:QUOTE [quotetype:personal] Freeze-dried backpacking meals cost $12 to $18 each. The same meal made at home costs under $3 and tastes like food you actually want to eat. :COUNTER.half 150 to 250 Calories :INFO Best Foods for Dehydrating Cooked grains (rice, quinoa, lentils), cooked lean ground meat, tomato-based sauces, cooked beans, and most cooked vegetables dehydrate reliably. Avoid foods high in fat such as cheese, nuts, and whole-fat dairy since fat does not dehydrate and will go rancid within weeks. Incorporate fats at the trailhead instead by packing a small bottle of olive oil or adding nut butter packets when rehydrating. Full-fat coconut milk is an exception and can be added back as a powder form. :PATH Cook Your Base Meal First Dehydrate food you would actually eat. | :INFO Cook Your Base Meal First Dehydrate food you would actually eat. A good starter meal is a lentil and vegetable stew: cook red lentils until very soft, add dehydrated tomato paste, cumin, smoked paprika, and a mix of diced carrots and zucchini until fully tender. Season :PATH Dehydrate at the Right Temperature Spread cooked food in thin, even layers no more than 6 mm deep on solid | :INFO Dehydrate at the Right Temperature Spread cooked food in thin, even layers no more than 6 mm deep on solid dehydrator sheets or parchment-lined trays. Dehydrate at 63 C (145 F) for meat-containing meals and 57 C (135 F) for vegetable and grain-only meals. Most meals take 8 to 12 hours. :PATH Pack and Store Let the dehydrated food cool to room temperature fully before packing. | :INFO Pack and Store Let the dehydrated food cool to room temperature fully before packing. Portion into single-serving amounts, roughly 90 to 120 grams of dried food per person per meal. Seal in quart-sized zip bags with as much air removed as possible, or use a vacuum :TASK [ ] Trailside Rehydration :NOTE Test Your Meals at Home First Always eat a test batch of any new dehydrated meal at home before bringing it into the backcountry. Rehydration time and water volume vary significantly by meal type. Some dense meals need 15 minutes and extra water. Testing at home lets you dial in the ratio and note it on the bag so there are no unpleasant surprises when you are 20 km from the trailhead and genuinely hungry.