Tip: weigh your meat (or anything else you are dehydrating) before and after hydration. The difference in weight is how much water you need to add to fully rehydrate the item. Then weigh out the water weight and convert it to volume measurement for use in the field, dividing the amounts down if you make individual portions of your dehydrated ingredient. Use that amount of water to accurately/fully rehydrate and not end up with a soupy mess. It's the same way pre-packed dehydrated meals can say "add 1.5 cups" or whatever.
Thanks, for sure that mathematical method works. I have been very successful with this simple rule of thumb... Regardless of pot dimensions if you just cover a normal meal with water it works out quite well. No soupy mess. If it is a soup or stew then you can add an additional 2 cm (or an inch if you prefer) on top of the meal. All the best!
I didnt know this. Thank you for this tip. There is so much to learn about prepping. If not done right, you go to get your food stuffs in an emergency and you have nothing (because it spoiled) if not prepared correctly.
@@KevinOutdoors Thanks! I'll go check that out. I'm getting very interested in dehydrating my own backpacking food. I especially enjoyed how you prepared the ground beef, on how to get rid of the grease so it doesn't spoil.
Thanks for great demo. This is ideal for camping in the near future. For longer storage, vacuum seal the meat. Ziplocs do leak air after a while. You can carry some olive oil to add to the meat when eating -- to add back some fat.
Excellent video! I am getting ready to get a dehydrator to make my own meals for backpacking. After I showed this one to my mom and told her that she could prepare meals and just boil them later she laughed and we are going to try it with her chili. Chili, the breakfast of champions lol.
Hi Kevin great videos it is a good idea to do your meat separately as you suggested but it is also important to remember not to add salt, sugar or spices during the initial five minutes of reconstitution as these additives hinder the absorption process.
I have seen several videos where frying the hamburger is the method they use, but yours is the first one I've seen that boils it. It makes sense as the best way to remove the fat. Must try. Great video. Thanks! :)
Thank you Kevin, for sharing this great knowledge of your's. It has opened so many doors of potential for me! This thank you really understated the significance.
Fish can work well. You want to ensure it isn't a fatty fish. Salmon is sometimes lean and sometimes fatty. Native cultures have been drying fish for thousands of years. Good Luck!
These are awesome -- thank you so much for sharing :) I feel like a bit of an idiot in the kitchen sometimes, but you have made these clear enough to follow and I'm going to give it a try!
I have not tried this before except for drying beef and spaghetti.My concern would be about mingling flavors. Believe when I do this I will do only one type of meat at a time! Good show!☮️❤️☀️🌈🌎😇
Good information. I am relatively new at dehydrating meat. I never tried boiling the ground beef. I will have to try out the chicken. I will simply have to wait till there is a good sale on chicken breast.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just started dehydrating because my sister does but not sure if she does meat. I am going to find out. Do you have to put all meat in the freezer after dehydrate? You are the best! Straight to the basic. I do a lot of canning also which that food will last for years so now I can take some of that and dehydrate. Keep up the good work and love your daughter enthusiasm.
You don't have to put the food in a freezer but if you do it will last almost forever. If you aren't going to store the food in a freezer then you should vacuum seal the meal for best longevity. A desiccant pack can also help. You will definitely get months of storage (conservatively) but the meals will likely last a year or more as long as they are kept in a cool, dark and dry place and airtight.
I take half frozen chicken breasts and slice really thin and dehydrate then freeze for my Yorkie's treats. She loves them. I just keep in a sandwich bag. I also dehydrated hamburg after frying, draining, and washing in a drainer til water is clear. Dehydrate and store in vaccuum sealed jar. I did this in October and it is now Christmas and I still have not used it. Will try in a week or two. Looks and sounds like grape nuts.
I found that when I dehydrated a kilogram each of beef, chicken and lamb beforehand that the finished dehydrated weights varied between 255 to 270 grams. I blitzed them in a blender so they became a powder which for me avoids the sometimes gravelly texture. I like my on the track meals on the soupy side. For me they're rehydrated quicker. I'm going to be using the boiling method next. I was thinking I may refrigerate the pot of beef so the fat congeals to the top and then pour the hot water through. Thanks for your tips.
Humm, testing me? OK, generally speaking 1 g of carbs or protein will yield 4 calories. 1 gram of fat will yield about 9 calories. There is for sure quite a bit of variability but this is a good rule of thumb. Since we have eliminated all the fat what is left is mostly protein or carbs (and some fibre) so the meal should be about 600 calories. If you add two tablespoons of oil after rehydration you will add about 240 calories!
Great information, I’ve never seen dehydrated meat tutorial. Thank you so much! Your family is so lucky that you are planning fun nature adventures in advance
Question: Is pressure cooking chicken the only way to "break down the fibers" for better re-hydrating? I was thinking that slow cooking it might work too... but there doesn't seem to be any discussion on any other options... Just got your book and trying to dehydrate food for camping for the first time this year... I am looking at doing some longer canoe trips in the future and sticking to the "long weekend paddling" for now... good to get used to this dehydrating thing before needing to for a week long trip or more...
Great to hear that you are getting into dehydrating and are using my book! Yes, I have heard of people having good luck with slow cooking chicken too. The reports I have are from folks who are doing very long cooking times in the range of 6+ hours. good luck and let me know how it works out.
Thanks for the info. I have enjoyed your channel and have learned a lot. I have been looking for a good way to store food on my sailboat for week longs trips. self prepared dehydrated food is the way to go. Thanks for sharing.
Not for a short trip (~6 days). I highly recommend vacuum sealing for longer trips but simple zip-loc bags work just fine for short trips. I'd easily stretch that to 2 weeks.
If you do a good job of removing water, fat and air and you store them in a dark cool place in an airtight container they should last 6 months and likely a year or even more.
Thanks very detailed video. I feel like I can follow along well and replicate easily. 😍Question, why do you store in the freezer? Can it be stored in the pantry?
Kevin, I watch this video everytime I dehydrate beef. It has almost become a ritual haha. Happy to say that I'll be bringing your recipe to the coastal trail again. Stay safe bro, and say hello to Quetico for me 😉
Thank you so much for this information. Your tutorial is easy to follow. These are time and cost saving, because I cannot afford the Mountain House, Wise, Auguson Farms or other top shelf meals. You can tailor make what you want to eat. But dont the proteins lose flavor when the fat is washed away? I know that this needs to be done, because the fat will make the meat taste rancid over time.
Hi Vickie, thanks for the comments. Yes the meat will be missing something when you taste it. Unfortunately removing the fat is a necessary evil as you point out the meal can go rancid. So, after I rehydrate the meal I add either olive oil or clarified butter depending on the meal. Both last well without refrigeration and they re-add the fatty taste. It isn't perfect but everything tastes better while camping anyway. Thanks!
One year, I boiled 5 lbs hamburger in soup pot, cooled pot in sink, then put in fridge overnight once the sink cooling method brought down temp enough. Next day, I found removing top layer of hardened fat challenging. But I finally managed using a butter knife with a spatula haha. Looking back, I bet overturning the entire pot onto a large platter or huge bowl might have been easier, as the broth was solid like Jello. I used the butter knife and spatula again to separate the meat from gelled broth, I'd use a bread knife next time. So I finally have 3 layers separated. Put broth and fat back in fridge. Put meat back in pot and heat until I see steam, using strainer to collect rest of broth, which I poured onto gelled broth in fridge. DH comes into kitchen asking what smells so good lol Spread meat onto dehydrator trays, then make onion soup from the oh so yummy broth. Next day, put half dried meat in little zip lock bags and the rest of meat in blender to powder. Heated enough fat to mix with powder onto baking trays, then cooled and cut with pizza cutter. Put the modern-lazy 'pemmican' into sandwich baggies in the freezer to have meat when we lost power because of storms. After hurricane season ends, toss in a few cubes of pemmican into spaghetti or pizza sauce, gravies, soups, omelets, ect...
re: ham - used cooked ham and pressure-cooked with black beans. I used water for stock because the ham has a fair bit of sodium already. If there was any fat, it floats on top of the stock so it was easy to remove. The whole ensemble was pureed to make a smooth soup, then dehydrated. The resulting 'bark' makes a great snack, as is! Split pea soup, made this way, is really tasty, as-is, too. Also, grinding the bark into a complete soup powder rocks!
