Backpacking Food Dehydration

ABOUT THE COURSE

The course includes an in-person seminar which will take place at the Seattle Mountaineers Program Center and a field trip where we will enjoy a prepared meal together in the mountains. Participants will register for a single field trip, though multiple may be posted. 

The seminar at the Program Center will be composed of two distinct learning modules over the course of a single evening. The course will begin with a PowerPoint presentation that covers the course material, and will be followed by a hands-on workshop where we will cook and prepare food for dehydration. Due to time constraints, the food will be dehydrated overnight and packaged for consumption by the course leader and instructors the following day. This will be a communal cooking course, so participants should expect that the food they consume on the field trip will be handled by others, including fellow participants. Participants may opt to prepare their own food on a self-provided dehydrator outside the lecture to bring to the field trip, but should notify the leader at the time of registration of this preference. 

Lecture: Seattle Program Center room Goodman B.  6:30pm - 8:30pm.
Field Trips: Squak Mountain, Bullitt Fireplace. 5:00PM on June 12th and June 14th.

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS COURSE

• Types of food dehydrators on the market and the pros/cons of the various designs
• Types of food that can be safely dehydrated at home and types of food to avoid
• Different techniques for dehydrating various types of food, including meat, fruit, vegetables and “ready to go” meals
• Storing dehydrated food for short and long term storage, and assembling dehydrated meals from ingredients
• Suggested recipes: some of which combine store bought ingredients with home-dehydrated food
• How to rehydrate and cook homemade food in the backcountry

SHARED MEAL INGREDIENTS

We will be making a Thai Noodle Curry dish for our shared meal. This meal will be gluten free, vegetarian, and peanut free. (Ingredients include: rice noodles, carrots, broccoli, Thai curry paste, coconut powder, vegetable stock, cashews). 

Those with food allergies should contact the leader to ensure no cross contamination occurs either at the factory level (“may contain”, “produced on shared equipment”, etc. that may be listed on the packaging) or during the duration of the course. Those with serious and life threatening food allergies may benefit from preparing/bringing their own food for the field trip as complete prevention of cross contamination cannot be guaranteed. 

The course fee will cover all the ingredients/materials that will be purchased for the shared meal. Participants will be expected to bring their own fuel, stove and cooking set for the field trip, and will prepare their own individual portion of the meal on trail. Participants are encouraged to bring additional snacks/food for the trail based on their preferences when hiking.