Homemade beef jerky for us. We used the "Bulgogi beef jerky" recipe from the Batch cookbook published by http://www.wellpreserved.ca/

We also like chili's and stews. We've tried a few meals out of the Backpack Gourmet recipe book with some success - although the re-hydration part generally takes some trial and error to get consistency right.

Anyone making pemmican vs jerky? And if so do you have details on how to make it?

One of our favourite protein sources on a trip is dehydrated chicken. As per most people directions you cook it first. Left in chucks it doesn't re-hydrate particularly well so we've taken to throwing it in our Vitamix (blender) and turning it into a powder. A full chicken breast doesn't take up much space as a powder and it can be easily added to just about anything, soup, pasta, rice. Add some spices and dehydrated vegetable and you've got a great meal.

We go for TVP (Textured Veg. Protien) quite often, as it takes on the flavour of whatevery you cook it with. Chili style meals are good choice. Make on site with other dehydrated ingredients, or make a home and dehydrate. TVP comes dehydrated and you can get it in most stores or bulk barn.

Check out bulk barn. Our Scouts/vents have often just carried their varieties of torellini's, and they have great eggless brownies (just add water). You can go on Bulk Barn website and see some of their offerings.

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Present: Slip, Slap and Slop, hide from the sun! Past: Get some colour in those cheeks! Paddle Naked!

aka "Kibbles and Bits"

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

If no one has nut allergies, PM or e-mail me and I can send you Opemikon's Bay Bread Recipe. High energy, don't need much of it, drink with water and it fills you up. Can serve with cream cheese, cream cheese and jam, peanut butter etc. One recipe does a whack of Scouts or Vents for meals or snacks. It is like a think granola bar that you cut into squares the size of a 1L or 2 L milk carton to carry.

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Present: Slip, Slap and Slop, hide from the sun! Past: Get some colour in those cheeks! Paddle Naked!

My favorite is hash browns. I mix dry hash browns with dehydrated onions and bell peppers, they add some dehydrated ham (which I do myself). This is a tasty addition to any meal (like fish), or it can be breakfast. Really adds a flavor punch to the menu.

Agree re the hash browns. Easy to de- and rehydrate. Less "processed" than instant potatoes - lower glycemic index. Versatile carb-course for any protein/carb/vegetable supper - lots of different instant gravies available for variety and to match-up with whatever it is served with.
Makes an excellent breakfast with bacon and OvaEasy scrambled eggs. Add some coffee with a little Bailey's, some toasted bannock with jam - nice to have a near restaurant quality meal when out in the bush. Even better with your favorite fresh-caught fish. For me that'd be speckled trout. Wait, make that arctic char. Wait, wait - landlocked salmon is truly special. But I digress.

We bought a carton of hash browns in the store one time. have not tried dehydrating them. Would the fat that people normally use be a prob?

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

Try scrambling up some eggs with salt, pepper, finely chopped onions, and your favorite herbs. Pour over a baking dish of uncooked hash brown potatoes. Bake until the eggs set and the top is brown. Then dehydrate. Eggs do not dehydrate/rehydrate well by themselves, but when mixed with a starchy carrier, they turn out great.

I also like to dehydrate frozen bricks of hash browns, such as like you get at McDonalds. I can usually find them in packages of 20 at Aldi's. Break them up and dehydrate. Crush and package after it is dry. It will rehydrate in just 5 minutes in hot water. I really like to cook up some McCormick Country Gravy mix to put over the hash browns for breakfast. yum.

I've been meaning to ask this - if I take a can of Campbell's Chunky Soup or Habitant Pea Soup with ham and dehydrate it, how do I store it until use?

I've done a fair bit of dehydration but never with meat.

Thanks Nessmuk, that sounds good.

You should be fine with that, as long as the chunks are not too large. I expect the pea soup part will rehydrate long before chunks of ham will, unless the ham chunks are really small. the secret to dehydrating any food is to have relatively small pieces of anything of nearly equal size. I store all of my dehydrated food double bagged in freezer weight zip lock bags ( usually with a rubber band to ensure the top is securely closed). I store the labeled bags in the freezer until ready to pack for a trip. Just in case there is any residual moisture within. But I have kept double bagged food at room temperature for weeks before consuming without any apparent issue.

For my Yukon River 1000 mile race trips, I dehydrate 10 days (really is 4 days too much, just in case of emergency) of food (breakfast and dinner meals) for a voyageur team of 7 paddlers for 10 days. It all survived a warm weather week of unchilled travel from the east coast to the Yukon, and a week on the river. Left overs afterward were still good for local trips all summer.

My favourite is Sheperds Pie.
The base can be ground beef or other protein along with vegetables and spices. Lentils work or TVP.
Dehydrates well and rehydrated and topped with instant mashed potatoes it sticks to the ribs.
As someone has mentioned the sooner you use the dried product the better it tastes. I tried some mushrooms after a year and they were tasteless. It is also not a bad idea to increase seasonings as the dried product will not have the same intensity of flavour as the original. You can add spices when warming/cooking the meal as well.
I usually dry some additional vegetables to add to meals as needed. Mushrooms, green beans etc.
You might try Pasta Puttanesca as well. This is a tomato sauce with olives and capers. Very tasty and a step up from plain old tomato sauce.