Kevin, you are so good at explaining everything in detail without assuming we know some small detail. I am guessing you are a teacher. If you are, you should be! These meals actually look tasty and easy because of the way you demonstrated the preparation! Thank you for doing this for those of us new to backpack camping and cooking!
Just discovered your channel. Love it! You surely take the anxiety out of not knowing anything about backcountry meal prep that a noob can get. 50 yrs old and getting back to the woods. Im hooked!
You Sir, are a genius. I made up the Soba Noodles, just as you did. I must admit, I was worried at the pretty awful smell during dehydration. I am lying under canvas right now having had a bid delicious bowl of these together with the sesame seeds, and the soy, rice vinegar and fish sauce. I added a massive helping of mashed potatoes with onions (commercially bought, dehydrated food) and it was the food of gods! Well done mate! Richard from the U.K.
Thai curry paste from the jar dehydrated SO well! Mix it with water in a bowl to thin it out. Once dried (paralax sheets) you can break up the sheet by hand and grind it. This concentrated powder is ahh-mazing and such an easy way to add BOOM to everything (even oatmeal comes to life!)
Hey Kevin! I binged watched a ton of your videos last night and just wanted to say keep up the great content! I'm surprised your videos don't have more views they're really great- I especially like all your experiments and love that you list numbers and make graphs and whatnot. Really interesting stuff. Anyway, I will definit ely be trying to make a vegan version of this! Have you ever used sesame oil? It's a real game changer in Asian cooking and you'd only need to add a few drops to your sauce. You should definitely try it it's usually pretty cheap and levels up the flavor immensely.
Thanks I really appreciate the comment. Yes I often do use sesame oil when I make Asian style dishes. This recipe is an amalgamation of several soba noodle bowl recipies and for some reason I don't think any of those original recipes included sesame seed oil. A drop or two with the soy and fish sauce wouldn't hurt. Yes a vegan version of this would be super easy and very tasty. I'd probably add a few more mushrooms :) Good luck and thanks again!
@@KevinOutdoors I was wondering about oil, in general. Noting that you sauteed your veg's, how does it affect dehydration? I've been avoiding oils totally but would love to use them if they don't interfere with final product. Tips?
Okay we had a great summer trip with 5 of your meals this year. I'm sooo over chili now! Soba noodles was a favourite. Followed recipe, easy to make. Dehydrated and rehydrated easily. I added more soya because I love salt. Ginger was great in this. Delicious meal! Thanks Kevin for your fantastic recipes!
That looks amazing! I didn’t know you can dehydrate all of those foods. First time I seen a pot cozy, I think you called it. I’m definitely going to check out more videos. I’m new to dehydrating food, besides jerky.
Hey thanks, glad you enjoy them. I am working on the final photos for my cook book which I hope will be out later this year. Stay tuned, I will be announcing it on this channel when it is ready.
I make soba noodles, boil them, then drain half the water. Then I add a single Togo jif peanut packet, some crushed red pepper, soy sauce, peas, and dehydrated chicken. Add your preferred seasonings. So good.
I'm quite familiar with Japanese cooking, so here are some tips for making it more like they would make it. For the water you'd heat up I'd add instant dashi mix (dashi is the broth soba would be served with, it's made by extracting the flavor of kombu kelp and/or smoked dried fish shaving (usually tuna)). Add enough water to both rehydrate and make a soup. They usually also flavor the soup with soy sauce, sake and mirin (sweet rice wine for cooking). Alternatively there's a product you can buy called Tsuyu that contains all these flavors (sake, mirin, soy sauce and dashi) in a very concentrated liquid format, you could bring some of that instead of your liquid mix. Some wakame seeweed (comes dried already) and tofu would also go along great, maybe even some miso. Cheers and thanks for the awesome videos
First, I’ve tried two recipes and they’ve been excellent! I added the tofu and a tsp of chicken bouillon. I used ground turkey. Will try this with beef next Time and a beef bouillon cube as well. Excellent videos. Lasagna is next on the dehydrator!
Hey bud. Recently ran into your channel. I really enjoy the channel. I would love to go hiking and camping but hard to find info around it. Your channel helps a lot. Thanks!
Thank you for this, it´s on my list from now... Last week I dehydrated some Asia small curly noodles cooked in tomato soup with ground beef that was marinated in Sweet Chili Sauce and Soy Sauce for one night. Rehydrating today, 120 g turned out great with 400 ml water - somehow Bolognese Asia style. Almost too much for 1 portion for me, the rest later this day...:-) These Asia sauces are very good for marinating before dehydrating because they have almost no fat and give a good taste to meat and veggies. I never expected so much fun with my new dehydrator although I´m just testing for now. Cheers, Bernd
Hi Kevin, I found out that meat to be dehydrated works much better if you can it before. So I cooked diced chicken breasts, pork loin and pieces of lean beef (Sirloin) in spiced fondue broth (no fat). We sometimes have that fondue for christmas. After that, it was canned in its own fondue broth with a small amount of Spanish Sherry added to the broth. Canning is always a good idea to store meals. 90 minutes at 98° Celsius. After a week, I took it away from the jars to dehydrate - with very good results. Much softer and easier to rehydrate.
