Reddit mentions: The best dehydrators

I have a microwave at my office space rental, but I'm on the road a lot with my job, so I've looked into many different solutions. There are a variety of options available.

Non-electronic storage:

They make a squattier version of the Thermos you have from RTIC, which is what I sometimes use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DRP86T1

Spoon for size comparison:

https://i.imgur.com/AR4itKB.jpg

It's not so deep that I can't get a spoon in. It'd be nice if it were a little wider, but it does the job. A bit smaller than your Thermos at 17 ounces. Pinnacle Thermoware sells insulated a pretty nice insulated bowl set, if you specifically want a bowl shape:

https://www.amazon.com/Pinnacle-Serving-Salad-Soup-Dish/dp/B07RT1X47C/

If you need more food than just one bowl can hold, Ailijin makes a 2-bowl, single-tote insulated solution: (kind of a round bento-style)

https://www.amazon.com/AILIJIN-Leakproof-Insulated-Stainless-Portable/dp/B07QQ9JYG3/

If you need to heat up a soup before you go to put into an insulated storage container, I use one of these vented microwave mugs, so it doesn't explode all over the inside of my microwave when heating up:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F5IC478/

Electronic storage:

Beyond that, there are 3 common electronic options, depending on what power you have available: (12V in a car or an A/C wall plug)

1. Crockpot Lunch Crock (A/C power)
   
2. RoadPro 300F lunchbox oven (12V car power)
   
3. HotLogic lunchbox oven (A/C power, car-compatible A/C, or 75w+ inverter for car power)
   
   The Crockpot unit is basically like your Thermos, except you plug it in to heat it, and it has a pretty nice wide bowl size. My buddy has one & it's pretty dang handy! My brother has the RoadPro, as he's on the road all day long, and it's super nice because it does a pretty decent job (heats up to 300F, basically like a mini oven), so you can heat up burritos, melt cheesy stuff like lasagna, etc.
   
   The HotLogic is nice because instead of just being a mini portable crockpot, it's also a mini oven, and can be used from a wall plug, a newer-vehicle 2-prong car plug, or with a 75-watt (minimum) inverter. There's a good Facebook group available as well! It heats up to 218F & then holds the food at 180F, so it's more for reheating food than cooking food, like the RoadPro can do (HotLogic says you can cook chicken breast in it in about 2 hours, but ehhh...), but it's also a bit more versatile as you can plug it directly into the wall an hour before lunch & have your food ready to go without needing a microwave or toaster oven.
   
   Homemade soup:
   
   If you're into soup & haven't heard of Souper Cubes, it's basically a silicone ice cube tray with 1/2-cup & 1-cup markings (4 per tray) & lids, plus a wire frame around the top to hold it together, which makes portioning out bulk soup cooks super easy:
   
   https://www.soupercubes.com/
   
   I mean, just look at this insanity:
   
   https://www.instagram.com/p/B0cU_UFBSQp/
   
   Also, if you're into making soups at home, the Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) is my BFF...it makes cooking soup a lot faster & more automated (aka easier overall!). Poaching from another one of my posts, here are some soup ideas: (I use the IP for soups, stews, bisques, broths, stocks, etc.)
   
   

• Ham & bean
  
• Vegetable beef
  
• Chili con carne (chili is just thick soup...lol)
  
• Olive Garden's creamy chicken gnocchi
  
• Broccoli cheddar potato soup
  
• Asian chicken noodle
  
  Some ideas for soup toppings & easy no-knead breads:
  
  
• Ranch oyster crackers
  
• Cheese & onion roasted chickpeas
  
• Homemade flavored croutons
  
• Crusty rolls
  
• Ciabatta bread
  
  Also if you're trying to get more veggies in your diet, check out this master guide on making blended soups in the Instant Pot, definitely worth a read:
  
  https://allthenourishingthings.com/make-blended-soup-instant-pot/
  
  I tend to make soup about once a week in my Instant Pot at home, then freeze it in my Souper Cube containers, and keep a stash of different varieties in my freezer so I can just grab one & go. When you have a solid storage system setup (electronic or non-electronic), it makes the whole process pretty dang easy:
  
  

1. Store a variety of soup flavors at home (Souper Cubes or canned soup)
   
2. Heat it up in the vented mug if you need it hot before you leave
   
3. Put it into your container of choice
   
4. Heat up your container (if needed) & enjoy!
   
   For me, it's really about nailing down a solid process & taking care of all of the little annoying details. Like you said, the tall insulated mugs are too small to get a spoon into & eat out of, so you have to find something better that meets the needs of your individual situation better. Then, setting up a system to support convenience means you can always have a variety of soups to grab before you leave the house, whether it's a can that you heat up in a vented mug & store in a food thermos or a frozen Souper Cube that you toss in a Crockpot Lunch Crock & plug in before lunch!

Hello! My mother is a dehydrating feiend these days! We have gone on several backpacking trips recently and have brought almost all dehydrated food. She has a massive and powerful dhydrator called the excaliber! its quite amazing, but very expensive. Before, she had something similar to [this](http://www.amazon.com/Ronco-FD1005WHGEN-5-Tray-Electric-Dehydrator/dp/B000G20TCQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1342321424&sr=1- 6&keywords=food+dehydrator) and it worked great! Just took a little longer.

Anyways, once you have your dehydrator (or perhaps there is some other way, maybe you can use your oven?) you can make anything! We LOVE dehydrated fruit. It makes for great trail snacks while your chugging along. things like banana, apple, peach, and mango are delicious. The more watery something is, the longer it will take to dehydrate. Watermelon is actually one of my favorites and not something you would think would turn out well! It tastes just like candy in the end, although it takes sometimes a day or two depending on how think you cut the slices. I prefer thinner, more chewy slices for my fruit.

We also make most of our meals too. A big winner is her dehydrated spaghetti bolognese! She undercooks the pasta and dyhydrates it so it it lighter and will also cook much faster in the field. She then makes a tomato sauce and lies cellophane out on the trays and it turns into a weird leather stuff, and also dries the meat which turns into stuff that looks like grape nuts. In the end you combine it all in a big pot and add water to let it soak for a few hours before dinner. Once things get soft, you can cook it up and enjoy!

Of course you should make LOTS of jerky. SOOOOOO delicious! We have perfected our favorite kind. Get some nice steaks and cut it into thin strips. Then marinate it overnight in a marinade of your choice and pop it in the dehydrator. It usually takes about a day or so depending on the dehydrator you use, but your house will smell like yummy jerkey so put it somewhere that wont stink everything up...although I love the smell :) There are loads of recipes and ideas out there for dehydrated and rehydrated meals and when something is homemade, its always delicious in the back country! Sorry this is a bit long and rambly, but i Hope it helps!

There are a lot of really cool camping things! I'll be back to edit this post on my computer with some things that we like / are unique /cool

EDIT - these are things that we use that we love. These things all range in price, so hopefully you can find one or two to fit whatever budget you have.

• Collapsible Coffee Dripper : They can use this to make REAL coffee on the trail. They just have to heat water!
  
• Portable camping grill : This takes a little time to set up, but it's a very compact grill and makes it easy to cook food or even just balance your mess kit
  
• Nonstick camping mess kit : A nonstick kit is much easier to clean than a stainless steel one IMO. this set has a kettle, utensil, and scrubber which is awesome.
  
• Camp Suds : An environmentally safe soap so they can clean their gear but preserve the trail!
  
• Dry sacks : Dry sacks are just what they sound like... waterproof bags that keep your stuff dry. They can also double as a pillow if you stuff clothes in them!
  
• Portable camping stove : This little guy connects to a small fuel canister and gives you a nice little stove. These are great for heating water / soup as they provide a better heat source than a fire you'd build.
  
• Food dehydrator : This is not something they'd take camping, but it can really help them to save money on meals. If they are backpacking, they likely won't want to carry around cans of food and won't be able to carry around ingredients that would go bad. The dehydrator allows them to make their own backpacking meals that they will reconstitute with water.
  
• Pocket bellows : allows you to stoke the fire without having to get your face super close. Also this lets you target a small area.
  
• LED light bulb ; This does require a portable battery but it's really great to have this little guy. We use it in the tent at night or when we're hanging out but need a little light to chop food/etc.
  
• Pocket chain saw : Cut big pieces of wood! It takes some muscle, but it really does work and it's a lot smaller than a hatchet or actual chain saw..
  
• Literally the best backpacking chair : when you're backpacking, you have to carry EVERYTHING with you. So that means that stuff has to be light and small. These chairs are great, because (for chairs) they tick off both of those boxes. They have a back! And they are big enough to actually sit on!
  
  Other general items that are useful: Climbing/heavy duty carabiners (to clip stuff to other stuff. you can even get locking ones); water filters (if you get a Lifestraw, I recommend the water bottle. The actual Lifestraw is an interesting idea, but we've found in practice it's a little awkward); hammocks with nice straps; base layers; battery-operated lights of any kind (especially ones that clip or are hands-free); a set of waterproof cards (to pass the time on a break); nice, wicking socks; hiking poles; a camping knife.
  
  I haven't tried Cairn (the camping sub box) but they always look interesting.
  

Do you work in an office? Or are you out in the field all day? Or drive for a living? If you narrow down the environment you'll be eating in & what sort of meal prep resources you have, we might be able to give you better advice.

That said, most things can be eaten at room temperature. I worked in restaurants /catering for years, where I got a meal every shift but rarely had time to eat it while it was hot. I got used to eating room temperature food to the extent that I preferred it. I've been out of the industry for a couple of years, it actually took me about a year to get used to hot food again. For a long time I would just bring my leftovers from dinner to work & take them out of the fridge an hour or two before lunch to take the chill off.

Last year I bought a [soup warmer] (https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPLC200-PK-20-Ounce-Lunch-Warmer/dp/B006H5V7ZY). It works fairly fast & also works for more solid food, like pasta & casseroles - I add a splash of water to the food before heating so it doesn't dry out (I have celiac and the microwaves at work are always covered in bread crumbs, so I prefer not to use them.)

Lots of sandwiches can be frozen, tuna, egg salad, even PB&J (though you can always just keep a small jar of each, a plastic knife & a loaf of bread on your lunch bag. You could also make a meatloaf, cool & slice then freeze the slices individually. Make sandwiches with the slices & bbq sauce, ketchup or chili sauce (probably not a good idea to make the sandwiches then freeze - between the sauce and the meat it would get really soggy after thawing.) Same thing goes for meatballs, make a big batch, freeze in portion sizes & make meatball subs with BBQ sauce.

Chilies and stews are usually OK eating straight from thawing (but will always be tastier warm.)

Are you wanting to pre-make everything & freeze so you can just grab lunch & go, or do you have a few minutes to put stuff together in the morning? You'll almost always get better results prepping portions of the meal & combining them on the day of. You can freeze pasta, but the texture will be much nicer if you cook some fresh the day of, or the night before, and then grab pre-prepped sauce & meat from the freezer. Gnocchi is even faster to cook (about 2 minutes after the water boils.)

Any drier casserole would also work for grab & go meals - nothing too wet, so maybe not Mac and cheese, but lasagna, any kind of layered casserole that holds together well, you could make a big batch once a week, cool, slice, wrap in wax or parchment paper then put them all in a large freezer bag (and label the bag!) Grab one or two for lunch. Just make sure you've followed proper food safety rules when cooking and freeze them promptly.

Burritos & filled buns could also be a good option. Breakfast burritos are not at their tastiest cold, but they aren't gross. There are many, many recipes for filled buns of all sorts in cuisines around the world - calzones, pierogi, perishke, katchapuri, samosas, pasties, empanadas, etc. Most were invented for the express purpose of going in a worker's lunchbox, and most will freeze very well. You can make most quite easily using purchased pizza or bread dough. Cornmeal based dumplings are extremely easy to make - Colombian areas are basically corn meal mush with cheese added, patted in a disc & fried. They freeze extremely well (better before flying, but are just fine fried then frozen.)

You could also put a little bit of work once a week into prepping things that keep well in the fridge for a week - like boiled eggs (don't peel until you are ready to eat, and mark the date of cooking on the shell with a sharpie), sliced cheese, chopped veggies like carrots & peppers and hearty dips like hummus in individual portion baggies or containers, and keep fruits like bananas, apple & oranges in a bowl on the counter. That way you can grab one of each, pull something out of the freezer, grab a fruit and you have a hearty lunch plus snacks in the time it takes to make coffee.

