Dehydrating Ground Meat; Beef, Chicken, Pork
Typically when you dehydrate any meat, you get jerky. Jerky is a hard and chewy seasoned rawhide type of meat snack which is great for hiking and backpacking in the backcountry. It normally does not rehydrate well or really at all. But dehydrating ground beef in my fashion stated below, lets you rehydrate meat for uses in chilis, stews, and soups.
The extra addition of breadcrumbs helps in the rehydration process later on. When you have cooked and rehydrated your dehydrated ground beef, it will taste just like the original thing. You shouldn’t even be able to tell you or your friends that you have stripped the meat of its moisture content.
I always find it amazing how much water is
Step by step instructions
Place one pound thawed ground meat in a large bowl. I like to put it in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Add one cup of breadcrumbs to the raw ground beef. For every one pound of ground meat, add one cup breadcrumbs. Mix everything up until you have an evenly distributed mixture. The breadcrumbs will help to reabsorb water later on when you are using this dehydrated ground meat.
Now, brown meat mixture in a large skillet. Do not add any butter or oil to the pan. Oils and fats do not dehydrate. Having oils or fats in your dehydrate foods can make things go rancid fast.
Also, make sure you cook everything thoroughly. You don’t want any raw meat in the dehydrated mixture. Again, it will go bad fast.
Next, place your cooked ground meat in a colander and rinse under the faucet with cool water. Rinse briefly, about 5-10 seconds. This will help remove any extra oils or fats.
Now, spread out meat in a dehydrator or baking sheet. Dehydrate at 160 degrees F for about one hour or until all meat turns into dry, little pebbles or what feels like little rocks.
Let the dehydrated cool down completely before placing it in an airtight container. I like to store my dehydrated foods in my mason jars with a food
Rehydrating dehydrated ground meat.
Add enough boiling hot water to cover the dehydrated meat in a bowl. Let the ground meat sit for about 10-15 minutes. Then add it to your meal you are currently cooking. If necessary, add a bit more water as the ground meat cooks in your recipe. It might reabsorb more water that it needs.
Similar recipes to try and dehydrate
Recipe adapted
This recipe is a Vintage Mountain Homestead original recipe. All images and texts are original to this website.