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

Ham and Vegetables with Rice

Try Ham and Vegetables with Rice for long lasting energy from three important food groups. This backpacking meal works for breakfast or supper.
Ingredients:

• ¼ cup deli ham, dehydrated
• ¼ cup mixed vegetables, dehydrated (corn, peas, carrots, green beans)
• ½ cup instant brown or white rice
• ¼ cube vegetable bouillon*
• 1 cup water
  
  
  
  At Home:
  For instructions on dehydrating corn and other vegetables, see DEHYDRATING VEGETABLES.
  For instructions on dehydrating deli meat, see DEHYDRATING MEAT.
  *I use Organic Gourmet brand vegetable bouillon cubes from a health foods store. The cubes are large, so a ¼ cube does the trick. The advantage of the Organic Gourmet brand bouillon cubes over regular bouillon cubes is that they don’t contain any MSG. If you can’t find bouillon without MSG, leave it out since there are many flavors from the vegetables and ham to enjoy. A shake of salt and pepper will get you by.
  Combine all ingredients in a 4 x 6 plastic bag.
  
  
  On the Trail:
  Place all ingredients in pot with one cup of water.
  Light stove and bring to a boil. Continue cooking for another minute or two.
  Transfer pot to insulating cozy for ten minutes to allow food to fully rehydrate.
  
  
  
  
  

BACKPACKING STOVES

Backpacking Stoves

I cook with two backpacking stoves at the same time. The stove on the left below is an aluminum tea light candle cup which I fill with alcohol to cook the main meal. The stove on the right is three tea light candles which I use to heat a side of vegetables or a hot dessert.
I support the pot and fry pan lid with pot stands cut out of ½ inch hardware cloth. Hardware cloth is strong enough to support a pot – but weighs next to nothing. 

Alcohol and candle backpacking stoves shown without windscreen

How to Make Pot Stands for your Backpacking Stoves:

Tools & Supplies Needed:

• Wire Cutters
• Coarse Sand Paper or Metal File to smooth wire ends
• Scissors
• ½ Inch Hardware Cloth (Sold in hardware stores)
• Foil Tape (Sold in hardware stores)
• 
  

Aluminum Windscreen Material (resource at bottom of page)

½ Inch hardware cloth cut for tea-light alcohol stove and candle stove.

Cut the hardware cloth to the desired height and length for your pots. Cutting five squares by twenty-seven squares works well for the tea light alcohol stove and cutting three squares by twenty-five squares works well for the candle stove. Three squares keeps the pot close enough to the candles for good heat transfer but high enough above the candles to prevent soot from forming on the bottom of the pot. Cutting the length of the pot support for the candle stove two squares shorter than the other allows it to nest inside the other pot support when packed. I use these size pot stands for both my 900 ml and 1.3 liter Evernew pots with fry-pan lids.

 

Aluminum strips and foil tape wrapped tightly around the ends makes a strong hinge.

Bend the hardware cloth into a circle and fasten the ends together by wrapping 1 inch by 3/8 inch strips of aluminum windscreen material around the corresponding wires. Wrap the aluminum tightly around both wires four times. The eraser end of a pencil is useful for pushing the aluminum strips through the squares. If you buy a section of aluminum windscreen material from the resource listed at the bottom of the page, you will have extra to use for these hinges. You could also cut the aluminum strips out of an aluminum pie pan.

Cut slightly smaller strips of foil tape, remove the backing, and wrap around the aluminum hinges two times. Now you have flexible but strong joints holding your pot supports together.

Finished pot stands for my alcohol and candle backpacking stoves.

Windscreens

To protect the wicks while packed and to provide additional wind protection for the candle flames, I insert three mini windscreens into the tea light candle cups.

Mini-windscreen and wick protector.


Cut three 1 inch by 4½ inch strips of aluminum windscreen material. Tea light cups are approximately ½ deep, so ½ an inch of the aluminum strips will extend above the cup. Reuse the strips when changing to new candles.

Before packing the candles in your pot, slide empty tea-light cups over the open ends to protect the wicks as shown in the photo at left. 

Windscreens cut for alcohol and candle backpacking stoves from 6 inch by 28 inch material.


