Dehydrated food suppliers??

[Ridgerunner]

I have had good success dehydrating meals to use later. I have done skyline chili with onions and beans and rehydrated with ramen noodles and added shreeded cheese for a Cincy 5-way chile sphegetti and I dehydrated cabbage soup that turned out pretty good rehydrated. I also dehyrated Zatarains black beans and rice with chicken I had added and a similar dish of rice-a-roni rice pilaf with diced chicken and frozen peas. After seeing the 6 free meals for $15.00, I know I have to dehydrate my homemade bacon/cheddar,potato soup. I have two American Harvester dehydraters. One takes 12 trays and the pro model will take 20 trays so I can do a large volume if necessary. I've had most of the trays full making jerky but not any meals. I found that parchment paper on the trays works best on liquids to maximize your final product.

[ConnieD]

For me, hot soup is a nourishing "hot drink".

I think the only time soup has "filled me up" has been Tuscan white bean soup, Fannie Farmer cookbook potato soup and a pat of butter, or miso soup. Oh, and Pasta Fagioli soup, with a potato roll and butter on the side. That was a satisfying meal.

I generally need more for backpacking and at home.

In fact, backpacking, I practically always need more.

I am always interested in this subject. If anyone has more "favorites" I know I would like to know about it.

[zelph]

Freeze dried re-fried black beans make good soup. Onions, lots of them, fried well done almost burned give a good flavor to it.

[russb]

I dehydrate my own leftovers too. A great additional to many dishes is sweet potatoes (yams actually). Not only do they add a great nutirional punch, but the flavor addition is fantastic, plus they make the sauce creamier. Amazing what they pair well with. A favorite pairing is with black beans.

I haven't tried the commercial stuff in the original post. Let us know how it is.

For quick and easy, the grocery store has some great stuff. I second the Alessi soups. I will add my own dehydrated vegetables and sometimes extra rice or pasta to extend them. Plus a chunked up smoked sausage to round out the meal.

[sudden]

I read that all of them are vegetarian meals and the "meat" meals are soy based. I'm not a vegetarian so I'll pack foil chicken or tuna packs to supplement the veggies if this works out.

OK, I got my "free" $15 samples today.

I was going to wait and try them while camping but couldn't

I was a little disappointed when I opened the package and only found 3 meal packs. Felt like some false advertising. It wasn't though. I did get 5 meals as described but two were double portions. I also got a bonus pack of dried fruit (very tasty).

WARNING! Zelph.... I'm no cook. It's no wonder I'm allowed to cook outside but stay clear of the kitchen if possible. I tried the Cheesy Chicken with Rice (and peas) first. The directions said: Bring 4.5cups of water to a boil and add contents. So I did. And then it went up like Vesuvius! Do not just dump the whole bag in. Stir it in slowly. (My wife is going to kill me).

It's a little much to cook the Chz/Chk/Rice on the trail. It requires a 25minute simmer with occasional stirring followed by a 5min wait before serving. However, the taste is in my opinion fantastic. Waaay better than mountain house.

It's says two servings but I think you could easily feed 3 with some added chicken cubes (these are all vegetarian). If someone was hiking all day I would call this enough for one hungry hiker (it absorbed all 4.5 cups of water).

The other meals only take 12-15min to cook so they are more reasonable (I think) as hiking food.

I give it 5 stars (which technically means nothing in the real world) . Now we have to wait for Zelph to try it.

[zelph]

Mine arrived yesterday I will try mine tomorrow. I will test as I have cooked pasta in the past. Put water and soup mix in the pot. Use 1 ounce of fuel to bring to boil and allow to boil until fuel is exhausted. Cover with something handy to act as a cozy. Wait 10 min and then see if everything has softened.

[zelph]

I give it 5 stars (which technically means nothing in the real world) . Now we have to wait for Zelph to try it.

I prepared the 2 meal serving of "Tortilla Soup" I give it 5 stars It has excellent flavor and was easy to prepare.

I cooked it on my kitchen stove top, natural gas. I used a 6 cup capacity pot, stainless steel.

Poured in 4 cups tap water, added contents of envelope, stirred well and put lid on. Put the fire to it at 12:55. Started to boil at 1:08. Removed lid, reduced fire to have a very slow boil. At 1:12 turned flame off. Put a sample of all ingredients into small bowl for testing. Replaced lid and covered pot with towel and let stand for 7 min.

All ingredients except the carrots were well done at the time of shutting off the flame(17 min. of cooking time) An additional 7 min. of standing time made the carrots ready as they can get I consumed 1 serving and was well pleased. This one was well seasoned and gets high ratings.

My wife will eat her serving later and I'll let you know here opinion.

[zelph]

I cooked the other 2 meals and both were very tasty. I am well satisfied with this product.

I'll post later how I prepared them. No simmering Easy to do with alcohol stove. No canister stoves necessary.

[sudden]

I cooked the other 2 meals and both were very tasty. I am well satisfied with this product.

I'll post later how I prepared them. No simmering Easy to do with alcohol stove. No canister stoves necessary.

I'm waiting for your info. I have one left and will try it with either a woodgaz or alcohol setup.

[zelph]

I'm waiting for your info. I have one left and will try it with either a woodgaz or alcohol setup.

I didn't forget about you been doing videos.

I cooked them on the kitchen stove just like I did the first. Ingredients emptied into a pot of cold water, brought to boil for max of 5 min. and gas shut off. Pot covered for 10 min and ready to eat.

I'll try to get the exact times listed tomorrow.

I need to tell the recommended boil times also on the packages so you get an idea of the savings in time and fuel. No need of a stove that simmers for a lot of meals. I did previous test in the same manner for rice and pasta. They are here somwhere