If cost is a factor, definitely consider getting a dehydrator. I have this one.

The case:

1. It's easy. There are recipes all over the Internet, and many are slightly intimidating, but it basically comes down to "Get food without big chunks, spread it out on the tray, and turn the dehydrator on."
   
   
2. It's cheap. Check out the cost on dehydrated bulk items. Compare with the cost of fresh items (a little tricky because of water weight, but compare per calories). Grocery store food is inexpensive and your dinner leftovers are practically free. Dried bulk items cost a fortune.
   
   
3. You can make more calorically dense foods by including fat. Dehydrated meals tend not to have much fat, because it goes rancid over a period of weeks or months rather than the years that people expect backpacking food to last. If you dehydrate your own food, though, you can make your stuff a few days before your trip and have it be fattier and tastier. Yeah, you can also just add oil during rehydration, but that does mean you'll have to carry a dreaded extra container. (And it's not as tasty in many recipes.)
   
   
4. Better food, straight up. Food I've prepared at home and then dehydrated is delicious. It's way better than anything made from pre-dehydrated ingredients. You can get all the spices and sauces perfectly adjusted BEFORE dehydration instead of tossing raw ingredients together and hoping that they come together in beautiful symphonic unity when you rehydrate them. Meat that's been simmered or slowcooked with herbs is waaaay yummier than meat that's been rehydrated with herbs.
   
   
5. There's a lot to be said for dehydrating fruits and vegetables at the absolute peak of their ripeness. I'm currently obsessed with banana jerky (banana slices dried to a leathery texture). When I do our weekly grocery shopping, I buy several bunches for about $2, all in, and watch them patiently. On the day that they're first lightly speckled, I toss them into the dehydrator. I cannot describe accurately how good this shit is. I'm not kidding. It's fucking up my diet.
   
   
6. More options. This is somewhat addressed in point 1, but doing your own dehydrating frees you from the tyranny of foods that rehydrate easily. I can have normal spaghetti if I want it -- I'm not stuck with ramen because it'll rehydrate without simmering.
   
   
7. Healthier food on trail. This is a knock on from everything else, but after getting the dehydrator, I found my food choices drifting away from candy and toward healthy, real food. Well-made mango leather is way tastier than Skittles. I'm sure there's no meaningful health benefit over the course of a short trip, but it just feels pleasant and right to be eating real, natural foods on trail. It's a wrinkle I hadn't expected. I still like Snickers bars here and there, but it's become a treat rather than a staple.
   
   
   

I'm going to copy/paste a comment I made to someone else in fps trying to lose weight.

>Protips from someone 6 months into the F2F thang and 40 pounds down, pretty damn amazing since I am a lazy sot who doesn't exercise:

>Helps a LOT if you make a week's worth of salad every, say, Sunday (got it ready for the week then). One of those big square disposable Glad boxes is what we do. Certain things in salad go bad quicker (cucumbers, tomatoes, bean sprouts) so they get their own little separate boxes and replenished on Wednesday, they're added to the salad you're about to eat.

>Learn to love lighter salad dressings, better yet, to make your own. Lemon vinaigrette? or how about Asian? or, to stave off your sweet tooth, here's orange-raspberry. All quick and easy.

>This fills up your fridge considerably so you can't be packing it full of junk.

>Other stuff we do: freezer contains no sweets apart from lemon sorbet. Too sour to gobble. Dat palate cleanser. Freezer does contain frozen fish and individually packed frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts, and about 10 different kinds of frozen veggies (canned are too damn salty), plus a bunch of leftovers.

>Another of our rules: avoid instafood. Nothing that comes out of a can, box, bag, or requires a microwave. Okay, so we cook with chilis in adobo sauce which comes out of a can youallknowwhatImeangetoffmytits.

>To keep from going nuts, we each get one small bag of chips each Saturday. Any small treat will do, but don't go buying a whole damn cake or anything. Single serving only. Don't keep that shit in the house. If it's there, you're gonna make it harder on yourself.

>Snacks are typically homemade beef jerky, dried apples, nuts of various descriptions, unflavored rice cakes, precut-up carrots, celery, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, watermelon (more room in fridge gone, ta-da; seriously, all we can typically fit is a pitcher of Crystal Light lemonade and whatever's for dinner).

>Homemade dried stuff is the bomb, yo, and easy, ask for a dehydrator for your wedding. That's the one we have. I swear it's running constantly. Bitch to clean, but they all are, and this one at least is QUIET. One of the nifty ideas in the manual was drying a bunch of veggies, then stuffing them and hot water or broth into a thermos in the morning before leaving for work. Lunchtime, you've got veggie soup.

>(if you do get one, feel free to PM me for tips on this if you want, such as "ignore what cut of meat they recommend for jerky, brisket's cheaper and works better" and "get a mandolin to slice fruit")

>Bringing healthy meals and snacks to work instead of going out to lunch or hitting up Ye Olde Vending Machine is a must.

>Got healthy meals you know how to make and you both love? Make a BUNCH and freeze in single-serve containers. No excuse for "oh gods, so tired after work, just get fast food" NOPE. Also, slowcookers can be your friend with that "too tired to cook" thing.

>EDIT: tip I got from someone else here: if you need to break a soda addiction cough, try getting flavored seltzer water. Same size cans, carbonation, tastes like diet Sprite (at least the lemon-lime flavor does) but zero calories etc. Worked like a charm once I got used to it.

>If all this seems condescending, I'm truly sorry. Just passing along painful lessons learned.

>TL;DR: part of beating your own fatlogic is tricking it with healthy foods.

>You're going to make it!

Back to OP: There are plenty of things you don't have to spend a ton of time cooking. That being said, use the freezer, bro. We spend a considerable amount of time on Sundays stocking up for the week.

One wonderful thing to get yourself is one of those George Foreman grills. Can cook all manner of stuff on them, extremely quickly. Throw a boneless, skinless piece of chicken on there, close the lid, it's done in like 5 minutes. This is actually one of our weekend cookfest things: marinade a bunch of chicken Saturday, grill it on Sunday, individual baggies and into the freezer you go. They're not all that expensive, either. Plenty of other things you can do with it.

You don't have to stick with just salads, but eat at least one per day that doesn't have croutons, cheese, bacon, or ranch dressing on it. Eat one big enough to fill you up.

Also check /r/Frugal and /r/EatCheapAndHealthy for further ideas.

I’m not a Flight Attendant yet, but research shows ice bags in the crew cooler, because it can be replenished on the plane and in the hotel.

Eat cold food on the plane and hot food at the hotel. I think good cold foods to eat on the plane would be things like: Chicken, tuna or ham salads. Cous cous, toubuli, quinoa salad, egg salad, broccoli slaw, stuffed grape leaves (sorry, I love Mediterranean food!), cottage cheese, hummus and applesauce.

For hot food, I think hearty soups, stews and chili would freeze well (flat in ziplock bags!) and act like ice packs (for the first day, at least).

To warm the food up at the hotel room, there are two items popular with flight attendants. This Mini Crockpot (about $20 at Target) will heat up food in about 45 minutes, but I usually leave it plugged in for a few hours. Not for crispy foods.

The Hot Logic Mini portable oven (usually about $40 but I bought mine for $30 on a lightning deal) warms food slowly, like the mini crockpot, but you put your own containers (or frozen dinners) in it. This means you can heat larger items like fish or chicken. I bought one for my current job and cooked a frozen boneless chicken breast in two hours! The containers you use must have a flat bottom to heat the food, though, and I think glass works best.

Edit: I don’t know why the links are in Spanish and I don’t know how to fix them. I’m sorry!

I'd just make your own food to re-hydrate. Get yourself something like http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-FD-80-Square-Shaped-Dehydrator/dp/B00179DCCQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342056174&sr=8-3&keywords=food+dehydrator. If you plan on doing many 3+ day hikes, this is 100% worth it. Whatever you make, just like dehydrated food, you just add water and boil. You could go for a better/faster model, but it has worked for me. If you get this model, buy 2x more http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-SQM-2-6-Screen-Series-Dehydrators/dp/B004ETGYGC/ref=pd_sim_k_2.

Cook what you typically make at home which has moisture, such as stew, soup, stir fry dishes, etc. Use a spatula and coat the dish down onto parchment paper which fits the dehydrator. It'll take around 12-24hrs for most meals on around 85% heat setting.

You can also make great track snacks, like fruit leather. This is a good place to start (notice the inclusion of Apples, the pectin in it is key to forming the leather like texture) http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_fruit_leather/

I recently did Yellowstone for ~10 days, all meals were done this way. It was incredibly delicious, cheap, and more importantly, light weight. The greatest part is cooking your favorite recipes.

.223 is the first caliber I loaded on my 550 and got 1/2" groups almost immediately out of a Model 70, only slightly changed the powder charge.

Case Prep

• I'd suggest the Dillon trimmer, but it is pricey. People rave about World's Finest Trimmer, so check that out. You will need to trim if you're going for consistent accuracy.
  
  
• For swaging, I will say get the Dillon Super Swage. It is the fastest way to do it and is very consistent.
  
  
• You can get a case prep center that includes a cutter for primer pockets but it is a lot of work doing many cases that way. I use the Lyman one for chamfering/deburring and primer pocket squaring if needed.
  
  Press
  
  
• If you REALLY want to do this, I'd advise getting at least a Dillon 550, and preferably the 650 with case feeder. Buy once and you'll never have to again. I know you said you don't want a progressive, but you do.
  
  
• Since you're loading pistol ammo but trying to keep cost down, the 550 might be the better choice for you. I can crank out 600 rounds/hour of .45 ACP if I have all my supplies sitting there.
  
  
• The powder measure on Dillon presses is the most accurate of press mounted powder throws, even better than some dedicated powder measures. It is plenty accurate enough to make good groups. If you go other than that, the RCBS Chargemaster seems to be the king of the hill, but it is expensive.
  
  Priming
  
  
• I've never used hand primer. The priming system on the 550 is great, with plenty of feel, which is one of the reasons people get them.
  
  Edit: Re-ordered and organized.
  
  Edit 2: Overall, I think you'll be cheaper if you get a 550, since you won't need a separate powder system or primer, and be much happier in the end.
  
  Edit 3: Forgot tumbling:
  
  
• I'd suggest the Harbor Freight Dual-Drum tumbler and SS media. It is cheap, quick and gives good results.
  
• Drying: Dehydrator, Extra trays, Screens to prevent brass falling through

Personally, I'd skip the very expensive Excalibur units at this time. Stick with a cheaper and more basic ones at first to see if it's something you'll continue to do over time.

I have only had 1 dehydrator; the Nesco FD-75. I bought it about 1.5 years ago and I absolutely love it. It comes with 5 trays but can be expanded to 12 trays. I bought 2 extra trays because I need 7 trays to make a 5lb (beginning weight) jerky batch. I use is probably twice a month for jerky, dried fruits, or to dehydrate meals for backpacking. I think the biggest surprise was a backpacking Ratatouille. I made this for backpacking but I've used it more for pot lucks and dips for guests.

It has a temperature control but not a timer which, for me, isn't an issue. If I need a timer then I use one of these timers because I already have 3 of them for other uses. Clean up is easy since the heating and fan are on top. Everything below can be either hand washed or go through the dishwasher.

The best thing about this unit is the price; less than $70. This made it a reasonable investment at the time so I could see if I would use the dehydrator like I planned. I didn't want to spend a couple of hundred dollars for something and end up not using it. So far I've used this dehydrator for about 20 months and it looks like it's going to last for a while longer. I haven't had the first issue.

I bought a dehydrator from Amazon, not the best but not the worst. I usually get the flavored Great Value bacons like peppered or maple smoked. Or you can make your own "sauce" to leave it in overnight...but a lot of the recipes I've found on the internet are pretty sugary. Sometimes I'll add garlic salt or what not. Then, I cook it on a draining pan in the oven. Afterwards I toss it in my dehydrator. It's definitely a trial and error process. But it's nice to bring it with me on hikes or road trips.