That makes sense. Canning is very similar to pressure cooking which seems to work well for my chicken. I'll have to try chunks of beef in my pressure cooker and dehydrate.
I totally agree with Thani. I have also binge watched your channel because I just found it last night. My question is, what is you soarce of water? I'Il keep tracking till i find an answer. Great and so much useful info. GREAT WORK AND THANKS!
Thanks Karen, I am a little slow on the food video production because I am working on a dehydrated food cookbook that will be out later this year. My water? I'm pretty fortunate that most of the places I trip have an ample and fairly clean supply. I do use a platypus gravity filter for most of my drinking water.
Hi Kevin! I just discovered you on TH-cam! What you are doing is awesome! Thank you! I know there will be a cook book released In a few months from now... can’t wait to order one! 😊 Once your cook book is ready for purchase, will you announce it on this Chanel?
Kevin, have you ever tried to rehydrate directly in the seal-a-meal bags? Make a tea, then boil a pot of water and place the whole seal-a-meal bag in the boiling water for 10 min and then place the whole bag into a cozy for 20 min? Eat out of the bag. Just thinking how I could keep my cookware clean and not have to deal with cleaning it.
That method certainly works. 1) I don't like the plastic taste I get from most freezer bags and 2) I don't want to deal with the mess of a wet bag that I need to carry around for several days.
Thanks for the reply! Soo excited a real TH-camr wrote back to me! I’m planning a trip to Woodland Caribou and am using some of your recipes and a lot of your ideas in my 8 day menu/planning/prep! Going to try them at home first!
Hi Mallory, I have made meals both ways and I can't decide which method is more effective at preserving flavour. I would suggest that adding freeze dried ginger and garlic is an easier option but it doesn't really matter. Good luck!
I tried it! I added freeze dried garlic but only had grated ginger available when I made it. I hardly tasted the ginger and had to add more when I rehydrated it. Ps. This recipe was AWESOME! I live in an isolated, off-grid community during the summer and it was a real treat knowing I had a healthy meal on hand that didn't need to be refrigerated. Thanks again for sharing! I'll definitely be making this again! 😊
Thanks Truck Girl. I got the little bottle from Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) here in Canada. If you are in the U.S. REI should carry similar bottles. Both MEC and REI carry these Nalgene bottles in different sizes.
Hi Kevin - how long are you storing these meals? I'm wondering if I can be a little more liberal with my fat while cooking if my storage will only be a couple weeks in the freezer.
Hi Jacob, I store my meals anywhere from a few days to several years. I don't see any issue with retaining a little fat if the meals are kept in the freezer, BUT they will usually sit in an unrefrigerated food bag for a couple of days on your trip before you consume them. To be safe I still recommend removing as much fat as possible. Add some clarified butter or olive oil to your meal after you make it if you want to return more fat back into the meal. This particular meal has minimal beef anyway and would also be great even without the beef.
Given that the buckwheat noodles only take a couple minutes to cook, was it worth while to precook, then redehydrate them? And have you ever tried sweet potato starch noodles? The ones that are clear when you cook them? Love those things.
Good question Jim. Buckwheat noodles do cook a lot faster than regular wheat pasta. This brand cooks in 3-4 minutes. I think there is still a bit of a savings in fuel as you are supposed to cook them in a much larger volume of water than what I use to rehydrate. And, that 3-4 minutes of simmering time will consume more fuel than this method. I have not tried sweet potato starch noodles, I doubt they are available where I live but I will keep my eyes open for them.
Kevin Outdoors Makes sense. Maybe there's too much starch or something too, so the boiling would "clean them up" a bit too. Yes, do try to find those sweet potato noodles. Just love them. Much better than the buckwheat ones. I usually get them at the Chinese grocery store, but even the big chain store has them sometimes.....but that's Montreal. I'm figuring you're near Thunder Bay, so maybe not the ethnic variety.
Looks good. Tried some your others on a canoe trip this year and enjoyed them. Tried your 150gm guideline for size but too much for me so will cut back to 125 or so. Interested why boil the ground beef instead of frying. Great video thanks
Hi Keith. Glad you enjoyed the meals. Yes 150g is about the max. When I make a meal for both me and my wife it is about 250g. So I think the range is really 100 - 150g. Two reasons for boiling and not frying... 1) boiling removes the fat better than frying 2) boiled meat seems to rehydrate better than fryed. Thanks for the comment and feedback!
Hi Kevin, you’re content is amazing, keep up the good work! Quick question, how long would a dehydrated meal like this one last prepackaged without refrigeration? I am a SAR volunteer and the dehydrated meals I hike out with are so bulky and basic. I would like to change up my meals while I’m the field but I keep my food stored in my pack for callouts. Sometimes for months at a time. Thanks
Good question, and the answer is "it depends". If you do a good job at removing the fat and moisture from a meal it should easily last 6-12 months. If you vacuum seal the meal and use a descant pack you will certainly extend the shelf life. Also, keep the meal in a cool dark place. If you do all of this you can probably get 1-2 years out of your meal and probably longer. I hope that helps.