Hi Kevin! I found your channel and bought your book last year, but only finally got the dehydrator this year for this year’s backpacking adventures! 2 newbie questions (I don’t think I’ve seen it asked in the comments but apologies if it’s been raised before): do you not season the meat at all (when fresh), do you just add seasoning to the sauce? And secondly, is there a risk of overdehydrating the meat? It takes many hours and I was doing it overnight…
When you add seasoning is really up to you. For ground beef I generally add it later since my method of cooking is boiling. For chicken I tend to add it in the pressure cooker as it enhances the flavour of the meat. Q2 - No you really can't over-dehydrate. You are just removing water through evaporation and extra time in the dehydrator does no harm.
Hey Kevin, I am currently boiling some beef to dehydrate for a trip on the coastal trail of Lake Superior P.P. This video has been a huge help, thanks man. -Boosh
Thank you for making this video so informative and easy to understand. How long does the meat stay good? do u know how to figure out the life of the items?
Misty, it is really hard to say how long an individual meal or some dehydrated protein might last. If you seal the food in an airtight container and you do a good job of removing fat and moisture from the food then it should easily last 6 months to a year. If you vacuum seal the food and add a desiccant pack it should last much longer than a year. Throw it in the freezer and it will last almost indefinitely.
Hey Kevin. New sub, Jon from Lost Lakes directed me over to your channel after asking him a question about dehydrating. My question is .. I've started prepping for my 30 day Algonquin trip and I was wondering if you have eveer tried dehydrating Peameal Bacon? If so, have you prepaired it like regular jerky (start raw) or cooked it first. What would you recomend? I've found that most searches have been 50/50 on what is the better or safer way. I've never dehydrated pork before, just chicken and beef.
Interesting question. I have dehydrated ground pork, sausage, and ham with good success but I don't know much about peameal bacon. I understand that it is cured in salt and sugar but still refrigerated when sold. So, here are some thoughts. Pork products should be heated to at least 145F to eliminate bacteria so check the label, this can be achieved in a dehydrator. Fat can also be a concern as it can go rancid but pemeal bacon is from the loin so it should be low fat. All meat has some fat but check the label, I have had good success with 2% or lower. If the fat content and cooking temp are right, then you should be able to slice the pemeal bacon thin or into small pieces (1/4") and dehydrate it. Understanding that it is brined, the salt flavours will intensify when dehydrated. You might want to try a small amount first to see if it becomes too salty. Good luck!
@@KevinOutdoors Thank you very much. I will do a test run as I never considered the salt factor and I personally get dehydrated fairly easily. Thank you again.
This is so great!! Please keep making more videos!! I'm just getting started, and more recipes would be an AWESOME help. You're the most concise and helpful person I've found, and I'd love more tips! Thank you!!!
You may have already learned this, but if you have a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment with hot chicken is a GREAT way to "pull" it, and it will break it down quickly and easily into small bits. Then you only have to manually pull what might have slipped past the paddle. :-D
Nicely done KO! I do it differently with the ground beef by frying, then de-fatting in a food tub with boiling water and in the fridge overnight to make the fat "ice" which I skim off. I will have to try the boil method and do a re-hydrate test to see what GB method re-hydrates faster. Chicken I use use the can product like the tuna (pressure cooked in the can). But its salty, so I may have to get a pressure cooker to prep fresh chicken. Thanks for the how-to!
Kevin, it has been a while since you posted this video, but I thank you for it!! I'm trying to make ketogenic dehydrated meals for myself, but couldn't figure out how to incorporate meat/fish in the meals. Now I can, thanks to you! Also the clarified butter video helped me a lot! Thank you for your time and effort to make these video's!! Kind regards, Jolijn (The Netherlands).
Jolijn, do you have any Keto backpacking recipes you could share? I am Keto as well and I really would like to find more recipes! I have a couple if you are interested!
@@Adventuringtoabetterme I'm doing keto too. My plan is to take meals that I love and are not keto and convert them to ketogenic percentages. Also, I'm going through the keto/low carb books I now have and will test make the recipes in dehydrated foods.
A WAY LATE reply but, we are also KETO and, when using our dehydrated meat (beef, anyway) we always add some fat to the recipe (avocado oil, olive oil, tallow...) to try to bring it back to its former glory, as it where.
Good question Netanel, with the boiling method it doesn't really matter, I just use ground beef and it works great. I have never had any issues so I haven't experimented with ground beef from different cuts of meat. When I make jerky I do use flank steak or top or bottom round steak. Those are good cuts that tend to have minimal marbling.
Hi Mike, I sure can. Two at the top of my list are "The Dehydrator Bible" and "The Complete Trail Food Cookbook" They are written by the same three authors and are closest to the style of meal prep that I do. The three authors are a home economist, a professional chef and a Ph.D. in food science. Good reliable and safe meals and good variety. I also recommend "Recipes for Adventure" if you want to explore different styles. Most of the meals are great but the author dehydrates everything separately and he gets deep into his concept of 'bark' which is the dehydrated sauce or thickener of what you are making. He also gets into dehydrating bread which I don't understand. I will mention four others that are older and not as good but they go me started doing this... "The Well-Fed Backpacker", "Backpack Gourmet", "Simple Foods for the Pack" and "Trail Food" (that last one is by Alan Kesselheim there are several books with that name). These are all interesting but some do some strange things like dehydrating raw eggs or cheese. Good Luck!
Thanks for this video! I’m a little skeptical about dehydrating meat. My husband and I are planning to hike the AT next year, 2024 which will take us about 6 ish months to complete. I plan on dehydrating all of our breakfast and dinner meals, for the most part anyway, aside from town stops along the way. We will have my brother in law ship us resupply packages along the route of food probably weekly. Here is my question. Does the meat need to be stored in the freezer until he’s ready to box it up and ship? And then also, how long is the meat good for after it comes out of the freezer? I thought the whole point of dehydrating it was to keep it shelf stable? If there is any question of it being shelf stable then I’m worried to even have meat as part of my backpacking meals. The last thing I want is to have my husband and I get sick and taken off the trail due to improper storage or longevity of the meat I have dehydrated. 😖 Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.
That is a great question and your trip is about the right length to take some extra precautions. Meat will last a long time but the lenght of shelf life you get depends on how well you remove moisture and fat and how the food is stored. Keeping food cool, free of oxygen and out of sunlight is also important. By doing a good job on all these things the meals should last 6 months and probably a year. I have a video about fat and rancidity you might want to check out, it is a bit long and technical but it helps explain what is happening. ua-cam.com/video/Z5MJAQ3r-5k/v-deo.html Most of my trips are in the two week range and I just package my meals in zip-locks and I don't worry. For the length of storage you are looking for I would invest in a vacuum sealer and probably some oxygen absorbers this will help ensure you get past that 6 month range. Dehydrated food can become sharp and puncture vacuum sealed bags so lining them with an additional layer of plastic or paper can help. Mylar bags are also a good choice. If you have freezer space then putting the meals in the freezer will help them last almost indefinitely. Even if you just put your last month of supplies in the freezer then you will have a little added protection. I would say if you do a good job of removing the fat and the meals are vacuum sealed with an O2 absorber inside they should last 6 months.
Hi Kevin. Greetings from the uk! Great video thanks. Do you store your dehydrated vegetables in the freezer too? I see some people just store in jars in a cupboard.
I can definitely vouch for what you said about boiling the ground beef versus frying it. Searing the beef ruins it for dehydration/re-hydration, but if you boil it, it re-hydrates so easily and so well you almost can't distinguish it from freshly cooked ground beef. As for the chicken, when I tried pressure cooking it and dehydrating it, it would not fully re-hydrate, no matter how long I cooked it in boiling water. But I noticed you cooked yours for about 15 minutes, whereas I only cooked mine for about 8 minutes. It's possible I may just need to allow it to cook longer. I also tried cooking some fresh pieces of chicken in the slow cooker for 6 hours in some chicken broth and dehydrating it, and it fully re-hydrated very quickly and easily. It just soaked that water up like a sponge and you couldn't even tell it had been dehydrated.
