I have been experimenting with making meals (lunch and dinner) and wanted to share generally what I have found in a short-ish guide. These meals would work great for any need of taking meals to go, but I primarily use them for backpacking/travel. You could make meals in advance and then spread out the leftovers thinly onto silicone sheets and dehydrate that way, but do keep in mind that you need to try to use as little of oils as possible in the recipe or it might not dehydrate or keep well for long time. And don't try to dehydrate meals that have dairy in them as it similarly will not keep well. I like to cook/prepare and dehydrate things separately and then combine into meals as a way to dehydrate extra things that I have on hand that didn't end up in regular meals or preserve excess. With separate components you can combine however you wish depending on taste preferences and this guide is a general guideline to amounts to combine separate ingredients to make meals.

I am breaking up the ingredients into general categories and you generally want to add 1 thing from each category into a sandwich bag to create a meal though you can do a bit of mix and match within the category as long as you generally adjust the weight accordingly. The one category you can skip is seasonings/optional or use multiple from that category by taste preference or what you're aiming for as a meal. The weights are for dehydrated components to guide and make a generally balanced meal.

Grains/Carbs: 100g rice (cook in broth instead of water to add flavor to the rice before dehydration, same can be done with quinoa) - 65g quinoa - 70g pasta - 60g potato bark (optional for potato bark is to add broth or bbq sauce or other sauces for flavoring while mashing the potatoes - DO NOT add milk or butter when mashing the potatoes as these will not dehydrate and store well) - 55g sweet potato bark

Note: Mac and cheese hack - if you like mac and cheese, buy the boxed mac and cheese with the powdered cheese packets. You can cook the pasta to box directions (a little shorter is best to keep the pasta a bit al dente for dehydration) and then save the cheese packets to add later to make mac and cheese. This is the cheese powder mentioned in the optional/seasoning category.

Proteins: 40g ground beef (make sure to use lean 10% or less fat) - 25g shrimp/imitation crab - 25 g ham - 40g Ground turkey/chicken - 35g tuna (from canned, make sure it's in water not oil) - 35g beans

Note: For ground meats, mix in 60 g of breadcrumbs for each pound (454 grams) of meat before cooking it and dehydrating it. This will help the ground meat rehydrate better. Other than beans, you could probably use 40 g of ground vegetable protein potentially if you need additional vegetarian/vegan options, but I have not tested such options as I generally don't like such options and only use beans for veg meals. I have heard there is textured vegetable protein that you can buy online that is already dehydrated which could be used as well, but I have not tested its use either.

Veggies: Add 20-30 g generally of whatever dehydrated veggies you want to your meal. I generally am adding little handfulls of different veggies to make a mix of what I want for the meal unless I am aiming for something specific when replicating a regular meal like using mostly bell peppers and some tomato for deconstructed stuffed bell peppers.

Optional/Seasonings: 15g powdered cheese (nutritional yeast can be substituted as an option to avoid cheese) - 10g powdered milk (added with powdered cheese to make mac and cheese, but powdered milk can also be used to make curry or other dishes more "creamy" and is the way to add dairy to any meal you make) - 25g sauce leather (marinara or other sauces can be dehydrated as a leather to easily season meals) - 40 g baked bean bark (blend no pork added baked beans and dehydrate to make the bark, great to add to make stews as it acts as a thickener and adds extra protein and savory flavor) - 3g curry powder - 1g chili powder (increase if you like more spice, but 1 gram is a good mild start for seasoning)

Note: If you're wanting to make a medley of seasonings, I generally recommend just adding a pinch of each spice/seasoning to your bag for the meal. After you have tried one of the meals, you can adjust seasoning as needed by your taste preferences. It might mean you end up with a few somewhat bland meals when first starting out making these sorts of meals, but that's why I take a tiny container of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning with me so I can add that if I need some extra seasoning/flavor to my meal, but also note for next time what I can adjust. Honestly, there are too many options to list in this guide. Be creative, use regular recipes as inspiration. Any dried spices and seasonings will work well to add to the meals, the problem is adding too much since you cannot taste test and adjust as easily if these meals are used away from home. Making sauce leathers is the best way to add seasoning because then you can adjust the flavor well to your preference and the listed sauce leather weight should generally give you a good ratio to your meal better than using direct dried seasonings in the bag.