Thanks for the heads up on the burgers; I hadn't thought about fillers... I need to retrain my brain to see outside the nutrition box. I usually just crunch numbers and see if it fits. I haven't been to KFC in forever, so I will swing by and taste the non-breaded varieties. And buffets are also a great choice since they are usually close to interstate exits. Thanks for the tips!

I just posted this comment elsewhere, I have had a good experience with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-Snackmaster-Food-Dehydrator-FD-75A/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418357260&sr=8-1&keywords=nesco+snackmaster
It can be used to many so many different cool snacks, and the best part is that YOU made them!
it works very well for making beef jerky. It dries evenly.
If anyone is interested, heres a quick list of useful things:

1.) The beef jerky you make should cost about 35% of store bought beef jerky.

2.) Use large freezer bags to marinade the beef jerky.

3.) Try to time your day out when you make jerky, put the jerky in marinade overnight and then right when you get home put it into the dehydrator, that way you can stay up a little bit late if it takes too long, or take it out when it's ready so it doesn't overdehydrate and get brittle. You don't want to be away from home with it running in the dehydrator, because sometimes it will go quicker and then it may get overdried. It seems like it would take a LOT for that to happen though, a few hours past the correct time.

4.) Make sure to cut the meat across the grain, it will be super tough if you cut it with the grain. My best results are having the meat cut at 1/2 inch thick, across the grain, with "eye round roast" beef.

5.) Make sure to clean the dehydrator well when you are done. Be careful that you don't deform or melt the plastic trays in the dishwasher.

6.) Follow this recipe for jerky, it worked great for me http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Docs-Best-Beef-Jerky/

If you're a regular backpacker, a dehydrator is a worthwhile purchase. My personal favorite is homemade, dehydrated chili but it's also nice to dehydrate a bunch of veggies to have on-hand to beef up ramen (I get nice stuff from an international grocer) or couscous for impromptu trips. Bagels with avocado or cream cheese packets are great for breakfast and I also like granola and instant milk. I love salty snacks and pretzels (especially peanut-butter filled ones) are bae. Fresh fruit and avocados are pretty much always worth the weight, although on longer trips I may dehydrate my fruit instead.

You know, I initially thought to go with small batches, but I decided against it and went with a monotub. I'm so so glad I did.

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a pressure cooker especially if you decide to do a monotub- and a good one at that. This is the one I purchased and it has done wonders for me. You really don't want to start everything up, use spores, and find out that your pressure cooker didn't reach high enough temperature for long enough, and all your jars get contaminated, and you have to throw all of them away wasting nearly a month and a half of time (me, three times in a row).

I recommend ordering spores or syringes (You can purchase a spore syringe for like five to ten bucks, but I prefer spores because 1 spore print makes 5-10 syringes for the same price) from r/SporeSwap. I store all of my syringes in the fridge, and all of the prints in the fridge as well.

Here is what I followed in regards to things for beginners:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I also want to make the case one more time for doing monotubs if you have the space. You will be much happier with your yield I think, and as long as you properly store them (use a dehydrator on fresh mushrooms at about 115 F until they are cracker dry, store with a desiccant in a vacuum sealed bag. The nice thing is when properly treated, they stay good for a loooong time. Plus, it's super easy to make some cash on the side if you're into that kind of thing because you will have so so much left over.


This is pretty much everything you need to know, besides how to inoculate. That's an easy step though, ask google. Shoot me a pm if you're having trouble with anything related to monotubs.

There is not much to say about the dehydrator. I just bought it at a big box store a few years ago without doing much research.

It is a Nesco American Harvest 700 watt model FD80

I also bought extra drying trays and some rollup sheets to dehydrate liquids

I'm pretty happy with the setup, it seems to work quite well.

I've tried dehydrating ground beef and chicken with mixed results. I mainly use it now for dried fruit and vegetables: apples, pears, kiwi, bananas, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, tomato, broccoli, have all been smash successes.

I did try quite a bit at making chili and pasta sauces, and it did work well, but I prefer the mountain house actually. I didn't find the home made dehydrated sauces to be any better than mountain house meals, and they took quite a bit of work (cooking the sauce, dehydrating, blending).

So we have migrated to only using the dehydrator for fruits and vegetables now.

Oh, we also use it to dehydrate fresh herbs from the garden quite a bit as well, but this is not necessarily for camping, though, we have taken some fresh commomile tea from the garden.. very nice!

anyway, I hope that helps.

That would depend on the wattage, and it doesn't look like it has enough to actually cook meat, though I did read about someone "cooking" cut up apples with some spices acceptably soft. Meat is much denser though.
This unit is only for rewarming, or warming up, already cooked foods, or foods that dont need full cooking for texture or safety. And it will take a couple of hours to do that once plugged in.

I'd check out the customer Reviews and customer Questions for this unit at amazon or maybe even at walmart.com to get much more info and more ideas.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006H5V8RG/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

The brand called Crock Pot used to make, and maybe still does, a small 1.5 quart model called Crockette that will cook meat and act like a regular but small slow cooker though. I cook a flank steak in my old one in the usual time. It will barely fit but works great. (If you had only 4 hrs, you would be able to cook chicken or fish but probably not the red meats unless they were very thin. The connective tissue in many meats also just requires a certain length of time at a low but hot enough temp, to break that down and tenderize those cuts.

This Lunch Crock is about 20 oz and presumably lighter weight, but the Crockette's crock and lid can also be removed to take home, and returned to the plugin unit if you want to make it more "portable."

And if you do get a small slow cooker that's small enough for you (Crock Pot or any other brand), you might want to check out some of the recipes and info about them from my previous answer here:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvEpfc8T4FyPLBCzkmBhT7Xsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20120323115314AAr62lQ

Looks like Proctor Silex makes a 1.5 qt one though, but taller and less wide than the Crockette:
http://www.amazon.com/Proctor-Silex-33015Y-2-Quart-Cooker/dp/B0002CA3C6/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1451079747&sr=1-3&keywords=crockette

P.S. If you want an electric unit that can cook practically anything, or just warm up, in a very short time, you might be interested in an electric pressure cooker many of which are multi-function these days. My newest and favorite toy these days is the Instant Pot DUO60 7-in-1 I got a few months ago. It may be larger than what you want although it does come in a smaller 5 qt version, but could be made to work by just bringing the meat/etc with you and keeping in a frig till time to cook, then afterwards washing the inner pot and leaving everything at work.

Until you get it down I would go with a cheaper cut of meat like London Broil. I usually wait for a good sale at Kroger at like $2.49 a pound and ask them to trim the fat and slice it against the grain at 1/4" thickness or for jerky if they know how to do it. If they don't have a slicer you might be better off doing it at home yourself as they can get busy and rush thru cutting it making it all kinds of different thicknesses. Cut into cubes roughly 4"x8" and freeze for about an hour wrapped in parchment. Then take out and use a nice sharp knife to cut uniformly to the thickness you desire. When Kroger has London Broil Top Round for $1.99 a lb I usualy get 25 pounds. 5 packages of 5 pounds that I can freeze and do one batch at a time with different recipes and marinades to try out.

I highly recommend a dehydrator and use this one for smaller batches and when I was first starting out as it has rectangular trays, digital timer you can set and it turns off automatically, and digital temperature up to 160 degrees. I usually do 150 degrees for 5 hours and check every hour after that. Also rotate the trays every 2 hours or so to make sure that the pieces are all getting the same airflow. Plus it's a really cheap investment for good jerky and not having to clean your oven of all those drippings.

https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-32100A-Digital-Dehydrator/dp/B012CG8N26

Hope that helps.

Also use the search bar for best dehydrators recommending and dehydrating techniques etc. The search bar and limited to r/jerky is your friend. Also You Tube videos on making jerky are very informative.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B008H2OEKK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is what I bought earlier this summer for making jerky, and I have loved it so far. It is a little annoying to clean it, but not that bad. At your price range, I think you could get to the lower end of the price range on the Excalibur ones with the back mounted fans which are supposed to be better and more even than the ones like I got which have a bottom mounted fan. I still love mine, though. Good luck with your jerky making.

Tools:

I ordered Life Extension Bifido Gi Balance capsules on AmazonThis is what I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008968GLW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Whole milk - it seems that people recommend using regular whole milk (non organic or raw etc.) because it yields the best result in making the yogurt. If you want less whey/waste, use Fairlife brand milk Whole. It is ultra-pasteurized but expensive.

I probably have to buy a whisk for stirring, a cheesecloth for straining, a food thermometer for checking temperature, maybe containers to keep the yogurt in, and large-cube ice tray for freezing the starter.I'd recommend a strainer such as this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRDZXXK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1And these bags, big enough for a gallon, instead of cheesecloth: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071CWTLY5/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Starter: from what I understand, you have to make the "Starter" first, which is basically a small, concentrated batch of yogurt, made from the contents of the probiotic capsules and prepared milk.Starter can take up to 24 hours. I use a programmable food dehydrator to set the starter on to keep it consistently warm. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012CG8N26/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sterilize the cooking container, in my case the Instant Pot cooking pot ("how to" in This Old Gal's recipe).I have never sterilized the container, my dishwasher sanitizes which seems to be enough.

1. Pour 6oz (u/resistingdopamine says 3oz, so I'm not sure which) of milk into the room temperature/cool pot and warm it to 180F (Do you keep it there for a few minutes? how to keep it there without its temp. rising above 180F?) Whisk the milk every 10 mins to keep the temperature even throughout the pot - make sure to whisk before checking temp to get an accurate reading. With Instant Pot this is done using the "yogurt" button, then "adjust" button until it says "boil" It doesn't matter how much inoculate you make. I use a small sauce pan and thermometer for such a small amount of milk for the inoculate. Stir constantly to avoid scorching. I am generous and usually add two capsules per ounce. Using the IP for this step is way, way overkill.
   
2. When it reaches 180F, remove the pot from heat, and place it into a sink filled with cold water. Whisking often (again to keep temp. even), cool milk down to around 105F. Remove from water. Skip the sink, use a small bowl of cool water for such a tiny amount of heated milk.
   
3. Inoculate the milk with the probiotic: Open up the capsule(s), and dump the contents into the prepared milk (u/resistingdopamine says to use 1 capsule, while u/pammylorel says to use 3, so perhaps they can clarify). Throw away the empty capsule(s). The more you use, the quicker the inoculate will set up. It's not really a precise science but I use more to be on the safe side.
   
4. Incubate the mixture: Put the pot back on the heat source (your oven, food dehydrator, yogurt maker, instant pot or w/e you're using). In my case put it back inside the Instant Pot and use "yogurt" function on "normal". You need to keep this at 105-110F for around 15 hours, until it becomes a solid mass. (Not sure if needs to be whisked during this time to keep temp. even during incubation - need clarification) If you use the IP for inoculate, instead of a food dehydrator, I would put water in the large IP pot and the starter in a smaller bowl in the water, like a hot water bath, until inoculate is firm.
   
5. Remove from heat source and chill in refrigerator, covered an undisturbed, for about 7 hours. No need to chill it before using.
   
6. Strain the Whey out: line a strainer with a cheese cloth and place the contents of the pot inside, allowing it to strain, over a pot/bowl (Covered?) in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. No need to strain inoculate. Just stir it up.
   
7. This is your "Starter" to make batches of yogurt. Set aside 1oz, about 2 tablespoons, to make your actual batch of yogurt and freeze the rest for future batches. You can use the large ice cube trays (made for whiskey ice cubes) to store in freezer. Put about 2 tablespoons in each division, covered tray with a ziplock bag, and freeze. Once it freezes, I pop the cubes into a ziploc for easy storage. You can use regular cube trays, just use two or three per batch of yogurt.
   
   Making the Yogurt: From what I understand, to make the yogurt, you perform almost the same process as you did to make the Starter.
   
   Defrost the Starter: defrost the Starter cube you will be using to where it is no longer frozen. No need to defrost, once the milk is heated and cooled to 105-110 degrees throw the cubes in. They will melt.
   
   You prepare the milk the same way - you can use a gallon now. Sterilize the container (skip)pour in milk, get it up to 180F while whisking, cool in cold water in sink while whisking, take a cup of the prepared milk (cooled to 105-110) and mix it with your starter in that cup to temper it before using it to inoculate the pot, Place the contents of the cup with the starter into the pot, put pot back on heat source and incubate it for 15 hours, chill in fridge for 7 hours, strain for 3-4 hours, and place in a container for storage in your refrigerator (Timing is not relevant, I rely on the appearance of yogurt. I prefer to chill overnight before straining. I also use the aforementioned bag and strainer instead of cheesecloth.)
   
