Linda - tell me about your dehydrator?

Hi Piglet,

Sure. I've only had it about a month, am still experimenting. I got a couple of books to help me; one is an out-of-print book about dried foods, and the other is a book for camping written by an American outdoorsman. (I wonder how he has the energy to do what he does, his meals are pretty shockingly unhealthy overall.) Both books have charts saying what it's best to dry, and roughly how long it takes. I expect I'll make more use of the camping book when the weather improves and I look at maybe going somewhere for a weekend.

I figured that you get what you pay for, same as juicing machines or anything really, so I spent £120 for a model called Excalibur. It comes with about 8 trays which are each maybe about A3 size.

I've made jerky and found that's my favourite; I marinaded some raw beef strips in tamari, ginger and lemon juice and then dried them, and they were so more-ish I could hardly keep away. I've also dried vegetables and coconut. I've dried plain chicken and beef to make pemmican -- you shred the dried meat and add melted fat like lard, butter or coconut oil, and also anything else you want like dried berries, nuts, coconut, etc. It's a really good high-energy food and I expect that when I'm working again, I'll probably be eating that for lunch a lot of the time.

Fruit is generally too sweet for me, but you can do a lot with fruit in a dehydrator. You can dry almost any fruit, though it takes a long time because it's so full of water. You can make fruit leathers too; you puree the fruit, then pour it onto sheets and dry it out.

I think I'd like to try drying out some homemade bolognaise sauce for camping at some point. You can dry whole meals out, though I think you have to be careful that it's not too chunky, because then it won't dry evenly.

Anyway it's certainly good fun. I'm told that it's also really handy if you grow more food in your garden than you can eat, though I don't have that problem as yet.

Linda :)

I'm going to make more jerky soon, LOL. It's a wonderful, and quite safe, way to eat raw beef. It's far and away better than any package of jerky you'd buy in a shop. I'm just partially freezing the meat right now so I can slice it thinly.

No I haven't tried rehydrating any of the dried food yet. The books I have contain instructions for that; in the case of vegetables it looks like you just soak them in water for a few hours. Guess I'll look into this further when I want to go camping.

We've got gadgets in the cupboard too, LOL. I guess it depends on what you intend to use them for. A lot of people gave me money for my birthday, seems I'm really hard to buy presents for, so I thought I'd indulge my curiosity about making jerky and pemmican. For me the dehydrator was worth the cost just for those things.

I'll let you know how it goes :) The weather's pretty foul isn't it; it's going to be a while before camping is a practical option.

Linda.

You can get a gas fridge?? Are they expensive?

We haven't been camping in years. Apart from our tent and one airbed that isn't punctured, all we have is a little gas stove, which even if it works, desperately needs replacing.

I've often wondered how I would be able to do Paleo if I were camping. A fridge, however small, would be a big help.

BTW, do you know if there are campsites in this country that let you build your own fire? I was used to this as a Girl Scout, then came to this country and found out that campsites generally pack you in row on row with other people, and there's usually someone who snores loud enough to be heard in a mile's radius. I've never liked that, and was going to start hunting for something a little more isolated. And camping just isn't camping to me without a campfire.

Thanks Piglet :)
Linda.

on the subject of campsites with fewer facilities but allowing campfires-

they are usually small establishments run by farmers or alike who just have a small peice of land in a popular walking area. you are unlikely to find them advertised anywhere, unless someone mentions them from personal experience on a forum.

i used to do duke of edinbourgh and also went on to lead it and know of quite a few walkers campsites. i definately know of one campsite in the brecon becons that really was back to basics. it was a tiny field with woods on one side, had 1 small toilet cubicle with a tiny washbasin that you wouldnt dream of actually using and a shower cubicle where the floor had rusted out so no-one dared use that. there was also a tap and some rubbish bins. however it was great because it was alot of fun doing full of camping and being allowed to have real campfires.

those types of campsites are great, but hard to come by if you dont know where to look!