[at-l] Advice for a Jerk(ie)

[KarenS62@aol.com (KarenS62@aol.com)]

In a message dated 12/31/01 12:46:33 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
Farina6@aol.com writes:


> So, what are the general rules of dehydration?  Can you just throw your 
> favorite meal in there?  I'm assuming not, since differ'nt things take 
> differ'nt amounts of time to dry.  Will the stuff rehydrate?  (That's 
> another 
> art, isn't it.)

General rules?  Besides the resources that are posted here, I have some 
helpful hints that have worked well for me. Most of these are repeats of 
whats already been said, but I think I accidently deleted some  emails in my 
efforts to catch up after the weekend, so here goes. 

Buy frozen veggies when they are on sale and dump them on the dehydrator 
trays frozen.  They will dry just fine and you have saved yourself a ton of 
time. Due to today's flash freezing these veggies are actually "fresher" than 
many you buy in the grocery store.  Plus, on sale, they are a LOT cheaper.  I 
like the spinach myself. Broccolli tends to get sharp and punctures the 
vacuum sealer bags.  Spinach doesn't really add a lot of taste to your 
liptons, etc but it does add color and texture and a bit of vitamins.   You 
can sometimes find mixtures of chopped onions, peppers, etc already chopped 
and frozen. These make great additions to meals - a teaspoon or two adds a 
lot of flavor and red and green peppers add color too. I have done the same 
thing with fresh veggies. I add a half inch of water to a stickless fry pan, 
chop the veggies and add them, then boil the water until its gone. This 
softens the veggies and allows them to dry better. You can also season them 
this way by adding seasoning to the water before it all boils away. 

Chase dries cooked roasts, I tend to dry hamburg that I flavor with a variety 
of things (taco seasoning, onions and garlic, etc),  The most important thing 
is to make sure you get rid of as much fat as possible.  This is easier when 
its cooked as well as easier on the roast; I just buy ground sirloin if I can 
find it.  I have had to throw out batches of the inexpensive meat because I 
coulnd't de-fat it enough for long term storage.  Fat goes rancid and cause 
the food to "go bad". 

As far as meals go, its already been mentioned, make sure your peices are the 
same size. Chili works great, stir fried rice works well too as long as it is 
the meatless kind. Rice dries fast, meat takes a while. You could dry the 
meat seperately and then mix it back in, I guess.  I have also dried leftover 
meals and sent them to my friends as experiments - no one has complained. 
Cheerio asked me for my chili recipe once and I couldn't remember what it was 
that was in the package she had - oops! 

I don't tend to do a lot of fruits because you can often find them cheaper at 
a good health food store. Peaches are wonderful though.  I dip them in orange 
juice before drying them to keep them from going brown. Peaches that are not 
quite ripe are easiest to slice and the OJ adds a bit of sweetness to them as 
well. 

If you have freezer room, store everything double bagged in the freezer. If 
you have a vacuum sealer, seal it, then throw that into a large bag or 
container to keep everything in one place. If you have limited freezer space, 
still store any meat in the freezer and then take it out when you are ready 
to send it in a maildrop or throw it in your food bag. I have had sealed 
ground beef last for months vacuum sealed, but the peace of mind you get from 
storing it in the freezer is a good thing. 


Those are "my" general rules. other rules may vary. 

POG 


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