   Dosing and Questions:
   
   u/resistingdopamine mentioned taking 1 BB536 probiotic capsule+1 cup of the yogurt, twice a day, morning and night. Not sure if everyone who had success followed with dose. u/MaddinOrLynch, u/Trindolex are some people who have had success stories that I've seen here.
   
   I've read advice to avoid probiotics and fermented foods while doing this, to make sure that they don't out-compete the BB536. I'm not sure if you can start eating them again (I personally love sauerkraut)?
   
   So from what I understand, the first batch takes a couple of days to make as you have to make the first Starter, and then use that to make the first batch - so two batches back-to-back? Yes
   
   Should I keep the milk at 180F for a few minutes, or transfer it to cold water immediately? How does one keep it at 180F without the temp. rising further? Cool immediately. I have found that my IP is really good about beeping at the perfect 180 but use a thermometer too.
   
   I know most IBS sufferers seem to have negative effects from dairy products, including yogurt - is it different with this yogurt? The bacteria eat the lactose which is the bad guy.
   
   Should a person be whisking during incubation (when it's standing at 105F for 15 hours)? NO NO NO
   
   I've heard the longer the incubation period, the more potent the yogurt becomes and less lactose it has - is there a point of incubating for over 15 hours? Once it sets up, it's done.** No more incubation needed**.
   
   I have read that you shouldn't keep the Starter for more than 3 weeks. Should you just freeze parts of the new batches for Starter after? No, use starter as the primary basis for new batches. If you just use yogurt, the bacteria get weak. Should you add another capsule at any point when making new batches? I use a bit of the last batch of yogurt and a couple cubes of frozen starter in each new batch. I have never had a bad batch and it gets much quicker to make once you do it a few times, practice makes perfect.

I copied my reply to another post but still holds up

I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend and it had an on/off switch and that was it. I had no idea how warm the thing got or anything. I tried dehydrating a few different things with it but the results always varied and sometimes cooked/burned more than dehydrated. So I would definitely recommend one with adjustable temperatures.

One temp definitely doesn't fit all purposes. I ended up getting a Nesco off Amazon. I got this one. It's a little pricy than a thrifted one but I haven't regretted it and have made perfectly dehydrated mushrooms, fruit leather, and herbs. I still want to try an onion (outdoors!) and jerky.

I don't know if anyone suggested this or not (my phone is not liking the Reddit app at the moment) but crock pot makes a little tiny lunch crock pot. It's my favorite way of eating all my leftovers, and solves the what should i bring to lunch issue since i just throw some leftovers from the previous night's dinner in it. This might also solve your microwave issue (i dislike them for texture reasons and find the food is a lot better this way, and evenly heated even with soup!)

I also really have been loving cold quinoa bowls with various toppings. I take it out of the fridge about an hour before i want to eat it so it's not super cold, just slightly. I pack my grains in one container and then toppings like greens, nuts, seeds, whatever in another, and a last container with a sauce of choice. It's super easy to prep a bunch at once and then in the morning just grab one Tupperware from each category and throw it in my lunch box.

Edited to add link for crockpot thing i mentioned. https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPLC200-PK-20-Ounce-Lunch-Warmer/dp/B006H5V7ZY

I bought this one for myself over a year ago. Cheapest, most basic basic model I found that had decent reviews. It works well and airflow is good but lacks a couple nice features: temperature control and fruit screens / fruit roll up trays.


So for my mom for Christmas I ended up getting her a slightly better model which has a temperature control dial and came with a screen tray, roll up tray, and a jerky gun.


The item you linked to looks great (better wattage than the 2nd Nesco dehydrator I linked to). I might be tempted to buy the slightly less powerful model with the extras for the same price. BUT the one you linked to has the TWO screens and roll up trays, and only lacks the jerky gun. So really I think either one would be a great choice.


The "musts" I would list for a dehydrator are 1) good air flow so you don't have to rotate trays a lot and 2) a temperature control.

EDIT: In regards to making jerky: if you are slicing the jerky from a cut of meat, you can do it raw. But if you're using ground beef or poultry, cooking it first is the safest way to go.

It is actually incredibly easy! Although some people will tell you to season the meat, we haven't found any dog that doesn't like it as just chicken.

We slice chicken breast as thin as possible. My dad works at a meat counter so he's got super sharp knives, but if you pop them in the freezer for ~20 minutes you can slice them more easily. Place them on the dehydrator trays, turn it to 160 and let it be for 6-10 hours (or longer depending on how thin you got your slices). The jerky is done when it..you know..looks like jerky. We make ours really dried out because it lasts my dog longer when eating it. We also keep it in the fridge, because we don't salt it and don't use other preservatives it can mold on a counter top with any kind of humidity, it has never molded in the fridge.

We have given the chicken jerky as gifts to other people that frequent the dog park and haven't had a dog turn up their nose yet and they are good for dogs that have sensitivities to additives in other kinds of treats. The chicken we buy is hormone and antibiotic free.

This is the dehydrator I use.

• A standing mat because standing in the kitchen cooking/cleaning is hard on the back and these mats make it so much more comfortable. It's really amazing and makes life a million times better, especially if you have to stand a lot.
  
• A dehydrator to make dried fruit, fruit leather, jerky, dried herbs... so many possibilities, and everyone will be really impressed when you pull out some homemade jerky. (Can you tell I like making food?)
  
• Record players are coming back into style. Music records won't get lost when your computer crashes, and they'll outlive the singularity. And you can listen to music... while you make food!
  
  All of these are on my Over $30 wishlist.
  
  Thank you for the contest!

This is a good starter dehydrator.

I've been making jerky for about two years now and have been making that keto jerky for about a year or so.

There's some research and learning to be done, as well as trial an error, since you'll want to go for good lean meat and learn how to make 2-3mm thick pieces but def worth it. London broil or bottom round if you see it on sale but with great power comes great responsibility. I've had some jerky binges when starting out just because of how much you end up with in comparison to buying premade jerky. Lastly, its something like 1lb of steak turns into .5-.6 lbs of jerky. Keep it up man, you're looking fierce :D

Every night I have a base of either quinoa or rice, prepared in my rice cooker with various vegetables and spices. If rice, I'll roll it up with nori for homemade veggie rolls.

With dinner I have a 12 ounce glass of water with two tablespoons of flax and one tablespoon of chia.

I buy my pinto beans and black beans loose in bulk at the local grocery store when picking up my vegetables, usually around 5 or 6 pounds of each at a time.

Cumin, garlic powder, tahini, and dry garbanzo beans go for a good homemade hummus in a food processor. Needs a fresh lemon or two squeezed into the tahini. Original recipe had olive oil and salt, I leave out the oil entirely and either cut the salt down to a dash or none at all.

I keep oats and almond meal on hand to make pdb cookies with the same food processor, just add a banana or two, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond butter, and raisins if you like. The original recipe called for dates and I said eat me I'm doing raisins.

I got peppermint in bulk to make tea with, both by itself as well as mixing with chamomile, mugwort, etc.

I keep almost all of the above in these convenient cereal containers to both extend shelf life, shelf space, and remove any branding or advertising. Mason jars are also awesome!

Don't forget you can dehydrate your own food as well!

Edit: I don't work for Amazon, I just live no-car and order like this to survive!

Can I add a 20-oz Slow Cooker to the list? It's a food warmer (it won't cook) but I love having it at my desk at work. It heats leftovers to a lovely temp, and if I freeze leftovers they are hot and yummy at lunch. Cans of Progresso soup work wonderfully. It's on Amazon here.

I mean yes.

But really, something like this is fine. Some things to look for are a temperature control and a timer. They help with getting various foods dehydrated perfectly. Mine has neither, I just keep an eye on my foods a little more. At this point I know how it runs so I know what food I can set and leave for 8 hours and what foods I need to rotate trays every 2 hours.

I will say, I borrowed and Excalibur when I was prepping for a long distance backpacking trip and it was AMAZING. It dehydrates much quicker and much more evenly than my cheapo unit. But I would probably never buy one myself. For that particular trip I was running both machines pretty much around the clock for months making meals. For the occasional use, my cheap machine is fine.

I'd also recommend trying PLA+. I can't reliably compare it to PLA since mine has hydrated recently, but it prints like putty. I get my filament at Microcenter, which may or may not exist where you live. In the end it's all up to your experimentation, we can only recommend potential options. However, I'd be careful of the pricing. Just to give you a range: 1kg spool of PLA costed me around $12.99 and 1kg of PLA+ costed me around $13.99 at Microcenter. Meanwhile a 250g spool of PLA at Tinkersphere costs $23.99. Also, bonus tip: If your filament gets hydrated and you don't want to use your oven: Get a dehydrator like this one. and there are plenty of videos showing them using it.

Don't know if you're bringing your meal anywhere but I have two of these, one at work and one at home. comes with a removable liner so easily dishwasher safe. I love this thing. I make a huge dinner on sunday and I have lunch for the week. highly recommend.

lunch crock

Was talking about this last night on the ketochat, thought it would be good to share.

I bought an inexpensive dehydrator last week and it arrived so I went ahead and made some jerky.
The first was some weird steak type meat I had in the freezer with alton brown's recipe for the marinade. Yes the honey is a little high in carbs but it marinated a LOT of meat so I didn't substitute it because I didn't know what I could sub it with.

The second type was better, because the butcher suggested London Broil to me (lean meat is better for this, as fat doesn't dehydrate, it goes rancid) and then cut it really thin for me. That was marinated in a 3g carb storebought teriyaki sauce. I'll be trying for a homemade teriyaki next time but both were incredibly tasty, one type sweet and one type smoky and a little spicy.

Next up is kale chips and maybe trying to dehydrate cheese for fun.

Try looking at recipes that could reasonably fit inside a metal insulated wide-mouth thermos. You'd be surprised at how frickin' long those things stay warm! My mother has one (she works nights, doing security) and brings a thermos of coffee with her. Hers also came with a white bowl that fits inside the lid of the thermos! They have camping equivalents built specifically for food, if you don't need such a large thermos. Shop around. They really do stay hot for 24 hours - I remember my mother brought a thermos full of coffee, and the next day it was still piping hot.

For ideas that you could fit in thermoses - you can make vegetable chilli, soups, stews, small noodle dishes like macaroni and cheese (or even spaghetti if you use penne or another noodle.) Tons of stuff! To get it 100% clean, use a toilet brush like this one as typical bottle brushes are too soft and sometimes too small.

You could purchase a food dehydrator as well and make a large assortment of dried meats for your dad to take with him for protein - anything from turkey, bacon and beef to squirrel, rabbit, and deer. You could also dry fruit and vegetables in those things.

Mine takes up less than 3 sq ft. Probably less than 2. Here's a link:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002WSQHU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought the maximum number of trays I could along with the tray inserts for sauces and fruit leathers and drying herbs, when not in use they all sit inside the dehydrator which sits in the bottom of my pantry or on top of the fridge if it's running. I've had it since 2013 and while I don't see it saving space on food much it's been a worthwhile investment. I think it would be just fine in that amount of space, I pulled it off in mine with 2 people, 3 cats, too much furniture and 150 sq feet of that being a studio space. Also! They are super light so they can stack pretty much anywhere. I can carry the whole thing stacked up with all the trays with one hand when it's ready to store it.

Just to add, you can get a really good dehydrator for about $65 that will do virtually anything you want. I've done jerky, fruit leathers, veggies, etc but you can also dehydrate cooked meals with great success. It's crazy how easy it is, you literally pat stuff dry, cut it into small/thin pieces, and plug it in. It's really that easy.

If you haven't looked into it, a regular $30 food dehydrator will work. this is what I got, works great. Use the temps listed Here and it will be fantastic.

Bonus points if you add a lazy susan bearing to the bottom, and add a bowden connector to feed filament through as it stays dry during a print. Works fantastic for the hygroscopic Nylon and PETG filaments. I've run PLA through as well and it does print better even though it doesn't absorb as much water.

This is what I do, but it's not really cost efficient, I think I get about a lb of jerky for 3lbs of flank steak, or about $23-$24 per lb of jerky. I need to experiment with other / cheaper cuts.

