What are you dehydrating?

[Plymtom]

Revisited the Hard tack I made and found that it too had pierced the vac bag, so I did it again, I left the old one inside for padding, these things realy are hard you can barely break them in your hands, but the vac sealer can.

[Brambles]

I have some Quorn Mince and Chicken flavour chunks on the go at the moment. I'll post results later.

[Deeps]

I've got more onions on the go at the moment but I did do a couple of bologneses with the veg cut up small. I vac sealed them with my new toy. I used some cut down kitchen towel inside the bags to protect them from some of the rough edges. I've stuck them in the freezer for now but as it happens I'll be going for a walk next weekend so I'll see how they go. After the practise runs I can't see any problems. I'll do some more chilli as well so I've got choices, each time I knock up a wokful of 'stuff' I'll set aside a couple of portions for the dehydrator.

[jansman]

I've got more onions on the go at the moment but I did do a couple of bologneses with the veg cut up small. I vac sealed them with my new toy. I used some cut down kitchen towel inside the bags to protect them from some of the rough edges. I've stuck them in the freezer for now but as it happens I'll be going for a walk next weekend so I'll see how they go. After the practise runs I can't see any problems. I'll do some more chilli as well so I've got choices, each time I knock up a wokful of 'stuff' I'll set aside a couple of portions for the dehydrator.

When you thaw that, you may find the kitchen towel disintegrates into the food.When we vac anything with bones in,( sharp edges) at work we use folded plastic ( a ziploc is perfect).

[Deeps]

I've got more onions on the go at the moment but I did do a couple of bologneses with the veg cut up small. I vac sealed them with my new toy. I used some cut down kitchen towel inside the bags to protect them from some of the rough edges. I've stuck them in the freezer for now but as it happens I'll be going for a walk next weekend so I'll see how they go. After the practise runs I can't see any problems. I'll do some more chilli as well so I've got choices, each time I knock up a wokful of 'stuff' I'll set aside a couple of portions for the dehydrator.

When you thaw that, you may find the kitchen towel disintegrates into the food.When we vac anything with bones in,( sharp edges) at work we use folded plastic ( a ziploc is perfect).

Thanks for the pointer mate, I can see the logic of that, I'll have a rethink and take the 2 I've done out of the freezer for a check.

[ForgeCorvus]

I've got more onions on the go at the moment but I did do a couple of bologneses with the veg cut up small. I vac sealed them with my new toy. I used some cut down kitchen towel inside the bags to protect them from some of the rough edges. I've stuck them in the freezer for now but as it happens I'll be going for a walk next weekend so I'll see how they go. After the practise runs I can't see any problems. I'll do some more chilli as well so I've got choices, each time I knock up a wokful of 'stuff' I'll set aside a couple of portions for the dehydrator.

When you thaw that, you may find the kitchen towel disintegrates into the food.When we vac anything with bones in,( sharp edges) at work we use folded plastic ( a ziploc is perfect).

Thanks for the pointer mate, I can see the logic of that, I'll have a rethink and take the 2 I've done out of the freezer for a check.

Bubble wrap?

[Deeps]

Good idea Crow, I've opened one up to have a look, there is a bit of 'seepage' into the towel. I'll have it for my lunch tomorrow to both taste test it and to make sure it rehydrates ok. My initial thought after Jansman's advice was double bag but with the towel between them but I've hoisted in the bubblewrap idea too. Sitrep on tomorrows lunch to follow...

Cheers guys.

[Deeps]

Had a portion of the bolognese for my lunch, it was fine although some of the juice must have been lost into the towel so I'll not do it the same way again. It tool about 400ml to rehydrate and is considerably cheaper than buying them. 3 portions of chilli on the dehydrator to play with when they're ready. I'll double bag with kitchen towel inbetween for the next batch.

[Jamesey1981]

When I vac pack dehydrated stuff I just leave a little bit of air in there, if it's going in the freezer anyway I don't worry about a little bit of air in it, the vacuum packing is more so that it's in a completely airtight container to keep moisture out.
I do rotate it pretty quickly but I've never had any go manky.
For the longest possible storage life I've thought about getting something that'll let me vacuum pack it in a jar or something similar, that way it can't puncture the seal, but for left over dinners that's a bit redundant, I don't go mad cooking the meat and then rinsing the fat off it for normal cooking, that's only if I cook something specifically to go in the dehydrator so vacuum packed perfectly or not the fat will still go rancid before the little bit of air in there can spoil it.

Currently got some cottage pie mix going, made a big one yesterday and had some mix left over so that's a nice hiking meal for me with a bit of smash.

[Brambles]

I have some Quorn Mince and Chicken flavour chunks on the go at the moment. I'll post results later.

Well, both dehydrated fine. When rehydrated, the mince is still a bit hard, but the chicken style peices are really rather good!

I'm going to try some meatfree sausages, the Quorn roast and 'bacon'.