Hi Four Feet Up. I sometimes vacuum seal my meals if I am going on a long trip or if I know the food will be out of the freezer for an extended time. (Last year we did a trip where we were travelling for a couple of weeks with all our food and gear before we went backpacking.) If I am just going to pull the meal from the freezer and go on a relatively short trip (~5ish days) then I don't usually bother vacuum sealing.
Vacuum sealing can also save a lot of space in your pack. If you are going for a longer trip you might decide to do it just for that reason. Some people will argue this point but because the bags don't seem to fit together as well, and there is more air space between the bags. Trust me, I once vacuum sealed about 30 meals that I had in a basket overflowing in my freezer. I vacuum sealed them all and they fit back in the basket with room to spare. Checking out some of your videos now :)
Great video. I make a similar dish and was wonder how it would turn out as a backpack meal. How much water did you use for the single serving to re-hydrate?
Hi DragonsTrails, For most of my meals I just barely cover the food with water. For a 150g meal (dehydrated weight) this usually works out to ~300ml. I have a video titled Rehydrating Backcountry Meals that shows this. Thanks for watching!
Hi Kevin - I've been binge watching as I just found your channel. I have a couple of questions both for long term storage . #1 - silica paks and oxygen packets do 2 different things. Which is better to use? #2 Would it be best to use Mylar bags or vacuum seal meals for long term? My thought is Mylar? I plan to make way ahead of the season so looking for good long term storage. Thanks - keep up the fabulous job!
Hi Gwen, you are right O2 absorbers and silica or desiccant packs are different things but both essentially accomplish the same thing. One removes O2 and the other removes moisture. Both provide a little extra insurance for dehydrated meals that are stored for a long time. I don't really think there is much difference in which one you should choose as air causing spoilage contains both O2 and moisture. If you are vacuum sealing your meals and you live in a humid climate I would lean towards silica packs. If you aren't vacuum sealing your meals I would recommend the O2 absorbers. Let's back up a little for #2. Food that is dehydrated will spoil if, a) it becomes moist, b) it is exposed to air (including O2 which causes oxidation), c) not all the fat is removed, d) not all of the moisture is removed, e) the food is exposed to light, or f) food is exposed to heat. So assuming you have removed all of the fat and have done a good job with removing most of the moisture you then need to contend with air, light, moisture and heat. Vacuum sealing is great as it will remove most of the air and moisture (contained in the air) from the food. And if you keep eh vacuum sealed bags in a cool dry place you should be good - add an O2 or moisture absorber for added security. But a vacuum sealed bag can easily puncture. Mylar bags are a lot tougher and they block light, but people rarely use them to vacuum seal the bags so they still contain air with moisture and O2. I do know that some Mylar bags can be used in a vacuum sealer. That would be the best. If you are making the meals way ahead but your actual trip length is only a week or less I would simply freeze the meals after packaging. They will definitely last and if your trip is relatively short then simple zip-loc bags will suffice. Vacuum sealing or using Mylar gives added assurance. Good luck!
Well there is a difference and not a good one. The breadcrumb method works but it also retains a lot of fat. Frying the meat does something to it that makes it more difficult to rehydrate, breadcrumbs is a poor band aid for that. Boiling the meat takes care of both issues.
Are these noodles made with wheat and buckwheat? Or are they pure buckwheat noodles? Both are called "soba" in stores. I'm curious if the pure buckwheat noodles rehydrate as well.
Thanks Christian! Yes eggs are difficult. I have tried them several ways. Cooking them first works but they don't taste great. I have one recipie where I mixe the egg with cooked and drained saussage meat and grated potatoes and it works OK especially if I put a lot of rehydrated salsa on it. You don't really get the proper egg taste or texture though. I have also tried them by dehydrating raw eggs and this does work but I am very reluctant to take them on a trip for fear of spoiling. I made some and rehydrated them right away and they were perfect. Given the risks I don't see this as an option although I have seen some TH-camrs who would suggest otherwise. The USDA and other expert sources DO NOT reccomend this approach. As far as I am concerned the traditional powdered eggs are not worth it either - yuk! My best success is with a brand of called "Ova Easy'. They make a dehydrated egg that is actually a crystal rather than a powder. They rehydrate perfectly! I use them in some of my backpacking videos where I add dehydrated mushroom, onions and red peppers. The down side is that they are expensive. The equivalent of a dozen eggs costs about 4 times what a dozen regular eggs cost. Good luck!
I think I used a little too much oil in this video but generally speaking removing a little olive oil isn't critical. I often add about a table spoon when sauteing vegetables. If I was mailing my food away for a pick up months later I might be more careful.
Good question Yousif. I am sure it would work but I think the flavours would diminish as I expect the vinegar and fish sauce would lose some flavour through evaporation. My guess is that it would work but that the flavour wouldn't be as strong in the finished product. Try it and let me know!