Buy a dehydrator (I have this one with some extra trays: https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-Snackmaster-Dehydrator-White/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1484277570&sr=1-5&keywords=Dehydrator)

I think I spent $75 on the dehydrator plus extra trays.

After that, it's $7/lb flank steak from costco for me.

Trim the flank steak
Freeze it for a while to make it easier to slice
Slice it and experiment with slicing against / with the grain. Against gives you soft, crumbly jerky that chews easy, with the grain gives you hard jerky. Also experiment with thickness. I've found I like a thicker cut that is sort of diagonal across the grain a bit. You can also try using a mandolin but I've found it doesn't slice nicely.

There's a giant vein in the flank steak that you'll want to work around and remove, although the smaller veins of fat you can leave in.

Experiment with marinades, but a pretty simple one is 1 part soy sauce, 1 part worcestershire sauce, black and red pepper. They key is really to make sure you've got plenty of salt.

Marinade for 12-24 hours.

Dehydrate on the highest setting, mine has the minimum for beef jerky marked on it.

You can't over-dehydrate it so let it really dry out. I've run it for up to 24 hours before.

Blot the pooled oil off the dried meat before storing in an air tight bag, as it will make it go rancid faster (plus its greasy).

This makes easily some of hte best jerky I've ever had and is price competitive with some of the really nice jerkies I've had but like it doesn't compete price-wise with pemmican or jack links or whatever the hell basic jerky you might be eating.

Oh I live downtown but willing to make a drive. Sure I use this and this, minus the sweetener/honey. Comes out really tasty! I like new mexico style jerky. Pretty simple, not too many ingredients, and comes out pretty dry which I like.. And this recipe sorta fits that. There's other recipes if you google too, but this is the one I use the most. The guy in the video uses his oven, but I use this. Yum.

You can find them anywhere between $40-$75. I got mine about 5-6 years ago, and it's running great still! I usually make Jerky once or twice a month. Great protein snack in the morning and before the Gym. The wife likes to dry herbs and veggies for home made rammen too. I can't recommend getting one enough! Great purchase!

I think this is about the same kind I have at home. https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-FD-61-Snackmaster-Dehydrator/dp/B000CEM3WM/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1480969396&sr=8-12&keywords=NesCo+dehydrator.

We ended up getting extra trays for it too for pertty cheap at Bed Bath & Beyond at some point too.

I know this isn't what you asked, but the Crock-Pot Lunch Crock is one of the best purchases I've ever made. I often bring in cold or frozen lunches, in the interior container, then plug in once ready to eat, and it heats up in no time. If being able to plug in a super tiny and portable crock is an option for your SO, it may be worth purchasing! Link

I just ordered this one with some points I had:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012CG8N26/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was delivered today so when I get off work I'll let you know initial thoughts. It was technically free and I'll primarily use it to make snacks for my infant son, but I'm hoping it does well for jerky too.

I liked it because it seem to have 100 more watts than most in that price range and the reviews were good.

You can use a fan but it takes FOREVER. Even then, it's still tough to get them cracker dry that way. Oven works - couple hours at 170 degrees, but it's a big energy waster. If/when you order a dehydrator, I can recommend this one. It's wide, has good vertical space between the stacked layers, is expandable [you can add additional trays], and it's affordable. It only has one heat setting [dries at approx 165 degrees] but that's perfect for drying mushrooms.

You can make dried meat yourself, make them with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188X0UT6/ref=psdc_1090752_t3_B008H2OELY

Take the cheapest one dehydrator, and cut pieces of meat, put them on the tray, let it dry for 3 days at something like 104°F to keep all flavor of the meat.

The Amazon link is for the cheapest one (have something similar and to be honest i'am pretty sure that in this price range they are all the same just with a different brand, already have 2 years and still working, if the plastic basket start to crack, put fine mesh over it, just make sure it let airflow pass).

This is a similar process but conserve the moisture into the product.

But this is something that i found "useless", you could just give them fresh piece of meat or fish or shrimp instead of paying a premium 11.99$ for 2.5 Oz (71g) of product.

edit, almost 170$ the Kg Wow

I used to make myself random soups in my mini crockpot (it’s a single serving, designed for lunch away from home, maybe $20 $25 new (product link!).

On weekends I would prep a little; chop seasonal veggies, make sure I had pasta, spices, and broth paste handy.

On work mornings I open up the little crockpot, place a handful of dry pasta, a vegetable, maybe some beans or meat, spices and a dollop of broth paste. Then as soon as I clocked in at work I would fill with water and plug in. By the time lunch came, my soup was hot and ready.

I liked it because it’s flexible, and always fresh. It’s good to keep a notepad of ideas and attempts because some are very good (like tomato basil w/ meatballs), and some are not. Good luck!

I make my own dehydrated boil in bag meals. I use THIS SITE as a template and just modify things as needed. I use a lot of powdered heavy cream, powdered eggs, powdered coconut milk, powdered cheese (all purchasable off amazon), instead of rice I dehdyrate cauliflower rice in my dehydrator.

It requires a bit of experimentation on your part since they don't translate 100% but I've made some good meals, bag tacos, butter chicken, fajitas, pizza casserole, buffalo chicken casserole, breakfast scrambles, cheeseburger casserole, etc. I've been playing around with the idea of trying to make a few keto cobblers.

Portion them out into quart freezer bags with smaller bags for spices/seasonings, when time comes to eat boil a bit of water, dump it in the bag and seal it up, let it sit for 10 minutes or so wrapped in a handkerchief or something then enjoy.

If you are dehydrating yourself you want to use LOW FAT meats. I know that's counter-intuitive for keto but high fat content foods won't dehydrate right, so use lean cuts, then add fat later (heavy cream powder, etc)

here's the DEHYDRATOR I use

Here is the HEAVY CREAM POWDER

COCONUT MILK POWDER

CHEESE POWDER

EGG POWDER


I've priced everything out and for a day's worth of meals I'm around 10 bucks or so, vs Mountain House which are 5-8 bucks a meal and the Next Mile meals keto offerings which can be 15 bucks PER meal


EDIT:

You can also bring mayo packets with you and I like bringing Individual Justin's Peanut Butter Packs also, great way to up the fat and to eat "quickly" between meals.

I dehydrate my own jerky as a snack, also you can hit Walmart and get single serve individual foil packs of tuna and spam, they work good as a quick meal without having to boil water.

Hi! I'm going to one of my best friends wedding this weekend. I'm soooooo excoted :)

I have this food dehydrator on my wants wl http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003I4F7AS/ref=aw_ls__6?colid=4LLF7SF9OTB9&coliid=IJ23UAA1UXD4T&vs=1, it would be so cool to dry out fruits and to make homemade beef jerky on :D

Thanks for the contest!

What are your plans for the weekend?

1.21 Gigawatts

I bought myself a mini crockpot, it doesn't cook it only heats but if you plug it in an hour or so before lunch you'll have a nice hot meal. It was this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006H5V8QW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1It doesn't get hot on the outside and uses no more electricity at your desk than a small personal fan would, also smells don't escape it as it's heating the food.

Leftovers, soup, stew, even just the noodles with chicken and some veggies added to fill them out; will all make a good lunch either in a thermos (not super hot but at least warm) or using the crockpot to fully heat.

I make my own beef jerky. this is the dehydrator I use. I buy london broil when it's on sale for under $3 a lb. Toss it in the freezer for about 30/45 mins so that way it is firm enough to cut into thin slices. I use a slicer (work in a restaurant so I go there to do all this and have a drink while I wait. Depending on the thickness I tend to go a little bit on the thinner side, it takes about 3.5/4 hours. but you will be able to tell when it is done, feel free to sample when you think it is done (seriously don't eat it after like an hour in there) because nothing is better then fresh made beef jerky. this is the seasoning i almost always use. Have fun Jerkin it in the kitchen!

Random Wishes: Whole Foods gift card because I need food.

$15 and under: Macro Lens because I like to take nail/makeup pictures and this is really easy.

Getting Healthy: Shoes because my current sneakers are horrible to walk in.

Accessory/Scarves: Purse because mine is falling apart and my other one broke about a month ago.

Books: Dirty Russian so I can tell people to Fuck off when I study abroad!

Clothes/Shoes: Flip flops because I have none currently and it's almosr summer.

Crafty Hijinks: Colored Pencils because my sil stole all of mine when she moved out.

Debauchery: Love is Art kit because what goes better together than sex and painting?

For the new addition: Newborn photography book so I can take pictures of my nephew!

House/Kitchen: Dehydrator because I love to makeup homemade beef jerky.

Makeup: Betty-Lou Manizer because I want to give one to my momma. Her mom's name was Betty Lou. It's actually the anniversary of her passing tomorrow.

Needed items: Another whole foods gift card. Same reason.

Study Abroad: Suitcase set because my current one is teeny and I'll be gone for 7 months!

There are a billion good recipes online for it. And were a little boring with ours. We do 2 parts soy to 1 part Worcestershire sauce. Plus a few drops of liquid smoke. We marinate thin sliced, leanest meat over night. You may want to do the low sodium soy sauces. Also, marinating in a ziplock bag can help save on the amount of marinate you need to make.

We got one of these with the expansion pack:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00179DCCQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Its a pretty good dryer. Cleaning is a bit of a pain, either twice in the dishwasher (don't let it dry the first time) or soak them in the tub and scrub with brush. But we usually do enough jerky to last us an age. We make about 4 or 5 batches a year. We also wait for meat to go on sale then we go hog wild. Grocery store butchers are usually pretty good about slicing meat jerky thin.

I have a Nesco dehydrator ($70)

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-FD-61WHC-Snackmaster-Dehydrator/dp/B0002WSQHU/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1416021159&sr=1-4&keywords=dehydrator

It's super easy to use and clean. I make kale chips in it all the times and love having it.

Welcome back and congrats on the new place!

Ooo you should look into Dehydrators!

They're super fun and of course pump out all the delicious things!

Also, I'm concerned. You say you paint with all the colors of the wind, but what I'd like to know is do you also sing with all the voices of the mountains?

Here's Alton Brown's recipe in text form.


His recipe is a great starting point. You can modify it to your own liking after you've made a few batches.


As for meat choices, top round or flank works out for me. Ideally, the leaner, the better. Here's a chart for meat cuts


I currently use this Nesco dehydrator that I got for $20 from a garage sale. So if you have the time to do some garage sale hunting, hit them up!

This has been covered before, but I just bought a food dehydrator and love it. Make you some awesome paleo beef jerky and dried fruit. Make sue to pack along some nuts as well.

I sound like your girlfriend, as I made basically the same things for myself and my boyfriend :)

Best of all, however, I've made our own beef jerky, which is absurdly delicious and cheaper than store bought. I would buy an eye round roast at Costco, slightly freeze it so it's easier to slice, and then slice, marinate, and dehydrate the slices of meat. It takes a bit of time, but it's worth it for gourmet jerky.

I bought Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H2OEKK/ and it has worked fantastically. It's less than the cost of one weekend of mountain house meals for two and is well worth the money.

Thanks for the advice about the temperature! I couldn't find that anywhere.

But lol I guess I misunderstood about the model. I know the model of the food dehydrator, but I thought you said I could look up the temperature of that dehydrator on the shroomery.org

But in any case I've decided to buy one from Amazon instead. This one is decently priced, has a temperature setting, pretty quiet, and has good reviews. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0090WOCM6/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER What do you think?

I am the God of Jerky in my apartment building. I shall bequeath to you all my religion of cheap, awesome jerky, so you shall go forth and prosper.

First thou shall obtain thine lean meat. Then thou shall sally forth to thine computer and ordereth thy self some of the secret magic flavor pack.

Thou shall then obtain an inexpensive yet holy device of jerky making, from which vast amounts of delicious jerky shall be made on the cheap cheap. This holy relic is a must as well.

???

Prophet.

Honestly, instead of putting together a cookbook, why not buy him some outdoor cooking equipment like a campfire grill or some pie irons. Or a dehydrator to make jerky or trial mix or other things that will keep while camping. If you still want to go the recipe route, then pick up a few recipes specific to that equipment.

Like /u/apocalypso points out, I just don't see it being incredibly useful to put together a cookbook like that without a really clear theme or something that would make it more than just a lesser version of what they could find on their own online.

