Recently I've been reading some articles about the benefits of dehydrating food, the biggest of which seems to be an almost limitless shelf storage time, while freeing up the freezer for other things. We all agree that fridge and freezer space is a problem. Couldn't find any posts about this topic, and I'm wondering if anyone has used dehydrated foods in their RVs. Part of me thinks it would probably just be another seldom-used piece of equipment to store. . . Thanks!
Lucky Mike said
07:47 AM Apr 25, 2014
you could make a solar dehydrator....takes up no space and very simple to build out of a pizza box !
cherylbrv said
08:37 AM Apr 25, 2014
Lucky Mike wrote:
you could make a solar dehydrator....takes up no space and very simple to build out of a pizza box !
I never would have thought of that! Really awesome, Mike! Here's one of many instructions:
Even I could make that!
-- Edited by cherylbrv on Friday 25th of April 2014 08:38:17 AM
Lucky Mike said
09:03 AM Apr 25, 2014
when it comes to boondocking with nothing and RV survival skills I,ve attempted and tried alot of things.... some I keep , some I just move on !!
alot are quick and fun to build and cost nothing !!!!!
BiggarView said
09:09 AM Apr 25, 2014
Lucky Mike wrote:
you could make a solar dehydrator....takes up no space and very simple to build out of a pizza box !
Is that with or without the pizza included? If you eat the pizza outdoors in the sun, you will be dehydrated in no time!, Time for a beer. No wait, that will make it worse.
Seriously, low cost ingenious and creative as usual Mike. Tip of the hat!
Brian
-- Edited by biggaRView on Friday 25th of April 2014 09:10:57 AM
The Bear II said
02:55 PM Apr 25, 2014
We used a dehydrator for a while but began buying dehydrated fruits from a market (Trader Joe's) that kind of specializes in healthy foods. Prices are reasonable.
Mostly the dehydrator is time consuming due to the time it takes to prep the food to go into the dehydrator. Slicing, dicing and blanching...etc.
Our RV frig and freezer holds enough fruits, veggies and meat to last over a week so we just buy what we need, when we need it. If we need more room for cold stuff the ice chest and ice (or dry ice) comes into play.
-- Edited by The Bear II on Friday 25th of April 2014 02:57:34 PM
arkypam said
03:03 PM Apr 25, 2014
Thanks for the quick replies! I confess I thought the pizza box was a joke. . .I was thinking about some of my pizza leftovers that sat in the box for a couple days and were pretty dehydrated! I might give that a try at some point, but I read how handy dehydrated hamburger is - not sure I'd want to just put hamburger out in the sun. . .I probably just need to be more efficient in my shopping and cooking like The Bear II!
JackKim said
09:34 AM Jul 1, 2014
I carry two dehydrators. I use them when I am in a place with electric. So it takes some planning, but very worth the effort. I soak, cook, then dehydrate everything from rice & beans, to most all garden foods. I do some fruit, but like someone mentioned It is easy to buy at a Costco or Trader Joe's.
The reason I began dehydrating was years ago for Jerky, but then I learned things like cooking and dehydrating my rice so that I can store it easily and when I go to cook it I only have to add water and it takes 1/8 ish the time for cooking. So it is like minute rice or beans, but yet it is long grain and not white so we still get the food value from it.
I could go on about it, and maybe one day soon I need to do a write up on it. But I learned alot of my dehydrating for the road from a website called www.GNOWFGLINS.com. It is based on eating whole foods in a rather old fashioned way through fermenting and dehydrating. A lot like the way our ansestors would have done it.
Long story short, I know I put less weight in my food storage because I do not carry canned foods which are heavy, yet I still have easy to use foods. The dehydrating time is rather labor intensive, but then I have more time than money in this RV lifestyle.
And it is amazing how many things you can dehydrate and lose very little food value. It makes sense especially when you can get the food when it is abundant and less expensive and save money in the long run. I love it for tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, etc. So I do make a lot of soups with ingredients like that.
I have not done meat yet, but maybe one day. I use my cast iron Dutch Oven outside in the coals a lot and make soups in it often.
I will quit rambling, but if you have questions let me know. Check out You Tube also for dehydrating video's. I have learned alot from watching them.
Recently I've been reading some articles about the benefits of dehydrating food, the biggest of which seems to be an almost limitless shelf storage time, while freeing up the freezer for other things. We all agree that fridge and freezer space is a problem. Couldn't find any posts about this topic, and I'm wondering if anyone has used dehydrated foods in their RVs. Part of me thinks it would probably just be another seldom-used piece of equipment to store. . . Thanks!
I never would have thought of that! Really awesome, Mike! Here's one of many instructions:
Even I could make that!
-- Edited by cherylbrv on Friday 25th of April 2014 08:38:17 AM
alot are quick and fun to build and cost nothing !!!!!
Is that with or without the pizza included? If you eat the pizza outdoors in the sun, you will be dehydrated in no time!
, Time for a beer. No wait, that will make it worse.
Seriously, low cost ingenious and creative as usual Mike. Tip of the hat!
Brian
-- Edited by biggaRView on Friday 25th of April 2014 09:10:57 AM
We used a dehydrator for a while but began buying dehydrated fruits from a market (Trader Joe's) that kind of specializes in healthy foods. Prices are reasonable.
Mostly the dehydrator is time consuming due to the time it takes to prep the food to go into the dehydrator. Slicing, dicing and blanching...etc.
Our RV frig and freezer holds enough fruits, veggies and meat to last over a week so we just buy what we need, when we need it. If we need more room for cold stuff the ice chest and ice (or dry ice) comes into play.
-- Edited by The Bear II on Friday 25th of April 2014 02:57:34 PM
I carry two dehydrators. I use them when I am in a place with electric. So it takes some planning, but very worth the effort. I soak, cook, then dehydrate everything from rice & beans, to most all garden foods. I do some fruit, but like someone mentioned It is easy to buy at a Costco or Trader Joe's.
The reason I began dehydrating was years ago for Jerky, but then I learned things like cooking and dehydrating my rice so that I can store it easily and when I go to cook it I only have to add water and it takes 1/8 ish the time for cooking. So it is like minute rice or beans, but yet it is long grain and not white so we still get the food value from it.
I could go on about it, and maybe one day soon I need to do a write up on it. But I learned alot of my dehydrating for the road from a website called www.GNOWFGLINS.com. It is based on eating whole foods in a rather old fashioned way through fermenting and dehydrating. A lot like the way our ansestors would have done it.
Long story short, I know I put less weight in my food storage because I do not carry canned foods which are heavy, yet I still have easy to use foods. The dehydrating time is rather labor intensive, but then I have more time than money in this RV lifestyle.
And it is amazing how many things you can dehydrate and lose very little food value. It makes sense especially when you can get the food when it is abundant and less expensive and save money in the long run. I love it for tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, etc. So I do make a lot of soups with ingredients like that.
I have not done meat yet, but maybe one day. I use my cast iron Dutch Oven outside in the coals a lot and make soups in it often.
I will quit rambling, but if you have questions let me know. Check out You Tube also for dehydrating video's. I have learned alot from watching them.
Kim