How to Dry Herbs

General How-To

Provides vegetables, fiber, color and flavor in the diet.

I am defining herbs as leafy greens that have a high water content and which dry to the point that they can be crumbled or powdered. Examples are:
Kale
Spinach
Parsley
Dandelion greens
Carrot greens
Celery leaves
Beet greens
Chard
Green Onions
Other leafy greens



The important things about drying herbs are 1) make sure they can't fall through the drying rack 2) make sure they won't blow away if your dehydrator has a fan.

At Home:

1. Be sure the greens are clean
2. Spread in a thin layer on paper towels in the dehydrator OR spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet
3. Cover with some kind of mesh (in the Excaliber dryer you can use one of the nylon racks) or more towels weighted at the corners, if your dehydrator has a fan
3. Dry thoroughly- until the greens will crumble
4. Crumble into bits or into powder depending on how it will be used.

Be sure to label the bags- once dried it's really hard to tell one green from another!

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How to Dry Meat

General How-To

Provides protein and texture in the diet

1/2 pound of dehydrated hamburger


The two important things about drying meats for use in meal packets are 1) to remove as much fat as possible and 2) make the pieces small.

At Home:

Canned meats:

Canned meats work very well to dehydrate because they have been cooked to the point that they are very tender. It is important to choose water pack instead of oil pack where there is a choice to reduce the amount of fat. Fat is your enemy in drying foods because it prevents good dehydration and will go rancid.

1. Drain the meat thoroughly
2. Spread in a thin layer on paper towels in the dehydrator
3. Dry thoroughly- crumbles should be hard, not leathery

Examples:
water pack tuna
water pack salmon
chicken
potted meat spreads
canned stew (if you shred the chunks of meat)

dehydrated water-pack tuna


Ground meats:

Ground meats can be successfully dehydrated by this method:
1. Fry the meat, breaking up the meat into small crumbles
2. Drain the fat
3. Place meat in a colander with small holes and run hot water through it for several minutes
4. Pat the meat dry with paper towels
5. Spread in a thin layer on paper towels in the dehydrator
6. Dry thoroughly- crumbles should be hard, not leathery
7. Change the toweling if a lot of additional grease has been pulled out of the meat (usually required when doing sausage)

Examples:
hamburger
venison burger (works well because there is so little fat in the meat)
ground sausage

sausage, cooked, drained and rinsed, spread in dehydrator


sausage partially dehydrated, requiring a paper change. Note the grease that has soaked into the paper towel


Cooked shredded meats:

Meats can be pre-cooked until very tender and shredded before dehydrating. As always, the pieces must be small for even drying and good reconstitution.

Examples:
pulled pork
chicken
turkey

In Camp:
Boil water and reconstitute the meat before adding other ingredients because the meat takes a little longer to soften than vegetable leathers and other possible meal parts. Alternatively, you can add a little water to the meat pack a few hours before the meal and let it sit. Be aware that dried meat crumbles/shreds can poke small holes in storage bags. If you are going to add water and carry the meat in your pack to reconstitute, you probably should double bag to prevent gear being soaked with meat juice.

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How to Dry Yogurt

This is a general how-to page. The information here applies to all recipes that call for dried yogurt.

Dry only low-fat yogurt. Commercial or homemade yogurt works fine.

In the past I tried dehydrating thick slabs of leathery yogurt to be eaten like candy. They tasted great but were very difficult to chew. Now, I suggest spreading the yogurt a little thinner, about 1/4 inch thick, on saran wrap or teflon.




When this is dry it will come off in flakes rather than a slab, but the pieces rehydrate easily in the mouth. Shown here packaged with dried fruit, ready to eat.

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