Grits Recipes

My grits recipes include ham and vegetables, but let’s face it; grits won’t wake you up without some butter or cheese. At home, I might drop half a stick of butter and some bacon grease into a pot of grits, but on the trail, butter spoils, and imitation Butter Buds taste like something other than butter to me.
Chef Glenn’s secret ingredient for adding real cheddar flavor to grits without carrying a heavy hunk of cheese is Pepperidge Farm Baked Goldfish. Pepperidge Farm packs those little fish with real cheddar cheese without slipping in any artificial ingredients or Trans Fat.
When preparing these grits recipes, remember that grits suck up a lot of water. Use ¼ cup of grits and 1 ¼ cups of water. Because the water gets absorbed quickly, you’ll need to baby sit the pot with some stirring. Shortly after the water and grits start to boil, you may need to lift the pot off the stove or adjust the flame way down if using a canister stove. If the grits get too thick, stir in a little more water.



Green Grits and Ham
Ingredients:

• ¼ cup quick grits
  
• ¼ cup peas, dehydrated
  
• ¼ cup deli ham, dehydrated
  
• ¼ cup Pepperidge Farm Xtra Cheddar Goldfish
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• 1 ¼ cups of water
  
  
  
  
  
  
  At Home:
  For more information about dehydrating sliced deli ham, see DEHYDRATING MEAT
  Place grits, peas, and ham in a 4 x 6 plastic bag. Place Goldfish in a 3 x 5 plastic bag and enclose inside the 4 x 6 bag with the other ingredients.
  On the Trail:
  Combine grits, peas, and ham with 1 ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil and continue cooking for a minute or two. Stir frequently and reduce flame to prevent the grits from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  Place pot inside insulating cozy for another five minutes to let the peas and meat finish rehydrating.
  Prior to serving, stir crumbled Goldfish into grits. I leave a few of the Goldfish whole for kicks.
  

Pizza Grits Supreme

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup quick grits
  
• ¼ cup mixed dehydrated tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, and onions
  
• 2 tbsp pineapple pieces, dehydrated
  
• ¼ cup deli ham, dehydrated
  
• 1 ¼ cups of water
  
• ¼ cup Pepperidge Farm Xplosive Pizza Flavored Goldfish
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Pack and prepare in the same manner as Green Grits and Ham.



DIY Grits:
Before your next backpacking trip, create your own grits recipes by dehydrating your favorite vegetables and meat. Peppers, tomatoes, and ground beef feel right at home in grits. For a single serving, follow the basic formula of ¼ cup grits, ¼ cup meat, ¼ cup veggies, and 1 ¼ cups of water.
Another trick for making cheddar cheese grits is to add a couple tablespoons of cheese mix from a package of Annie’s Homegrown Macaroni and Cheese.

Vacuum Sealing Food

Vacuum sealing food will extend its storage-life and provide light-weight portability for trips outside the home. For storing dried foods in the home for a year or less, glass jars with tight-fitting lids are all you need. You can use zip-lock bags, but jars are a better defense against insects and mice. Most people who dry food for home consumption rotate their supply once a year before the quality of the food diminishes. Jars are more convenient than vacuum sealed bags because you simply take out what you need from the jar and put the lid back on.
Some vacuum sealers come with a tube that attaches to optional canisters. With canisters, you can open them, take out the food you need, and vacuum seal the canister again. The canisters are pricey, and I have found that storing dried food in jars is sufficient.
The enemies of dried food are moisture and air. Dried food may absorb humidity from the air allowing mold to grow. You would not want to store dried food in a damp basement. The humidity in most homes is not a serious threat to your stash. Oxygen may slowly oxidize dehydrated food and diminish its quality. Fruits may turn darker in color and loose some of their vitamin content. Oxidation of fat may turn meat rancid. I store dried meats, seafood, and anything that has oil in it in the freezer.

All set for a month of eating on the trail. 

Whether you are vacuum sealing food or using jars, the key is to make sure you dry your foods properly in the first place. Follow the drying guidelines that come with your dehydrator, but here are a few examples: Corn and peas will dry hard, broccoli and green beans will dry brittle. Onions, peppers, and tomatoes will dry pliable. Apples, peaches, mangos, and bananas will dry pliable. The surface of fruit should feel smooth, not sticky. Some tackiness will remain in dried pineapple because of the high sugar content. Dried fruits may still contain up to 15% water. If I am using dried fruit in a backpacking recipe, I pack the fruit in its own plastic bag to keep any moisture from migrating to the other dryer ingredients.
Dry all meats until brittle, except for beef jerky. Although it is dried raw, beef jerky is preserved with a salt rub or brine solution, so drying it until leathery is fine. Most people say their family gobbles up their beef jerky as fast as they make it. For deli meats like ham, blot-off any beads of fat on the surface of the meat with a paper towel a couple of times while drying. When dry, deli meats will snap into pieces rather than bend. Allow meat to cool before placing in storage containers.


