Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

Anyone have any tips on prepping and dehydrating chicken for long-term storage while eliminating the salmonella risk? What I'm planning to do at the moment is cook whole chickens in my crock pot, pull the skin off and pull the meat off the bone after cooking, dice or shred the meat, marinate it overnight and then dehydrate it. Anyone have much experience in dehydrating chicken? Does chicken needs any sort of special treatment for long-term storage?

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

Odd you should ask. I've spent the *tiny* productive portion of my weekend nosing around the dehydration stuff. Crud, I have 3 units.........
While I don't have a good answer for chicken in particular, it does seem that cooked eggs are feasible. By extension I would figure chicken is no big deal. I would probably not marinate it unless I was going to jerky it. (heh,heh)
I was looking for the same answer for ham. I like to buy canned ham at the used food store. I figured if I can dh eggs, why not itty bitty ham chunks-as long as they're pre cooked?
What do you think is in the powdered chicken noodle soup packet I bought on Friday? You know? That's how I think about it. If my brain was switched on tonight I'd come up with the name of the powder used to cure meats...Prussian powder? Maybe an application of that or some nitrate before drying....
For myself, I'm not looking to make a shelf stable dry meat. I'm looking to make some dried meals for less than 3 bux a pop. Last night I dried cooked pasta. Sounds dumb, but it really does reconstitute quickly. This morning I dumped a can of non-meat sauce in the fruit leather trays (2) and dried it. 8 hours later I peeled off crackling sauce solids. I'd guess if it was powdered that (26?) ounce can would end at 1/2 cup of dry volume. Amazing space savings.
I've got a Jetboil coming and am keen to use it -frequently, probably even at work for a while until I nail down some good method.
Let me know how the chicken goes for you. I'll keep looking for a decent answer. If all else fails, maybe I'll read the instructions that came with one of the dehydrators. Something tells me curing before drying is the answer, though.

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

What kind of dehydrator do you have, Hypervel? I've got 12 Nesco American Harvesters I've picked up on eBay over a few years--American Harvesters are the best models on the market, IMO.

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

I have a couple different kinds of Harvest. Both the adjustable and non. You tube has a vid of a gal dh-ing scrambled eggs. She screws up some, but not others. The good stuff went "crunch" when she popped it in her mouth. Now, I presume to refrigerate even the dried eggs-speaking of which, I'll be back.

See ya tomorrow...

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

You should be able to put together dehydrated meals for a lot less than that. I'd estimate that I average about $1 per meal for what I'm putting together for my long-term storage. Just curious, why aren't you looking to make a shelf-stable dry meat for yourself?

And FWIW, here's a post I made on another board last week about various foods I've been dehydrating--in the instance below, spinach:

Here are before-and-after photos of spinach that I just finished dehydrating. In the first photo, I set out 4 lbs. of frozen spinach to thaw for about 4-6 hours, then put it in the dehydrator. The second and third photos are the end result. After dehydration, the spinach takes up only about 1/4 of the space of its predehydrated state. It's dry (of course[:P]) and brittle after dehydration, so I just keep compacting the spinach as I'm pouring it in the mason jar (4 lbs. of spinach into a one-quart jar) until everything fits.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...r/100_1211.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...r/100_1213.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...r/100_1219.jpg


And while there are a couple extra steps involved with cooking and then dehydrating meats, poultry, etc., you can do it really, really cheap. I'd estimate that complete dehydrated meals can be put together for less than $800 per person per year dehydrating everything on your own.

Having said that, there are some things I don't like to dehydrate myself--primarily high-sugar foods such as tomatoes, which get really gummy and stick to your drying trays and are a real pain to get off, which is why I order bulk tomato products from companies such as Ha. Buyer beware: Make sure you check the country of origin on your food products. I was about to order tomato powder from Bulkfoods.com when I saw that the powder was from China. I'm not touching Chinese food products with a 10-foot pole, given the country's track record for food safety.

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

Nice job. It looks very well preserved. A bit like dried tea leaves or mint.

What are some places youve ordered dried foods from? Meats, fruit..vegetables

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

When I first started prepping about three years ago, I placed a couple bulk grain orders with aaoobfoods.com and was very happy with their product, but I did the math and figured it'd be cheaper to put together all of the food components on my own. Same with dehydrated foods, with a few exceptions such as tomato products, as I noted above. I was looking at the product info and prices for dehydrated vegetables on harmonyhousefoods.com and they are pretty darn close to what I pay at Wally World or Sam's Club for frozen and/or fresh veggies that I then dehydrate myself. Personally, whenever possible I'd rather do my own dehydration so I know exactly what I'm getting product-wise. I'm about to order small containers of the Harmony House tomato bits and tomato powder to see how the quality is, so I'll let you guys know what I think.

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

"Harmony House tomato bits and tomato powder to see how the quality is,"
Yes do let us know what you think.

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

I know what you mean. Ive done a few samples where i bought some store dried meats and then dried some myself. And i save almost twice as much..and get twice as much in foods.

I havent been able to dry tomatoes properly yet.. Im still learning to do it right. First time i didnt even remove the seeds :tongue_ma: Then they got stuck to the drying net..

I did come across a site as well. Its called http://www.nutsonline.com/ Maybe its good for you..check it out.. They say they do not use sulfur dioxide or preserve..but from what ive read color that is preserved means that something was used...

But check out the prices anyway...This is maybe a good storage pack.

I will check out the sites you recommend as well. Thanks!

Re: Tips for dehydrating chicken/minimizing salmonella risk
 

The $3 was a reference to the camping meals you get in a pouch. Around here-at the grocer-a pack of dh camp food for 2 people-ish is $5-6, so There's that.
As for shelf stable...I could. I have a CO2 tank for my grains. I use a racking tube and hose for brewing to set in a bucket. I pour the grain in then gas it until a lighter extinguishes at the rim. I don't doubt that the same method could be used to protect the dried meat.
I like to dh cilantro. Seems a little less sweet after, but a bunch of cilantro takes up lots of room in the fridge.
Space savings is the other part of dehydration for me, aside from preparing foods.
In that line, I can report that the formerly frozen O'Brian potatoes dried beautifully yesterday. They were replaced in the trays by blueberries this morning. Should be GTG by the time we get home. My interest in drying frozen veg is the same as I mentioned before plus one-my garden really sucked this year. Drying frozen isn't the cheapest source, but I save beaucoup on processing time and is therefore worth the money to me.
On a different front, I think I'll microwave some salted eggs in Pyrex instead of frying them. Don't want oil in them. Then I'll try running them through the meat grinder on a small plate to make the size somewhat uniform. Then I'll dry them. I've thought about it and don't see salmonella as a huge problem as long as the cooking temps at the start and the use point are appropriate. That reminds me to look up the properties of old cousin Sal.
It occurs to me that I've premade bfast-non dh and packaged them in the fridge in the past. The eggs were good on reheat. The only real reason that effort derailed was that the little girl has one heck of a palate and saw through dad's pitiful time saving efforts. Fresh or nothing. No more cooking shows on PBS for her!
On a final review of the post, I might remind some that you can get flexible fine mesh trays that help mitigate stickiness, at least to a degree.