Thanks for the comment. Chicken is always a bit of a challenge. Longer cooking times, 15-20 min in a pressure cooker, or 5-6 hours in a slow cooker seem to help the rehydration. Also, dehydrating the meat at a slightly lower temp (~155 or 150 F) than other meats seems to help.
Very helpful comment. I did what you said with both the chicken and beef and they came back so well it would have been hard to know they were dehydrated.
Hey Kevin. Have you had an issue with moisture entering your bags when they are kept in the freezer? I can imagine the food is just fine when frozen, but I'm wondering if when you are ready to use it, and you remove it from the freezer if there is any moisture in the bags that can then cause it to spoil if left for a few days? Thanks in advanced! Trying to plan my own meals for some backpacking trips this summer, and this is something I'm always contemplating.
Just got back from a 5 1/2 day trip, and learned that I *really* need to reduce weight and bulk… Part is recognizing that I will eat *less* than at home - about 1/2 to 2/3… What I wonder about is using the 93/7 % stuff. I’ll run it though the instant pot first before mixing it with the TVP.
In the freezer they last almost forever. Out of the freezer in a cool dark place and kept in an airtight container they easily last 6 months. You will likely get more than a year out of them but there are no guarantees. it all depends on how well you remove fat and moisture and how well the food is stored.
Yes it keeps almost forever if you freeze these meals. You should get 6-months to a year for sure if you keep them in an airtight container, but most likely 2-4 years if stored properly.
Hi Norin, Thanks so much. The brand I have is 'Nesco'. I think they are good but I am sure other brands are good as well. I am on my third one and currently have two that work fine. My oldest one (bought 20 years ago) died on me some time ago. I like the 'fruit roll' trays for many of my meals and once I invested in about 20 trays of the size that fit my dehydrator I was locked in to the Nesco brand and size of dehydrator. No regrets. They have all served me very well.
thank you so much that will help me a lot i am no good with math and of course i want the hubby to be happy with what i send with him thank you again have a great rest of the week
Kevin, awesome video! No fluff or shots of your cute dogs or kids... just business!!😂. Not sure if missed this in the comments, but what do estimate the shelf life of this protein can be if vacuum sealed with oxygen absorbers and frozen?
Thanks Jack, I think if you do all those things the food will last for years. Without freezing if you do a goog job removing fat and you vacuum seal I would easily give it a year. I have certainly had my meals in the freezer for a year or two and they were fine.
Thank you for the detailed video. I'm wanting to start dehydrating meats so this was fabulous. I'm wondering if I can dehydrate meat in the regular oven?? I do have a dehydrater but I don't know the temperature . It's one setting . I may just invest in a better one with different settings if there is one.. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you again. Blessings from Gee and Dee from NM
Hi Denise, if you have a dehydrator without a thermostat it is probably like the one I have and it is permanently set to 'High' 160 F. Give it a try I bet it works fine. You can use it for everything, that is what I did before I got another one with a thermostat. I just find that the meals rehydrate a little better if you separate meat from the starches, fruits and veggies and set the other stuff to 130 F. The oven will work too. Just set your temp and leave the door open a few inches. Good luck!
The goal here is to make a safe meal for backcountry camping. I boil the meat so that the fat melts away. I doubt this would happen as well with a sous vid method.
Thank you so much for this informative video. Can't wait to start experimenting with my own meals. Is there a reason you put your dried foods in the freezer. Are they able to be stored on a shelf?
Hi Stella, they will certainly keep on the shelf. Keep the meals airtight and out of the sun. Vacuum seal for longer storage, probably up to a year easily. I throw them in the freezer so I don't worry about anything. A dehydrated and frozen meal will last almost forever. :)
At Wal-Mart they discount the flavored rotisserie chicken. I put it in the crockpot and stew it which draws out most of the fat. Can I remove the skin, rinse it, remove the bone and dehydrate it. Will the flavor, i.e. lemon or garlic remain in the meat?
Hi Vicki, I'm really not sure. When you say rotisserie chicken I think of pre-cooked chicken. Despite spending time in the crock pot it may still not rehydrate well. If it isn't pre-cooked then cooking for a long time in a crock pot will have a similar effect as in a pressure cooker. Yes remove the skin and bones and you should be good to go. I would probably only dehydrate the white meat. Good luck.
What if you don’t have a pressure cooker, how else could you prepare the chicken? Also, you mentioned that you keep it in the freezer, is that necessary if it is dehydrated? Also, what would be the shelf life? Oh, &, what is yr brand of dehydrator? As you can probably tell I am a newbie…..been looking at dehydrators, but many of them do t have those trays that you are using, meaning the meat could fall right through….if you used baking paper to stop that would it interfere with the drying process & the heat distribution?
It should easily last 6 months. It will last a lot longer if you keep it in a tightly sealed airtight container and out of heat and light. It will keep almost forever in the freezer.
Kevin Outdoors thank you for your reply. I was afraid of that. I’m still learning. I hope to one day be able to share what I’ve learned with others as you do. Thank you again.
Two questions: When I make jerky, I just put the raw meat in the dehydrator. Given that it dehydrates for several hours at 160F (71C), why is it necessary to cook it first? For chicken, if I don't have a pressure cooker, should I just forget abut dehydrated chicken meals? Thanks!
The USDA suggests that beef should reach an internal temp of 160F. Lots and lots of people (including myself) make jerky and don't cook it first. I do always cook my ground beef before dehydrating. Regarding chicken, you can also slow cook the chicken for a long time (6+ hours) in a slow cooker or you can use canned chicken. Good luck.
That's almost what I did with my first 3 chicken breasts, but in the pressure cooker. Water, 2 diced carrots, 2 diced celery stems, 1/2 diced onion, several pieces of crushed garlic, around 15 pepper corns, and some broth powder. 15 minutes... meat falling apart. Leave veggies in the broth, remove pepper corns, and cook a load of rice in it. Dehydrate as Kevin shows in his other video about preparing meals. The only difference, my dehydrator needed only 3 hours (maybe higher wattage?) for 3 chicken breasts and 2 cans of tuna. The dry weight came out the same as Kevin's. Thanks again Kevin, for your videos
I do but you don't have to. The meal would probably last up to a year out of the freezer if it is well dried and you take other precautions like keeping it in an airtight container.
Hi, Kevin - I made your chicken curry stew and the flavor is great. But the chicken was tough after rehydrating about 20 minutes. I don't have a pressure cooker, so just boiled the chicken ahead of dehydrating and shredded it. They followed your directions for dehydrating. What do you think went wrong? Should I have rehydrated it longer or separately from the rest of the meal, or did I over dry it? Thanks for answering.
Thanks Theresa, I suspect it is how the chicken was cooked but chicken is always a challenge. Pressure cooking works and so does dehydrating canned chicken. Alternatively you can cook the chicken long and slow a good 2-3 hour simmer will have a similar effect. Good luck.
I'm kind of curious, if anyone might have an idea, if after all of this, you then vacuum sealed the meats and stored them in a cool, dry, dark place (but not refrigerated), how long might it last? I see a lot of sites that list dehydration or vacuum sealing for storage, but not cooking, dehydrating, _and_ vacuum sealing... TIA for any ideas!
Hi John, properly dehydrated and stored in airtight containers the food will easily last 6 months to a year but probably up to 4 years if everything is done well.
Kevin, what should the chicken feel like? In your book you say it shouldn’t feel crispy, but I’m finding it hard to get to something less than crispy. Maybe I’m just using too high heat? My dehydrator only goes to 155f so I adjusted for longer cook time.
Thanks Eduardo. Chicken should feel dry to the touch. I would cut open any larger pieces and see if they are dry inside. You don't want chicken dehydrate chicken past that point or it can become difficult to rehydrate.