Reporting back: Just came back from a camping trip with my friends and we really liked this meal. I poured the fish and soy sauce on top of the noodles in the dehydrator and it worked fine. Great meal. One thing I learned is that you're going to have a fishy smell for a day around the dehydrator if you do it that way though :) Question: Why did you cook the soba noodles beforehand? Why not do that on the trail since they cook fast?
Ha, yes, you can get the same smelly effect from raw onions. Glad the meal worked for you guys, and that you liked it! Good question on cooking the soba noodles first. I always pre-cook rice and pasta before as it saves a lot on fuel. When I re-hydrate a meal it takes about 2 min of stove time. If I was to cook pasta it would take 8-10 minutes longer and use a lot more fuel. On a week long trip I bring one canister of fuel and I usually have a little left over. If I was to cook all my pasta and rice in camp I would need to carry 4-5 more canisters. But, you are right soba noodles take only 2 min to cook. I think they would finish cooking in boiling water even if you turned the stove off. Still it is a lot easier just re-hydrating everything together. And, if you don't mind the smell you can the fish sauce and soy right on the dehydrator tray!
That is a good question. Lots of folks get excited about a little fat in a dehydrated meal. I do recommend zero fat to avoid any chance of food going rancid. Rancidity can make you mildly sick but you will notice a bad taste first and probably not eat it. Stale chips are an example of rancid fat. In practice I have found that if you limit the amount of fat to
I've seen you cook then dehydrate macaroni and noodles. Honest question: why go through this step for those items? It makes sense for your lasagna meal (cook the noodles, cut them to bite size, then dehydrate), but wouldn't it be better for elbow macaroni, spaghetti, and soba noodles to just keep them as they come packaged and cook them just once prior to eating?
Good question Tim. Dry pasta from a store needs to be cooked and the cooking time consumes way more fuel than simply rehydrating something. Also soba noodles really need to be rinsed or they taste really muddy and that would require two pots. Here is a video that helps to answer the question... th-cam.com/video/-Zqn_gT3eeU/w-d-xo.html
2:00 - Might want to be careful draining fat laden boiling water into the sink. As a kid, I helped my dad clean out the waste pipe from the kitchen sink. It was completely clogged with gray congealed fat that smelled like sewage. It was a nasty job. If your drain pipes are marginal, you shouldn't dump grease down the sink.
Great video content. Checked out your Amazon affiliate link but the small plastic bottle that you put the sauce in wasn’t shown. Always on the lookout for leak proof mini bottles. Do you know where you sources these? Thanks 🥾🏕😎
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Kevin, you are so good at explaining everything in detail without assuming we know some small detail. I am guessing you are a teacher. If you are, you should be! These meals actually look tasty and easy because of the way you demonstrated the preparation! Thank you for doing this for those of us new to backpack camping and cooking!
Hi Bobbi, I did do some teaching a long time ago. Thanks so much. Glad you liked the video!
Love these cooking & dehydrating videos.
Thanks Barney!
Just discovered your channel. Love it! You surely take the anxiety out of not knowing anything about backcountry meal prep that a noob can get. 50 yrs old and getting back to the woods. Im hooked!
Thanks Ed! Nothing about meal prep should be hard. Glad you are back in the game!
You Sir, are a genius. I made up the Soba Noodles, just as you did. I must admit, I was worried at the pretty awful smell during dehydration.
I am lying under canvas right now having had a bid delicious bowl of these together with the sesame seeds, and the soy, rice vinegar and fish sauce. I added a massive helping of mashed potatoes with onions (commercially bought, dehydrated food) and it was the food of gods!
Well done mate! Richard from the U.K.
Thanks Richard, makes me really happy to hear comments like that!
Thai curry paste from the jar dehydrated SO well! Mix it with water in a bowl to thin it out. Once dried (paralax sheets) you can break up the sheet by hand and grind it. This concentrated powder is ahh-mazing and such an easy way to add BOOM to everything (even oatmeal comes to life!)
Exactly, I do the same thing with miso paste.
Hey Kevin! I binged watched a ton of your videos last night and just wanted to say keep up the great content! I'm surprised your videos don't have more views they're really great- I especially like all your experiments and love that you list numbers and make graphs and whatnot. Really interesting stuff. Anyway, I will definit ely be trying to make a vegan version of this! Have you ever used sesame oil? It's a real game changer in Asian cooking and you'd only need to add a few drops to your sauce. You should definitely try it it's usually pretty cheap and levels up the flavor immensely.
Thanks I really appreciate the comment. Yes I often do use sesame oil when I make Asian style dishes. This recipe is an amalgamation of several soba noodle bowl recipies and for some reason I don't think any of those original recipes included sesame seed oil. A drop or two with the soy and fish sauce wouldn't hurt. Yes a vegan version of this would be super easy and very tasty. I'd probably add a few more mushrooms :) Good luck and thanks again!
Hes too good for the mainstream. Kevin outdoors is the hidden gem of outdoor youtubers!