I bought this dehydrator after reading through several "which dehydrator should I buy" threads on reddit. I'm in Australia so I had to get a step down transformer (that's 2000w, you only need 800w to run the dehydrator).

The first thing I watched was Good Eats season 9, episode 03 - youtube linkie here. The recipe he uses can be modified pretty easily. I sort of cheat a little bit for my 'boutique' marinades; I use Nandos Peri-Peri marinade to make peri-peri jerky (just left it for 2 days in the fridge) and this weird terayki sauce I found in a korean store :P

For the super spicy one I used Alton's recipe and just added a bugger-ton of chilli. Really helps with keto, on nibble and you feel like drinking 600ml of water!

Snapping during a print is usually an indication of moisture absorption, get a food dehydrator and try drying the roll before you give up on it. Rosewill has a rebranded one which is basically the same OEM as the $125 Printdry system.

My budget go to is still Inland from Microcenter, their PETG and PLA+ is supposed to be Esun, regular PLA is Polymaker. Another vote for Atomic filament here, I only used their PETG but diameter and color are super consistent and some colors even have Pantone code (I've had a few of the darker colors of Inland vary shade during long prints or between consecutive smaller prints). Veracity from Filastruder is also super consistent for color and diameter from the PETG and HTPLA (listed as ProPLA) I've used and comes in MasterSpool compatible coils.

If you have the money, Excalibur dehydrators are incredibly nice. Otherwise, the nesco dehydrators like this one work great. Make sure you go through Amazon or someone who will handle warranty issues for you, though.

This sounds like it'd be perfect for you! As long as you have an outlet nearby? (Sorry for the ugly link)

http://smile.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPLC200-R-20-Ounce-Lunch-Warmer/dp/B006H5V8US/ref=sr_1_19?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1409593533&sr=1-19&keywords=slow+cooker

My best friend sent me this and despite having a microwave, I'm really considering buying it.

Don't microwave it, too many risks. You absolutely must develop patience right now if you don't already have it.

I have had this happen to me before however not toilet water thank god. You need to separate them form each other best you can without screwing them up too much and set the aside somewhere kinda warm where there is no breeze at all and just wait and keep waiting if you want to salvage everything. Let it sit like 24 hours before you bather checking. If you can apply passive hear with no blower go for it, just keep it very low. Like a portable radiator based heater on low.

Only other option I can think of is if you happen to have or can borrow a home food dehydrator, that would work wonders. Something like this or similar would do awesome:


https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-Snackmaster-Dehydrator-White/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1482719518&sr=1-5&keywords=food+dehydrator

Jerky is kinda time-consuming, but ridiculously easy.

I use a meat slicer and a fairly expensive dehydrator, but a sharp knife and warm oven will do the job, too.
(The oven is a bit of a hassle, though, so I would recommend a reasonably-priced dehydrator. The square-shaped models are more useful than round.)

I used Alton Brown's box fan & furnace filter method for a while, but it just takes sooo long. Even in my hot garage, it could take four or five days of drying, and I simply do not have that kind of patience where jerky is concerned.

Also as an alternative...

I got one of these mini crockpot lunch warmers as a christmas gift and its great to bring to work! you just plug it in 20 minutes before lunch with your meal already prepped inside and then you have a warm meal without the need for a microwave!

http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPLC200-PK-20-Ounce-Lunch-Warmer/dp/B006H5V7ZY

Make your own!! Here's a recipe. Just take the honey out of his marinade recipe. I use a marinade of soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, fresh ground pepper, and curing salt, and I also got a dehydrator to make it easier. I only marinated the meat for 2 hours, and it came out great!

You're going to get a lot of Nesco suggestions, for good reason. I have this one and love it. I make jerky like once a week. This one has adjustable temp and element on top and plenty of power to do jerky in a just few hours. That's all you really need.

Nice, thanks! I've been thinking about getting another, and that looks like a good one. Mine was similar, I had the round nesco.

Great idea. My wife asked me about doing that this year, as we used to buy dehydrated minced onions from the bulk foods store. I already have a dehydrator (I think it is this one), but is there anything else I would need to know? Do you do anything to prepare them other than dice them up? Any particular temperature work best for the dehydrator?

I would love hotel Transylvania and this is on my next payday list.

My favorite movie right now is the Hunger Games. It was one of the few movies that I have seen that lived up to the book.

Happy early birthday!

I have the same wet tumbler you do. I use this media separator to spin around the cases to remove any pins I missed from shaking out the tumbler into a big bucket. Works very well. I fill it with water and do one run through water and then another run in open air.

Also, GET THE MAGNET those little bastard pins get everywhere and your life will be 100 times easier with the magnet to pick them up quickly.

As for drying them after, I got THIS food dehydrator. works like a charm. It's got a good price point and it has temp and timer controls so you can set it and forget it. I usually run it for 1.5 hours at 130 degrees to dry out my brass. I'd also recommend additional mesh nets as smaller cases like 9mm want to fall through the outer spokes. The nets prevent this and also let you put more on there completely horizontal to get any remaining water to drip out.

I got this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0090WOCN0/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (hopefully that actually brings you to the dehydrator). It was pretty simple to use, although I think I would’ve bought a more powerful one, since I had to run it more than 24 hours straight to dehydrate the peppers. I did some whole and some cut, if I cut them, I did it in half and put the dehydrator in my basement with an oscillating fan blowing on high on it since I didn’t want to pepper spray my entire family. The one I posted you just plug it in and set the temp and let it run, you put the peppers on the trays and stack them all up, the manufacturer recommends using 4-5 trays at all times even if they don’t have anything on them. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll try to help.

>Best cuts of meat?

Whatever is cheap, lean and can be cut thin. Fatty gets gross when dried. I just get whatever looks good and ask the meat counter to cut it paper thin for me.

>Best seasoning?

All the things. Seriously, just throw seasoning on the meat or marinade it. I like soaking mine in jalapeno juice overnight, but i've also just put salt and pepper on it, cayenne, random hot spices and rubs, etc.

>How do I dry them?

I use a food dehydrator like this one. it works ok, but takes like 12 hours. I might by a better one eventually. You can also use a oven on ultra low heat.

I have this one - https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-Snackmaster-Dehydrator-White/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3D3E3AUIUH2CI&keywords=nesco+dehydrator&qid=1562617572&s=gateway&sprefix=nesco+%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-3

​

I like it. I put the trays in the dishwasher and they come pretty clean, sometimes I have to use a little scrub brush. But it makes tasty jerky and kale chips (the only two things I have tried to make) really easily and fits quite a bit of food. I wasn't sure how much I would use it, so didn't want to spend a bunch of money on one. You can also buy additional trays if you are making a lot of jerky at once.

I bought this one recently. No timer, but works great. Good reviews and price.

Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator

Sorry I wouldn't use a no heat method - too much of a chance of pathogenic contamination.

I just purchased a nice NESCO FD75-A Dehydrator off the recommendation of Jerkyholic.

I've used it a couple of times already and it works great. Top round has been finishing in about 5 hours at 160F.

This is the model I have: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_27ABybM378CRH

Pros are it's cheap to get into, expandable up to 12 trays, and easy to clean.

Cons are the heat comes from one end, so you will have to rotate trays part way through.

An alternative is something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017HX1966/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_F.ABybB9VDQGT

Pros are it heats evenly, so no need to rotate.

Cons are you're stuck at the amount of trays it came with (anywhere from 6-12 usually), and it's a little harder to clean.

Edit - Either way, you'll need to be careful of the smell, it'll get into everything. My dad bought one. I tried to warn him, he didn't believe me (although he did use his balcony). Thought I was exaggerating. Until his neighbor two doors down asked him what he was cooking (jerky). I recommend doing it in a shed or garage.

It's a dehydrator, but I don't remember paying that much for it.

These things are like crack.

Also makes amazing jerky.

This with a 50watt or larger power inverter. These were Christmas gifts for our family last year. I dont think we paid this much but these are awesome.

Crock-Pot Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Blue https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B006H5V8RG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XIFZDbRGKNRPM

My buddy and I bought the Nesco FD-75PR 700-watt specifically for dehydrating meals for backpacking. We are currently prepping for 6 days on the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Anyways, definitely get a dehydrator and definitely experiment with seasoning because it will be a lot different than you are use to. From our first chili experiment with the dehydrator we found it was best to season when reconstituting the chili. Someone told me that most spices are fat soluble (could be completely wrong on this) so while we are reconstituting the chili we threw a pad of butter in. Get a dehydrator, you will love it and soon start dehydrating everything. If you go to the link posted above look into the freezerbag cooking. I have not used it but it seems nifty.

Spend $60 once on a good quality Dehydrator and there after make your own jerky an many flavors at about 1/4 the price or less...

For example:

Ingredients

2 pounds beef round steak, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons liquid smoke

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon meat tenderizer

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika


Directions

Place beef strips in the bottom of a large bowl. Pour soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, brown sugar, salt, pepper, meat tenderizer, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika over beef. Mix to assure all the meat is evenly coated. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove meat from bowl and place between two pieces of plastic wrap; pound to 1/8-inch thickness.

Arrange the meat strips on the tray of a dehydrator and dry at your dehydrator's highest setting until done to your liking, at least 4 hours. Store in an airtight container or resealable bags.

I've been making beef jerky for years now. I use a nesco dehydrator, specifically this model: http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-FD-80-Square-Shaped-Dehydrator/dp/B00179DCCQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346783877&sr=8-2&keywords=nesco+dehydrator

It always turns out great, I haven't tried other methods so I can't say much about the cooking the beef thing, but it works. And it makes the house smell great too.

I've got this one and it's pretty good. I'd recommend buying a few extra solid trays (I think they call them fruit-roll-up trays) Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H2OEKK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_IJVQwbM5ZV98K

best bet is to get a food dehydrator, find a marinade you like and make your own jerky. I used to make shitloads of the stuff and it was as good as, if not better than the stuff you get in the bags at the store.

you can also get something that looks like a caulking gun and the spices to mix into ground beef to make your own slim jim type things too.

edit: here it is for you.

Lol i know right? Though my newest, best kitchen toy isthis dehydratorand it's brilliant for when your garden gives you 3824720 tomatoes all on the same day and you have no idea wtf to do with all that (or when you find strawberries on sale...)! I've been eating soooo many dried kiwi slices and apple chips :)

Never tried that and honestly if you have the money and want something to do the job right the link below is for a dehydrator. It’s 40 dollars.

Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H2OELY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_EnLTAbACW6SYE

This will do the trick. I personally have this one, and I love it. Just take a look through amazon and read some reviews.

Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, White - MADE IN USA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MpLTAbKDGTP1D

I don't have one, but at just $51, it might be a good option to look into. Thanks!

What about saving half of your dinner for the next day's lunch and then supplementing your lunch with snacks? Protein bars and shakes are great snacks.

To solve the no kitchen problem--You can heat up your lunch at home and carry hot items in a Thermos and cold items you can carry in an insulated bag with ice packs. They also make CrockPot Food Warmers, so you could bring all of your food in with cold packs and then heat it up in your office (or you could heat up things like canned soup!). As others have suggested, you can make things like sandwiches, salads, fruit, cold noodle salads, etc. that don't need to be heated.

This is my setup:

Dehydrator from Amazon.

Also, I highly recommend a jerky gun. It's a little pricey, but I did a ton of research and people say the plastic ones don't hold up like the metal ones do.

I'm about to crank out another batch of jerky here tonight. What I do is pick up 4 lbs of 97% lean ground beef and season it with ~2 tbsp of salt, a tbsp or so of garlic powder, some cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, and usually some diluted BBQ sauce.

On the batch I'm cooking tonight, I've been marinating the meat in some local bbq sauce (amazing stuff) and Jack Daniels. I can't wait to try it!

It's a bit of an investment up front, but I figure it should hold up well for a long time. With my weight loss, I'm committed to changing my lifestyle as well, and this has fit in perfectly. I took a 12 day road trip last month and I made 4 lbs worth of jerky right before I left and just snacked on it while on the road in lieu of stopping for fast food, and in the mornings instead of the donuts & pastries they had at the conference I attended. I still dropped ~6 lbs during that trip, even though the rest of my diet was more or less suspended.

Hope this helps!