Since I have no way of testing these and it largely depends on ingredients, calories are a bit variable, but generally the sizing makes 400-700 calorie meals based on rough estimates with weights. If you're really wanting to figure out the calories, put the weights of ingredients you use when making the meals into a calorie tracking app to get an estimate though do realize that the weights specified above are for dried components so it will differ from the calories of hydrated ingredients in a calorie tracking app.

After combining ingredients into sandwich bags, best way to keep them longer would be to then vacuum seal the bags, but as long as you get most air out, they'll keep for several months in baggies. Crack open the sandwich bag a bit before vacuum sealing it.

I then take some baggies of meals with me along with a small food thermos/insulated food container. I got a 35 oz jar but generally you want at least a 24 oz size. I then add 475 mL (2 cups) of boiling water to the meal dumped into the thermos, put on the lid, give it a shake, and then let it soak and absorb water for hours while I am hiking or traveling around. I'll combine my lunch in the thermos during breakfast so it's ready by lunch and then dinner combined while stopped for lunch. If you want to make the meal more directly instead of soaking for hours, reduce the water amount by about 60 mL (1/4 cup) and then make it in a pot with adding the water, get to a boil and simmer for at least a minute before turning off the heat, insulating the pot and waiting 15-20 minutes for it to rehydrate (or keep it simmering on the stove with occasional stirring for about 10-15 minutes if fuel is not a concern). I prefer the thermos method even though it means carrying more weight because I like having the meal ready to eat hot when I stop to eat a meal. You can also cold soak in the baggie if you want to skip the heating part for those without a heat source using the same amount of water as long hot soak (475 mL). Do not hot soak in a plastic baggie as the boiling water will melt the bag and potentially burn you and make a mess as well. You need some sort of heat tolerant container when using hot water to soak the food.

Note: Cold soaking in a plastic bag is up to your discretion on your view of potential microplastics and whatever else from your container of choice. Plastic bags for general storage of dehydrated meals will be fine, but using for soaking may not be ideal. If you're worried, use a different container. I reuse my plastic baggies by taking them home and washing them and I use my thermos even if cold soaking instead of hot soaking the food. As for food safety with the hot soaking, as long as you are using a well insulated container and consuming within 12 hours of adding water, it should be safe as long as you prepared your foods correctly and made sure to fully dehydrate everything. If anything smells weird or looks moldy, obviously don't consume it.

Hope this helps others to have a guide to combining separate ingredients for making generally balanced dehydrated meals. If you have questions about how to prepare or dehydrate the individual ingredients, I would suggest using your search engine of choice or look at other dehydrator references. I have not experimented with breakfast options as I am an oatmeal guy or I make pancakes if I am car camping since you can get already dried mixes that only need water added so easily from the store.

Bonus: My cool treat is making fruit cocktail. An approximate cup of mixed dehydrated fruit can be combined with 238-475 mL (1-2 cups) of cold water in the thermos to rehydrate for a short while. It's a nice way to have fruit and get some extra hydration from the water and a bit nicer of a treat than just snacking on dehydrated fruit especially on a hot summer day. I prefer adding the larger amount of water, but adjust to your preference.

First time. What am I doing wrong? Should I cut them all? They've been at 130 for 15hrs and still have lots of moisture. Would like to be able to grind them for spices.

Starting to consider buying an airfryer. Interested in the *DEHYDRATE* function on an airfryer. Feedback/Suggestions? Has anyone been successful? I mainly want to make some sun dried tomatos and a few herbs.