@@KevinOutdoors I was wondering about oil, in general. Noting that you sauteed your veg's, how does it affect dehydration? I've been avoiding oils totally but would love to use them if they don't interfere with final product. Tips?
Okay we had a great summer trip with 5 of your meals this year. I'm sooo over chili now! Soba noodles was a favourite. Followed recipe, easy to make. Dehydrated and rehydrated easily. I added more soya because I love salt. Ginger was great in this. Delicious meal! Thanks Kevin for your fantastic recipes!
Soba noodles is one of our favourites as well. It is good and very different from the usual. Thanks!
That looks amazing! I didn’t know you can dehydrate all of those foods. First time I seen a pot cozy, I think you called it. I’m definitely going to check out more videos. I’m new to dehydrating food, besides jerky.
Hope you enjoy
Looks like another great meal for the back country. Thanks for posting.
Thanks Don!
Just discovered you channel! It’s great! Awesome work my friend.
Thank you so much, and welcome!
Hey Kevin.... really enjoy your channel and all your great dehydrated meal ideas.
Thanks Terry!
Hee Kevin! Thank you so much for your amazing cooking video's. They are helping this newby out real good!
Hey thanks, glad you enjoy them. I am working on the final photos for my cook book which I hope will be out later this year. Stay tuned, I will be announcing it on this channel when it is ready.
@@KevinOutdoors No way!! That's awesome! I'm definitely staying tuned :)
Awesome videos! Can't wait to try all of your recipes.
Glad you like them!
I make soba noodles, boil them, then drain half the water. Then I add a single Togo jif peanut packet, some crushed red pepper, soy sauce, peas, and dehydrated chicken. Add your preferred seasonings. So good.
Sounds good! I am working on a Pad Thai meal.
I know what's for dinner tonight. Thanks for sharing, adding this to my favorites.
Thanks Mike O. This is now a 'must bring' on any of our trips.
I'm quite familiar with Japanese cooking, so here are some tips for making it more like they would make it. For the water you'd heat up I'd add instant dashi mix (dashi is the broth soba would be served with, it's made by extracting the flavor of kombu kelp and/or smoked dried fish shaving (usually tuna)). Add enough water to both rehydrate and make a soup. They usually also flavor the soup with soy sauce, sake and mirin (sweet rice wine for cooking). Alternatively there's a product you can buy called Tsuyu that contains all these flavors (sake, mirin, soy sauce and dashi) in a very concentrated liquid format, you could bring some of that instead of your liquid mix. Some wakame seeweed (comes dried already) and tofu would also go along great, maybe even some miso. Cheers and thanks for the awesome videos
This is awesome -- many thanks !
You are welcome Joe. This one is a winner.
That looks amazing.
Thanks Eileen - I hope it works for you.
Great trail food ideas, just found your content! Awesome
Thanks David! Glad to have you here!
First, I’ve tried two recipes and they’ve been excellent! I added the tofu and a tsp of chicken bouillon. I used ground turkey. Will try this with beef next Time and a beef bouillon cube as well. Excellent videos. Lasagna is next on the dehydrator!
Sounds great! Glad you liked them Robin!
Thank you
Looks delicious. Ive been dehydrating mostly quinoa, brown rice dishes and chili mac. Looks worth a try🍜!
Hey Woodswalker, Yes, this one is definately worth a try! You won't regret it :)
Kevin Outdoors I will my friend. Wade
Hey bud. Recently ran into your channel. I really enjoy the channel. I would love to go hiking and camping but hard to find info around it. Your channel helps a lot. Thanks!
Thanks Joe! Comments like that are really appreciated!
Looks great! I like the sesame noodle pack and mini bottle of sauce, great idea to do it that way.
Have you ever tried this with ramen noodles?
Thanks. No I haven't tried it with ramen but no doubt it would work.
Thank you for this, it´s on my list from now...
Last week I dehydrated some Asia small curly noodles cooked in tomato soup with ground beef that was marinated in Sweet Chili Sauce and Soy Sauce for one night. Rehydrating today, 120 g turned out great with 400 ml water - somehow Bolognese Asia style. Almost too much for 1 portion for me, the rest later this day...:-)
These Asia sauces are very good for marinating before dehydrating because they have almost no fat and give a good taste to meat and veggies.
I never expected so much fun with my new dehydrator although I´m just testing for now.
Cheers, Bernd
Thanks Bernd, The dehydration game can get a little addictive. Good luck on the new hobby!
Hi Kevin, I found out that meat to be dehydrated works much better if you can it before.
So I cooked diced chicken breasts, pork loin and pieces of lean beef (Sirloin) in spiced fondue broth (no fat). We sometimes have that fondue for christmas.
After that, it was canned in its own fondue broth with a small amount of Spanish Sherry added to the broth. Canning is always a good idea to store meals. 90 minutes at 98° Celsius.
After a week, I took it away from the jars to dehydrate - with very good results. Much softer and easier to rehydrate.
That makes sense. Canning is very similar to pressure cooking which seems to work well for my chicken. I'll have to try chunks of beef in my pressure cooker and dehydrate.