Honestly, you do. I don't like any of the pre made meals I've bought. But I bought a dehydrator on Amazon for 40 bucks and have been making killer dehydrated meals.

edit: http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-37A-American-Dehydrator-400-watt/dp/B00CS5ZI6G/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1415844767&sr=1-5&keywords=food+dehydrator

it's only $34 bucks now, but make sure you get some of those fruit roll trays for making, well, fruit rolls, but also for dehydrating wet things like beef stroganoff! and chicken coconut curry!

Well, from what I've found, you *can* use the polish without a spinner, but it is better to do it on a spinner. This is Storm's product designed for people to use at home, I don't think as many people are going to be picking up quarts of Step Two. That's why I would (personally and hypothetically) do it myself until the ball needs a resurface.

If you're willing to drop the money on a spinner, absolutely do that. They're not difficult to use, and as long as you're not too aggressive with super-coarse Abralon, you aren't going to irreparably damage anything. Given that my PSO charges something like $30 for a full resurface, it was a no-brainer.

People have also built their own ball ovens for much less than the $200. If you look at the Nuball and Vertex rejuvenators, you will see it looks suspiciously like the Nesco FD-61. I stuck one on top of a rubbermaid tote so I can bake two at once, if you're curious I can dredge up the post. I've seen hair dryer boxes as well, but don't know if you need any modifications to keep it at safe temperatures.

I bought this Nesco dehydrator, and I couldn't be more satisfied. Tons of airflow, extremely solid, well-built base, and lots of capacity. It has a really unique air distribution method that really gets everything evenly dry. 3 pounds took me 12 hours in my oven at 170, and 6 pounds took me 5 hours at 160 with this thing, same recipe, same size pieces both times. Cleaning isn't that much of an issue either, since it really didn't get too dirty in the first place. A little soap and water on a sponge, and I knocked out 6 trays, the lid and base in about 15 minutes. Truly a great purchase.

Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_xP-zybA94HKTR

It is pretty big, one tray of chili is enough to feed two people comfortably. It came with a fruit tray, which is required for the more liquid foods like chili. You can get extra fruit trays for about $3 each.

It's one from like the 1990s, given to me by my family. But it looks and works just like this (I think it's even the same brand):

http://www.amazon.com/Ronco-FD1005WHGEN-5-Tray-Electric-Dehydrator/dp/B000G20TCQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1346422160&sr=8-7&keywords=food+dehydrator

Of course there are fancier ones, but mine is just the trays with a heating element. Been working fine for 15+ years.

Edit: OK, judging from the reviews on that one, I would get a different one. Same design, just a different brand.

I know Crockpot make a warmer which you can take to work, but I'm not sure if you power it in your car, however I found an alternative on Amazon which might be good! The first one needs the food to be cooked first, so do some research on the second one too, personally I'd cook in advance just to make sure regardless though.

Well, I actually bought this one-- used, amazon warehouse deals because it comes with fruit leather trays which I use a lot of. The higher the wattage the faster things dry. The Snackmaster is their entry-level version.

I haven't tried drying high water-content stuff like stone fruit or grapes because I'm a little afraid of spoilage if they don't dry evenly and I don't want to spare the freezer space. But for those I puree them and make fruit leather instead. Hope this helps.

$52, free shipping: Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator

I have this dehydrator and it is awesome, in fact, its actually drying some stuff as I write this lol.

You're welcome! Here's the link to the one my spouse bought me. We've had it for a 3 years and it's been working fantastic so far!

(Whoops, it may have been a bit more expensive than I thought it was -- it's around $65).

http://www.amazon.com/Presto-06301-Dehydro-Electric-Dehydrator/dp/B008H2OEKK?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

I've been using a Nesco American Harvest for about 6 months. Actually, the first one died but I sent it back and they replaced it.

It doesn't have a timer, but it does a great job making jerky. Mine came with a jerky gun kit and some of their jerky spice, which is fantastic.

Curvature is caused by the cardstock absorbing moisture from the atmosphere. The paper expands slightly, while the metallic front is unchanged. So the foil is effectively pulled taut across the paper, which bends it.

The fix is to remove the moisture from the cardstock. A food dehydrator is the cheapest and most convenient solution I've found. You can get them cheaply online. Here's the model I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Presto-06300-Dehydro-Electric-Dehydrator/dp/B008H2OELY/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=presto+food+dryer&qid=1556999178&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Keep in mind that this also heats the cards, so the metal will expand, causing it to bend back the other way. But once the foil cools down, it will go back. However, if you left it in long enough, the cardstock will actually dry out, and when the card cools off, it will be straight.

It's not an exact science. I usually have to put my cards in a couple times. But it does last once you get it right, as long as you make sure to store them in a dry place afterwards.

I heavily recommend against any attempts at "flattening" with heavy objects or such. Those methods aren't really addressing the real issue, and you're actually damaging your cards.

I make my own using a food dehydrator. Basic recipes can be found at Trailcooking and Backpackingchef. I use a Nesco FD-61, a fairly basic and inexpensive dehydrator. I plan on having one hot meal per day, usually dinner.

For breakfast I'll eat 1 cup granola mixed with 1/3 cup dry milk and one cup water. I prepack this in a ziploc bag. Alternately, I'll use Quaker 1 minute oatmeal, prepacked with raisins, dry milk, cinammon, and brown sugar. Or couscous mixed with dry milk, brown sugar, crushed pistachios, and cardamom. I like a big breakfast.

Dry salami, cheese, tortillas, dried fruit, dried veggies, rice, tuna, canned chicken, and so forth are all cheaper and more nutritious than Mountain House. Canned chicken dehydrates wonderfully-a 12 oz can can be dehydrated in just a few hours and yields about 2 oz dried meat. To rehydrate just put it in the pot, cover it with water and let it sit for 10~15 minutes. You can add dehydrated veggies at the same time. Then bring it to a boil and add rice, pasta, seasonings, whatever. The chicken will rehydrate perfectly.

Also, there's moose goo for simple bulk food. It's really good on tortillas.

Don't buy the filadry one. It is the exact same as this:

www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Countertop-Dehydrator-Adjustable-RHFD-15001/dp/B018UR4XJI/

There are spool holders for it on thingiverse. I am sure there are others but this one is super cheap and I have it so I can vouch for it's effectiveness.

In regards to autumn foods: EAT ALL THE SQUASH!

• Spaghetti squash lasagna
  
  
• Spaghetti squash spaghetti
  
  
• baked acorn squash
  
  
• sweet peppers, chicken sausage, and whole wheat pasta with pureed butternut squash for sauce
  
  
• zucchini everything
  
  
• sliced zucchini with sweet apple chicken sausage, raisins, walnuts, and whole wheat spaghetti tossed with a little olive oil
  
  
• yellow squash all the things when you run out of zucchini!
  
  
• Ratatouille
  
  As for heating food without a microwave...
  
  
• Portable mini crockpot
  
  
• Heated lunch box
  
  
• Hot packs
  
  
• Thermoses

I bought the dehydrator linked below for <$60 and bought 5 additional racks for it to increase capacity. Between chicken, turkey, and beef, I've probably made upwards of 200 pounds of jerky on the thing. Two years later, it's still running like a champ.

https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-Snackmaster-Dehydrator-White/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_pm?keywords=dehydrator&pd_rd_i=B0090WOCN0&pd_rd_r=d83ef1d1-9212-48e7-9dac-8ebbc708e7ba&pd_rd_w=YkRn2&pd_rd_wg=K52cT&pf_rd_p=6034bbf7-e1cb-46a0-92a7-12ce26e57be9&pf_rd_r=CQZS8MS1NPZXD2MK0R9W&qid=1556808165&s=gateway

Something like that is way overkill for hiking, especially if you're only doing day hikes. My girlfriend and I go up to 20 miles on a regular breakfast and some sort of high protein meal after. You'd be better off getting a dehydrator like this one and just drying a bunch of on-sale fruit/meat/vegetables to use as trail food.

Breakfast: Coffee with 3tbsp of Sugar Free creamer (1sp) with 2/3 of a fiber one bar (3sp/4 for the whole thing, but I wasn't that hungry)

Lunch: Brought my work crockpot filled with buffalo chicken breast (5 oz chicken breast, ranch powder, franks red hot) (0sp) To make a wrap with an Ole! tortilla (1sp) and some avocado (3sp) and a side salad (0sp)

Snack: Greek yogurt with 2 tbsp of chocolate sugar free Jello pudding (0sp) and strawberries

Dinner is more chicken in the home crock pot (bourbon chicken for 3 sp, with rice for 6sp and whatever veggie I dig out of the fridge)

I've got a Nesco fd60 that I've been using for a few years with frequent use with no problems. I use it mostly for drying my peppers for powders/flakes, but it works great for jerky as well.

If you have some extra cash, I'd suggest investing in a dehydrator. They're really fun to learn to use, and make for a nice supply of snacks! I use this one, and although it's not very flashy, it makes some very tasty jerky.

Here is the one I have.... 2 trays is enough to hold a spool. so, you still have 2 for making jerkey :)

I didn't realize it was that expensive.... probably better off getting it on black friday sale at walmart or something... I've had mine for at least a decade... im positive I didnt pay full price.....

we use the nesco fd-75a (amazon link)

i would absolutely not get the one moongrass09 recommended(no offense) because it doesn't have an adjustable temp. reviews said it dries at 160 degrees and the only thing you should dry at that temp is jerky. herbs should be dried at 95 degrees.

we've had ours for over 5 years now and it's still going strong. we expanded it to 7 or 8 trays and still dries well. we do fruit leather (there's a batch of apricots in right now actually), fruit chips, beef jerky, pretty much anything you can think of. the extra power and temp control make the model i linked worth the extra $20. if you dry some fruits or herbs at higher temps it gives it ruins the flavor.

Nesco American Harvest FTW. But get the square version not the round one; you'll thank me later!

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-80A-Square-Shaped-Dehydrator-Frustration-Free/dp/B0090WOCM6/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1454187233&sr=8-13&keywords=nesco

This guy works great for me:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000LNVUJQ

It has variable temps and a fan. You can add trays to it for more capacity, too.

No Amazon or ebay? I have something like this. Works great, gets em cracker dry. I can't get that level of dryness from a fan alone.

You can buy a food dehydrator on amazon for like 30 something bucks and then you just cut out the tray part from each stacking ring and there you go! Took me like 10 minutes and it is perfect for drying PLA and PETG.

Rosewill Countertop Portable Electric Food Fruit Dehydrator Machine with Adjustable Thermostat, BPA-Free 5-Tray RHFD-15001 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018UR4XJI

Similar (prob identical) models can be had from Ali express for cheaper if you don’t mind the long shipping time.

Also if you want to print from the dehydrator you can put a lazy Susan in there and make a little hole to feed filament through. This is exactly what the filament dryer and feeder they sell for 100 bucks is constructed of.

Is it a desk job? Do you hate the microwave like I do? If so, here's my recommendation:

• 20oz 'Crock Pot' warmer or 1.5 quart slow cooker
  
• Pre-cooked chicken/beef (batch-cooked plain on the weekend)
  
• Rice
  
• Seasonings/sauces/extras
  
  You can either hook up the mini 'slow cooker' at your desk or in the breakroom. But either way, it's easy to throw in some precooked meat and some precooked rice when you get in and let it slowly reheat. By dinner time, it should be nice and hot. I've found myself storing some tortillas at my desk, and then hitting the meat'n'rice with some fajita seasoning. Or dumping some bbq sauce on it. Or some bottled asian sauces (szechuan, General Tso's, etc) to make a stir fry. Or tossing in some curry paste. Lots of different possibilities! Also keep some frozen veggies at work to throw in, as well.
  
  In the end, you're paying about $2.50-3/day for rice and 1lb of meat. That's easily 100g of protein at lunch, and depending upon the meat, can be between 650 (chicken breast + rice) and 1500 calories (75% lean beef + rice).

This is the one I have. It works very well. It is honestly quite fool proof.

Do some basic research about the meat you want. Slice it up. Marinate it. Pop it on here until it is done. It works well. I have done several batches for hiking/camping trips and it always receives compliments. If you have questions, let me know.

Sure! It's pretty simple really.
When I catch yellow onions on sale, I grab about 10 pounds.

Cut them into quarters and peel off the outer skin.

