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Fwd: Re: [pct-l] dehydrating food

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From: radney
To: mdixon@email.bigsky.net
Cc: pct-l@saffron.hack.net
Date: 01/29/98 17:27:03
Message-Id: <199812917273518467@>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] dehydrating food
X-Mailer: NETCOMplete v3.25, from NETCOM On-Line Communications, Inc.

On 01/29/98 09:28:51 you wrote:
>
>What is the recommended method for dehydrating tomato paste/sauce.
>mark

Hi Mark,

For our PCT hike last year I dehydrated lots of tomato paste -- it was great 
when put in a nagalene bottle about 1 hour+ before we decided to eat so it 
could rehydrate!  If you have a HarvestMaid dehydrator it usually comes with 
a solid hard (but flexible) plastic insert, if not you can order them and 
they will fit most models.  Just pour any sauce onto the plastic, it will 
dehydrate spaghetti sauce, you can also use applesauce in all its great 
vaiety of flavors (great for energy snack!!) for a fruit roll up, or use 
your imagination using anything  semi-liquid.  Karen was right about using 
the saran wrap also, but it is difficult to work with.  It is best to roll 
the finished product in saran wrap though making sure the sauce is rolled 
like a jelly roll with saran wrap.  This will make it easier to unroll and 
separated if you need just part of the sauce.

Try dehydrating slices of bannas (use ripe not green ones!) dipped in honey 
and cinnamon.  Apples were great too!  Don't forget that when you eat these 
as snacks and unhydrated, you must drink plenty of water or you can get a 
very bad stomach ache -- dehydrated foods also make you "toot" alot! You can 
dehydrate all sorts of foods and store in airtight containers before you 
leave, but I would suggest that you take everyones advice and double bag 
them, you will usually be able to use the bag for something else on the 
trail.  Better yet, do what the Rice Brothers did -- vacuum seal all your 
food -- excellent idea as it super-sealed everything making food fresher and 
much lighter! I don't recommend dehydrating peppers or string beans--they 
get too strong and then bitter-- at least mine did.  Take spices that you 
like, sometimes the strong ones can upset your stomach, which tends to get 
rather sensative with all the energy you are expending.    

The "veggie snacks" Karen talked about are great on the trail because they 
are "freeze dried" not dehydrated.  I would heartily recommend using all 
these vegetables in soups, stews, or just right out of the bag -- they are 
super light and delicious!  We took plenty of soups that were already 
dehydrated.  If you don't already know about the LIPTON noodles/rices, check 
them out -- they are very good.

No matter what you take with you, realize that Hiker Boxes get full of all 
varieties of delicious cast offs -- your junk food (that which you are tired 
of) will become someone elses delicacey and vica/versa.   My "food swings" 
or cravings told me what my body was needing at that particular time to stay 
in shape.  Sometimes it was cheese, ice cream, peanut butter, whatever -- I 
guess what I am trying to say is not to lock yourself into just what you are 
hungry for now and carry, you will suppliment in town either at the stores 
or Hiker Boxes.  Don't foget a good "High Energy Vitamin!  We also carried 
peppermint oil -- a little vial worked great for brushing our teeth and gave 
our mouth a wonderful refreshing taste and smell and it came in handy as a 
tea.  Add a vial of oil of Tea Tree to use as a anti-fungal/viral/bacterial 
agent.  It helped keep all my blisters and missing toenails from getting 
infected, plus it kept my lips moist in the desert -- don't forget lip salve 
if you would rather use it in the desert.

Hope to see you in '98

Happy trails -- Walt & Pat    

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