Conclusion: 

Vacuum sealing food protects your food on long hikes.
Glass jars are sufficient for home storage up to a year.
Dry your food sufficiently before storing.
Store dried meats and foods containing oil in the freezer until ready to use.

Dehydrating Meat

Dehydrating Meat: Deli Style

Choose lean ham, turkey, roast beef, or chicken with fat content less than 10%. I prefer dehydrating meat that has not had any “solutions” injected into it, because that usually means high sodium. Ask the server to slice your deli meat thick, around 1/16 of an inch.

Cut deli meat into one inch strips and place on the dehydrator trays. Dehydrating meat takes about six hours at 125° using my Excalibur Dehydrator. If any oil droplets form on the outside of the meat, blot off with a paper towel. When the meat is completely dry, you will easily be able to break the strips into smaller pieces for use in backpacking recipes or leave as is for snacking.

Try munching a few slices of dehydrated deli ham with your oatmeal when backpacking. You can eat it cold and crunchy, or put it in your pot with a little water and heat. After a few minutes of warming and rehydrating, you’ll enjoy a chewy, near bacon experience. The photo below shows how I include dehydrated ham in my recipe for 

HAM AND VEGETABLES WITH RICE

Dehydrating Meat: Ground Beef & Turkey

The one problem I encountered with dehydrated ground beef and turkey in my backpacking meals was that the meat didn’t fully rehydrate. It was tough-- my teeth got a workout chewing it. With a little experimentation, I finally came up with the secret to dehydrating meat so that it turns out tender every time… bread crumbs! When you add bread crumbs to ground meat before you dehydrate it, more liquid will penetrate the meat when you cook it in your pot, resulting in tender meat.

I recommend using only lean or extra lean ground meat. Meat with high fat content produces beads of oil as it dehydrates which you have to blot off throughout the dehydration process. Also, fatty meats may spoil on the trail, so stick with the skinny stuff. Pork is not recommended for dehydrating, with the exception of lean ham, because of its high fat content. Ground turkey breast is naturally low in fat. Check the labels for ground beef and shoot for a fat content less than 15%, preferably in the 7% to 10% range. Ground beef with 15% fat content is often labeled as Ground Round. Ground Chuck and Hamburger will have higher fat content. I dehydrate grass fed beef that has only 7% fat.

For each pound of beef, sprinkle ½ cup of bread crumbs evenly over the meat. Work the bread crumbs into the meat with your fingers. Unseasoned bread crumbs work well, but if you plan to use the beef in a pasta recipe, try Italian seasoned bread crumbs. I make my own bread crumbs by dehydrating bread slices in the dehydrator for a few hours and then chopping the dried bread into crumbs.

Break the meat into small pieces and stir continuously in a skillet over medium high heat until the beef turns slightly pink or brown depending on your taste. Remove from heat and blot off any remaining liquid with paper towels.

Place small pieces of ground beef on the dehydrator trays. I can fit about a pound of cooked meat on one Excalibur Food Dehydrator tray. I set the thermostat at 145° for the first two hours and then reduce the temperature to 125° for another six hours. There should be no moisture remaining in the meat when you break a piece in half.

Dehydrating meat with bread crumbs following these instructions will yield 2 ½ cups of dried meat per pound processed. Most of my backpacking recipes call for a ¼ cup of dried meat, so I get ten meals from a pound of meat. Of course, you may want to use more meat in your meals than me.

Dehydrating Shrimp

To save time, I buy frozen, pre-cooked and peeled, medium shrimp. Thaw shrimp, pinch off the tails, and rinse. Slice each shrimp into four or five pieces, arrange in a single layer on dehydrator tray, and dehydrate at 145° approximately six hours until hard and firm. There should be no moisture remaining when you cut a piece in half. Store shrimp in an air-tight container or refrigerate until ready to use. Dehydrated shrimp taste great in grits.

Dehydrating Tuna

I dehydrate canned tuna for my tuna casserole backpacking recipe. Use only Solid White Albacore Tuna packed in water. Fattier varieties of tuna and tuna packed in oil may spoil. Drain off the water into your dog or cat's bowl. Break the tuna up into small pieces and spread out in a single layer on the dehydrator tray. Dehydrate at 145° for six hours until crispy. I dehydrate tuna on the front porch during the day to avoid stinking up the house. Don’t try it at night or a raccoon might steal your tuna. Six ounces of tuna will weigh a little over an ounce when dry and yield about half a cup.

How long will dehydrated meat last?

Dehydrated meat will last at least two months if stored in a low humidity environment or up to a year if you use a vacuum sealer.

Now that you know how easy dehydrating meat is try: DEHYDRATING VEGETABLES


See how i use a vacuum sealer to pack meals for long backpcking trips: Vacuum Sealer

Dehydrating Vegetables

Your mama wasn’t kidding when she said, “Eat your vegetables.” Dehydrating vegetables at home is the easy way to nourish your body on the trail. In addition to providing necessary vitamins, minerals, fiber, and complex carbohydrates, veggies brighten your backpacking meals with color and flavor. Beef and rice is okay, but it’s not a real meal until you add dark green broccoli, a medley of corn, carrots, peas, and green beans, or some peppers-- red, yellow, orange, and green peppers. So listen to Chef Glenn (and your mama) and start dehydrating vegetables!