They will likely last months and likely up to a year or even more. My maximum trip length is usually 2 weeks and I have never had a problem. If you are going for longer or shipping your meals for a 'food drop' I would take the added precautions of vacuum sealing and using oxygen absorbers.
Thanks for the video! I'm about to dehydrate meats to make my own Bullion for soups. This looks super simple. I'm curious, Do you also dehydrate herbs? I'm going to tackle that next! Thanks again!
Hi James, I usually don't dehydrate herbs but that's just habit. Herbs are easy to dehydrate. They tend to dehydrate better at the lowest temperature of your dehydrator and they can take some time to dehydrate. If I was growing lots of herbs in my garden I would certainly dehydrate them but we tend to use them all up by fall.
Yes that will work too. Or you can buy canned chicken (and probably turkey). Canned food is basically pressure cooked as they pasturize the contents by boiling the can. Much easier options but I am always sceptical about ground or canned poultry :)
Awesome videos on the dehydrators! I haven't seen the other ones yet, but I subscribed and will be checking out more content. Thank you for the info! I'm trying to get started with my Excalibur and am interested in long term food storage, mainly for meats at this time. I was wondering, I hear a lot of ppl talk about dehydrating eggs. Is there any tips or tricks (or a video already made?) with the eggs that I can refer to? Thanks!
Hi C Mex, thanks for the sub! I know there are lots of people who dehydrate eggs and I have done it myself for a test. It works well but there are serious risks of salmonella. You can dehydrate both fresh eggs and cooked eggs. Fresh eggs rehydrate the best but carry more risk. There are now a number of manufacturers making crystalized eggs. These have been pasteurized for safety and are freeze dried. They are expensive but for camping I find them worth it. I have a dozen laying hens and love fresh eggs but for camping I splurge on the freeze-dried egg crystals. They taste just like eggs should and not like traditional powdered eggs.
@@KevinOutdoors thanks for the info! That' was my main concern, the salmonella. I'll check into them. I bought a ton of appliances and items to help with food prep/storage, and I'm trying to do the food storage on the cheap, so doing it myself would be ideal. Considering the risk this one carries though, probably going to be one of those "splurge" items we end up buying. I appreciate the thoughts!
Maybe a silly question, but why do you want to remove all the fat? It does add flavor and if it's high quality (pastured) meat, it adds nutritional value as well.
Hey Kevin great video. Nice idea with the boiling of the hamburger meat. I scrolled through some of the comments didn't see this question, do you find that the tastes of the different meats mingle when dehydrating them together?
Hi Darc, Good question, no I don't. At least not chicken, tuna and hamburger. I have done shrimp and that stinks the place up a bit so I would definable do that one on its own.
Great video! Great ideas. Have you run into problems dehydrating different meats at the same time, especially fish? Does it permeate the smell into the other meat?
Please explain why you remove the fat.I thought fat was great on a camping trip.Does fat interfere with the process.Is it necessary to freeze it? Thanks, Steve.
Hi Stephen, Fat can go rancid so it is good practice to remove as much fat as possible. That will help the meals last longer. It is certainly not necessary to freeze the meals. I do that just so I don't worry about them. I make a bunch of meals at the start of the tripping season then dump them in the freezer till I need them.
Heidi a Rain Country uses fabric tray covers cut from cotton sheeting in place of the plastic trays
That's a great idea for many products.
Tip: weigh your meat (or anything else you are dehydrating) before and after hydration. The difference in weight is how much water you need to add to fully rehydrate the item. Then weigh out the water weight and convert it to volume measurement for use in the field, dividing the amounts down if you make individual portions of your dehydrated ingredient. Use that amount of water to accurately/fully rehydrate and not end up with a soupy mess. It's the same way pre-packed dehydrated meals can say "add 1.5 cups" or whatever.
Thanks, for sure that mathematical method works. I have been very successful with this simple rule of thumb... Regardless of pot dimensions if you just cover a normal meal with water it works out quite well. No soupy mess. If it is a soup or stew then you can add an additional 2 cm (or an inch if you prefer) on top of the meal. All the best!
Kevin Outdoors ok, maybe I'm a _tad_ ocd...
I didnt know this. Thank you for this tip. There is so much to learn about prepping. If not done right, you go to get your food stuffs in an emergency and you have nothing (because it spoiled) if not prepared correctly.
@@KevinOutdoors Thank you for responding to my questions Kevin. Knowledge is power.
@@KevinOutdoors can I store in mylar bags
probably the best dehydrating meat video, you got tricks that other dont have and its short and simple and effective, thank you.
Thanks Clement! That is what I was going for. And, that is why I am writing a book about dehydrated camping food. Stay tuned!
I Agree said the same thing myself
@@KevinOutdoorsIt's now three years since you talked about writing a book about dehydrating camping food. Have you done it?
Absolutely, it is called Backcountry Eats www.Backcountry-Eats.com@@rkatrails
@@KevinOutdoors Thanks! I'll go check that out. I'm getting very interested in dehydrating my own backpacking food. I especially enjoyed how you prepared the ground beef, on how to get rid of the grease so it doesn't spoil.
Thanks for great demo. This is ideal for camping in the near future. For longer storage, vacuum seal the meat. Ziplocs do leak air after a while. You can carry some olive oil to add to the meat when eating -- to add back some fat.
Thanks Kathy!
I'm so happy to come across your channel . Nice simple to the point loads of tips and no squeaky preppy high pitched over excited voice . ❤
Welcome aboard! Yes, I don't like to sensationalize my delivery. I would probably get more views but that isn't me. :)
Very helpful tips
Glad to hear that!
I’m saving for a dehydrator now and so excited. Thank you for your video!
You are so welcome!
Excellent video! I am getting ready to get a dehydrator to make my own meals for backpacking. After I showed this one to my mom and told her that she could prepare meals and just boil them later she laughed and we are going to try it with her chili. Chili, the breakfast of champions lol.
Chili works well as a dehydrated camping meal. Nice to hear about someone getting into this. Good luck!
This is the best info for dehyrating meat. First time I've seen it boiled and pressure cooked. Seems easier than a pan and rinsing many many times.
Thanks Heidi, yes I find these techniques to be much easier and do a better job than other methods that you will find out there.
Best dehydrating video watched to date. Simple and effective. Great job and thanks for sharing!!! Enjoy your day!!!
Thanks Larry!
Hi Kevin great videos it is a good idea to do your meat separately as you suggested but it is also important to remember not to add salt, sugar or spices during the initial five minutes of reconstitution as these additives hinder the absorption process.
Thanks Jason, good to know!
I have seen several videos where frying the hamburger is the method they use, but yours is the first one I've seen that boils it. It makes sense as the best way to remove the fat. Must try. Great video. Thanks! :)
Thanks Brenda, Yes I have tried it both ways and I find boiling much more effective and it rehydrates very well.
It also remove the flavor a lot. I tried one time to boil the ground beef to remove the fat and ended up with a bad tasting meat.
Maybe it’s the meat u used was it bad when u started
If you want taste you add powdered beef bouillon
@@NoMore-gc3gi Fat = calories (energy)
You want that if you're counting on this food to help you live.
Somebody recommended you on another channel and I absolutely love your technique way better! You've got yourself a subscriber my friend. ;)
Thanks, much appreciated! And Welcome!
Thank you Kevin, for sharing this great knowledge of your's. It has opened so many doors of potential for me!
This thank you really understated the significance.
My pleasure! If this interests you I also have a cookbook. www.backcountry-eats.com
Great way of preserving food. Great video
Thanks Kwale Farming!
Brilliant 👏 thank u simple and valuable tips
My pleasure 😊
Hey Kevin ,,
,,,,,swamp gal here ,,,
,,never thought of dehydrating fish ,,,,,I'm giveing salmon a try ,,
,,,thank again ,,,
Fish can work well. You want to ensure it isn't a fatty fish. Salmon is sometimes lean and sometimes fatty. Native cultures have been drying fish for thousands of years. Good Luck!
All great advice thank you is there a different way than a pressure cooker as I don't have one
Canned chicken will work the same. Essentially the meat is pressure cooked inside the can to keep it from spoiling.
