Dehydrating Chicken

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Dehydrating Chicken

The secret to dehydrating chicken so that it turns out tender is to pressure cook it first. Pressure cooking chicken tenderizes and intensifies its flavor better than any other cooking method.

Before I discovered pressure cooked chicken, I tried poaching chicken breasts in chicken broth in a pot. I cut the cooked chicken into strips and dried it for eight hours at 145 degrees. When I rehydrated the chicken it was very tough.

Drying Canned Chicken:

Canned chicken is pressure cooked! I have dried several brands including Swanson, Target, Hormel, and Tyson. They all turn out very tender when rehydrated.

I also dehydrated a couple of brands of pouched chicken which is also pressure cooked. The pouched chicken turned out more tender than my home cooked chicken, but was a little chewier than the canned chicken.

A 12.5 ounce can yields 7 ounces of chicken after you drain the liquid. For best results, pull chunks apart into smaller strips and spread out on your dehydrator tray.

Dry at 145 degrees for approximately eight hours. When dry, a 12.5 ounce can yields a little less than a cup and will weigh 1.5 to 2 ounces.

Store dehydrated chicken in the freezer until you are ready to use it or pack for a trip. Chicken meat is more fibrous than beef, so bacteria can grow more easily in the open spaces. For that reason, I wouldn’t store it for more than a month outside of the freezer.

PasnThru’s experiment with broasted chicken purchased from a restaurant.

Broasting is pressure cooking with oil. The photo shows dried breast meat on left and thigh meat on right with the rehydrated meat in the foreground. PasnThru was pleased with the results. Because the meat is cooked under pressure, much less oil enters the meat compared to open frying. Fast food restaurants publish nutritional information on their websites. I noticed that Kentucky Fried Chicken uses mono sodium glutamate in their chicken which is troublesome for lots of folks. There was no msg in any of the canned chicken that I tried, but they were all high in sodium. You will get rid of some of the sodium when you drain the liquid off.

Thanks PasnThru!

Steaming Chicken - Another Option for Dehydrating Chicken

Jeff the Chef of Issaquah, WA writes:

Buy a large chicken, not extra large, so as not to get a fatty bird.
Skin and trim all the fat.
Cut it in half and steam for one hour until falling apart.
Remove bones and pull meat apart into small pieces.
Hit with seasoning salt or a little soy sauce if for Asian dish.
Dehydrate at 145° - 155° until dry (time varies with dehydrator model)

Yield: 15-20 ¼ cup portions for the price of two cans!

Jeff says, "Steamed chicken has excellent flavor and less fat than canned chicken. The fat drips off the bird during steaming and can be helped along by pouring hot water over the bird. I do this with turkey and duck also."

Thanks Jeff the Chef!

Dehydrating chicken gives you lots of delicious options for backpacking meals. Consider these basic recipes as starting points:

Chicken and Mashed Potatoes:

½ cup Potato Bark (made with chicken broth)
¼ cup Dried Vegetables (any kind)
¼ cup Dried Chicken
1 ¼ cups Water

Chicken and Rice:

½ cup Pre-Cooked and Dried Rice (made with chicken broth)
¼ cup Dried Vegetables (any kind)
¼ cup Dried Chicken
1 cup Water

To rehydrate, soak your dried chicken with the other ingredients in your pot for five minutes. Light stove and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and wait ten to fifteen minutes before eating.

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