I hit like just for that intro!
Thanks David. Glad you liked it!
I totally agree with Thani. I have also binge watched your channel because I just found it last night. My question is, what is you soarce of water? I'Il keep tracking till i find an answer. Great and so much useful info. GREAT WORK AND THANKS!
Thanks Karen, I am a little slow on the food video production because I am working on a dehydrated food cookbook that will be out later this year. My water? I'm pretty fortunate that most of the places I trip have an ample and fairly clean supply. I do use a platypus gravity filter for most of my drinking water.
Hi Kevin! I just discovered you on TH-cam! What you are doing is awesome! Thank you! I know there will be a cook book released In a few months from now... can’t wait to order one! 😊
Once your cook book is ready for purchase, will you announce it on this Chanel?
Thanks Eric, yes I certainly will. There will likely be video after video making that announcement 😀
Kevin, have you ever tried to rehydrate directly in the seal-a-meal bags? Make a tea, then boil a pot of water and place the whole seal-a-meal bag in the boiling water for 10 min and then place the whole bag into a cozy for 20 min? Eat out of the bag. Just thinking how I could keep my cookware clean and not have to deal with cleaning it.
That method certainly works. 1) I don't like the plastic taste I get from most freezer bags and 2) I don't want to deal with the mess of a wet bag that I need to carry around for several days.
Thanks for the reply! Soo excited a real TH-camr wrote back to me! I’m planning a trip to Woodland Caribou and am using some of your recipes and a lot of your ideas in my 8 day menu/planning/prep! Going to try them at home first!
Looks great! Is it better to add freeze dried ginger and garlic when packaging or can I Sautee it with the mushrooms and red peppers? Thanks!
Hi Mallory, I have made meals both ways and I can't decide which method is more effective at preserving flavour. I would suggest that adding freeze dried ginger and garlic is an easier option but it doesn't really matter. Good luck!
I tried it! I added freeze dried garlic but only had grated ginger available when I made it. I hardly tasted the ginger and had to add more when I rehydrated it.
Ps. This recipe was AWESOME! I live in an isolated, off-grid community during the summer and it was a real treat knowing I had a healthy meal on hand that didn't need to be refrigerated. Thanks again for sharing! I'll definitely be making this again! 😊
so cool! huge like
thanks:)
You are welcome. Glad you liked it!
This looks great. Thank you so much for your videos they all look wonderful. Where did you get the little bottle from for your sauce?
Thanks Truck Girl. I got the little bottle from Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) here in Canada. If you are in the U.S. REI should carry similar bottles. Both MEC and REI carry these Nalgene bottles in different sizes.
Hi Kevin - how long are you storing these meals? I'm wondering if I can be a little more liberal with my fat while cooking if my storage will only be a couple weeks in the freezer.
Hi Jacob, I store my meals anywhere from a few days to several years. I don't see any issue with retaining a little fat if the meals are kept in the freezer, BUT they will usually sit in an unrefrigerated food bag for a couple of days on your trip before you consume them. To be safe I still recommend removing as much fat as possible. Add some clarified butter or olive oil to your meal after you make it if you want to return more fat back into the meal. This particular meal has minimal beef anyway and would also be great even without the beef.
Kevin do you use the "fruit roll" trays? Wanting to buy all the right accessories. Thanks for all these videos.
Hi, coloneljan, yes I certainly do. Most of my meals are quite wet and I use them probably 95% of the time.
Given that the buckwheat noodles only take a couple minutes to cook, was it worth while to precook, then redehydrate them? And have you ever tried sweet potato starch noodles? The ones that are clear when you cook them? Love those things.
Good question Jim. Buckwheat noodles do cook a lot faster than regular wheat pasta. This brand cooks in 3-4 minutes. I think there is still a bit of a savings in fuel as you are supposed to cook them in a much larger volume of water than what I use to rehydrate. And, that 3-4 minutes of simmering time will consume more fuel than this method. I have not tried sweet potato starch noodles, I doubt they are available where I live but I will keep my eyes open for them.
Kevin Outdoors Makes sense. Maybe there's too much starch or something too, so the boiling would "clean them up" a bit too.
Yes, do try to find those sweet potato noodles. Just love them. Much better than the buckwheat ones. I usually get them at the Chinese grocery store, but even the big chain store has them sometimes.....but that's Montreal. I'm figuring you're near Thunder Bay, so maybe not the ethnic variety.
Looks good. Tried some your others on a canoe trip this year and enjoyed them. Tried your 150gm guideline for size but too much for me so will cut back to 125 or so. Interested why boil the ground beef instead of frying. Great video thanks
Hi Keith. Glad you enjoyed the meals. Yes 150g is about the max. When I make a meal for both me and my wife it is about 250g. So I think the range is really 100 - 150g. Two reasons for boiling and not frying... 1) boiling removes the fat better than frying 2) boiled meat seems to rehydrate better than fryed. Thanks for the comment and feedback!
