Dehydrating Canned Chicken

I have dehydrated a lot of canned chicken and never had any problems.I have sent it in my resupply boxes on the PCT and the JMT.
Couple of questions.
Did you rinse with warm water?
Did you vacuum seal the dehydrated chicken before you put it in the freezer?

I think it was just lukewarm water that I used to rinse the chicken, to be honest, I was thinking more of getting rid of the can juice than any excess fat. It's not vacuum-sealed, but in a freezer ziploc in the freezer. I could vac-seal, but it's the couple of weeks in the resupply that I'm worried about…

To try to vacuum seal now is probably not a good idea. There is to much moisture in it. The first time i dehydrated canned chicken or beef, i rinsed it with hot water and left it in the dehydrator way longer than was necessary and then put it in Ziploc bags and put them in the cupboard. They were fine for about 6 months. Now after doing many cans of chicken/ beef over the years, I rinse with hot water and dehydrate until all the pieces are easy to break with your hand. Then vacuum seal into portions. I don't put them in the freezer at all.
I am doing the JMT this season as well. Starting on the14th of July SOBO and have already done my chicken and beef this way. I did this last season for all my resupply boxes for 500 miles on the PCT and they never went bad.
If it were me, I would start over.
Hope this helps!
Terry

Hi Terry,

The chicken was cut into little bits and is crispy dry. I broke open the larger bits just to make sure. It's just that my hands were a bit greasy after moving it all to the bags = concern about excess fat. Maybe it will be safest just to start again :-(

I wouldn't worry too much about it, especially if it is crispy-dry. I have been dehydrating canned chicken for years and have never rinsed it (just drained it). I keep it in the freezer in ziploc freezer bags and it has been fine for a year or more at a time.

I tried canned chicken in noodles with alfredo sauce not long ago for the first time. It actually soaked through the expensive Excalibur silicone sheets in some spots. The finished product is very greasy. I never knew about the rinsing part. I'll have to try again with this newfound knowledge.

Two questions: Im curious about how much weight you save by dehydrating chicken, vs. buying it in pouches? And, does the weight you jsave justify whatever drop in quality there might be?

Just wondering… thanks!

Note: Make sure you buy chicken breast and not mixed chicken – which has dark meat. It is usually lower in fat…..

usually the pouches of chicken weighs 7oz and the same amount of dried chicken weight is 2oz.I personally don't believe there is any drop in quality. For me the pouches are harder to pack in a bear canister than the dehydrated chicken in a zip lock or a vacuum sealed bag.

I'm curious as to why you dehydrate the canned chicken instead of freshly cooked chicken? I haven't done either but sounds like I should at that weight savings.

I guess I am just lazy, and would prefer not to go thru the time or the process of cooking, shredding and chopping.
That is just me!

Fresh chicken usually turns into chicken jerky – where as canned doesn't. Now though! If you can pressure cook chicken, shred and dry it, it is great. But boiled or baked, no.

Thanks all, decided not to worry and go with it(!). I used canned chicken based on advice here that fresh chicken turns hard and never really rehydrates 'soft'. As it is, the dehydrated canned chicken takes a good while to rehydrate well, and smaller bits rehydrate better than larger.

I did not want to deal with the garbage, smell, and weight of the pouched chicken or tuna.

All good posts! I had wondered about several of these points as well, and your insights were all helpful to a newbie. :) Thanks for letting me "listen" in! lol

I slow-cook chicken breasts and then dehydrate that. It comes out great. Pork tenderloin does, too. But I keep it in the freezer if it's going to be a while before my hike because I don't want any residual fat to go rancid.