Wild Bound

In my last article, I mentioned buying a food dehydrator to make my own camping foods. Unfortunately, right now I have neither the money nor the space for a food dehydrator, and when I am totally honest with myself, I have enough kitchen appliances that have long been forgotten.

If you are like me and don’t have a food dehydrator but you still want to make your own camping food, You are in luck! Your oven (yes, an ordinary kitchen oven) can be turned into a makeshift food dehydrator.

I remember my brother making jerky in the oven when I was a kid. For a day (maybe more) we had the oven turned on low and the door propped open. The oven was off limits for cooking, but the deer jerky that came out at the end was worth the wait

Turning your oven into a food dehydrator is really very simple.

• Heat the oven to a temperature between 140-160° F
• place the food you are drying on a cookie sheet or straight on the oven rack, leave room for air circulation
• prop the oven door open with a rolled up magazine or a wooden spoon
• stir food every couple of hours and wait.
• Dehydrated food will end up leathery to touch. Make sure you take a piece out and let it cool before determining doneness because the food will be softer when it is warm.

That’s all there is to turning your oven into a food dehydrator. Next week, I hope to have some oven dehydrating recipes to publish for you. Nothing is quite as fun and preparing for a summer camping trip on a snowy winter day.

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