Dehydrating Foods - Lightening the Load for Exploring the Outdoors

I am always looking for way to reduce the weight of my kit, mainly so I can carry more sleeping bags. I hate to be cold!

There's no getting away from the fact that most of the weight and bulk in my kit is food and cooking equipment, being as it's not something I can omit I set about finding a way to reduce it that fits my needs.

I needed to find a way that didn’t include any dairy, so ration packs were out already. It had to last in warm conditions, not rely on one use plastics, but be lightweight and robust. To use minimum fuel and as short a cooking time as possible and if that wasn’t enough to ask, nutritionally balanced and as processed free as I could get…Oh, yeah and cheap would be nice too!

There was only one way to go….dehydrating/dried foods.

Dehydrated food has so many benefits

• Lightweight – Perfect for carrying in a backpack without adding extra weight.
• Long Shelf Life – Properly dehydrated foods can last months or even years.
• Easy to Store – Compact and requires minimal space.
• Retains Nutrients – Dehydration preserves most vitamins and minerals.
• Less Waste – Reduces reliance on fresh perishables, minimising spoilage.
• Variety- You never have to have the same meal twice.
• Cheap- Get yourself down to the shops and snap up all of that reduced fruit and veg.
  

On top of this I already had a pretty good dehydrator which I use for foraged foods so I didn’t have any equipment to buy.

Not all foods dehydrate well, so have an experiment and see what works best for your needs and cooking system.

I haven't done much with fruit yet, not because it doesn't work but dried fruit is so readily available that unless you find a big haul of cheap fresh stuff to rescue you’re just making work for yourself.

So I concentrated on the basics. Vegetables, wild meat and a carb base.

A few of my dehydrated food staples alongside
pickled Ash keys and Elderberry ‘capers’. 

Vegetables

• Carrots/sweet potato/root veg - these work great and are really quick to rehydrate and cook. Use a speed peeler to make sure they dry quickly and don’t take up too much cooking time when rehydrated.
• Bell peppers- slice them really thin to dry them. They can be crushed when dry to reduce cooking time/fuel.
• Mushrooms- another one that is great if you can find them in the reduced section but to be honest your better off buying a bag from your local chinese supermarket.
• Onions- Try and stick to spring onions they are easier to rehydrate and cook.

Dried peppers

Proteins

• Meat - Of course jerky works great for this element and there are lots of great methods and recipes out there to try. Over the winter months I often find myself with a surplus of game meat, mainly pheasant. I needed to find a way to use it that served me over a long period of time (not jerky, I can’t be trusted to not eat it all in one sitting). My preferred way is to use up leftover meat or slow cook a few all at once then strip to the bones and shred before then dehydrating. This method works really well as the meat cooks quickly in a one pot stew or curry or if you really needing to reduce space it can be ground into a powder and vacuum pack for your kit bag, where it will keep for months.
• Nettle protein powder - pick the top four leaves from the plant and dry them. I use a pestle and mortar, jar it up to use later.
• Lentils - Great for a cost effective protein boost. There are two ways to use these. You can make lentil flour by putting them in a coffee grinder but you must remember that this will need to be cooked before you eat it or you can precook and then dry the lentils to grind up or use whole.

Carbohydrates

• Rice (pre-cooked and dried)
• Pasta (pre-cooked and dried)
• Sweet Potatoes - These are the best option as they can be eaten raw and have more nutritional value than plain old spuds. They taste much better too.
• Oats - You can add oats to savoury meals to boost your carbs but I prefer to use them for breakfast. Overnight oats are the way to go! Make up seperate servings with the oats, your favourite dried fruits, and powdered milk. For an extra boost add some seeds such as pumpkin or linseeds and up your mineral intake with a spoonful of raw cacao powder for chocolate oats. All you need to do is put them in a container and cover them with water before you go to sleep and breakfast is waiting for you when you wake up! There's always the option to cook them if you have the spare fuel and fancy a hot breakfast.
• Noodles - My go to carb. I buy the thinnest ones I can find as there's no cooking involved. They just need to sit in a flask of hot water. 

How to Dehydrate Foods

1. Prepare the Food: Wash, peel, and cut the food into uniform slices to ensure even drying.
2. Use a Dehydrator: Set your dehydrator to the appropriate temperature (usually 50°C - 60°C for fruits and vegetables, 65°C for meats).
3. Check for Dryness: Fruits should be leathery, vegetables brittle, and meats completely dry with no moisture.
4. Store Properly: Use airtight containers, vacuum-sealed bags, or Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers for long-term storage.

Prepped and dried carrots and sweet potato

How to Rehydrate

• Fruits & Vegetables: Soak in water for 15–30 minutes or add directly to soups and stews.
• Meats: Cover with warm water and let sit for 1–2 hours before cooking.
• Grains & Pasta: Add boiling water and let sit in an insulated container for 10–15 minutes.

Meal Ideas with Dehydrated Foods

• Soup: Dehydrated carrots, onions, mushrooms, and pre-cooked rice, combined with dried beef jerky.
• Fruit & Nut Oatmeal: Dehydrated apples and bananas mixed with oats for a quick breakfast.
• DIY Ramen: Dehydrated noodles, vegetables, and beef jerky combined with a homemade spice mix.
• Stew: Beans, dried tomatoes, onions, and beef jerky slow-cooked over a campfire.

Tips

• Label Everything: Mark bags with the date and contents to keep track of freshness.
• Test Small Batches First: Try rehydrating at home before heading out.
• Use Silica Gel Packs: These help control moisture in storage containers.
• Rotate Stock: Regularly use and replace dehydrated foods to maintain quality.

Cooking
Everyone has their own way to cook when we’re out and the simple act of sitting stirring the pot over an open fire has a comfort all of its own. But if you’re looking to reduce your fuel consumption then a trusty old food flask is your best friend, as you can see from the picture mine has done some serious miles with me.

You can use it to keep food warm or like me, you can give it a few tweaks and turn it into a really effective thermal cooker but that’s a whole other blog…..

My food flask