I cut my windscreens so they work for both my 900 ml pot and my 1.3 liter pot.
Windscreen size for alcohol stove: 3¼ inches by 22 inches.
Windscreen size for candle stove: 2½ inches by 22 inches. Cut out a section 3 inches by 1¼ inches from each end to make room for the fry pan handle.
Since my pots have fry pan lids, I have a little extra space above the pot for packing a wider windscreen for the main pot. If your pot has a standard lid you could use a slightly narrower windscreen or wrap it around a fuel bottle. I pack my windscreens inside the pot because I stow my fuel bottle in an outside mesh pocket of my backpack and don’t want to risk cutting the mesh.
Cutting the windscreens 22 inches long allowed enough overlap to close the windscreens with paper clips. Shoot for at least two inches of overlap. The length needed may be different for your pots.

Backpacking stoves set-up shown with windscreens and homemade lids.


Leave a gap ¼ to ½ inch between the windscreens and the pot when in use. If you wrap the windscreen around the pot too tightly, it will be difficult to lift the pot off the stove without the windscreen coming with it. The heat rising through the gap creates a chimney effect, pulling in fresh air from the bottom. I either lay two half-inch thick sticks along the sides of the pot stand to raise the windscreen as shown in the photo above or I use three large paper clips attached to the bottom of the windscreen to raise it up a little. I prefer using the paper clips.
Heat Shields
Cut two heat shields out of aluminum pie pans to place under the backpacking stoves. Make the heat shields the same way that you would make homemade pot lids as described on my BACKPACKING COOKWARE page. The heat shields stow at the bottom of the pot when packed. The primary purpose of the heat shields is to catch any spilled fuel. A few drops of alcohol spilled on the heat shield will burn off quickly and not cause any problem.

900 ml Evernew Pot with fry pan lid packed with all backpacking stove components.
The packed pot stands keep a center cavity open inside the pot to store up to nine candles with lids plus other items such as a lighter, matches and spoon.
Backpacking Stove Components:
2 heat shields, 2 pot supports, 2 windscreens, 2 homemade lids, 3 tea light candles with mini windscreens and lids, 1 empty tea light candle cup.
Weight: 134 grams or 4.7 ounces.
Tea light candles weigh between 13 and 14 grams each before you start to burn them.
Weight does not include alcohol. A tea light cup holds approximately ½ ounce of alcohol which weighs 13 grams.

Tea light alcohol and candle backpacking stoves in use without windscreens.


Tea Light Cup Alcohol Stove Fuel Efficiency
Tea light cups hold approximately half an ounce of alcohol. I fill the cup about three-quarters full with alcohol (third of an ounce) to heat meals requiring one to one and a half cups of water. I fill the cup all the way to the top (half ounce) when using two cups of water or when cooking macaroni because it needs at least two minutes of boiling. Using a third of an ounce of alcohol per meal gives me a range of six days with an eight-ounce (volume) bottle of alcohol assuming I cook three times per day. I only need a couple ounces of fuel if I am going backpacking for a weekend.
When cooking a meal for two people with three cups of water, fill the tea light cup again after the first cup-full burns out, although you may not need to fill it all the way the second time. Be sure to wait a minute for the cup to cool before refilling.
I have cooked hundreds of meals with my tea light alcohol stove. Occasionally, a little more than a tea light cup full of alcohol may be needed to bring the water to a boil such as on very cold nights. One tea light cup holding half an ounce of alcohol will just barely bring two cups of water to a boil and sometimes it doesn’t quite make it. A little more alcohol finishes the job.
Tip: You can decrease the amount of alcohol needed to cook your main meal by preheating it for ten minutes with candles.
Tip: If you arrive at camp with left-over drinking water, use that to rehydrate your food. The warmer temperature of the water will require less fuel to heat than cold water from a spring or stream.
Acceptable fuels to use in a tea light cup alcohol stove are denatured alcohol (preferred) from a hardware/paint store, HEET® (Methanol) in the yellow bottle from a gas/convenience store, or pure grain alcohol (expensive) from a liquor store. Many hostels and small stores along the Appalachian Trail have denatured alcohol available by the ounce for hikers. Rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl) is not recommended because it has water in it and burns poorly.
Denatured alcohol may vary slightly in composition in other countries. The Brennsprit I used in Switzerland burned with more yellow in the flame compared to the U.S. brands which burn hotter with more blue in the flame. The Brennsprit left some soot on the bottom of my pot whereas this never happens with the U.S. denatured alcohol.
Here are some names of fuels similar in composition to denatured alcohol in other countries:

• France – Alcool a’ bruler
• Germany/Switzerland – Brennsprit
• Italy – Alcool Etilico Denaturato
• Australia – Methylated Spirits
  
  Tip: Carry your alcohol in a plastic squirt bottle so you can fill your aluminum tea cup with precision and avoid excessive spills.
  WARNING: Alcohol flames are invisible during the day. Do not refill a backpacking stove until it has cooled. Do not use a stove inside a tent or inside any unventilated space as harmful gases will accumulate or entrapment during a fire could occur. All backpacking stoves may cause burns or fires if used improperly. Do not leave your stove unattended.
  