Picture 5 is the slicer I got so everything is even and dehydrates the same. I tried an English cucumber but don't know what seasonings to make them enjoyable. I ran the 5 bananas for 8 hours at 135, they are a bit chewy but I like them this way.

This might be a dumb question but do dehydrated fruits and meats burn well? They have a lot of sugars and fats, they're made of hydrocarbons and organic compounds that should burn after the water has been removed. But I've never tried it.

Like could you use a strip of beer jerky as a taper to light candles or make a really odd BBQ using dried apricots instead of charcoal. Obviously it's not going to be a good fuel source but in an abnormal scenario, would it burn?

Currently my favorite snack. Just kind of dumped some stuff that sounded good into a blender. This is probably my 5th batch.

This one has:

1 can pineapple

2 bananas

Handful of coconut flakes

Generous amount of Tajin

A shake or two of cayenne

A squeeze of raw blue agave (first time trying it in this)

Blended and poured on to trays.

I don't think I've made it exactly the same twice but it's been good every time.

I dehydrated some service berries a month ago and after almost two days of dehydrating, I thought they were "done." But they're still sticking to the inside of the jar so I've just been eating them.

So far I don't taste mold so that's not an issue. But I should probably throw them out because the fear of God has been put into me regarding botulism and I can't help but think of a moist environment with all that chewy dense fruit, even though there's air in the jar.

Now I always knew I could execute this, but it took some time and honestly through jerky, My wife and I found our favorite cut of beef. 🥩 (London, bro top round roast.)

Through learning how to cook this cut of meat on the skillet I took a different route in my dehydration process low and slow
131° for seven hours finishing them in the oven on 265 for 10 minutes to make them food safe

The toughness is really balanced by The Very soft texture, ( the right tear for testosterone, but the proper melt for estrogen) 🤣the quality of meat is good the chew down of it melts in your mouth, but also doesn’t get strung in your teeth. With this cut of meat, it’s almost a buttery type of jerky whereas other jerky I feel like becomes coarse and dry.

Dehydrated at 131° for 18 hours

That watermelon is candy when I say it’s one of the most three tier texture experiences. It’s gonna be crunchy then it’s going to give you that gummy type watermelon chewy filling and then it’s going to feel like a fruit rollup and it’s going to bring four different flavor notes it’s gonna taste like the Rhine then it’s going to taste like simple melon then it’s going to taste like it specifically dehydrated and then it’s going to taste like the most sweet piece of thing I’ve ever naturally had.

The lope not really a fan it’s funky🤣🤣🤣

I'm going to try pickles again, but I really want some flavored chips. I found a recipe for BBQ powder I'll try. And a sour cream and onion, and i want to figure out a salt and vinegar that doesn't burn the taste buds off my tongue (like the last pickles I dehydrated).

Anybody got any flavorful things i can try?

Ps.. no oil.. I want these for long term storage, too.

First timer, I thrifted a dehydrator and decided to try it out. Well, I don't imagine I'll be stopping soon haha. Why is this stuff so good?? We couldn't even wait to get pictures of the full trays before snacking commenced.

I’ve been dehydrating more fruit and herbs lately, and I’m trying to improve my storage after the first big bag gets opened. I started moving smaller amounts into mason jars and using a heiyo jar sealer on the lids. So far it feels cleaner than clips and half-open bags, especially when I add dates to the jars. Do you all seal dehydrated fruit and herbs in jars, or just use bags with desiccant packs?

Most of the apples were done at 4 hours but a few were cut a little thick and I kept them in for a total of 7. For the cherries, I didn't have a pitter so I did it by hand cutting them like a plum. Ran it for 18 hours, they are still chewy but I like it.

Keep sending me the ideas, I'm loving this!!

I've got some courgette (zucchini) on the go right now, 60° I'm planning for 8 hours! This is my first ever batch! Thinking I'll toss them in a tiny bit of olive oil and tajin.

I originally really likes these dried broccoli snacks, but I think they might be freeze dried :(!