The drying times listed below are based on my experiences using an Excalibur Food Dehydrator. Dehydrating vegetables can take longer with some dehydrators; in fact, I threw my round stacking dehydrator away because it was so slow. Humidity also affects drying times so your results may differ from mine. Vegetables such as broccoli are done when pieces are brittle and can be snapped in half. Other vegetables having fruit-like qualities such as tomatoes and cucumbers will be pliable (bendable) when done.


Classic Mixed Vegetables: (corn, carrots, peas, green beans)
One of the big advantages of owning a high capacity food dehydrator is that you can dehydrate surplus vegetables picked in season - from your garden or from a local farmer. If you don’t have any fresh produce on hand, use frozen produce. Classic Mixed Vegetables from Birds-Eye dehydrate well because they are already uniformly cut, saving you prep time in the kitchen. Place the thawed, uncooked vegetables directly on the dehydrator trays in a single layer and dehydrate at 125° for approximately six hours. I break the green beans in half first so they finish dehydrating at the same time as the corn, carrots, and peas. A one pound package weighs approximately three ounces when dry and amounts to just under one cup.


Pepper Medley:
Green peppers are the workhorses of the pepper family, but I invite the yellow, orange, and red cousins to all of my backpacking feasts. Peppers combine well with beef, beans, or shrimp and make themselves at home in pasta, rice, couscous, and grits. I cut fresh peppers into ½” pieces, trimming away the white fleshy part on the inside. Raw peppers retain their color better than cooked peppers, so I don’t bother cooking them before dehydrating. Place cut peppers on dehydrator trays in single layers and dehydrate at 125° for approximately six hours.


Onions:
My favorite onions for dehydrating are Vidalia Onions from South Georgia because of their sweet and mild flavor. If you can’t find them in your area, try another sweet onion variety. I tried drying whole rings, but I achieved more complete and faster drying times when I diced the onions. Spread out in a single layer on the dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 145° for two hours and reduce to 135° for approximately six hours or until pliable. Onions can smell pretty strong when dehydrating, so you might want to open a window or do as I do and set up the dehydrator on the front porch. (I especially recommend the front porch for dehydrating tuna).


Broccoli:
Don’t forget the broccoli when dehydrating vegetables at home. A nutritional power food, broccoli supercharges many of my backpacking meals with extra vitamins, fiber, and minerals. After washing and soaking the broccoli for ten minutes in salt water to remove any contaminants, I rinse and cut the florets into ½” bouquets and the stems into small pieces ½” or smaller. Steam the broccoli for about five minutes to break down the fibrous walls of the stems and to bring out the dark green color. Broccoli dehydrates best when firm, not mushy. Dehydrate at 125° for approximately eight hours. Dehydrated broccoli will be brittle when done.


Mushrooms:
I prefer baby bella mushrooms for my backpacking recipes. Thoroughly wash all the dirt off in cold water and cut into 1/8 inch slices. Place pieces on the dehydrator tray in a single layer and dehydrate at 125° for six to eight hours until leathery. An eight ounce package will weigh less than an ounce when dry and amount to one cup.


Cherry Tomatoes:
Although it takes time, I cut cherry tomatoes into 1/8 inch slices using a sharp knife and place in a single layer on the dehydrator trays sprinkled with a little salt. Larger tomatoes can be sliced or diced depending on how you like them and how you plan to use them. Dehydrate at 145° for two hours and reduce to 135° for approximately six more hours until pliable. A pint of cherry tomatoes will weigh just over an ounce when dry and amount to about ¾ of a cup.


Cucumber:
Cucumber is technically a fruit like tomatoes, but since most people think of it as a vegetable, I’ll include it here on the dehydrating vegetables page. Dried cucumbers are fair for snacking on like a chip or they can be chopped or powdered to use as a seasoning in dips and soups. Because of the thick waxy coating, I peel cucumbers first and then cut into 1/8 inch slices. Arrange in a single layer and sprinkle with a little salt if desired. Dehydrate at 125° for six to eight hours until leathery. Increase temperature to 135° and dry cucumbers for a few more hours if you plan to powder them.


Carrots:
When dehydrating carrots for snacking or for use in dried salads, peel large carrots and cut into 1/8 inch slices. Dehydrating sliced baby carrots will result in very small dried carrot pieces. That’s fine for cooked recipes, but for snacking you’ll want larger pieces you can grab with your fingers. Dehydrate at 125° for approximately six to ten hours or until leathery.

Now that you know how easy dehydrating vegetables is try:   DEHYDRATING MEAT 

See how i use a vacuum sealer to pack meals for long backpcking trips: Vacuum Sealer