  
  
  Candle Stove Fuel Efficiency
  
  
  Tea light candles vary in quality. Test the efficiency of the candles you buy before hitting the trail. You can expect to get from twelve to twenty ten-minute burns from a set of three candles. A single serving of vegetables rehydrated with ½ cup of water is hot after ten minutes. Two servings rehydrated with one cup of water are hot after fifteen minutes.
  
  
  How fast will these backpacking stoves boil water?
  
  
  Most backpacking stoves such as the Pocket Rocket® and Jet Boil® will boil a cup or two of water in three to five minutes. The tea light alcohol stove takes about six minutes to boil water for one meal. Taking a bit longer is a good thing when heating dehydrated foods since the food needs twenty to twenty-five minutes to rehydrate. There is no need to rush the boil. The candle stove heats, but does not boil.
  
  
  How to Cook Dehydrated Meals with a Tea Light Cup Alcohol Backpacking Stove:
  
  
  Soak the food in the pot for five minutes and then light the stove. Ignite the alcohol in the tea light cup with a wooden stick match with the pot, pot support, and windscreen already in place. After striking, hold the match by the end and stick it through the pot support at the bottom. The fuel should ignite as soon as the lit match reaches the cup. I also carry a lighter because the match striker sometimes gets moist and the matches won’t ignite. In that case I use the lighter to ignite the match.
  The tea light cup alcohol stove will bring a single-serving meal to a boil in about six minutes. After the alcohol burns out in seven or eight minutes, wait another ten to fifteen minutes for the food to fully rehydrate. Keep a lid on the pot to hold the heat. You can also use a pot cozy to insulate your pot.
  
  
  How to Heat Dehydrated Vegetables and Fruits with Three Tea Light Candles:
  
  
  Soak the vegetables or fruits in your pot or fry pan lid for ten minutes and then light the candles for ten minutes. This way the vegetables and main meal are hot and ready to eat at the same time. I heat and rehydrate vegetables and fruits with an equal quantity of water. For one serving, combine a half-cup of dried vegetables or fruits with a half-cup of water. It takes five minutes longer to heat one cup of water for two servings. Keep a lid on the pot while heating.
  
  
  Tip: Steam cook vegetables such as corn, mixed vegetables, peas, and green beans for ten minutes at home before dehydrating them. By precooking at home, the vegetables only need to be rehydrated and heated – not boiled – on the trail.
  
  
  

How to Make Ultra-light Pot Lids & Heat Shields

I made two lids since I cook in the pot and pan at the same time and want to keep them both covered while cooking. I also cut out two heat shields from pie pans to place under the stoves.

Evernew™ pots flair out at the top which forms an internal ledge to support a homemade lid. To make your own light-weight pot lid, simply trace the outline of the top of the pot with a Sharpie on an aluminum pie pan or roasting pan and then cut it out just inside the line. Cut away small pieces of the pie pan as you go along. Go around a few times with your scissors, checking each time until you get a good fit. For the larger pot lid, I folded a one-inch wide strip of foil tape around the edge to make a better seal. I made the lid for the fry pan slightly smaller so the lid would slide down over the food to trap more heat. I didn’t bother with foil tape around the edge of the fry pan lid.
I attached a one-inch by four-inch strip of aluminum tape folded against itself in the middle to form the handle. To make this easier, fold the 1 X 4 foil tape in half, foil side out with the backing still attached, and press on the fold. Next, fold the two sides up so that they line up with the first fold and press on the folds. Your foil tape will form the letter M. Remove the tape backing three-quarters of the way and stick the two middle parts of the M to each other. Stick the exposed tape from one end to the lid and then peel and stick the other end.

Tip: Don’t use any non-food grade aluminum or tin such as roof flashing to make your lids since it would probably be galvanized. You don’t want acid rain in your chili!