Thread: Making your own Dehy

Who here does this? How do you know how much water to add when it comes time to rehydrating/heating to eat? Any other tips, recipes, dos and donts?
I got thinking about giving it a go today when looking to buy some dehy online as we had this discussion on the hill once where we came to the conclusion that you could take the best/favourite store bought dehy that you think is pretty good when you're sitting at camp, but prepare it at home and you would throw it out and eat some real food because let's face it, they're pretty shit.

ive been wondering the same thing as well

There's a big thread somewhere on here from memory?
Some dude had recipes and the machine he used? I could be making shit up though

Maybe it was this one, but the external link isn't working for me

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ing-food-9055/

Works ok but only if your not a gourmet.

Commercial stuff is freeze dried, the ice crystals leave little holes as they sublime which is why it re hydrates so quickly and is a bit more tolerant of extra water(think sponge).
Homemade ends up a bit like jerky. I put dried chunks in a food processor to chop them into coarse corn kernel size lumps thet seems to make it rehydrate quicker.
The appearence leaves a bit to be desired however still foods food.

Weigh the stuff before you dehydrate it and again after. Add the difference in water when you are going to eat it. We use grated carrot, sliced beans, capsicum, tinned sweet corn, dried peas from the super market and generally mince (venison or pork) cooked up with a bit of onion. After dehydrating, bag it into meal sized portions and freeze it.
Soak it for as long as you can before eating, (add water in the morning when you leave for a hunt and it will be perfect by dinner time) and then add any more if required when heating it to eat.
My wife makes ours and it is hard to go back to bought ones now.

I've dehyd tinned meal. 500 odd grams to 100 grams. Add 400 ml of boiling water and soak for an hour before reheating. Beats backcountry for taste.

Maybe I’m old fashioned but i just take food...

Usually one for one is pretty close to rehydrate. As been said leave as long as possible. Home made vege soup is really good also. Bulks up a lot more than cup o soup. Make some at home and practice, rehyd til you get it about right. Make up into meal size lots. Vacuum pack if you have one. Many people been disappointed when they found their zip lock bags have come undone in their packs. Rice, mince, also good.

I mostly dehydrate mixed veges and cooked rice which accompany most of my meals, or become a meal of thier own. I just add 1for1 water and wait 10 min.

I have done mince and the like but found washing out the fat once cooked to be a pain in the arse.

I just use my regular oven set at 50 degrees with the oven door slightly agar to release all the moisture.

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Originally Posted by Shelley

Maybe I’m old fashioned but i just take food...

So would I if all I had to tackle was the gently undulating terrain of Auckland

Looking at the ultralight backpacking pages the have a meal they call a 'ramen bomb', could be worth a look.

1-2 nights we take kaweka meals, worth the extra weight for the taste, take extra mash/ rice . I usually take the one with most energy: weight ratio, the butter chicken.

Also gone the route of a stoveless OSM summer overnighter, just have a big feed before you go,
Decided to give it a go after reading this https://bghnz.co.nz/overnighters-what-gear/

+1 for Kaweka meals also good on wraps