Question for Violet -- Dehydrating

[TurtleMama]

I have been seeing SO much lately about cooking and then dehydrating rice -- and now beans. Is this safe? I know that rice can grow a nasty bacteria that leads to food poisoning if it's cooked and then not stored at the correct temperature. I love the idea of homemade, cheap quick-cook rice and beans, but before I go off and do this I want to make sure I won't make my family sick with it.

 

Violet? Anyone?

[kappydell]

You can dehydrate cooked food, but you have to make sure it is totally dry when you store it. Beans should shatter when struck with a hammer, for example, and you should always test to make sure they are dry enough. Many backpackers routinely dry pre-cooked foods for the trail. You might try looking for some books on it at the local library. However, home-dehydrated foods are NOT good for decades, like many storage foods. Be sure to rotate them earlier to get the best end product.

[TurtleMama]

Woo hoo! Thank you, kappydell! I think I'll be doing some expirimenting this weekend!

[The WE2's]

Philbe loves dehydrating!!!

[Violet]

There are many foods that are not safe to dehydrate, so be careful to whom you follow.

Rice and beans should be fine, as long as they are just plain. Not adding any butter, etc. to the rice or other things to the beans other than dry seasonings when you cook them.

There are some real crazy ideas about drying out there. No hamburger rocks, eggs, cheese, leftovers, etc. Just because you read it in a book doesn't make it so.

[TurtleMama]

I knew for sure you can't dehydrate things with high fat content....I just wasn't sure about the rice and beans. I saw a guy on youtube who was drying Ranch Style Beans from a can. I am more excited about the prospect of cooking and dehydrating plain beans that I have in storage...in a situation the fuel savings would be immense! Boiling beans (or even pressure cooking them) can take time and generator power/wood/propane etc. If all you have to do is rehydrate them -- well, that would be AWESOME! And the rice won't grow the icky bacteria that can make you sick? That was my main concern.

 

Thanks SO MUCH for your replies on this...I have potatoes going today and tomorrow, but I think that this weekend I'll be drying some beans!

[Jeepers]

I want to try my hand at dehydrating beans too, after the holidays. I noticed that the beans in the 'food in a jar' meals were dehydrated beans. Someone on youtube said to only use the dehydrated ones. Can't remember who but it wasn't Chef Tess. Maybe "Perbain."