I wondered the same about boiling vs frying. Thanks for the explanation, will try it your way and see how it goes. Thanks!
You seriously should consider writing a book. Would sell like hot rehydrated cakes!
Great idea! I see your other comment :)
Hi Kevin, you’re content is amazing, keep up the good work! Quick question, how long would a dehydrated meal like this one last prepackaged without refrigeration? I am a SAR volunteer and the dehydrated meals I hike out with are so bulky and basic. I would like to change up my meals while I’m the field but I keep my food stored in my pack for callouts. Sometimes for months at a time. Thanks
Good question, and the answer is "it depends". If you do a good job at removing the fat and moisture from a meal it should easily last 6-12 months. If you vacuum seal the meal and use a descant pack you will certainly extend the shelf life. Also, keep the meal in a cool dark place. If you do all of this you can probably get 1-2 years out of your meal and probably longer. I hope that helps.
That looks awesome!! Can I ask why didn’t you vacuum the whole package? Crush the noodles?
Hi Four Feet Up. I sometimes vacuum seal my meals if I am going on a long trip or if I know the food will be out of the freezer for an extended time. (Last year we did a trip where we were travelling for a couple of weeks with all our food and gear before we went backpacking.) If I am just going to pull the meal from the freezer and go on a relatively short trip (~5ish days) then I don't usually bother vacuum sealing.
Kevin Outdoors that makes sense. Thanks again Kevin! Keep it up!
Vacuum sealing can also save a lot of space in your pack. If you are going for a longer trip you might decide to do it just for that reason. Some people will argue this point but because the bags don't seem to fit together as well, and there is more air space between the bags. Trust me, I once vacuum sealed about 30 meals that I had in a basket overflowing in my freezer. I vacuum sealed them all and they fit back in the basket with room to spare. Checking out some of your videos now :)
Great video. I make a similar dish and was wonder how it would turn out as a backpack meal. How much water did you use for the single serving to re-hydrate?
Hi DragonsTrails, For most of my meals I just barely cover the food with water. For a 150g meal (dehydrated weight) this usually works out to ~300ml. I have a video titled Rehydrating Backcountry Meals that shows this. Thanks for watching!
Hi Kevin - I've been binge watching as I just found your channel. I have a couple of questions both for long term storage . #1 - silica paks and oxygen packets do 2 different things. Which is better to use? #2 Would it be best to use Mylar bags or vacuum seal meals for long term? My thought is Mylar? I plan to make way ahead of the season so looking for good long term storage. Thanks - keep up the fabulous job!
Hi Gwen, you are right O2 absorbers and silica or desiccant packs are different things but both essentially accomplish the same thing. One removes O2 and the other removes moisture. Both provide a little extra insurance for dehydrated meals that are stored for a long time. I don't really think there is much difference in which one you should choose as air causing spoilage contains both O2 and moisture. If you are vacuum sealing your meals and you live in a humid climate I would lean towards silica packs. If you aren't vacuum sealing your meals I would recommend the O2 absorbers.
Let's back up a little for #2. Food that is dehydrated will spoil if, a) it becomes moist, b) it is exposed to air (including O2 which causes oxidation), c) not all the fat is removed, d) not all of the moisture is removed, e) the food is exposed to light, or f) food is exposed to heat. So assuming you have removed all of the fat and have done a good job with removing most of the moisture you then need to contend with air, light, moisture and heat. Vacuum sealing is great as it will remove most of the air and moisture (contained in the air) from the food. And if you keep eh vacuum sealed bags in a cool dry place you should be good - add an O2 or moisture absorber for added security. But a vacuum sealed bag can easily puncture. Mylar bags are a lot tougher and they block light, but people rarely use them to vacuum seal the bags so they still contain air with moisture and O2. I do know that some Mylar bags can be used in a vacuum sealer. That would be the best.
If you are making the meals way ahead but your actual trip length is only a week or less I would simply freeze the meals after packaging. They will definitely last and if your trip is relatively short then simple zip-loc bags will suffice. Vacuum sealing or using Mylar gives added assurance. Good luck!
Do you find a difference in adding bread crumbs to your beef to help it rehydrate? I've seen it in a few dehydrator recipe books.
Well there is a difference and not a good one. The breadcrumb method works but it also retains a lot of fat. Frying the meat does something to it that makes it more difficult to rehydrate, breadcrumbs is a poor band aid for that. Boiling the meat takes care of both issues.
What about seasoning your ground beef before dehydrating it. Is that ok or a no no?
You can add seasoning at any time.
Have tried dehydrating ground pork
Yes I have. I do it the same way as I process ground beef. Remove the fat by boiling and running more boiling water through it. It works well.
I noticed you use freeze dried garlic and ginger but can the garlic and ginger be dehydrated with the meal from fresh?
Yes there is no problem either way.
Are these noodles made with wheat and buckwheat? Or are they pure buckwheat noodles? Both are called "soba" in stores. I'm curious if the pure buckwheat noodles rehydrate as well.
These are buckwheat noodles. They re-hydrate just fine.
Thanks!
