don't think I'd use it often enough to justify it, but I am with you on avoiding the super / pot noodle - that has to be worth a lot. :lol:
Quote from: admin on December 06, 2013, 11:39:24 AM
So how do they work? Just gentle heat and air?
Spot on! anything from 35- 60 degrees c depending on what your making.
It's possible to dehydrate food in a standard oven as long as you can set the oven that low and is of the type that can run with the door open (my oven does neither)
Fred, I know someone who uses something like this with very acceptable results. certainly the way to go for a once-in-a-blue-moon use:
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/14210/My-Kitchen-Food-Dehydrator (http://www.lakeland.co.uk/14210/My-Kitchen-Food-Dehydrator)
this type were over £100 when I first looked about ten years ago
That looks interesting Dave. Certainly for all the use it would get from me it might do.
That looks like the design that this guy uses http://www.hungryhammockhanger.com/ (http://www.hungryhammockhanger.com/)It was his youtube channel that made me decide I wanted one.
I get the impression he uses his all the time, so I don't think it would be any less up to the job.
My reason for going with the design I did was the fact that I could leave it doing its thing while I slept.
So once dry do you seal the food up in one of these heat seal type bags or what?
I'm just using ziplock bags and freezing. Liplock alone keeps it good for about six months. Freezing extends this to about 18 months. Vacuum packing will extend it even further.
I got a rather nice book with mine which had a rather interesting few pages on shelf life. Some fruits for instance, once dried and stored in airtight containers have a shelf life of between 25 and 30 years! :shock:
I looked at this one a few years ago but never got around to buying one :)
http://www.ukjuicers.com/excalibur-5-tray-ehydrator-with-timer-black (http://www.ukjuicers.com/excalibur-5-tray-ehydrator-with-timer-black)
Actually the most effective dehydrator you can get is a warm sunny day on the hill and 6 Munros.
I always found that after such a day my beer absorption capacity increased massively. :lol:
one or two decent camping trips would certainly cover the cost of the cheaper version, when you compare with the cost of commercially produced food (around £5 per pack). the other thing to bear in mind is that it's virtually any food: imagine taking your favourite curry or stew on the hill :D plus the flavour and ingredients are down to you, so no flavour enhancers, preservatives or ridiculous amounts of salt. not to mention the portion size.... you can soon accumulate a reasonable stock by just making some extra each time you cook.
just as a matter of interest, there are a few commercially produced foods like this on the market: http://www.kudrati.com/Presentation/Pages/KudratiHome.aspx (http://www.kudrati.com/Presentation/Pages/KudratiHome.aspx)
once you try one, there's no going back! however, a quick read down the ingredients and you soon get the idea how easy and cheaply this can be produced in your own home.
Do these less expensive models do stews and stuff or are they just for fruit and veg?
Fred, i think you just have to make sure you've got a pretty stiff mixture before you start. certainly the stuff i've seen made using the cheaper versions were damned fine curries and chillies. as bushy palmer says, they're just more labour intensive.
i did a lot of research on this about 15 years ago after a couple on a remote welsh campsite asked me to join them for a meal they'd deydrated themselves. it was fantastic. at the time all the dehydrators were expensive so i never got round to it. however, i'm now seriously considering one now they're more affordable.
Certainly worth thinking about - as BP says what price not eating super noodles?
Quote from: admin on December 07, 2013, 10:40:32 AM
Do these less expensive models do stews and stuff or are they just for fruit and veg?
Opt for one with temperature contols as I'd be inclined to say that the ones without are preset at a lower temp more suited to fruit and veg.
I found this American site for recipes when I was loking at a dehydrator.
http://www.backpackingchef.com/ (http://www.backpackingchef.com/)
Quote from: corsican dave on December 07, 2013, 10:38:35 AM
you can soon accumulate a reasonable stock by just making some extra each time you cook.
Sorry Dave, I missed this bit earlier. Yes, that's my thinking too however, if that is the way you want to do it, just be mindful that you intend to dehydrate some when you're actually cooking to begin with as this may mean you prepare the meal slightly differently. Dehydration only removes water. Fat and such like will remain and it is this that has the potential to turn rancid after a day or two when you're out in the hills.
For instance:
Once you've browned meat for a chilli or stew, place it in a collander and wash it under a tap to remove most of the fat and clean the pan to remove any residual fat before cooking the rest of the meal.
Also, some dairy is supposed to be a pain to dehydrate and hence the recomendation is that you prepare meals leaving the cream and cheese out. You can then add them in powdered form when rehydrating.
Looks like a great idea, if / when i do more camping I may be very tempted.
Quote from: Fishtales on December 07, 2013, 11:58:23 AM
I found this American site for recipes when I was loking at a dehydrator.
http://www.backpackingchef.com/ (http://www.backpackingchef.com/)
Aye that's one that's stored in my favourites just now Sandy. Also there's some really good stuff by those American- Doomsday Prepper types :D