This is our step-by-step guide on how to dehydrate ground pork. Dehydrating ground pork is easy to do and adds variety to the outdoor kitchen menu. We recently found Smithfield Foods’ 93 percent lean ground pork available in a 1-pound tray in the meat section at one of our local grocers.
The package label does not show what cut the pork originates from. Nor does the Smithfield company website.
However, seeing this lean ground pork, my first thought was something like … could I dehydrate this and see how it turns out?
At 93 percent lean and 7 percent fat, this ground pork product works well as part of the dehydrated camping food menu and homemade MRE meals.
Dehydrated ground pork makes a great addition to any pork-based freeze-dried food pouch you might have on hand now or later. I am thinking of either the Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy or their Breakfast Skillet, which are some of my favorites that could use a bit more meat, in my opinion.
So, let’s get started dehydrating some ground pork!
Table of Contents
- How to Dehydrate Ground Pork
- Ingredients for Dehydrated Ground Pork
- Step 1. Process to Dehydrate Ground Pork
- Step 2. Preparing the Dehydrator to Dehydrate Ground Pork
- Step 3. Dehydrating Ground Pork
- Step 4. When is the Dehydrated Ground Pork Done
- Step 5. Equalizing and Conditioning the Dehydrated Ground Pork
- Step 6. Storing the Dehydrated Ground Pork
- Hydration
- Weights, Measures, and Serving Sizes
- Insider Tips
How to Dehydrate Ground Pork
The best ground pork for dehydrating and longer storage potential is a 93/7 lean-to-fat ratio. Fat does not dehydrate and will eventually go rancid, meaning it’s time to get rid of it. Lots of websites talk about fats and rancidity but never really take the time to explain it. We’ll save that for later research.
All you need to dehydrate ground pork is a good-quality food dehydrator. We use the Nesco food dehydrators. You can check out our food dehydrator guide to learn why we think Nesco offers the best bang for the buck. We believe this is the best food dehydrator for our long-term food storage needs.
Ingredients for Dehydrated Ground Pork
You don’t need much in the way of ingredients for our dehydrated ground pork recipe.
- Lean ground pork
- Unseasoned bread crumbs
Look for 93 percent lean, pre-packaged ground pork in your grocer’s meat section.
For every 1 pound of ground pork, you’ll need 1/2 cup / 60 grams by weight of unseasoned bread crumbs.
Step 1. Process to Dehydrate Ground Pork
Once you open the package, you might notice that Smithfield Foods’ 93 percent lean ground pork looks a lot like ground chicken or ground turkey. At least it does to me. So I guess this is the “other white meat.” But let’s get to it.
When meat is ground into smaller pieces, then cooked and dehydrated, almost all the moisture disappears and affects the texture of the meat. Rehydrating ground meat so it’s edible seems to take forever, if not longer. Adding a simple panade will help alleviate this problem by keeping the meat tender and flavorful.
A panade is a mix of starch and liquid you would mix into the ground meat so it doesn’t get hard or dry when cooked. The added starch will help bring in moisture hydrating the meat faster and with a better texture in our dehydrated meals.
Any combination of starches, such as bread, bread crumbs, or crackers, will work. Similarly, liquids such as milk, buttermilk, stock, or water can be used. We could also add pork-friendly spices if we wanted.
But we’re skipping the liquid and just adding regular breadcrumbs as the starch. The liquid will come later. We are adding 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs to every pound of ground pork.
You can easily make breadcrumbs in your food dehydrator. Dehydrate a few slices of bread or muffins for several hours at 135 °F / 57 °C. Then, coarsely chop them in a blender or food processor.
In a mixing bowl, break apart the lean ground pork into small marble-sized pieces. Then sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the meat and mix. Work the breadcrumbs into the meat using your fingers and form it into a large pork meatball.
Next, cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the meat mixture rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
In a skillet over medium heat, fry the ground pork until done. You may want to do this in smaller batches. As the meat cooks, break apart the bigger pieces into smaller crumbles.
Finally, when it’s all cooked, take the additional time to chop the cooked ground pork into even smaller crumbles on a cutting board. You may notice the cooked ground pork feels a bit gummy or tacky. This is due to the panade. The smaller pork crumbles will hydrate much quicker and give you better results in your dehydrated meals.
Step 2. Preparing the Dehydrator to Dehydrate Ground Pork
We will use these removable Nesco fruit roll sheet inserts on our Nesco FD-61 for dehydrating the ground pork. They have over 3000 customer reviews with an average rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 which is evidence of a great product. Check out other Nesco food dehydrator products here.
Try to spread out a thin layer of the pork crumbles on the dehydrator trays for a better outcome and a faster dry time. You’ll average 2 of the Nesco FD-61 dehydrator trays for every pound of cooked ground pork.
The Nesco 13.5-inch round dehydrator tray has close to 119 square inches or .8 square feet of surface area for drying.
Step 3. Dehydrating Ground Pork
Dehydrate ground pork, like other meats at 160 °F / 71 °C until dry. My Nesco FD-61 takes approximately 6 to 8 hours to dehydrate ground pork. However, this is dependent upon the ambient temperature and humidity, and how crowded we fill the trays. Remember to use drying times as a guide.
You might notice the pork is a bit tacky from the panade as it begins to dehydrate. The tackiness will go away once the ground pork fully dehydrates.
Step 4. When is the Dehydrated Ground Pork Done
When fully dehydrated, the ground pork crumbles will be hard and dry. There should be no tacky pieces.
