I'm cranking up the dehydrator for an upcoming trip and am looking at adding some more homemade dinners to my repertoire. I want to dehydrate a couple of my favorites--a beef stew and a garbanzo/chicken sausage soup/stew. Any advice on dehydrating these types? I have dehydrated meals and soups in the past, but not with meat. The only meat item I have dehydrated is stroganoff--and the ground beef was very chewy. I'm wondering if the meat in these two dishes will be the same--hard and/or chewy? Anyone out there had experience with this?

Keep everything about the same size - you can always grab the veggies/meat right before drying and dice them up. That helps in fast drying and faster rehydration.

I dry the meat and veggies seperately... for two reasons...

1. they really should be dried at different temps (the meat at 155°F or above and the veg at 135°F)

2. the meat and veggies will dry at different rates

I usually plan to dehydrate other things at the same time so I don't have empty trays for the two separate runs.

Also, when rehydrating use boiling water and a cozy and allow for 30 minutes or more rehydration time and you won't have the chewy texture.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 06/25/2009 10:21:54 MDT.

Thanks Sarah and Laurie for your help. By the way, I have both of your books. I find them highly useful and inspirational!

You're welcome... I'm here to help (well not for the next week or so as I am in the wilderness - but when I return)