Instructions: I too have an American Harvester dehydrator, and use it a lot. My hubby and I are avid backpackers, so lightweight, portable foods are a must for us.

I
make a great jerky out of very lean venison. I have in my freezer some venison ham steaks that are too lean to do much with (like eating shoe leather). So I thaw it partially, slice it very thin, then marinate it overnight in any one of a variety of sauces. Place it in the dehydrator

(raw), take off for work, and it is usually ready when I get home early evening. You can make a variety of marinades for varied flavors. I usually
make one with a lite teriyaki sauce, a splash of raspberry vinegar, some ginger and maybe a little orange juice, then black pepper sprinkled in.

Then Ill make another adding some soy sauce and a little liquid smoke and other seasonings for a more robust, smoked flavor.

The trick to making jerky is that it must be very lean. The fat will cause
it to go rancid.

I also dehydrate a variety of fruits and veggies. Try sliced fresh mushrooms - Yummm! Sliced tomatoes, zucchini chips, broccoli, green onions, lots of fruits. I also make fruit leathers. Start with apple sauce and add other flavors and spices. Or puree fresh or canned fruits. There

are as many combinations as you can think of. Dried fruit yogurt makes a great leather too! Very tart and tangy. Be sure to lightly oil the trays,
though, or youll NEVER get it off.

I dry jarred spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce and/or paste to add to camping
meals. Small silver-dollar sizes of dried tomato paste do wonders for a one-pot camp meal. We like to have spaghetti on the trail. I dry browned

ground beef (brown it well, rinse all the grease out of it with hot water through a collander, then dry it till it is, well, what we call Gravel - hard as a rock). At camp, bring a pot of water to boil, add pasta, dried meat and sauce leather, throw in some dried mushrooms, and let it all simmer
till everything is reconstituted and the pasta is done. Of course you dont
have to add meat - but on long backpacking trecks we need the extra protein. You can also use chipped jerky instead.

Two great books I recommend:
The Hungry Hikkers Book of Good Cooking, by Gretchen McHugh

The Well-Fed Backpacker, by June Fleming

Both have some great ideas for dehydrated foods, plus some recipes so you know what to do with them once they are dried!

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