Drying times will vary depending on your dehydrator model. Refer to your dehydrator owner’s manual for recommended temperatures and times for dehydrating specific foods.
Step 5. Equalizing and Conditioning the Dehydrated Ground Pork
When the dehydrated ground pork is removed from the dehydrator, any remaining moisture may not be distributed equally because of the size or location, and position in the dehydrator. Equalizing and conditioning is a process for freshly dehydrated foods that ensures any residual moisture remaining in any piece is spread or equalized among all the other pieces in the batch. Let the dehydrated ground pork equalize and condition in the storage container for 7 to 10 days.
It does not take long for dehydrated food items to start hydrating from naturally occurring household humidity. Do not leave dehydrated food items exposed to the elements any longer than necessary because of the increased risk of mold growth.
We always recommend letting food items cool completely after they have finished dehydrating and before packing them in an airtight storage container. Warm food may cause sweating which could provide enough moisture for mold to grow.
After a short cooling period, pack the dehydrated ground pork into clean, dry, insect-proof containers. We will use pint-size or quart-size mason jars with tight-fitting lids.
Every day, check the jar for moisture. Roll the jar contents around and note any clumping or sticking. If seen, put the contents back on the dehydrator for several more hours. Since canning jars are clear, it’s easy to see what’s inside.
Step 6. Storing the Dehydrated Ground Pork
The storage of home-dehydrated meats is a very controversial subject. Should you use oxygen absorbers or not? What about desiccant packets for moisture control? Vacuum sealing? Freezing? Many websites say no, some say yes, while others are silent on this complex and controversial topic.
I don’t use my dehydrated foods for long-term storage. I rotate through it. Otherwise, I’ll use freeze-dried foods for my long-term food storage needs.
The USDA tells us that drying jerky makes it shelf stable for a short period, 1 to 2 months. We’re not dehydrating jerky. My Nesco food dehydrator manual says the shelf life of dried, cooked meats is 2 to 3 weeks at room temperature. They can be stored for up to 6 months in the freezer. We don’t own any expensive food testing equipment. So we don’t know how long our cooked and dehydrated ground meats remain safe beyond those guidelines, even with the use of oxygen absorbers, desiccant packets, vacuum sealing, freezing, or less-than-ideal pantry storage variables.
Oxygen absorber manufacturers and some dehydrating and prepper websites say that you should not use oxygen absorbers for home dehydrated meats. Because you cannot be sure of the residual moisture content of dehydrated meats, botulism bacteria may grow in meats that exceed a 10 percent moisture content in a low-oxygen environment and start producing toxins.
Regardless of the type of storage container, it must be airtight. If it’s not airtight, it will eventually allow your foods to soften and degrade more quickly, and possibly even develop mold.
For shorter-term storage, up to a week or three, we use mason jars with tight-fitting lids and a desiccant packet for moisture control. Since mason jars are clear, it’s easy to see what’s inside.
We use these inexpensive food-safe desiccant packets which are available from Amazon. These 5-gram packets have well over 5000 4- and 5-star customer reviews, with an average of 4.7 stars out of 5. Our bag of 60 desiccant packets will last quite a while because they can be recharged and reused multiple times. Other food-safe sizes are available.
My preferred means of longer-term storage, up to 6 months, for dehydrated ground meats are in vacuum-sealed bags and stashed away in the freezer.
With any of these methods, I’ll attach or include a short note describing the contents and the date the product was dehydrated. The note also informs us where to go in the dehydrator logbook to make another note or two.
Hydration
This dehydrated ground pork recipe hydrates best in a 1-to-1 ratio of pork crumbles to water. For example, 1/3 cup of dehydrated pork (40 grams) and 1/3 cup of water.
We have used both cold water and hot water to hydrate with good results. However, water brought to a boil and mixed with the dehydrated ground pork seems to work the best.
If you’re supplementing a store-bought freeze-dried meal as we do, just add a tad bit more boiling water to the freeze-dried food pouch. Just use the same 1-to-1 ratio of dehydrated meat to water. Some freeze-dried meal instructions tend to overestimate the amount of water for hydration.
Practice these recipes at home before relying on them in the field so you will know the results to expect. Use the very same camp cookware and the same camp stove from your outfit. Put that gear to use so you’re ready to go. Practice makes perfect.
Weights, Measures, and Serving Sizes
This information is from a recent entry from the notes we keep on most of our food dehydration projects.
The grocery store food label showed we started with 1 pound of 93/7 lean ground pork. Our digital kitchen scale showed a starting weight of a wee bit less than 1 pound of ground pork, or 442 grams. Adding the ½ cup of breadcrumbs brought our starting weight up to 1 pound 2 ounces or 503 grams.
We had about 14 1/2 ounces / 415 grams of ground pork crumbles after cooking the meat in our non-stick skillet for about 15 minutes.
Finally, after nearly 6 hours in the food dehydrator, we had just 163 grams of the dehydrated ground pork.
We consider a minimum serving size of ground meat to be 4 ounces. So that is roughly 40 grams of dehydrated weight and measured out to be 1/3 cup by volume.
Insider Tips
Add these dehydrated pork crumbles to your favorite freeze-dried food pouches. Be sure to compensate by adding a bit more water as you prepare your meal.
If you have one, use a non-stick skillet. Lean ground pork and the breadcrumb panade mix might stick to ordinary cookware such as your cast-iron skillet. Be sure to use a wire mesh sink strainer during clean-up to keep that mess from going down the drain and potentially clogging the kitchen sink.