I use a Nesco dehydrator. Similar to this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CS5ZI6G/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1459046011&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dehydrator&dpPl=1&dpID=41cKDDdOxGL&ref=plSrch

Take apart the onion quarters by layer and place them in dehydrator trays.

Dehydrate completely. Anywhere from 10 to 24 hours. Onion pieces should be hard & devoid of moisture.

Then just send them through a spice grinder & put in suitable container. I use cleaned out parmesan cheese containers. :)

You need one of these. It's really easy. You just cut the fruit into slices (usually thin ones) and put it in the machine to dry for a while. IMO it works best with bananas and pears.

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75PR-700-Watt-Food-Dehydrator/dp/B000FFVJ3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320859625&sr=8-1

This is the one I have. It was more than $20. I think I got it on sale for about 40 a couple of years ago. There are other cheaper ones on amazon right now too. I'm sure they're all pretty similar.

I have this. It works great. It just warms the food. takes about 90 minutes.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006H5V7ZY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1404832405&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

Agreed. Invest in a real dehydrator, such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-60-Snackmaster-Express-Dehydrator/dp/B000LNVUJQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1415368704&sr=1-3&keywords=dehydrator

It has a 155F temp setting that is absolutely perfect for jerky. You can even buy additional trays beyond the 4 it comes with.

I have one of THESE, that's basically a small crock pot, and works very nicely for reheating things. You can also find rectangular versions of the same kind of thing.

If you get something like one of those, maybe you could leave it at work, and just bring a small cooler back and forth with you? At the very least, that would give you a way of reheating food at work.

Let me introduce you to your future.

Cheapest manager special beef you can find at the market, ask the butcher to slice it jerky thickness (he'll give you samples) and go home and have some fun with marinades and spices.

You might think about buying a dehydrator. You could take a bunch of dry mint leaves, crush them up and make a potent tea-slurry, keep it in the fridge, which you could then add to your fizzy.
There are tons of dehydrators out there. 3 examples below.


"Enjoy the Homemade Easiest Healthiest Snacks, Without Additives or Preservatives, at the Fraction of the Cost of Commercially Dehydrated Foods"

--http://www.amazon.com/Ronco-FD1005WHGEN-5-Tray-Electric-Dehydrator/dp/B000G20TCQ/ref=sr_1_11?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1463785147&sr=1-11&keywords=dehydrator


--http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-Housewares-Professional-Dehydrator-Black/dp/B00N3ILYZ6/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1463785147&sr=1-6&keywords=dehydrator


--http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017KSBYHC?psc=1

Use that money and get a Nessco dehydrator! http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-60-Snackmaster-Express-Dehydrator/dp/B000LNVUJQ/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1462385768&sr=8-9&keywords=nesco+dehydrator

Its fun and easy to make it yourself and a hell of a lot more cost effective! Usually much tastier too!

This is a good option for not very much money.

I've been drying all my filament now that I've had success with the PETG and it's awesome. TPU prints so much better when it's dry, same with PLA. You may need some occasional re-drying with PETG if it's out for very long prints, but other than that you just dry once then store properly.

I use my dehydrator for backpacking. Actually, this summer, my dad has been hiking the AT, so my mom has been using it extensively to ship him meals. I have this model. I bought it about four years ago off Amazon while it was on sale. It's great for fruits, veggies, making jerky, and even fruit rollups.

This is what I do to make having a hot lunch possible with little effort during the week:

This lunch-sized crock pot

Round, 2 cup food storage containers

On a day you can set aside some time, cook up a couple big pots of food that will reheat well. Chili, soup, meatballs, etc. Freeze in individual portions in the 2-cup containers. In the morning, grab a frozen container, briefly run the plastic under some warm water, pop the food into the metal crock pot liner. Either put that into the crock pot and carry it to work, or leave the crock pot itself at work and just carry the liner back and forth. It's frozen, so you don't have to worry about leaks until it has been out of the freezer for a while. Plug it in a work and you'll have a hot meal waiting for you when lunch rolls around.

You can probably get away with only two cooking days for a whole month of lunches as long as you cook more than one thing at a time. It gives you variety to choose from as well, so you don't end up eating the same thing every day.

That’s cute. Low heat.

Something like this could work too: Crock-Pot Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Red https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H5V8US/

I'm looking to buy a dehydrator. It appears you have the Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator. Do you like it? What do other people have or like?

Do you have access to a plug? If so, there are actually little mini crock pots that you can throw your food into early in the morning, and then they are hot by lunch time.

Crock-Pot SCCPLC200-PK 20-Ounce Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Pink https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H5V7ZY/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_3hR5wbHTN0NGH

Here's a link. I just searched for "lunch crockpot" on amazon, and this is one that I got. A little expensive at first, but I think it might help you to have more varied meals and in turn will be cheaper than ordering out.

Edit: this is for fully cooked meals btw. So don't throw in raw meat or veg and expect it to be fully cooked. From the reviews, the food does get piping hot though.

I recently bought this mini-crockpot warmer for my husband because he hates using the microwave at work. He just plugs it in when he gets to work and it's nice and warm by the time he eats lunch. I batch cook up our meals on sunday and portion them out. This week, it will be ground beef with some cheese, and sour cream and salsa on the side to mix in right when ready to eat.

I have this one and it works great. The slightly smaller cheaper version can be found here. It looks like it is the top rated one on amazon but was a little small for my needs.

We have this brand. We use it to make deer jerky every hunting season. I like the adjustable thermostat, and it also has trays that you can use to make your own fruit roll-ups. I got a good deal on mushrooms once that were on sale and dehydrated them for later use in sauces and gravies.

If you dont already have one, grab a dehydrator for ~$40 to make some great red pepper flakes!

This is my primary, and I absolutely love it:

Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H2OEKK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_zYroDbAWZ3PS1

I have 12 tiers on it and have it running 24/7. I hate running appliances long term, 24/7, but it’s taking it like a champ so far. I also have a nesco that I keep as a backup (got it as a gift).

I’m going to stop drying peppers soon. I’ve got over a kilo of dried superhots. I’m going to switch to freezing them now.

I use a food dehydrator. 2.5-3 hours at 125-135. My wife and I love it and it has so many uses. Fresh herbs are generally better, but we don't use them fast enough.

Presto 06301 Dehydro Digital Electric Food Dehydrator https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H2OEKK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_vkLVufxZJKAtT

You could get a wide-mouth thermos. Preheat the thermos by pouring hot water from kettle in it for a few minutes. If you heat your soup, chili, pasta, or stew at home in the morning and add it to a preheated thermos, the food will still be hot at lunch time. Another option is a portable crockpot. Assuming you have access to an electrical outlet, you plug it in and set it up when you get to work, and your lunch is hot by noon.

I don't like a plain tossed vegetable salad for lunch either. I like raw veggies as a snack, and I can eat a lovely big cobb salad for supper, but not for lunch. I want/need a substantial lunch, and in the winter I want it to be hot. I'm not big on sandwiches either, not even in the summer, after a lifetime of eating them. If I do go for a salad, it will be a pasta salad or a chicken salad, a bean salad, something with some calories, fat, and protein in it. Some of my other go-to options (in the summer) are cottage cheese with fruit (packs a big protein punch), or yogurt with fruit and a granola topping, a couple of hard boiled eggs or piece of cheese, kefir (drinkable yogurt), additional fruit -- in whatever combination to get me to the right calorie-protein count.

I've made decent jerky with this dehydrator before. I've used this thing before, but if I'm using ground meat I just shape it by hand now.

Get a Crock Pot food warmer. I love mine.

NESCO FD-75A, Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, Gray https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_uPfTDb0GPAY6R

This is what I have I love it

i have this one and love it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0090WOCN0/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's really up to you. =)

I think that this one is the one my fiance bought. (Not positive because it's in another state, lol.) It works really well for us. Came with 5 trays, the fruit screens (smaller mesh so things don't fall through,) a jerky gun, recipe guide, and maybe some jerky seasoning.

It's really quiet, comparable to a window a/c. The jerky gun worked great for us, we've made some really yummy jerky. And so far the recommended timeset on it seems fairly accurate. The one I linked (with the extras) is listed for $65 right now, but there's one that comes with less that is listed for $49 on amazon. I'm not sure those are the lowest price you can get or anything, but it seems fairly reasonable to me.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002WSQHU/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1458860433&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=nesco&dpPl=1&dpID=51corH4nYUL&ref=plSrch

I have this one. It does a great job, got it at bed bath and beyond

This dehydrator from Nesco is the one I've had my eye on for a while. I think it's the one Angelo Coppola showed in his post with his wife's awesome jerky recipe here.

Invest in a dehydrator. I have this one... its cheap and awesome.

Eh, not that much. The model I got was $65, now it's cheaper, this was back in 2013 though so there may be a better Nesco model out there.

Up until two years ago I only used it for ground beef jerky and did that maybe once or twice a year. But since I upped my pepper production from last year, I use it now to dehydrate those as well so now I have three things to use it for. Sliced jerky, ground beef jerky and peppers.

If you eat a lot of fruits, you could dehydrate those too. The plus side, if you have the storage space for it in a pantry, it will last practically forever. Eventually paying for itself.

My mom is like you, in that she won't eat cold chicken or other cooled meat in a salad. It triggers her eosinophilic esophagitis gagging/vomiting.
She usually makes a big crock pot recipe with proteins and grains, eats it for dinner, then uses the leftovers for her lunch the next day. She has a small portable electric thermos that she uses. It's exactly like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPLC200-BL-20-Ounce-Lunch-Warmer/dp/B006H5V8RG

I use the cheap nesco off of Amazon. It's pretty great, but I dont have a thing to compare it to.

NESCO FD-75A, Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, Gray https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_taa_e68zDbZP3ZW58

this Nesco.

edit: $8 over your budget but get over it :)

Here you go.

Basically, avoiding treats from China would be your best bet, if all else fails. We actually went ahead and bought a food dehydrator off Amazon, and use that to make snacks. In the long run, it's actually a lot cheaper this way, and you know exactly what they're getting. It's easy to put some chicken, or beef, or london broil on there (Look for sales at the grocery store) and just let it run for a day.

Also, it makes beef jerky. Your very own jerky factory.

I have a Presto 06301 Dehydro, My sister just got it for me for my birthday in July, I like it so far but I haven't had to much time to play with it yet.

There's actually these mini crockpot things that you can buy on Amazon to plug in and keep your food warm

Crock-Pot SCCPLC200-R 20-Ounce Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Red https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H5V8US/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_biKoybJW9VDNQ

I have this one (Nesco FD-80A Square Shaped Dehydrator) for $75 and I like it. I swear I paid less for it several years ago though, I thought it was like 55 or so when I bought it.

Rosewill Countertop Portable Electric Food Fruit Dehydrator Machine with Adjustable Thermostat, BPA-Free 5-Tray RHFD-15001 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018UR4XJI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_DPbuDbZDK6DDM
Easily modified, fits a spool easily

Invest in a Kitchen scale and a food dehydrator to portion out your food and make beef jerky and all kinds of veggie chips!

Food dehydrators that would fit your budget:

• $64.99
  
  
• $49.36
  
  
• $36.23
  
  
  Kitchen Scales
  
  

This is the one that I've been using for a while now. I've been happy with it.

My brother has this mini crock pot he takes to work instead of a thermos. He loves the thing

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006H5V8US/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1463316778&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=mini+crock+pot&dpPl=1&dpID=41C9qZrJIwL&ref=plSrch

I like his recipe, it was the first one I tried but those paper filters are a one time deal so even if you only make jerky a handful of times a dehydrator works out cheaper - especially if you also have to buy a box fan.

I paid $37 for this one but I see them in yard sales all the time.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008H2OELY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought this one from Amazon a couple years back and it's been pretty great: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002WSQHU?cache=9c3e2cbcadb4b70ad3694c0f69e46338&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&qid=1406655765&sr=8-4#ref=mp_s_a_1_4

But I think it must have been on sale at the time because I don't remember spending more than $35 on it. There are equivalents without all the extra bells and whistles that come in at that price point.

My only complaint is that the trays aren't dishwasher safe, and hand washing something so large is kind of a pain.

baking sheet with a cooling rack on top in the oven on the lowest temp with the door cracked will get the job done.
but honestly, you can grab a cheap dehydrator and be quite a bit more productive.