Potato Bark

Food is not just eating energy. It’s an experience.

Guy Fieri

I am always amazed that when I hike I crave all sorts of things I never eat at home – loads of salt, carbs and fat – and I still lose weight. The problem for me is that I forget how it feels on the trail when I’m back in life, so I need to remind myself to bring the right food to stay energized. Creamy, salty, buttery loaded potatoes is one such food, but I’m horrified by the junk added to store-bought potato flakes – and how overpriced they are – so I decided to save money and dehydrate potatoes myself, adding only what I wanted. They are surprisingly lightweight, versatile and easy to cook.

Here’s what you’ll need:

10 pounds potatoes (Yukon Gold mash really well, but you can use any kind)

8 cups broth

salt/pepper to taste

Optional add-ons:

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Herbs, e.g. dill, chives, parsley

Dried whole milk

Dried cheese

Dried peas, carrots, peppers, etc.

Here’s what you do:

1. Boil potatoes until you can stick a fork through them. I leave the skins on.
2. Mash the potatoes slowly adding the broth
3. Place in a food processor or blender to make them smooth
4. Pour onto dehydrator trays, almost like you’re frosting a cake
5. Crank up the dehydrator to 140 degrees
6. Occasionally check and flip. I cut the pieces smaller into strips as it dries for that “bark” look.
7. Fully cool before packing into vacuum seal bags and store in the freezer until ready to use.

Pro tips:

• I add the powdered ingredients and dehydrated vegetables to the dried bark when packaging and not to the mash before drying.
• The bark is so crunchy, it tends to make small holes in to vacuum seal bags, but I have never had a problem with spoilage
• The rehydrated bark makes more of a potato soup than mashed potatoes. I often add another helping of dried broth on the trail for even more salt!