Rehydration Ratio?

In principal, yes. Some ingredients don’t want to fully rehydrate and will not absorb their original moisture content. Starches seem to do fairly well, but some vegetables, and especially meats, simply resist returning to their full hydration level prior to dehydration. This discrepancy is easier to hide in some recipes than others. If it’s a sauce-based recipe like spaghetti, a slightly runnier sauce is not that offensive. If it’s something like scrambled eggs with vegetables, a bunch of standing water kind of sucks.

I can speak of my experiences. It seems to be time related as a function of density and volume related. For example, chicken: I like big chunks so the combination of large size and high density makes it take longer to re-hydrate. A normal person would just shred it to re-hydrate faster, but to me, it approaches baby food. Sliced carrots seem to take a long time as well. Crumbled ground beef isn’t too bad. My 2 cents.

Thanks.

I also hear 1:1 by volume as a general rule.

I’m never in a particular hurry to eat; I intend to try soaking for 5-10 minutes, bring to boil, and then let stand in a cozy for another 15-20.

Currently working on a version of chilimac with ground turkey chili…all commercial (Trader Joe’s Mac n Cheese + Canned Turkey Chili), just keeping it simple and cheap.

This is my chili mac dehydration process. Honestly, the one and a half cans of chili plus 3 ounces of (dry) pasta is more the most people can handle, and the absolute upper limit of my caloric need after a hard day. Scale down from this…

CHILI MAC: (Per serving):

1.5 cans (15 oz cans) chili plus 1 tablespoon sweet habanero Cholula or preferred hot sauce, etc; divided between 2 liquid dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 160 F until crumbly, breaking up half way through.

3 oz dry mini penne pasta cooked 6 min in boiling water (no salt or oil) and dehydrated on 1 mesh tray.

Reconstituted with 0.6 L boiling water for 20 minutes in insulation (quilt or puffy). Note that this amount of water will result in a very thick (but fully rehydrated) chili mac. Add water at the end to thin and cool as needed.

Thanks Philip. I’ll give it a try with penne, probably a bit cheaper than boxed mac.

Here’s what I’ve made so far:

2 boxes TJ’s Mac n Cheese

2 cans TJ’s Turkey Chili

3 cheddar sticks

Cook mac, drain, add powdered cheese, add chili, dehydrate.

*Dogs are great at helping with tasks that require zero dogs. Get a dog helper.

I split the batch into three portions.

~750 calories each, 5.65oz dry. Add one ounce and 100 calories for a stick of cheddar melted on top. It’s also at the upper end of what I can eat in a sitting (which is good). I also top with red pepper flakes and salt.

So this started out at a bit over~19 oz wet, down to 5.65 dry.  By weight, that’s roughly 14 oz of water lost.

The volume is a bit over 1.5 cups dry…which also happens to be pretty close to 14oz water by volume.

The ~1:1 ratio by volume seems to hold true.

Will cook up a batch later and update how much water/time is needed for rehydration. Based on above, will start with a bit over 1.5 cups water for rehydration.

A bit over 1.5 cups water, boil, sit for 20 minutes in cozy. Rehydrated perfectly.

(Evernew .9 pot for size reference)

This is going to work out well!

You might find at the end of a hard day that a slightly more liquid dinner might be better. It would slide down more easily.

Cheers

Just stopping by to note the very cute dog. Is it a Cattledog mix?

Good point Roger. Can always add more liquid at the end.

Not sure exactly what she is Matthew, she’s from the shelter. Seems like Cattledog with some Rottweiler or Pitbull? Her head is definitely more square than a heeler’s.

Good pup regardless!

I think letting the meal sit for 20 minutes in a cozy is a great idea in terms of allowing the ingredients to absorb the water.

I always used to let the Mountain House freeze dried meals I carried sit for longer than suggested.

Mountain House used to offer a vacuum sealed pouch that was terrific. It packed really small and seemed as good (or bad) as their other meals. And in fact they used to do a chicken breast meal that was very very good, as these things go. It featured an entire chicken breast with mashed potatoes. And then of course like all good things it disappeared, or at least from the REI where I bought it.

Kudos to all who freeze dry their own meals. I’m sure they’re miles better than what I carried. I would often be teased by my hiking friends for carrying Mountain House.  I didn’t care. They were carrying fresh food that weighed a ton.  I wasn’t in the mountains for the meals.

I wasn’t in the mountains for the meals.

That’s really where I’m at these days. Used to do a lot of fresh and fancy food but I’m over it. I have a large trip coming up and I’m mainly concerned with keeping cost down and calories up. Of course things should be palatable enough, but I can be a foodie at home. To each their own, but I’m definitely not interested in making dishes with extensive ingredient lists…I can get by on simple stuff just fine.

For two weeks I’ll put 3 dinners into rotation…good enough.

Not only does the cozy help with rehydrating, but it greatly reduces fuel consumption in my experience, even with simple things like packaged ramen. You don’t need to hold anything at a boil. Just reach boil and set the food in a cozy for 10-20 minutes. The reflectix cozy I made for the Evernew pot pictured about keeps things crazy hot for LONG time. I don’t like eating out of freezer bags, I prefer a pot cozy.

I’m glad the experiment worked out well. Chili Mac is definitely an easy and stick-to-your-ribs meal. I’m intrigued by your substitution of mac & cheese for plain pasta. I might have to try that. I will say that the use of mini penne is somewhat bougie, and the sharp ends can compromise the final packaging. Lowly elbow macaroni is probably a better choice as it tastes the same and is less likely to pierce a plastic bag.

Now I’m wondering at what stage the powdered cheese component of the packaged mac & cheese should be incorporated. I typically find that making the sauce portion separate from the pasta portion makes both the preparation, drying, and rehydration steps less fraught. Maybe incorporate the cheese sauce/powder into the chili with a quick heat prior to dehydration and do the pasta separate?