Storing Food

Picture this, I'm standing in the kitchen with my nose in my drying guide and my brother walks in. Pointing at the dehydrator, he asks, "what is that?" I explained that it was the contraption that would allow me to preserve all my food for my extended hike. My brother raised his eyebrows and asked how I was going to carry it on the trail. "It's not that heavy and there are outlets on ever couple hundred trees" I joked.

I'm picking on my brother but a lot of people have asked me this very question, so I think I should clarify. I purchased a dehydrator as a method of preserving 6 months worth of food for my walk. I am going to spend the next four months drying meals and snacks in my kitchen, storing them in airtight packages that I will divvy up into food boxes that will be shipped to towns along the trail. This means that I will only ever be carrying 5-6 days worth of food (save for the 10 days during the 100 miles of wilderness). Every 5-6 days I will head into town, pick up my box of food at the post and repack my pack. Of course I will also enjoy a shower with hot water and eat a meal that was never dried.

I wish I could take credit for all of this, however, it's the picture on the front of my drying guide. 

I did a little reading of my Excalibur guide to food dehydrating that came with my machine. There are several options: vacuum seal bags (requires a machine), zip lock bags or self sealing bags (both of which should have at least 3/8” seal, and sanitized jars/containers previously used for food storage (e.g. peanut butter, salad dressing, jelly jars.)

I should label all my creations with:

i. Contents

ii. Drying Date

iii. Drying time

iv. Weight before

v. Weight after

vi. Humidity at time of drying

The purpose of the label is to improve my dehydrating abilities for subsequent dries and also to assure the people in my household the contents of the baggies are edible, not “one of my science experiments” as my mom always says.

Before the food is stored it requires enough time to cool without reabsorbing moisture in the air. This is achieved by allowing the food 30minutes to dry in the turned off dehydrator with the door closed.

Dehydrating is the best way to preserve food because it retains the greatest nutritional value. Food should be stored in snack or meal sized portions. If stored in larger containers the contents lose vitamins and suck up moisture each time the container is opened.

Silica gel, which can be purchased at a local craft store, can be scooped into a muslin bag and stored with the dried goods because it sucks up moisture. Note*Should not come in direct contact with food. This is a great reusable product because when they become saturated with water (pink) they can be dried at 140F until they turn white.

Food should be stored in a cool (50-60F)/dark place (basement) and is good for up to a year.