These are awesome -- thank you so much for sharing :) I feel like a bit of an idiot in the kitchen sometimes, but you have made these clear enough to follow and I'm going to give it a try!
Thanks so much Kathryn! Good luck with your meals!
Great informational video bud!!!!!
Thanks for takin the time to make this for us
Much appreciated!
This is awesome. Going to start dehydrating and preparing meals per your other videos. Thanks alot. Very well taught.
Thanks Royals! That makes me happy!
I have not tried this before except for drying beef and spaghetti.My concern would be about mingling flavors. Believe when I do this I will do only one type of meat at a time! Good show!☮️❤️☀️🌈🌎😇
Thanks, I haven't had any issues with the flavour except when I dehydrate stuff like raw fresh cut onions. good luck!
You can try boiling the beef in a mix of water and red wine. Or all wine. Gives a wonderful flavour!
Interesting, I will have to give that a try sometime. Thanks Mandy!
so glad you had this my hubby is a hunter and i was looking for a way to do meats for food for him thanks
This should work for you. We get great results!
What is the shelf life after it has been dried if it is sealed in vacuum bags?
Thank you so much. Your instructions were easy to understand 🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽
Good information. I am relatively new at dehydrating meat. I never tried boiling the ground beef. I will have to try out the chicken. I will simply have to wait till there is a good sale on chicken breast.
Thanks, you can also use canned chicken. It is basically the same thing as pressure cooked.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just started dehydrating because my sister does but not sure if she does meat. I am going to find out. Do you have to put all meat in the freezer after dehydrate? You are the best! Straight to the basic. I do a lot of canning also which that food will last for years so now I can take some of that and dehydrate. Keep up the good work and love your daughter enthusiasm.
You don't have to put the food in a freezer but if you do it will last almost forever. If you aren't going to store the food in a freezer then you should vacuum seal the meal for best longevity. A desiccant pack can also help. You will definitely get months of storage (conservatively) but the meals will likely last a year or more as long as they are kept in a cool, dark and dry place and airtight.
What an amazing channel
Thanks so much!
I take half frozen chicken breasts and slice really thin and dehydrate then freeze for my Yorkie's treats. She loves them. I just keep in a sandwich bag.
I also dehydrated hamburg after frying, draining, and washing in a drainer til water is clear. Dehydrate and store in vaccuum sealed jar. I did this in October and it is now Christmas and I still have not used it. Will try in a week or two. Looks and sounds like grape nuts.
I found that when I dehydrated a kilogram each of beef, chicken and lamb beforehand that the finished dehydrated weights varied between 255 to 270 grams. I blitzed them in a blender so they became a powder which for me avoids the sometimes gravelly texture. I like my on the track meals on the soupy side. For me they're rehydrated quicker. I'm going to be using the boiling method next. I was thinking I may refrigerate the pot of beef so the fat congeals to the top and then pour the hot water through. Thanks for your tips.
Humm, testing me? OK, generally speaking 1 g of carbs or protein will yield 4 calories. 1 gram of fat will yield about 9 calories. There is for sure quite a bit of variability but this is a good rule of thumb. Since we have eliminated all the fat what is left is mostly protein or carbs (and some fibre) so the meal should be about 600 calories. If you add two tablespoons of oil after rehydration you will add about 240 calories!
Great information, I’ve never seen dehydrated meat tutorial.
Thank you so much! Your family is so lucky that you are planning fun nature adventures in advance
Thanks so much Simply Impish!
I boil my Hb meat before canning as well. I might try the dehydrating soon.
I find if you boil instead of fry the meat that it will rehydrate much better.
Question: Is pressure cooking chicken the only way to "break down the fibers" for better re-hydrating? I was thinking that slow cooking it might work too... but there doesn't seem to be any discussion on any other options...
Just got your book and trying to dehydrate food for camping for the first time this year... I am looking at doing some longer canoe trips in the future and sticking to the "long weekend paddling" for now... good to get used to this dehydrating thing before needing to for a week long trip or more...
Great to hear that you are getting into dehydrating and are using my book! Yes, I have heard of people having good luck with slow cooking chicken too. The reports I have are from folks who are doing very long cooking times in the range of 6+ hours. good luck and let me know how it works out.
I wonder if adding some onion soup mix to the boiling water and beef would give it some nice flavor.
I would suggest adding the flavour to the meal when you rehydrate it.
Thanks for the info. I have enjoyed your channel and have learned a lot. I have been looking for a good way to store food on my sailboat for week longs trips. self prepared dehydrated food is the way to go. Thanks for sharing.
Happy Sailing! I am glad you found this useful!
Awesome video, thanks! Do you need to store differently for outdoor trips? 6 days or less in a backpack. 😅
vacuum sealing out for me.
Not for a short trip (~6 days). I highly recommend vacuum sealing for longer trips but simple zip-loc bags work just fine for short trips. I'd easily stretch that to 2 weeks.
@@KevinOutdoors Thank you, so much!
Great video! how many days these can stay fresh withough freezer?
If you do a good job of removing water, fat and air and you store them in a dark cool place in an airtight container they should last 6 months and likely a year or even more.
@@KevinOutdoors Awesome! Thanks!
Thanks very detailed video. I feel like I can follow along well and replicate easily. 😍Question, why do you store in the freezer? Can it be stored in the pantry?
These meals and food can be stored in a pantry but in the freezer they will last almost indefinitely.
Kevin, I watch this video everytime I dehydrate beef. It has almost become a ritual haha. Happy to say that I'll be bringing your recipe to the coastal trail again.
Stay safe bro, and say hello to Quetico for me 😉
Thanks and will do, probably headed there next week.
Thank you so much for this information. Your tutorial is easy to follow. These are time and cost saving, because I cannot afford the Mountain House, Wise, Auguson Farms or other top shelf meals. You can tailor make what you want to eat. But dont the proteins lose flavor when the fat is washed away? I know that this needs to be done, because the fat will make the meat taste rancid over time.
Hi Vickie, thanks for the comments. Yes the meat will be missing something when you taste it. Unfortunately removing the fat is a necessary evil as you point out the meal can go rancid. So, after I rehydrate the meal I add either olive oil or clarified butter depending on the meal. Both last well without refrigeration and they re-add the fatty taste. It isn't perfect but everything tastes better while camping anyway. Thanks!
One year, I boiled 5 lbs hamburger in soup pot, cooled pot in sink, then put in fridge overnight once the sink cooling method brought down temp enough.
Next day, I found removing top layer of hardened fat challenging. But I finally managed using a butter knife with a spatula haha. Looking back, I bet overturning the entire pot onto a large platter or huge bowl might have been easier, as the broth was solid like Jello.
I used the butter knife and spatula again to separate the meat from gelled broth, I'd use a bread knife next time. So I finally have 3 layers separated. Put broth and fat back in fridge. Put meat back in pot and heat until I see steam, using strainer to collect rest of broth, which I poured onto gelled broth in fridge.
DH comes into kitchen asking what smells so good lol
Spread meat onto dehydrator trays, then make onion soup from the oh so yummy broth.
Next day, put half dried meat in little zip lock bags and the rest of meat in blender to powder. Heated enough fat to mix with powder onto baking trays, then cooled and cut with pizza cutter. Put the modern-lazy 'pemmican' into sandwich baggies in the freezer to have meat when we lost power because of storms. After hurricane season ends, toss in a few cubes of pemmican into spaghetti or pizza sauce, gravies, soups, omelets, ect...
re: ham - used cooked ham and pressure-cooked with black beans. I used water for stock because the ham has a fair bit of sodium already. If there was any fat, it floats on top of the stock so it was easy to remove. The whole ensemble was pureed to make a smooth soup, then dehydrated. The resulting 'bark' makes a great snack, as is! Split pea soup, made this way, is really tasty, as-is, too. Also, grinding the bark into a complete soup powder rocks!
Awesome!
Great idea... next time I will do the same when I go back country...
It is a good method.
Could you do canned chicken too? Could you store the meat in molar bags?