You're my reference in dehydrating ;). Any tips for eggs? I've tried many things with no success...
Thanks Christian! Yes eggs are difficult. I have tried them several ways. Cooking them first works but they don't taste great. I have one recipie where I mixe the egg with cooked and drained saussage meat and grated potatoes and it works OK especially if I put a lot of rehydrated salsa on it. You don't really get the proper egg taste or texture though.
I have also tried them by dehydrating raw eggs and this does work but I am very reluctant to take them on a trip for fear of spoiling. I made some and rehydrated them right away and they were perfect. Given the risks I don't see this as an option although I have seen some TH-camrs who would suggest otherwise. The USDA and other expert sources DO NOT reccomend this approach.
As far as I am concerned the traditional powdered eggs are not worth it either - yuk!
My best success is with a brand of called "Ova Easy'. They make a dehydrated egg that is actually a crystal rather than a powder. They rehydrate perfectly! I use them in some of my backpacking videos where I add dehydrated mushroom, onions and red peppers. The down side is that they are expensive. The equivalent of a dozen eggs costs about 4 times what a dozen regular eggs cost.
Good luck!
Just wondering, since you sauteed the bell peppers and mushrooms in oil, wouldn't you have to rinse those with hot water to remove the oil off them??
I think I used a little too much oil in this video but generally speaking removing a little olive oil isn't critical. I often add about a table spoon when sauteing vegetables. If I was mailing my food away for a pick up months later I might be more careful.
I used less than a thimble full of oil and the mushrooms and peppers dried fine but took 36 hours.
Do you think I can drizzle the sauces and vinegar on the cooled drained noodles before I dehydrate them? Or are there downsides to that?
Good question Yousif. I am sure it would work but I think the flavours would diminish as I expect the vinegar and fish sauce would lose some flavour through evaporation. My guess is that it would work but that the flavour wouldn't be as strong in the finished product. Try it and let me know!
Reporting back: Just came back from a camping trip with my friends and we really liked this meal. I poured the fish and soy sauce on top of the noodles in the dehydrator and it worked fine. Great meal. One thing I learned is that you're going to have a fishy smell for a day around the dehydrator if you do it that way though :)
Question: Why did you cook the soba noodles beforehand? Why not do that on the trail since they cook fast?
Ha, yes, you can get the same smelly effect from raw onions. Glad the meal worked for you guys, and that you liked it! Good question on cooking the soba noodles first. I always pre-cook rice and pasta before as it saves a lot on fuel. When I re-hydrate a meal it takes about 2 min of stove time. If I was to cook pasta it would take 8-10 minutes longer and use a lot more fuel. On a week long trip I bring one canister of fuel and I usually have a little left over. If I was to cook all my pasta and rice in camp I would need to carry 4-5 more canisters. But, you are right soba noodles take only 2 min to cook. I think they would finish cooking in boiling water even if you turned the stove off. Still it is a lot easier just re-hydrating everything together. And, if you don't mind the smell you can the fish sauce and soy right on the dehydrator tray!
If you saute, is there anything you need to do to remove the oil?
That is a good question. Lots of folks get excited about a little fat in a dehydrated meal. I do recommend zero fat to avoid any chance of food going rancid. Rancidity can make you mildly sick but you will notice a bad taste first and probably not eat it. Stale chips are an example of rancid fat. In practice I have found that if you limit the amount of fat to
Thank you
Let me guess, you bought that food saver on sale at Canadian Tire as well lol , I got the exact same one
Yep. Works great but the replacement bags don't hold up like the original ones did. They puncture on the sharper food.
I've seen you cook then dehydrate macaroni and noodles. Honest question: why go through this step for those items? It makes sense for your lasagna meal (cook the noodles, cut them to bite size, then dehydrate), but wouldn't it be better for elbow macaroni, spaghetti, and soba noodles to just keep them as they come packaged and cook them just once prior to eating?
Good question Tim. Dry pasta from a store needs to be cooked and the cooking time consumes way more fuel than simply rehydrating something. Also soba noodles really need to be rinsed or they taste really muddy and that would require two pots. Here is a video that helps to answer the question... th-cam.com/video/-Zqn_gT3eeU/w-d-xo.html
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Yes this is a really good meal.
2:00 - Might want to be careful draining fat laden boiling water into the sink. As a kid, I helped my dad clean out the waste pipe from the kitchen sink. It was completely clogged with gray congealed fat that smelled like sewage. It was a nasty job. If your drain pipes are marginal, you shouldn't dump grease down the sink.
Good reminder.
Can you dehydrate tofu?
Good question. Yes, I show an example of that in my Miso Soup video.
Why wouldn't you just make the meal, then freeze dry it?
Because freeze drying is an incredibly expensive process.
Great video content. Checked out your Amazon affiliate link but the small plastic bottle that you put the sauce in wasn’t shown. Always on the lookout for leak proof mini bottles. Do you know where you sources these? Thanks 🥾🏕😎
If you google 'nalgene' you will probably find some distributors. They are commonly sold in outdoor stores.