Potato Bark
Snack on Potato Bark while hiking or turn your bark into mashed potatoes for the evening meal!How to Make Potato Bark:
- 2 ½ lbs potatoes
- 16 ounces fat free vegetable, beef, or chicken broth
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Optional: Garlic Powder to taste
Peel and boil 2 ½ pounds of potatoes until soft. Drain.
Mash potatoes with 16 ounces of fat free vegetable, beef, or chicken broth. Because fats and dairy products don’t dehydrate well and can spoil, do not add any milk or butter. Add salt, if desired, but you’ll get some sodium from the broth.
Run the mashed potatoes through a blender or mixer until creamy and lump-free.
Cover dehydrator trays with non-stick sheets or parchment paper. I use Paraflexx® sheets which you can purchase directly from Excalibur Dehydrators. They clean-up easily and are reusable.
Pour a six inch puddle of potatoes onto the covered tray and spread thinly (about an eighth inch) with a spatula. 2 ½ pounds of mashed potatoes will take up five 15 x 15 trays.
Dehydrate at 135° for approximately eight hours until potatoes form a brittle sheet.
If you have an Excalibur Dehydrator, use the “flip-trick” as follows to thoroughly dry the underside of the potato sheet: After about five hours of drying, place a dehydrator tray on top of the potato sheet and flip the two trays over so that the moister bottom side is facing up.
The dried sheet of potatoes will easily snap into Bark or crush down for tighter packing.
Yield: 2 ½ pounds of potatoes will dehydrate down to 5 ½ ounces and fill two cups when crushed.
How to Make Barbecue Potato Bark:
Follow the same preparations as above, but change the ingredients as follows:
- 2 ½ lbs potatoes
- 8 ounces fat free vegetable, beef, or chicken broth
- 8 ounces Barbecue Sauce
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Here are some of my favorite ingredients to combine with mashed potatoes:
- Ground Turkey and Mixed Vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, green beans)
- Ground Beef and Broccoli
- Deli Ham and Green Beans
- Ground Beef and Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms
Mashed Potatoes with Meat and Vegetables
Ingredients for One Serving:
- ½ cup Potato Bark
- ¼ cup Dehydrated Meat
- ¼ cup Dehydrated Vegetables
- 1¼ cup Water
- Optional Seasonings- garlic powder, salt and pepper, dehydrated onion
At Home:
For more food dehydrating information, see DEHYDRATING MEAT and DEHYDRATING VEGETABLES.
Crush Potato Bark into small pieces for tighter packing.
Pack all ingredients in a zip lock bag.
On the Trail:
Combine all ingredients with water in pot. Cover pot and light stove.
Bring to a boil, remove pot lid, and continue cooking for another minute. If the potatoes soak up most of the water after they start boiling, grasp the pot with a pot gripper and hold higher above the stove to prevent burning.
Stir continuously once the water has been absorbed. You can add a few spoonfuls of water to make the potatoes easier to stir and less likely to burn.
Remove pot from heat and wait ten minutes to give the meat and vegetables a little more time to soften. I use a pot cozy to keep the meal hot. Stir vigorously before eating if any of the bark has not dissolved.
BBQ Beef Stew
Ingredients for One Serving:
- ½ cup BBQ Potato Bark
- ¼ cup Dehydrated Ground Beef
- ¼ cup Dehydrated Okra and Corn or Green Beans
- 1¼ cup Water
Pack and cook the same as the recipe above.
This meal reminds me a little of Brunswick Stew with the tangy barbecue flavor.
Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients for One Serving:
- 1 cup Potato Bark
- 1 tbsp milk powder (Optional)
- 1½ - 2 tbsp cheddar cheese powder (from a box of mac and cheese)
- 1½ cups Water
- Optional Seasonings- garlic powder, salt and pepper, dehydrated chives
Crush Potato Bark into small pieces for tighter packing. Pack cheese and milk powders in a small plastic bag and enclose with potatoes in a zip lock bag.
On the Trail:
Combine potatoes with water in pot. Soak for five minutes. Light stove using low to medium flame.
Cook until the potatoes are hot and have soaked up most of the water. If you are using an alcohol stove, grasp the pot with a pot gripper and hold higher above the flame to prevent burning once the potatoes have thickened.
You can add a few more spoonfuls of water to make the potatoes easier to stir and less likely to burn if they get too thick.
Stir in milk and cheese powders.
I often cook a half portion of Cheddar Mashed Potatoes as a side to my main meal using my candle stove. It only takes fifteen minutes.
