Author Topic: Dehydrated pasta sauce - long term storage? (Read 26463 times)

Andy in NH · « **on:** February 17, 2010, 10:39:25 PM »

I have dehydrated pasta sauce in the past for DIY backpacking meals. Some of it has sat around in a ziplock bag for a year and still re hydrated fine.

Recently I've been putting away some pasta using a Mylar bag with an O2 absorber. I need to put away some sauce to go with it.

For long term storage of the dehydrated sauce, is it better vacuum seal it or put it in its own Mylar bag with O2 absorber?

Herbalpagan · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2010, 06:43:08 AM »

I don't think it matters as the results are the same.

Morning Sunshine · « **Reply #2 on:** February 18, 2010, 07:46:05 AM »

what I wanna know - how do you dehydrate pasta sauce? hmmmm.........

SigMan34 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 18, 2010, 08:11:47 AM »

Quote from: Morning Sunshine on February 18, 2010, 07:46:05 AM

what I wanna know - how do you dehydrate pasta sauce? hmmmm.........

Thanks for asking; I'd love to know, too!

LvsChant · « **Reply #4 on:** February 18, 2010, 09:19:23 AM »

deydrating Spaghetti sauce

96Charlie · « **Reply #5 on:** February 18, 2010, 11:43:20 AM »

Cool! I'm assuming you're using some sort of wax paper liners (or something) on the shelves? BTW, how did that alfredo sauce work out for you

LvsChant · « **Reply #6 on:** February 18, 2010, 12:20:08 PM »

He says not to try the Alfredo sauce, that it didn't work at all... I got inspired and have 3 jars of pasta sauce in the dehydrator right now. I'm going to try to get it dried to the point that I can grind it into powder. I think it would be a great thing for the boys when they go camping.

I have an excalibur with the big trays... I used a 2-gallon ziplock bag directly on top of the tray. Tammy used duct tape to attach it when she made fruit leather... I just let the bag sit on top... I may find out that the duct tape is really needed...

I would think that parchment paper would work fine, too.

Andy in NH · « **Reply #7 on:** February 18, 2010, 12:43:05 PM »

Thanks for the replies.

I use parchment paper on the racks to dehydrate my pasta sauce.

You can find good DIY backpacking meals here: http://www.trailcooking.com/

Mary60 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 18, 2010, 01:34:23 PM »

I have an excalibur also, its great.
I heard that dehydrating pasta sauce is fine as long as there is no meat in it, that the meat will go bad. dont know where i heard it but maybe just be careful.

LvsChant · « **Reply #9 on:** February 18, 2010, 03:03:02 PM »

As I was choosing which sauce to try, I excluded those with meat and cheese... figured they wouldn't be good for this...

Andy in NH · « **Reply #10 on:** February 18, 2010, 06:11:42 PM »

I dehydrate the meat separately.

It's called, "gravel."

Use the leanest ground meat you can find. Brown the ground meat. Drain off any and all oil. To remove the most fat, put browned meat into a strainer and pour boiling water over it. If you want the gravel seasoned, add seasoning after this process.

Spread on to the trays of the dehydrator. Set it at the highest setting. Dry it until it's rock hard (hence the term "gravel").

Like my pasta sauce, the gravel I have has lasted over a year in just a zip lock bag. I suspect that when sealed up it will last much longer.

My dehydrated pasta sauce usually has the consistency of tough leather when its done.

I've also dehydrated pasta that was covered with sauce and had good results.

Here is a quickie recipe from ozarkrambler over on the Kifaru forum: http://kifaruforums.net./index.php

Quote

2 lbs of raw hamburger = 12oz seasoned, cooked, and dried, gravel.

1/4 cup of gravel= 1oz

3 full cups of gravel out of a 2lb block of hamburger.

1/2 cup of gravel and 1 pkg of ramen noodles = 1 very filling meal that takes about 6 min to cook from start to finish and weighs 5oz.

LvsChant · « **Reply #11 on:** February 19, 2010, 12:50:35 PM »

OK... finished the dehydrating project and think it turned out very well. I took three jars of Ragu (26 oz) pasta sauce and dehydrated them on four trays of my excalibur, using 2 gallon ziplock bags to line the trays. It took me nearly a complete 24 hrs to get them dry enough to suit me.

Then, I chopped them into powder in my blender, yielding not quite 1 pint of powder. It has since been vacuum sealed in the jar and set alongside three more jars (for size comparison) to show the difference. This is a great way to reduce weight, pantry space required, portability, length of life...

According to my calculations, to reconstitute 1 cup of sauce, you would need about 3 1/2 T. of powder to 1 cup of water.

Morning Sunshine · « **Reply #12 on:** February 19, 2010, 02:09:53 PM »

I am going to try this with my homemade pasta sauce. It would be soooooooo convenient to have it powdered instead of having to make it up each time. hmmmm.... I have a number of tomatoes in the fridge right now awaiting a purpose in life!

MyBookie · « **Reply #13 on:** February 20, 2010, 09:20:04 PM »

This is exciting, really. I have tons of tomato seedlings getting ready for a (hopefully) summer full of tomatoes. It's nice to have this idea to have another way to use up all those tomatoes, besides eating them fresh and dehydrating tomato slices.

I am not sure if I will try the dehydrated ground beef, but I would like to try ground turkey.

Thanks for the great ideas.

