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Re: [pct-l] dehydrating food
Mark,
rehydration time for vegetables depends a lot on how thick or large you
cut, slice, dice or otherwise process the material before drying. What
I've successfully dehydrated and used on the trail:
sliced Roma (or pear-shaped) tomatoes. These are good because they have a
lot of tomato and fewer seeds. Slices about one-quarter inch thick. Fact
is, I use these and the appropriate spices with angel hair pasta, and it
makes a very good spaghetti, even without the sauce.
any kind of pepper: green bell pepper, red bell pepper (pimento), and hot
peppers (cayenne, sliced jalapeno, slice serrano). These dry quickly and
rehydrate quickly too.
thinly sliced carrots. Slice carrots into "coins" about pencil-lead thick
(one-sixteenth inch?).
thinly sliced broccoli stems. Peel first, then slice about one-quarter
inch thick. Parboil about five minutes before you dry them. They rehydrate
well. These are good with rice.
Dried onion flakes can be gotten cheap at the store and add well to lots
of food.
I carry fresh garlic cloves. Adds immeasurably to taste of many meals.
For most of this stuff, I put the amount I want to use in a leakproof
Nalgene container, add the necessary amount of water (at least enough to
cover) and hike with it during the day. It'll be rehydrated by the time
you want to use it in a meal. Use the soak water (if there's any left) to
add to the pasta or rice.
Meats can be done too, but you only asked about vegetables. If you want
meat data (or recipes), let me know.
Craig Smith
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