[pct-l] Too Early to Start Dehydrating?

[Scott Williams]

Some things will last beautifully dehydrated now and simply put on a shelf
to be used for the next year, such as veggies and some of the more stable
meats like pork and beef.  Others however will do better to be frozen until
you get ready to head off in the spring.

On the CDT I dehydrated my meals all winter from December till my start in
early April.  The only ones I had problems with were dehydrated chicken
which began to get an off smell by the end of the hike and some of the
commercially dried cheese (like mac and cheese pdr sold by the pound) which
were from sealed quantities from the year before.   So it was somewhat old
to begin with.  The dried cheese was delicious for the first few months but
then, repackaged as it was in my meals, it got so stinky I couldn't eat the
meals and I usually like stinky cheese.   The chicken was fine for the
first 6 months or so, but when it got to 9 and 10 months since it had been
dried, it also  started to get funky.  They had been vacuum sealed but not
frozen.  Most of what I dried did fine and I'm still using some of it from
several years ago with no off flavors.  If you've got room in your freezer,
use it for anything you suspect might not make it.

Shroomer


On Mon, Oct 14, 2013 at 10:13 AM, Alan Miller <alan.miller401 at gmail.com>wrote:

> So, we are beginning to test out some meals for next years thru hike and I
> was wondering if it is too early to start dehydrating meals?  Would it be
> worth it to vacuum seal them or freeze them to extend their shelf life?
>  Thanks for the help
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
>