Mashed potatoes as a backcountry meal...

[slim9300]

Anyone ever use dehydrated elk or beef, and mix it with flavored mash potatoes for a backcountry meal? The only reason I ask is that I am wondering if there is enough liquid to cook the meat due to the potatoes sucking up all the water? I will just test it and waste some of my elk burger (which is down to 7 packages) if nobody has tried, but I figure that someone knows and will be able to save me roughly 6 ounces of my burger!

My plan is to mix about 2 ounces of dehydrated burger with a package of Idahoan mashed potatoes and a tablespoon of butter sprinkles. As long as the meat cooks like it does in my pasta meals it will be a good alternative meal. And it should be right at 800 calories (which is significantly lower than my pasta dishes but still decent).

Anyone have any feedback?

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I rehydrate the meat (never used elk) then make the potatoes in the same bag, just like the mountain house chicken and mashed potato meal. Never have tried to make them at the same time.

 

[slim9300]

I rehydrate the meat (never used elk) then make the potatoes in the same bag, just like the mountain house chicken and mashed potato meal. Never have tried to make them at the same time.

I have never had the MH meal that requires you to do that, so help me out. Do you use the full 2 cups for the water for the meat, let it sit a certain period of time, and then add the potato flakes? How long does the meat need to soak? Or is it part of the water first and more later when you add the potatoes?

Thank you for your help!

 

[RosinBag]

The MH chicken sits for about 3 or 4 minutes, then it says to remove chicken and rehydrate potatoes. I leave my chicken in after the initial soak and pour in potatoes, mix and give it another two minute soak and they are done.

 

[muleman]

Anyone ever use dehydrated elk or beef, and mix it with flavored mash potatoes for a backcountry meal? The only reason I ask is that I am wondering if there is enough liquid to cook the meat due to the potatoes sucking up all the water? I will just test it and waste some of my elk burger (which is down to 7 packages) if nobody has tried, but I figure that someone knows and will be able to save me roughly 6 ounces of my burger!

My plan is to mix about 2 ounces of dehydrated burger with a package of Idahoan mashed potatoes and a tablespoon of butter sprinkles. As long as the meat cooks like it does in my pasta meals it will be a good alternative meal. And it should be right at 800 calories (which is significantly lower than my pasta dishes but still decent).

Anyone have any feedback?
View attachment 17617

I have done it for a while.

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?p=137207

I like to use leftover elk roast shreded up to dehydrate. Once dehydrated I run it in a blender to make the meat smaller. The smaller piceces have more surface area and rehydrate easier.

It works best to hydrate the meat first as described above. Don't forget to dehydrate your gravy too. Remember how much gravy you dehydrated then divide the gravy flakes into individual portions. The gravy flakes won't look like a lot. I add the gravy flakes to the meat before the potatoes.

 

[Buckman]

I split the taters into 2 portions and buy the Tyson fully cooked chunk white chicken in foil bags. cook the taters and then add the chicken. Let sit a few min. and eat. I get the taters and chicken at wally world. Really tastes good after a few days of MH.

 

[slim9300]

This was very helpful! Thank you guys. Just another reason why I love this site. Google gave me nothing.

 

[scarboy11]

I always have a couple loaded mashed potatoes in the backcountry camp. Nothing beats a roasted grouse tossed in some fresh mashed potatoes.

 

[Eagle]

Did it for the first time last year, had the ground burger in the bag with the potatoes. I poured about a cup of water into the bag to start hydrating the burger and potatoes and then heated another cup of water and added it about 30 minutes later, worked great and is going to be my main meal this year. Better than most other things I've tried.

 

[Curtis C]

I have used the dried beef found in the tuna/spam section of the grocery store. Just dice it up and throw it in. Since it's not completely dry it barely uses any water when rehydrating. I just added a few extra ounces of h2o. Pretty tasty meal for sure.

 

[Derek0525]

I rehydrate the meat (never used elk) then make the potatoes in the same bag, just like the mountain house chicken and mashed potato meal. Never have tried to make them at the same time.

First time I made the MH chicken and mash potatoes I just did it like a regular MH meal ya didn't turn out so great the potatoes were good but the chicken went to the chipmunks.

 

[Becca]

The MH chicken sits for about 3 or 4 minutes, then it says to remove chicken and rehydrate potatoes. I leave my chicken in after the initial soak and pour in potatoes, mix and give it another two minute soak and they are done.

