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Re: [pct-l] dehydrating food

On Thu, 29 Jan 1998 11:57:17 -0700 (MST) bluesky@Rt66.com (Karen Elder)
writes:
>At the expensive "natural foods" store here in Albuquerque, they sell
>dehydrated vegies to be eaten "as is", i.e., not rehydrated. Some 
>dehydrated foods seem to be too hard to eat that way - too big? Or maybe
they 
>cook, orbparboil, these vegies first. Anyway, they do make a tasty snack
but 
>are quite expensive to buy. Has anyone tried to make something like
this?
>Karen

   I did, inadvertently years ago, before I bought my dehydrator. I dried
stuff in a low oven with a fan blowing into the partially open oven door;
worked pretty well, but I was always in a hurry and things tended to get
toasty sometimes. The"toasted" dried corn was so delicious, that my fella
(a non-hiker) begged me to make extra for him to snack on at work - and
his co-workers wanted some too! It's a good energy source, also.
   (Actually, I think _freeze-dried_ corn re-hydrates better into "real
corn"; in fact, anything with alot of fiber never rehydrates perfectly - 
the tough parts of broccoli, for instance). Dried peas, especially when
cooked first with some salt, maybe sugar, and spices, are also great as a
snack. Ditto red bell peppers, sweet potato "chips", slices or strips of
yello summer squash. The thing is, you gotta break down the fiber first
by cooking - sometimes freezing afterwards - before dehydrating tough
stuff, especially if you don't plan on adding water before you eat it.
Saves re-hydration time as well...    bj

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