Absolutely you can use canned chicken, it is essentially pressure cooked in the can.
Could you please elaborate on rehydrating? How and when to prepare it for.
I have a number of videos on this subject, just dig a little deeper in my channel.
Hi Kevin! I found your channel and bought your book last year, but only finally got the dehydrator this year for this year’s backpacking adventures! 2 newbie questions (I don’t think I’ve seen it asked in the comments but apologies if it’s been raised before): do you not season the meat at all (when fresh), do you just add seasoning to the sauce? And secondly, is there a risk of overdehydrating the meat? It takes many hours and I was doing it overnight…
When you add seasoning is really up to you. For ground beef I generally add it later since my method of cooking is boiling. For chicken I tend to add it in the pressure cooker as it enhances the flavour of the meat. Q2 - No you really can't over-dehydrate. You are just removing water through evaporation and extra time in the dehydrator does no harm.
Hey Kevin, I am currently boiling some beef to dehydrate for a trip on the coastal trail of Lake Superior P.P. This video has been a huge help, thanks man.
-Boosh
Thanks, enjoy the CHT in Lake Superior PP! That is a great trail!
Thank you for making this video so informative and easy to understand. How long does the meat stay good? do u know how to figure out the life of the items?
Misty, it is really hard to say how long an individual meal or some dehydrated protein might last. If you seal the food in an airtight container and you do a good job of removing fat and moisture from the food then it should easily last 6 months to a year. If you vacuum seal the food and add a desiccant pack it should last much longer than a year. Throw it in the freezer and it will last almost indefinitely.
Awesome video, I’m trying this for my upcoming camping trip!
I love to hear that. Good luck!
Yup, me too :P
Hey Kevin. New sub, Jon from Lost Lakes directed me over to your channel after asking him a question about dehydrating. My question is .. I've started prepping for my 30 day Algonquin trip and I was wondering if you have eveer tried dehydrating Peameal Bacon? If so, have you prepaired it like regular jerky (start raw) or cooked it first. What would you recomend? I've found that most searches have been 50/50 on what is the better or safer way. I've never dehydrated pork before, just chicken and beef.
Interesting question. I have dehydrated ground pork, sausage, and ham with good success but I don't know much about peameal bacon. I understand that it is cured in salt and sugar but still refrigerated when sold. So, here are some thoughts. Pork products should be heated to at least 145F to eliminate bacteria so check the label, this can be achieved in a dehydrator. Fat can also be a concern as it can go rancid but pemeal bacon is from the loin so it should be low fat. All meat has some fat but check the label, I have had good success with 2% or lower. If the fat content and cooking temp are right, then you should be able to slice the pemeal bacon thin or into small pieces (1/4") and dehydrate it. Understanding that it is brined, the salt flavours will intensify when dehydrated. You might want to try a small amount first to see if it becomes too salty. Good luck!
@@KevinOutdoors Thank you very much. I will do a test run as I never considered the salt factor and I personally get dehydrated fairly easily. Thank you again.
This is so great!! Please keep making more videos!! I'm just getting started, and more recipes would be an AWESOME help. You're the most concise and helpful person I've found, and I'd love more tips! Thank you!!!
Thank you! I will be making more food videos and I also have a cookbook coming out soon. Stay tuned!
You may have already learned this, but if you have a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment with hot chicken is a GREAT way to "pull" it, and it will break it down quickly and easily into small bits. Then you only have to manually pull what might have slipped past the paddle. :-D
Thanks - I didn't know about that. I will have to give it a try.
A hand mixer works, too. :)
Great tip
I use my hand mixer with the regular beaters works great!
What would you advise would be the Next best method recommendation should someone not have a pressure cooker?
Use canned chicken. It is essentially pressure cooked in the can. Good luck!
Nicely done KO! I do it differently with the ground beef by frying, then de-fatting in a food tub with boiling water and in the fridge overnight to make the fat "ice" which I skim off. I will have to try the boil method and do a re-hydrate test to see what GB method re-hydrates faster. Chicken I use use the can product like the tuna (pressure cooked in the can). But its salty, so I may have to get a pressure cooker to prep fresh chicken. Thanks for the how-to!
Thanks Winter-T!
Kevin, it has been a while since you posted this video, but I thank you for it!! I'm trying to make ketogenic dehydrated meals for myself, but couldn't figure out how to incorporate meat/fish in the meals. Now I can, thanks to you! Also the clarified butter video helped me a lot! Thank you for your time and effort to make these video's!! Kind regards, Jolijn (The Netherlands).
Thanks Jolijn, I love to hear comments like that!
Jolijn, do you have any Keto backpacking recipes you could share? I am Keto as well and I really would like to find more recipes! I have a couple if you are interested!
@@Adventuringtoabetterme I'm doing keto too. My plan is to take meals that I love and are not keto and convert them to ketogenic percentages. Also, I'm going through the keto/low carb books I now have and will test make the recipes in dehydrated foods.
A WAY LATE reply but, we are also KETO and, when using our dehydrated meat (beef, anyway) we always add some fat to the recipe (avocado oil, olive oil, tallow...) to try to bring it back to its former glory, as it where.
What are you doing for fat on the hike if you take the fat out of the ground beef?
Great video and very helpful!!
Beef, which part is lean & best for drying?
Good question Netanel, with the boiling method it doesn't really matter, I just use ground beef and it works great. I have never had any issues so I haven't experimented with ground beef from different cuts of meat. When I make jerky I do use flank steak or top or bottom round steak. Those are good cuts that tend to have minimal marbling.
@@KevinOutdoors Thank you❤, thanks to you I entered the world of food drying, I recently purchased a dryer and I use your method with the hot water
Love this whole series. Can you recommend a good book or source for more recipes for dehydrating whole meals?
Hi Mike, I sure can.
Two at the top of my list are "The Dehydrator Bible" and "The Complete Trail Food Cookbook" They are written by the same three authors and are closest to the style of meal prep that I do. The three authors are a home economist, a professional chef and a Ph.D. in food science. Good reliable and safe meals and good variety.
I also recommend "Recipes for Adventure" if you want to explore different styles. Most of the meals are great but the author dehydrates everything separately and he gets deep into his concept of 'bark' which is the dehydrated sauce or thickener of what you are making. He also gets into dehydrating bread which I don't understand.
I will mention four others that are older and not as good but they go me started doing this...
"The Well-Fed Backpacker", "Backpack Gourmet", "Simple Foods for the Pack" and "Trail Food" (that last one is by Alan Kesselheim there are several books with that name). These are all interesting but some do some strange things like dehydrating raw eggs or cheese.
Good Luck!
Thanks for this video!
I’m a little skeptical about dehydrating meat. My husband and I are planning to hike the AT next year, 2024 which will take us about 6 ish months to complete. I plan on dehydrating all of our breakfast and dinner meals, for the most part anyway, aside from town stops along the way. We will have my brother in law ship us resupply packages along the route of food probably weekly. Here is my question. Does the meat need to be stored in the freezer until he’s ready to box it up and ship? And then also, how long is the meat good for after it comes out of the freezer? I thought the whole point of dehydrating it was to keep it shelf stable? If there is any question of it being shelf stable then I’m worried to even have meat as part of my backpacking meals. The last thing I want is to have my husband and I get sick and taken off the trail due to improper storage or longevity of the meat I have dehydrated. 😖
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.
That is a great question and your trip is about the right length to take some extra precautions. Meat will last a long time but the lenght of shelf life you get depends on how well you remove moisture and fat and how the food is stored. Keeping food cool, free of oxygen and out of sunlight is also important. By doing a good job on all these things the meals should last 6 months and probably a year. I have a video about fat and rancidity you might want to check out, it is a bit long and technical but it helps explain what is happening. ua-cam.com/video/Z5MJAQ3r-5k/v-deo.html Most of my trips are in the two week range and I just package my meals in zip-locks and I don't worry. For the length of storage you are looking for I would invest in a vacuum sealer and probably some oxygen absorbers this will help ensure you get past that 6 month range. Dehydrated food can become sharp and puncture vacuum sealed bags so lining them with an additional layer of plastic or paper can help. Mylar bags are also a good choice. If you have freezer space then putting the meals in the freezer will help them last almost indefinitely. Even if you just put your last month of supplies in the freezer then you will have a little added protection. I would say if you do a good job of removing the fat and the meals are vacuum sealed with an O2 absorber inside they should last 6 months.