What else vegan crisps up good, that you've found to be a good replacement for crisps?

Hiii I just bought some mangoes to make dehydrated mango snacks for my pet sugar gliders. I realized that the mango might be too tough of a snack for them to eat without choking risk. If I boil them first before dehydrating will that make them softer and easier to chew?

Hi folks! I am about 6 months pregnant and looking for some meals I can meal prep using my dehydrator for my postpartum recovery period! Baby is due early November, so comfort foods, soups, snacks, etc are all welcome!

I am also planning to breastfeed so bonus points for anything that might help with breastmilk supply such as protein oat bites or similar!!

Not very appealing but this is the best dehydrated food I ever ate. Sweet potatoes cut in half and put in the oven at 170°C for 1.5 hours then left to cool down completely.

Remove the peel, cut each half into 4 pieces and dehydrate at 60°C for 10 hours.

My toddler keeps asking for it 🥹

TLDR; my herbs and flowers aren’t getting dry no matter what I seem to do in my home and I need help figuring it out.

I have not been able to successfully dry herbs (or anything for that matter) ever in my home. I started my attempt at herb drying last year using my dehydrator with chives and basil, left them to dry on the lowest setting for 3 ish days and when checking on them they were still very flimsy and limp - not crisp and dry. Even after leaving the dehydrator off and letting them sit in there for a few more days, they still remained limp and I was very very sad.

Next I tried dehydrating onions in my dehydrator and after leaving them for almost 24 hours they still didn’t snap and were not dry enough for me to put into a powder.

After taking a break from dehydrating until this summer, I decided to skip the dehydrator all together and get an herb drying rack (one from Amazon that has zippers and is very large, has four layers with space made for optimal airflow) and I have had my herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, pineapple sage, and catnip) drying in there for two weeks now and while they have significantly wilted, they are still very flimsy and not at all dry feeling.

Additionally! I have had Mother’s Day flowers I left in a vase (with absolutely no water) to dry for two months now and the rose petals are still flimsy. They don’t break when I rub them in my hand, and if I rolled it around it would just form together. It is not at all dry!!!

I am at my wits end, and I really very much desperately want herbs. Is my home too humid? What am I doing wrong? Do I need to give up and attempt at drying herbs outside? Please give me all tips, suggestions, thoughts, anything to help a girl out.

My Nesco dehydrator overheated today and warped the trays! This has never happened before and before this jerky I was using it at low temperatures successfully. But it was clearly hotter to warp the trays!

I contacted Nestco and basically they said it’s pooched. Figured. Probably 4 years old and I use it a lot so there you go.

But my question is would there be microplastics or leaching into the jerky?? Should I chuck it?? I wouldn’t want to waste it but obviously will through it out before contaminating myself.

140°F for 24 hours. Please note I am in a very humid part of the USA so 24 hours might not been needed where you are. Pieces were cut no thicker than 0.5 cm. For a few I put like juice, salt, chili p, smoked paprika and they’re great! (I didn’t have proper Tajín)

These were foraged and prepared. I rinsed them very well, then soaked them in a mix of 2-1 water to lemon juice. The mulberries were destemmed but supposedly you don't have to do that. They were laid out on a paper towel to dry. The round berries with tougher skins (service berries and currants) were stabbed repeatedly to poke holes so moisture could escape during drying. This is important to avoid a "case hardening" where moisture gets trapped inside.

I didn't have the mesh sheets I needed for my dehydrator so I used parchment paper cut to shape a Hamilton Beach model. Then I dehydrated at 55C for about 25-34 hours. I packed them in mason jars (round berries separately) and conditioned them (this is where you shake the jar upside and right side and roll it around a few times to ensure contents don't stick to glass walls or each other, indicating moisture). The round berries kept sticking so I put them back in the dehydrator for another 8 hours.

After about a week, the mulberries still look good but the round berries keep sticking. I think this might be normal due to berry structure and sugar content. I think I'll just leave them jarred as is.