# Canning with dehydrated food question



## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

I am going to make a beef stew using deer meat. My question is I wanted to use dehydrated carrots and potatoes and can the stew so do I add the veggies dry into the meat/sauce or do I rehydrate them first and make the stew and then can it?

I am worried that the potatoes will be mushy if they are rehydrated first.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Freyadog said:


> I am going to make a beef stew using deer meat. My question is I wanted to use dehydrated carrots and potatoes and can the stew so do I add the veggies dry into the meat/sauce or do I rehydrate them first and make the stew and then can it?
> 
> I am worried that the potatoes will be mushy if they are rehydrated first.


I wouldn't be worried about the dried potatoes getting mushy, I've noticed that both the potatoes and carrots will stand up to the canning process a bit better than fresh ones.

When you have the chance, cook up a pan of dried potatoes and carrots, you'll notice that they are not as soft as ones cooked fresh.

If you add the dried veggies as the stew goes into the jars just keep in mind that they will absorb some of the juice and could cause the stew in the jars to get pasty. If you do it that way, just keep that in mind and you should have a good stew using your dried veggies.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

Davarm said:


> I wouldn't be worried about the dried potatoes getting mushy, I've noticed that both the potatoes and carrots will stand up to the canning process a bit better than fresh ones.
> 
> When you have the chance, cook up a pan of dried potatoes and carrots, you'll notice that they are not as soft as ones cooked fresh.
> 
> If you add the dried veggies as the stew goes into the jars just keep in mind that they will absorb some of the juice and could cause the stew in the jars to get pasty. If you do it that way, just keep that in mind and you should have a good stew using your dried veggies.


Thanks David. I was wanting to put meals up and have loads of the potatoes and carrots. So I thought; why not stew. We are having a lot of family coming in over the next 3 months and wanted quick so I did not have to spend time in the kitchen, thanks again.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

When I can matzo ball soup I use dehydrated veggies with no issues. Like Dave said they hold up better.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

Dry food items are great for any implementation but I feel it would be more expensive to cook with them in a regular basis especially if store bought , home dry still cost but not as much ,they will required more liquid in the process however, but at serving time more liquid can be added to the dish to finish it.


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## MetalPrepper (Nov 25, 2012)

This has nothing to do with that question (although I liked the answer).....I want to dehydrate some sweet potatoes for my dogs...as treats....does anyone have any suggestions as to adding any kind of flavoring to them? Honey would be messy rite?


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

MetalPrepper said:


> This has nothing to do with that question (although I liked the answer).....I want to dehydrate some sweet potatoes for my dogs...as treats....does anyone have any suggestions as to adding any kind of flavoring to them? Honey would be messy rite?


Are you cooking them first? If so how?


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

MetalPrepper said:


> This has nothing to do with that question (although I liked the answer).....I want to dehydrate some sweet potatoes for my dogs...as treats....does anyone have any suggestions as to adding any kind of flavoring to them? Honey would be messy rite?


Are you going to dehydrate them fresh or cook them first?

If you're going to cook them first you can boil them in different broths or with bullion added to cook water.

I have never tried it but I think you're right about the honey, would be kind of messy especially if they are "inside" dogs.

Edit:

I have thick sliced the sweet potatoes, covered them with sugar and let it draw out some of the moisture, rinsed, then dehydrated them. They come out pretty hard and sweet, really good when cooked up.

Quite a bit of sugar soaks into the slices but if you rinse them well they are not really tacky when dried so on second thought it may be worth trying the honey. Some experimentation may come up with something the dogs may like thats not too messy.


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## MetalPrepper (Nov 25, 2012)

Thanks ya'll....good ideas! You know I wasn't going to cook them....but now I realize I should....maybe I will put beef flavor and some sugar in the water ......then slice and dehydrate....I may do a little experimenting too....


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

MetalPrepper said:


> Thanks ya'll....good ideas! You know I wasn't going to cook them....but now I realize I should....maybe I will put beef flavor and some sugar in the water ......then slice and dehydrate....I may do a little experimenting too....


You could cook them, mash them, then use a jerky gun to make sweet potato jerky treats in the dehydrator.


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