Dehydrated Roast Pork Sandwich
There is far more to dehydrating meat than making jerky. Don’t get me wrong. Jerky is wonderful. It makes a great snack. But it’s highly seasoned, usually very salty, and … well… it makes a great snack. But what if you need meat for a meal? After all, one does not live by jerky alone.
I have found that very lean cooked meats also work and can
be used in a variety of ‘normal’ recipes.
Tricks To Dehydrating Meat:
- Fats go rancid very quickly, so you always want to find the leanest cut of meat possible.
- Remove every speck of visible fat before dehydrating.
- Unless properly prepared, botulism can contaminate your meat. It is very dangerous. Meat must be heated to a minimum of 140 degrees in order to reduce the risk of botulism I always precook my meat.
- In order to assure even and thorough drying, meats must be thinly and evenly sliced or ground.
- Sometimes dehydrated meat does not rehydrate well, or may take longer than you thought. In that case, consider breaking or grinding it into smaller pieces.
- It is better to over-dry than to under-dry.
Cooked Meats I Have Dehydrated That Work Well:
- Beef
- Chicken
- Ham
- pork
- Pork
Tips For Success:
- Do not fry your meat.
- Do not put breading on your meat
- Roasted, baked, broiled, or boiled works best
- Once your meat is dried, it becomes very hard and brittle. By then it will be difficult to cut or grind into smaller pieces.
- Consider buzzing your meat in the food processor or grinding it before cooking. This assures even texture and drying. Especially good for use with soups, stews, gravies, etc.
- Powder some of your dehydrated meat to make flavoring for soups and stews.
- If you do not season it strongly, at a later time you can add whatever seasonings you choose to the rehydrating liquid.
- Think in terms of using this meat in soups or stews. Diced bits work well in gravies and sauces.
That's great information. Thanks for sharing this blog. I did a search and found your blog and glowing review. It's been a big help! Thanx!
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra,
DeleteSo glad you found my blog. Just let me know if there is anything I can do.
How would you do shredded pork...dehydrating it...thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Wanda,
DeleteSorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I don't have internet at home. Need to use Wifi...
Are you referring to preparing it or rehydrating and using it?
Simply cut all visible fat off the meat. I put mine in a slow cooker. I make slits in the meat and insert peeled cloves of garlic into each slit. Salt and pepper as desires.
I don't add water to the cooker, but simply dry cook it overnight. By morning, it's so tender it falls off the bone.
I shred the meat when it's cool enough to handle, removing any gobbets of fat I find.
Usually, I immerse the shredded meat in very hot water to remove any remaining fat. Yes, the fat adds flavor, but you can always season it when you rehydrate it. Remember, fat will go rancid, so you need to get rid of as much of it as possible.
Spread the shreds on the dehydrator racks and dehydrate at 140 degrees.
You can also dehydrate any canned meats. Tuna, chicken, turkey.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good point. It's especially important if you are preparing MRE's or if you're preparing backpacking or camping food.
DeleteJust be sure that you don't use things like tuna canned in oil. Oil will go rancid unless you plan on using it in a day or two.