[pct-l] freeze-dried foods

[dicentra]

Doable, but a TON of freaking work indeed.  I did 60 (about 1/2 of the total number needed) dinners last year and it quickly became apparent to me why thrus ressuply as they go. It took me about 3 full weekends, not including actually running the dehydrator and shopping (and I had a lot of stuff on hand as well) to put everything together.

Maybe it might be better to do *some* home-made meals and intersperse it with the store-bought stuff?

Another option is to do HUGE batches of things like stews etc and run them through the dehydrator... You can get 6-12 meals out of each run. Then mix them with instant rice, pasta, couscous etc...  I've done several different stews in the crock pot this winter, then dried them for next season's hikes (and trail angeling).

Hope that helps!

~Dicentra
 
http://www.onepanwonders.com ~ Backcountry Cooking at its Finest
http://www.freewebs.com/dicentra

 




________________________________
From: nosirreeb <nosirreeb at yahoo.com>
To: pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net
Sent: Wed, December 23, 2009 11:44:18 AM
Subject: [pct-l] freeze-dried foods

"I dry my own vegetables at home AFTER cooking and chopping into small
pieces with a food processor. - nosirreeb"

"Have you done this for a thru-hike's worth of food & how much of a time
commitment was that before the trail? - Paul"

No, not yet, just for shorter hikes.

Example: 120 day thruhike with the equivalent of one cup of fresh veggies per day is about 8-10 gallons fresh (depending on waste), about 4 gallons dried. One would have to do it in small batches dependent on the size/speed of the dehydrator. It would be a substantial undertaking, for sure, but IMO doable if one has the desire and the motivation.



      
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