One thing that I've been worrying about is nutrition on trail. Because of storage, weight, and sustainability, the hiker diet tends to not be the healthiest. As someone who loves fresh fruits and vegetables, I began to worry about how I would get my daily servings of these foods. Low and behold there is already a solution! By using a food dehydrator you can practically carry any food you desire at a much lower weight.
So what exactly is a dehydrator? Basically it is a device that removes the moisture from food in order to preserve it for longer periods of time. By removing the moisture, you also remove a lot of the weight. Here is a picture of the food dehydrator I am using.
My grandmother bought it at a garage sale years ago and my mother has kept it ever since. (Thank you Nana!) It has 6 tiers of round trays that you can place your food on and a simple temperature nob. Then all you do is plug it in and let it work its magic!
At the moment I have been dehydrating simple vegetables and fruits, but one of my favorite things to make in the dehydrator is Fruit Leather. Fruit leather is like a fruit rollup but made out of blended fruits. Some of my favorite recipes are Raspberry Peach, Strawberry Mango, Blueberry Chia Banana, and Pineapple Mango. They are all relatively simple recipes and super delicious. (I'll put the link to a helpful website below) What's so great about fruit leather is you can makeup whatever combination of fruit you like!
Tips for Making Fruit Leather
-Heat mixture on stove for 10 minutes before pouring on dehydrating trays.
-Add 1/4 cup of honey to mixture to sweeten.
-Make Sure thickness is even across trays.
-Once the timer goes off, let stand for 20 minutes before peeling off the trays (don't wait longer or it can harden and will become more difficult to peel off.
-If your dehydrator does not have solid trays, use parchment paper on top of the trays.
-Experiment with flavors!
Helpful fruit leather website: https://www.freshoffthegrid.com/diy-fruit-leathers/#wprm-recipe-container-5972
Benefits to dehydrating food
Other than the reasons stated above, fruit leather has many benefits.
1.Variety of food on trail: The monotony of Knorr rice sides and protein bars can make you less excited to eat your meals. By dehydrating ahead of time, you can vary your options for food!
2.Healthier snack options: The amount of sodium, chemicals, preservatives, and sugar can damage your body and not give you sustainable energy for hiking. Sure you might feel great at first, but that sugar crash in 30 minutes isn't going to.
3.Cheaper than buying dried fruit: Buying dried fruit at the store can be pricy. By dehydrating it yourself, you will save money and get more bang for your buck.
4.No preservatives or chemicals: Foods with additives or preservative have undergone a process where the nutrients in the food that makes it spoil faster has been removed and replaced with other things in order to preserve it. Some of these preservatives are Sulfites, Bromates, and Mono/Di-Glycerides to name a few. These destroy nutrients, are unhealthy fats, cause headaches and much more. Why consume those when you can dehydrate it yourself without them?
Favorite Fruits and Veggies to Dehydrate
Bananas
Cinnamon Apples
Pineapples
Broccoli
Carrots
Onions
Mushrooms
Tomatos
Peppers
Green Beans
Tip for dehydrating fruit: Dip them in a mixture of lemon juice and water to prevent browning.
Why Would I Dehydrate Vegetables?: Dehydrated vegetables can be added to basically any meal you may be having to add some extra calories, nutrients, and color. I will most likely be adding them to any rice or pasta concoction I cook up on trail.
A very useful website for the allotted amount of time and temperature to use can be found on https://www.backpackingchef.com/ . This website is where I got inspiration for many of the items I have listed above. There are many other more involved recipes where you can dehydrate an entire meal, but I haven't tried those yet. For now I'll stick to my fruit and veggie snacks.
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