Dehydrating Roast Pork

Rehydrated Pork Salad Sandwich

Recently, Mike came home with a huge pork roast.  We cut off most of the fat, seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed it in the crock-pot on a rack.  This cooked overnight.

I removed the meat and cut as much fat off as I could find. The meat was so tender, it fell apart, so I shredded it.  Next, I rinsed it several times in hot water to melt more fat. Finally, I put it, soaking in water in the refrigerator over night.

The next day, what little fat remaining floated on the surface in tiny flecks.  This was removed.

I drained the meat in a colander.

 

I used my hands and squeezed the meat as dry as possible.

It was spread out on fruit leather trays to dry.  When you dry meat like this, it becomes very crumbly and fine. I dried it at 140 degrees overnight.

 

Here is the dried meat. 

You will find it to be a bit bland. Part of the reason is that fat adds flavor to the meat, but we removed as much as possible.  You can remedy the bland taste by adding some sort of seasoning before serving.  It works well in soups and stews where you have lots of herbs and spices and veggies to contribute to the flavor.  Meat in this shredded state rehydrates quickly, making it ideal camping or traveling and bug-out food.

I decided to rehydrate some and see how it would work in a sandwich. I took ¼ cup of meat and covered it with cold water.

Within twenty minutes, it had rehydrated and was tender.  I drained off the water and blotted it dry with paper towels. I seasoned it with mayo, onion, salt and pepper, and a dab of pickle relish. It made a delicious sandwich!