Food - shrink it then expand it.

How perspective and age has changed me.  Growing up there was no more feared days in the week than when my mother would pack us into the car and drive us to her friends houses to can, dry or crush... fruit mostly but anything that was preservable basically.  Now when I say feared, that is not because I didn't like the families we were visiting but it was the sheer length or the day that wore us out as kids and board us into a sleep by the end of the afternoon.

I'm sure some of the tools they were using had been preserved themselves from the dark ages and were in fact tools used on traitors to the Crown to extract secrets in a pain full and inhumane manner.  See below for proof!

Of course now that I understand the benefits of food preparation I am on board 100%.  As everyone can appreciate if Tim Marsden and I are going to walk for approximately 35 days (still working out exact itinerary) and we will need to eat constantly we have a fair task ahead of us in planning not only nutritious meals but light weight meals.

The goals is to only carry 900grams of food per person, per day plus about 3litres of water per day which will need to be sourced en route.  Food drops will still be required to be organised before departure and placed along 4x4 tracks near our trails.

Step 1 in this endeavour has been the purchase of "Excalibur"(PS make sure to say "excalibur" in a deep manly & meaningful voice as you puff out your chest and make a serious face, writing and reading it in bold isn't enough).  Now "Excalibur" I know you are all thinking must be a great hiking knife to slay our own game meat while on the trail, or maybe a gun that has the glistening shine on it when you draw it on a sunny afternoon so are able to take out small animals but alas it is far more exciting............... it is my " food dehydrator"! Awesome!

This week had been very exciting as Megan, my wife, advised me she had prepared a number of items for me to dehydrate. spaghetti sauce, fruit roll ups, and has purchased heaps more fruit, and meat as well for jerky.

Attempt 1 - Fruit roll ups, I made 2 separate batches of fruit mixes.  Mix 1 consists 2/3rd's of a blender of cut up washed Granny Smith apples and 1/3rd of fresh washed purple grapes, type unknown... Costco type! Before reading closely the instruction manual about fruit roll ups I added a healthy amount of granulated sugar and 2 scoops of protein to the mix.

Mix 2 was all Granny Smith apples but I added a healthy amount of cinnamon. I figured that in an apple blend if I went soft on the cinnamon it would just be over powered by the apples, let me say this was one   thing I actually got right.

I through everything in the blender and off we went.  Once the separate mixes were a nice creamy consistency I spread a mound of the blend onto the non stick tray linings and spread the mixture using a icing spreader thing.  Kitchen tool identification is not my strong suit.

While these were in the dehydrator I decided to read more about what I was doing.  First error I find is that you do not add granulated sugars to fruit roll ups as a sweetener as it makes the roll ups hard.  The end effect is that I had fruit chips.  They worked just as well I must say so nothing is waisted and were very tasty.  Monday evening gathering with some friends was a testament to that as they were all eaten and a friend even took some home in a snap lock bag.

Is it unmanly to think this tool is awesome.  I didn't get it with original purchase but now that I have seen how important it is for everything to be evenly cut or spread if its going to be dried out, I think I will have to get a hold of one.

Attempt 2.

Last night we dehydrated home made spaghetti sauce.  Again the idea is to reduce the water content from the foods as that can be added en route but still maintain really energising meals on the trail.  I don't think 2 minute noodles will give me the power to get up some of the inclines.

We took the batch of home made sauce and blended again to a creamy consistency and again placed on the "Paraflex" sheets and placed in the dehydrator for 14 hours at 135 degrees.  admittedly when I got home there was still 4 hours on the clock but 3 or my 5 sheets were dehydrated and maybe even starting to cook! not what I'm after so I took them out, broke them up into chips and vacuum sealed them for safe storage.  I will try these out for dinner this weekend and over November while I am away and see what the flavour and end result it.  Here's hoping!

If anyone has any home made dehydration recipe's they like me to try out and report back on I am willing to try and do it justice.

An interesting resource that I have been reading in the backpacking chef.  He comes from the area in the USA where we grew up hiking as a family when we were kids.  check out his site below.

http://www.backpackingchef.com/