Dehydrating DIY Meals, and the end product.

[grfox92]

There are quite a few threads about dehydrating meals. All of it pertains to recipes and thats not what I'm after.

I am currently suffering from some GI . auto immune issues and am only able to eat meat and very limited green vegetables. But basically, completely carnivore day to day. With that being the case, I really need to figure out what I'll be able to eat in the field this year. That has led me down the road of dehydrating my own stuff. I plan on buying a freeze dryer, but that will likely be next year and not before this upcoming season.

I was about to dehydrate Scrambled eggs with sausage in the oven on 170 overnight, and while doing some toilet research found out that without a fan it could take as long as 30 hours to dry.

So now i need to know if the end result of dehydrated food is worth spending the money on a good dehydrator, or do I buy a cheapie to hold me over until I get my freeze dryer?

Ideas, thoughts, suggestions?

 

[180ls1]

I would do what I could to buy a quality used unit. Can you sell some stuff and/or get a little overtime? Last I looked they are sub $2k used.

 

[grfox92]

I would do what I could to buy a quality used unit. Can you sell some stuff and/or get a little overtime? Last I looked they are sub $2k used.

Assuming you are talking about Freeze Dryers, are they a forever item? Do they wear out or require maintenance?

 

[180ls1]

Assuming you are talking about Freeze Dryers, are they a forever item? Do they wear out or require maintenance?

I would like to know that myself but I never got that far with research. From what I did look into, its worth it to try and get a quality unit.

 

[grfox92]

Yea i haven't done the research yet, because I am not ready to buy so I'm curious.

 

[Titan_Bow]

You don’t need a freeze dryer, those things are thousands of dollars. I have a 10 tray unit from Cabelas, it cost me less than $150 if I remember, and I have used for it the last 5 years or so with no issues at all


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[NRA4LIFE]

Dehydrators make great jerky.

 

[BBob]

Assuming you are talking about Freeze Dryers, are they a forever item? Do they wear out or require maintenance?

They have a refrigeration system and a vacuum pump. Some have oil-less pumps and some have oil pumps. Oil pumps will need to have the oil changed frequently. Any refrigeration system can have any number of failure points and given time you just might have to deal with that. I see a high number of compressor start relay failures and have for a while. Start caps blow more frequently than they used to. Compressor failure rates are higher as well. Everything is made cheaply these days and the failure rates are higher than they once were.

 

[Dos Perros]

I use a little Nesco to dehydrate my food with success.

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