@@KevinOutdoors awesome I will check out your other video! Thanks so much for your in depth reply! 😊
Hi Kevin. Greetings from the uk! Great video thanks. Do you store your dehydrated vegetables in the freezer too? I see some people just store in jars in a cupboard.
I do store them in the freezer. It isn't necessary but if you have the space then there is even less to worry about.
I can definitely vouch for what you said about boiling the ground beef versus frying it. Searing the beef ruins it for dehydration/re-hydration, but if you boil it, it re-hydrates so easily and so well you almost can't distinguish it from freshly cooked ground beef.
As for the chicken, when I tried pressure cooking it and dehydrating it, it would not fully re-hydrate, no matter how long I cooked it in boiling water. But I noticed you cooked yours for about 15 minutes, whereas I only cooked mine for about 8 minutes. It's possible I may just need to allow it to cook longer.
I also tried cooking some fresh pieces of chicken in the slow cooker for 6 hours in some chicken broth and dehydrating it, and it fully re-hydrated very quickly and easily. It just soaked that water up like a sponge and you couldn't even tell it had been dehydrated.
Thanks for the comment. Chicken is always a bit of a challenge. Longer cooking times, 15-20 min in a pressure cooker, or 5-6 hours in a slow cooker seem to help the rehydration. Also, dehydrating the meat at a slightly lower temp (~155 or 150 F) than other meats seems to help.
@@KevinOutdoors Thanks, I'll give that a try.
Very helpful comment. I did what you said with both the chicken and beef and they came back so well it would have been hard to know they were dehydrated.
Hey Kevin. Have you had an issue with moisture entering your bags when they are kept in the freezer? I can imagine the food is just fine when frozen, but I'm wondering if when you are ready to use it, and you remove it from the freezer if there is any moisture in the bags that can then cause it to spoil if left for a few days? Thanks in advanced! Trying to plan my own meals for some backpacking trips this summer, and this is something I'm always contemplating.
We have yet to take a frozen dehydrated meal with us. But we add silica packs to everything we dehydrate (if that helps at all).
Just got back from a 5 1/2 day trip, and learned that I *really* need to reduce weight and bulk…
Part is recognizing that I will eat *less* than at home - about 1/2 to 2/3…
What I wonder about is using the 93/7 % stuff. I’ll run it though the instant pot first before mixing it with the TVP.
A good trick is to keep track of what you bring and actually use on each trip. Then review that list and adjust he next time you pack.
How long will these keep in the freezer? And just out of curiosity, how long will they keep out of the freezer, in a cool cupboard?
In the freezer they last almost forever. Out of the freezer in a cool dark place and kept in an airtight container they easily last 6 months. You will likely get more than a year out of them but there are no guarantees. it all depends on how well you remove fat and moisture and how well the food is stored.
Thanks for sharing - why do you freeze it? Is there a reason, does it keep better?
Yes it keeps almost forever if you freeze these meals. You should get 6-months to a year for sure if you keep them in an airtight container, but most likely 2-4 years if stored properly.
@@KevinOutdoors thanks, and thanks for sharing these videos :)
This is a really helpful video, thanks so much for sharing what you have learned. What make of dehydrator do you use?
Hi Norin, Thanks so much. The brand I have is 'Nesco'. I think they are good but I am sure other brands are good as well. I am on my third one and currently have two that work fine. My oldest one (bought 20 years ago) died on me some time ago. I like the 'fruit roll' trays for many of my meals and once I invested in about 20 trays of the size that fit my dehydrator I was locked in to the Nesco brand and size of dehydrator. No regrets. They have all served me very well.
thank you so much that will help me a lot i am no good with math and of course i want the hubby to be happy with what i send with him thank you again have a great rest of the week
Did the beef and the rest of the meats re-hydrate well? How was the taste and the texture?
It was quite good. I have another video on rehydration.
Can you seal and vacuum pack into Mylar bags.
I haven't done it before but yes you can. I know many people who do this.
Kevin, awesome video! No fluff or shots of your cute dogs or kids... just business!!😂. Not sure if missed this in the comments, but what do estimate the shelf life of this protein can be if vacuum sealed with oxygen absorbers and frozen?
Thanks Jack, I think if you do all those things the food will last for years. Without freezing if you do a goog job removing fat and you vacuum seal I would easily give it a year. I have certainly had my meals in the freezer for a year or two and they were fine.
Probably a couple of years. For longer storage, you need to freeze dry.
Do you have to freeze it?
Ok. Now how do you. Use it.. I have tried it. But I won't to. I can put it in gars. And put in my pantry. Thanks
Dorothy, check out my video on Rehydrating Backcountry Meals.
Great.vids. Would seasoning (salt) the meat help preserve it?
Thanks for the question. It can't hurt and yes it probably would help but it isn't necessary.
Thank you for the detailed video. I'm wanting to start dehydrating meats so this was fabulous. I'm wondering if I can dehydrate meat in the regular oven?? I do have a dehydrater but I don't know the temperature . It's one setting . I may just invest in a better one with different settings if there is one.. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you again. Blessings from Gee and Dee from NM
Hi Denise, if you have a dehydrator without a thermostat it is probably like the one I have and it is permanently set to 'High' 160 F. Give it a try I bet it works fine. You can use it for everything, that is what I did before I got another one with a thermostat. I just find that the meals rehydrate a little better if you separate meat from the starches, fruits and veggies and set the other stuff to 130 F. The oven will work too. Just set your temp and leave the door open a few inches. Good luck!
With the beef I would sous vide it then rinse the fat off. I would think that boiling would rid of any flavor. Idk. What do u think?
The goal here is to make a safe meal for backcountry camping. I boil the meat so that the fat melts away. I doubt this would happen as well with a sous vid method.
Thank you so much for this informative video. Can't wait to start experimenting with my own meals. Is there a reason you put your dried foods in the freezer. Are they able to be stored on a shelf?
Hi Stella, they will certainly keep on the shelf. Keep the meals airtight and out of the sun. Vacuum seal for longer storage, probably up to a year easily. I throw them in the freezer so I don't worry about anything. A dehydrated and frozen meal will last almost forever. :)
Can there be any nutrients left in the beef after boiling it?
I am sure there is.
At Wal-Mart they discount the flavored rotisserie chicken. I put it in the crockpot and stew it which draws out most of the fat. Can I remove the skin, rinse it, remove the bone and dehydrate it. Will the flavor, i.e. lemon or garlic remain in the meat?
Hi Vicki, I'm really not sure. When you say rotisserie chicken I think of pre-cooked chicken. Despite spending time in the crock pot it may still not rehydrate well. If it isn't pre-cooked then cooking for a long time in a crock pot will have a similar effect as in a pressure cooker. Yes remove the skin and bones and you should be good to go. I would probably only dehydrate the white meat. Good luck.
What if you don’t have a pressure cooker, how else could you prepare the chicken?
Also, you mentioned that you keep it in the freezer, is that necessary if it is dehydrated?
Also, what would be the shelf life?
Oh, &, what is yr brand of dehydrator?
As you can probably tell I am a newbie…..been looking at dehydrators, but many of them do t have those trays that you are using, meaning the meat could fall right through….if you used baking paper to stop that would it interfere with the drying process & the heat distribution?
Nice video! What is the shelf life of that meat? Did you test? Approximately?
It should easily last 6 months. It will last a lot longer if you keep it in a tightly sealed airtight container and out of heat and light. It will keep almost forever in the freezer.
@@KevinOutdoors thanks for quick response.
I am wondering if this can be done will canned salmon? As salmon is an oily fish???
Good question Branky Ma. I would not try this with a fatty fish like salmon at least I wouldn't expect to get any longevity out of it.
