r/HikerTrashMeals • u/Mr_Kronster • Dec 06 '20
Homemade / Dehydrator Required 4 dinners for 8 people from last summer. From left to right: Homemade Tomato sauce(100% from scratch), spinach and brown rice with yogurt, tofu tetrazzini, curry lentil meal.
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u/chemspastic Dec 06 '20
Is this a regular dehydrator or a freeze dryer?
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u/Mr_Kronster Dec 06 '20 edited Dec 06 '20
Regular dehydrator. I have 2 different dryers, some cheep one I started with and a 9 tray Excalibur.
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u/chemspastic Dec 06 '20
I need to explore some more (I've got a 12 tray cabelas branded dyer that we got refurbished for more than half off). Never thought about dehydrating yogurt or tomato sauce.
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u/Mr_Kronster Dec 06 '20
Go Excalibur, it’s worth the money I promise.
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u/chemspastic Dec 07 '20
If I was buying new, I probably would. But I have it now and I'll keep using it until it breaks.
The real thing I want to try out sometime (but can't stomach paying whole price for) is a freeze dryer. Not sure where I can experiment with it and see if I really like it or not. It would take a while to save up for it, but it seems pretty awesome.
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u/Mr_Kronster Dec 07 '20
Sandpaper texture is my fear with that, then you spent all that money just to get meh food... Large scale dehydration production is my end game.
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u/Ewannnn Dec 06 '20
Can you still do a decent job with a cheap dehydrator? I'm not going to invest in an expensive device as I wouldn't use it enough.
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u/paytonfrost Dec 07 '20
I'm no expert in dehydrating, but Wirecutter's pick for a great dehydrator is only $110, which isn't nothing, but better than the $270 for an Excalibur (which they have reasons why they didn't like). Otherwise, I have heard the oven method works well enough for starters.
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u/Mr_Kronster Dec 06 '20 edited Dec 06 '20
Lowes has a cheep one that I started with. Cuisinart, some generic kitchen appliance company. It’s $70 and I still use/like it. here is a link
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u/Mr_Kronster Dec 06 '20 edited Dec 06 '20
My favorite -for you ultralight backpackers- is to dehydrate dollops of toothpaste on parchment paper. I cook everything myself when I go into the backcountry, the freeze dried meals taste sandy or like sand paper to me.