Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 373 kcal | 106 kcal |
| Protein | 0.3 g | 0.1 g |
| Fat | 0.1 g | 0 g |
| saturated | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrate | 89.3 g | 25.3 g |
| sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fibre | 0.9 g | 0.2 g |
| Sodium | 9 mg | 2 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can condensed soup of your choice
- 2 teaspoons cornflour
Instructions
- Use the condensed soup straight from the tin without adding the water it asks for. You are trying to take water out, and every cup you stir in is hours on the trays.
- Whisk the cornflour into the cold soup before any heat, then bring it to a simmer for a few minutes until it thickens visibly. Starch dropped into hot soup goes lumpy, and the thickening is what stops the broth running off the drying sheet.
- Let it cool to just warm before pouring. Hot soup steams underneath and lifts the drying sheet off the tray.
- Pour the whole panful onto one drying sheet as a single leather and spread it level. One tin makes one leather, which is what keeps the rehydration ratio simple at camp.
- Dehydrate at 68 °C for 9 hours, which is hotter than most leathers run. That is why the next step matters.
- Once the top is dry to the touch, lift the whole leather off the drying sheet and lay it straight onto the mesh. At this temperature the surface will case-harden and seal the wet underside in if it is left face down for the whole run.
- It is finished when the sheet is brittle and breaks or crumbles in your hand rather than bending. Anything leathery is still carrying water and will not keep.
- Vacuum-seal it with an oxygen absorber for a month in the pantry, six in the fridge or a year frozen; in a zip bag it is a month in the fridge and about five days out of it. To eat it, pour two cups of boiling water over the leather, cover, and leave it ten minutes before stirring.