Morning Sunshine · « **Reply #14 on:** February 20, 2010, 09:27:41 PM »

I made pizza tonight - standard Sat night dinner, and after I took 1/2 c of the sauce and threw it on the excalibur on a cut open ziploc bag. I also threw 1/2 c of sauce from the same batch into the freezer for apples-to-apples comparison after I dry, grind, and rehydrate it. I cannot wait.

btw, my basic pasta/pizza sauce is:
1 small can tomato paste
1 14oz can tomatoes
1.5 t each: rosemary, oregano, basil, salt, dry onion
3-4 cloves of roasted garlic
1/8 t cinnamon

blend together until smooth.

The Wilderness · « **Reply #15 on:** February 21, 2010, 09:22:36 PM »

I am trying this now.

First project for my new Excalibur that Sis got me for Christmas.

Only doing one jar, so I can get the feel for it without ruining to much.

I will let you know how it turns out.

TW

LvsChant · « **Reply #16 on:** February 21, 2010, 09:35:51 PM »

Quote from: The Wilderness on February 21, 2010, 09:22:36 PM

I am trying this now.

First project for my new Excalibur that Sis got me for Christmas.

Only doing one jar, so I can get the feel for it without ruining to much.

I will let you know how it turns out.

TW

You are going to love your excalibur... try the frozen veges next... soooo easy and great to use later. Really... just buy about 9-1 lb bags of various frozen veges... pour them out (1 bag per tray) and let it rip!

13F10 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 23, 2010, 07:49:53 PM »

Quote from: lvschant on February 21, 2010, 09:35:51 PM

You are going to love your excalibur... try the frozen veges next... soooo easy and great to use later. Really... just buy about 9-1 lb bags of various frozen veges... pour them out (1 bag per tray) and let it rip!

Doing just that as I type ! The Excaliber arrived this evening and within 3 minutes, it was loaded-up and going. Looking forward to 7am.

MyBookie · « **Reply #18 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:21:22 AM »

I only have a 6 tray Excalibur (my sister found a nine-tray Excalibur at a thrift store for $10, lucky girl - she is not a prepper, but rather a raw-foodie, which is like a vegan on steroids. They use their dehydrators for tons of things).

Today I bought a 4 pound bag each of peas and corn. Paid like $4 per bag. Is that a bad deal? Looking forward to drying them tomorrow.

LvsChant · « **Reply #19 on:** February 25, 2010, 05:55:43 AM »

I sometimes find frozen veges for 89cents/lb, but I'd say it is still pretty good at $1/lb.

13F10 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 17, 2010, 09:13:41 PM »

Had to give the pasta sauce a try.... 2 large containers, 6 trays worth in the Excaliber since noon.... pretty much "fruit roll-up" texture at this point, will let it go a full 24 hours at 130 degrees to see how it goes.

At 8 hours (corner peeled-up):

13F10 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 19, 2010, 06:33:00 AM »

Update... the sauce went 24 hours, kept it's roll-up consistency. Tore it into small pieces then into the blender. Was a pain to get it chopped-up, but the two large bottles now fill-up about half a quart jar. Not sure it's all worth it! I'll just buy the stuff in cans.

HelenWheels · « **Reply #22 on:** March 19, 2010, 10:51:47 AM »

Quote from: 13F10 on March 19, 2010, 06:33:00 AM

Update... the sauce went 24 hours, kept it's roll-up consistency. Tore it into small pieces then into the blender. Was a pain to get it chopped-up, but the two large bottles now fill-up about half a quart jar. Not sure it's all worth it! I'll just buy the stuff in cans.

I wonder if it had some HFCS in it, which gave it the roll-up consistency. I got a can of cheap-o spag. sauce to try in the next week or so myself.

operator · « **Reply #23 on:** April 22, 2010, 08:21:00 AM »

That is an awesome idea. I can tomato juice and sauce every year. hadn't thought about dehydrating the sauce. Thanks.

Sarey · « **Reply #24 on:** April 22, 2010, 03:46:49 PM »

People this thread is so inspiring that my husband is begging me to stop reading it!!!

ShannonB · « **Reply #25 on:** August 15, 2011, 11:39:42 PM »

Can anyone tell me what the shelf life of dehydrated ragu is? I found a great deal where i was able to get it for about $0.45 a jar.... Needless to say, i bought a lot. But it is taking up a HUGE amount of space in my limited storage area and since these are glass jars, i would really like to not put them anywhere else in the house.

LvsChant · « **Reply #26 on:** August 15, 2011, 11:47:19 PM »

I'm sorry Shannon... I'm just not sure how long it would store... but I'd assume at least a few years. As long as you get it really completely dry and then powder it in the blender... If you vacuum seal it and add Oxygen absorbers, I'd think it would last a lot longer than the jars would have... and will have saved you considerable space in your pantry.

ShannonB · « **Reply #27 on:** August 16, 2011, 11:33:15 AM »

Thanls LVS! So if i just run with the date on the original jar, i should be safe. Im going to vac seal it, but i think we will actually use it before it it goes bad.

Illini Warrior · « **Reply #28 on:** August 17, 2011, 01:00:03 PM »

for those with a shortcut need ...... half gallon jugs of "tomato base" powder is commonly sold in the hispanic ethnic section of the bigger marts .... $6 a jug

LvsChant · « **Reply #29 on:** August 17, 2011, 04:38:27 PM »

Thanks, Illini Warrior... I'll check it out next time I've shopping at Wally world. I don't venture in there very often, but I'd like to check it out.

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Author Topic: Dehydrated pasta sauce - long term storage? (Read 26463 times)