I do the same, only I crumble the chicken breasts before I rehydrate them. Then add the potatoes and have a meal I can at from the bag without a knife to cut the breasts. One of my favorite MH meals though it is pretty low calorie compared to others they offer.


Instant loaded mashed potatoes usually come along on any trip over 4 days. I usually save then for a hot lunch on days where the weather sucks or we have been pack rafting in glacial streams all day and need a midday warm up. I have never tried home dehydrated meats, but do routinely stir in a foil packet of tuna or chicken. We call em Tuna 'Taters...

 

[Jason Snyder]

I ate this on my Mt. Rainier trip. I dehydrated some grilled chicken breasts (diced up fine) and packaged one dehydrated/minced breast with a pack of loaded mashed potatoes. I added enough water to cover the chicken and let it sit. Then, after about 15 minutes I added hot water to the potatoes in the same bag. It was pretty darned good. Very filling.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Never dehydrated meat specifically for use w/ the Idahoan instant taters.
We tend to just do the taters up by themselves and eat it along side peppered jerky.
Or we have it w/ fresh killed tenderloin sprinkled w/ Montreal & cooked on sticks asada style.

But I do dehydrate left over elk stew for BP meals a lot. As long as the meat chunks are 1/4" cubes and potato's & carrots cut to 1/2" they dehydrate up fairly well. I find it takes a good 30min or more to really hydrate up well. And even then, the meat chunks are still a little firm. I use a reflective meal cozy and I just let it steep until it comes back down to a decent eatable temp..... or I just can't wait any longer. It's not like a stew that's been in the crock all day, but it all eats the same and it's definitely a hardy meal. IMO stew is the ultimate meal, everything is in it and it tastes awesome. Before dehydrating, I like to sprinkle a little instant potato's in the broth to gravy it up and absorb some of the liquid and I add a little protein whey as well, not too much though. And couple extra beef bullion cubes doesn't hurt either to make up for flavor loss due to dehydrating.

I also like the Knorr angel hair pasta meals and will add foil pack chicken to them.
Those are typically 2person meals that we eat up first to eliminate the weight and save the DIY dehydrated meals & MH to the end.
Hunt'nFish

 

[desertcj]

I'll be taking Idahoan 'taters along with dehydrated broccoli, freeze dried chicken and some cheddar cheese for a couple of my dinners. I like that all of those ingredients still only add up to 7-8oz for a meal. My other dinner meals are based on stuffing and instant rice.

 

[mtswampfox]

This seems like the way to go for those watching their sodium intake. Question is do you get the flavor without adding the customary 2000mg of salt?

 

[muleman]

This seems like the way to go for those watching their sodium intake. Question is do you get the flavor without adding the customary 2000mg of salt?

Use a flavored potato packet. I really like the herb and garlic flavor.

 

[desertcj]

This seems like the way to go for those watching their sodium intake. Question is do you get the flavor without adding the customary 2000mg of salt?

I add cheese to a lot of the freeze dried meals I eat to boost the calories and the flavor. You can add whatever herbs and spices you want for very little weight penalty. I'm going to try the powdered gravy packets as well. Just plain potatoes are pretty hard for me to choke down. I've tried before...

 

[T43]

I use leftover spiral cut ham and dry it. Put it in the potatoes and add some dry cheese at the end. I have used hard salami chunks as well. Tastes better than most MH stuff. Except maybe the MH ice cream.

 

[unm1136]

I do the same, but frequently find myself adding 2-3 times the required water to create a stew or soup consistency. With MH I break up the breasts first, which have styrofoam consistency. Rehydrate with excess water, add seasonings. Eat with an MRE spoon.

When I do it with instant mashed potatoes, I add the amount of water the potatoes call for, then water equal to the amount of gravel I have (when I package gravel I label the bag with what it is, and how much water it needs to reconstitute), and then double it, with some Tajin Habanero Lime seasoning added, and rehydrate for 20 minutes.

I thing the soup/stew route is perfect for this meal choice. It seems less wasteful, and more filling due to the extra water and the extra time it takes to eat it. It has a creaminess that you don't tend to get from most dehydrated meals,so it has a nice texture. Also due to the extra water, we have more fluid intake that we don't have to really work at. It pre-warms a sleeping bag well for the 20 minutes. Biggest drawback is the mess if your bag fails....

pat