Kevin Outdoors thank you for your reply. I was afraid of that. I’m still learning. I hope to one day be able to share what I’ve learned with others as you do. Thank you again.
Hey, that is what this platform is about - sharing knowledge! Thanks Branky!
Can i put it in mylar bags for long term storage?
Yes for sure.
Two questions:
When I make jerky, I just put the raw meat in the dehydrator. Given that it dehydrates for several hours at 160F (71C), why is it necessary to cook it first?
For chicken, if I don't have a pressure cooker, should I just forget abut dehydrated chicken meals?
Thanks!
The USDA suggests that beef should reach an internal temp of 160F. Lots and lots of people (including myself) make jerky and don't cook it first. I do always cook my ground beef before dehydrating. Regarding chicken, you can also slow cook the chicken for a long time (6+ hours) in a slow cooker or you can use canned chicken. Good luck.
Great video. If you don't mind taking the time, you could slow cook the chicken in a crock pot and get some stock out of it before you dehydrate it.
That's almost what I did with my first 3 chicken breasts, but in the pressure cooker. Water, 2 diced carrots, 2 diced celery stems, 1/2 diced onion, several pieces of crushed garlic, around 15 pepper corns, and some broth powder. 15 minutes... meat falling apart. Leave veggies in the broth, remove pepper corns, and cook a load of rice in it. Dehydrate as Kevin shows in his other video about preparing meals. The only difference, my dehydrator needed only 3 hours (maybe higher wattage?) for 3 chicken breasts and 2 cans of tuna. The dry weight came out the same as Kevin's. Thanks again Kevin, for your videos
You can do stock in a pressure cooker as well. Just need more water
Interesting tip, but how flavourful is actually the stock of chicken breasts (thus no bone, very low fat)?
@@Hermania3000 it's awesome
@@terryhutson4864 Thanks Terry! Have a great weekend.
Do you keep the dehydrated tuna in the freezer. Thank you
I do but you don't have to. The meal would probably last up to a year out of the freezer if it is well dried and you take other precautions like keeping it in an airtight container.
Can you feed this meat to your Cat like freeze dried meat? Or is it too hard?
I don't know why not, as long as your cat will eat it. But I am not a vet.
Hi, Kevin - I made your chicken curry stew and the flavor is great. But the chicken was tough after rehydrating about 20 minutes. I don't have a pressure cooker, so just boiled the chicken ahead of dehydrating and shredded it. They followed your directions for dehydrating. What do you think went wrong? Should I have rehydrated it longer or separately from the rest of the meal, or did I over dry it? Thanks for answering.
Thanks Theresa, I suspect it is how the chicken was cooked but chicken is always a challenge. Pressure cooking works and so does dehydrating canned chicken. Alternatively you can cook the chicken long and slow a good 2-3 hour simmer will have a similar effect. Good luck.
I'm kind of curious, if anyone might have an idea, if after all of this, you then vacuum sealed the meats and stored them in a cool, dry, dark place (but not refrigerated), how long might it last? I see a lot of sites that list dehydration or vacuum sealing for storage, but not cooking, dehydrating, _and_ vacuum sealing... TIA for any ideas!
That is what I want to do to cook , preserve it, and store for long term!
Hi John, properly dehydrated and stored in airtight containers the food will easily last 6 months to a year but probably up to 4 years if everything is done well.
Kevin, what should the chicken feel like? In your book you say it shouldn’t feel crispy, but I’m finding it hard to get to something less than crispy. Maybe I’m just using too high heat? My dehydrator only goes to 155f so I adjusted for longer cook time.
Thanks Eduardo. Chicken should feel dry to the touch. I would cut open any larger pieces and see if they are dry inside. You don't want chicken dehydrate chicken past that point or it can become difficult to rehydrate.
Thanks, Kevin - great videos.
Thanks David!
How long will the meals you make last in the backcountry
They will likely last months and likely up to a year or even more. My maximum trip length is usually 2 weeks and I have never had a problem. If you are going for longer or shipping your meals for a 'food drop' I would take the added precautions of vacuum sealing and using oxygen absorbers.
Thanks for the video! I'm about to dehydrate meats to make my own Bullion for soups. This looks super simple. I'm curious, Do you also dehydrate herbs? I'm going to tackle that next! Thanks again!
Hi James, I usually don't dehydrate herbs but that's just habit. Herbs are easy to dehydrate. They tend to dehydrate better at the lowest temperature of your dehydrator and they can take some time to dehydrate. If I was growing lots of herbs in my garden I would certainly dehydrate them but we tend to use them all up by fall.
Question?? Why do you keep it in the freezer after dehydrating? Couldn't it be placed in jars in a pantry?
It will last a long time in jars in a cool dark place but it lasts almost indefinitely in the freezer.
sorry i just had a tout you can buy ground turkey and ground pork and ground chicken could you boil them as well before dehydrating?
Yes that will work too. Or you can buy canned chicken (and probably turkey). Canned food is basically pressure cooked as they pasturize the contents by boiling the can. Much easier options but I am always sceptical about ground or canned poultry :)
If you seal them in a mason than they can just go into the pantry? Will they last for a long time?
Hi Little Lou, yes that is possible. They can last a long time in a mason jar but they will last a long longer in the freezer.
Awesome videos on the dehydrators! I haven't seen the other ones yet, but I subscribed and will be checking out more content. Thank you for the info! I'm trying to get started with my Excalibur and am interested in long term food storage, mainly for meats at this time. I was wondering, I hear a lot of ppl talk about dehydrating eggs. Is there any tips or tricks (or a video already made?) with the eggs that I can refer to? Thanks!
Hi C Mex, thanks for the sub! I know there are lots of people who dehydrate eggs and I have done it myself for a test. It works well but there are serious risks of salmonella. You can dehydrate both fresh eggs and cooked eggs. Fresh eggs rehydrate the best but carry more risk. There are now a number of manufacturers making crystalized eggs. These have been pasteurized for safety and are freeze dried. They are expensive but for camping I find them worth it. I have a dozen laying hens and love fresh eggs but for camping I splurge on the freeze-dried egg crystals. They taste just like eggs should and not like traditional powdered eggs.
@@KevinOutdoors thanks for the info! That' was my main concern, the salmonella. I'll check into them. I bought a ton of appliances and items to help with food prep/storage, and I'm trying to do the food storage on the cheap, so doing it myself would be ideal. Considering the risk this one carries though, probably going to be one of those "splurge" items we end up buying. I appreciate the thoughts!
Maybe a silly question, but why do you want to remove all the fat? It does add flavor and if it's high quality (pastured) meat, it adds nutritional value as well.
Fat can and will eventually go rancid and spoil the meal. It isn't safe to leave fat in a dehydrated meal.
Hey Kevin great video. Nice idea with the boiling of the hamburger meat. I scrolled through some of the comments didn't see this question, do you find that the tastes of the different meats mingle when dehydrating them together?
Hi Darc, Good question, no I don't. At least not chicken, tuna and hamburger. I have done shrimp and that stinks the place up a bit so I would definable do that one on its own.
Do you do ground pork
Yes Aron, same process as the beef. It needs to be cooked and you want to remove as much fat as possible.
How do you dehydrate without a large utility bill ? My air fryer uses a ton of electricity.
I don't notice dehydrating on my bill but I will have to do some more research on this question and perhaps make a video on the subject.
@@KevinOutdoors I think I might just get dehydrator as my air fryer is big. It can rotisserie a hole chicken. I realy need a different one.
Great video! Great ideas. Have you run into problems dehydrating different meats at the same time, especially fish? Does it permeate the smell into the other meat?
Thanks Sinfonian, I haven't had any issues with that. I don't do much fish. I did try shrimp once and that stunk up the whole house.
Please explain why you remove the fat.I thought fat was great on a camping trip.Does fat interfere with the process.Is it necessary to freeze it? Thanks, Steve.
Hi Stephen, Fat can go rancid so it is good practice to remove as much fat as possible. That will help the meals last longer. It is certainly not necessary to freeze the meals. I do that just so I don't worry about them. I make a bunch of meals at the start of the tripping season then dump them in the freezer till I need them.