Dehydrating Turkey
Using Pre-Cooked, Pre-Sliced Deli Turkey Breast!

Pre-cooked sliced Turkey dehydrated on Nesco food dehydrator

Dehydrating Turkey is So EASY to Do!

Dehydrating turkey that is pre-cooked and pre-sliced couldn't be easier! So off to the refrigerator I went and took out a 9 oz. plastic tub of sliced Turkey I'd bought from Target Stores.





These 'before' and 'after' photos (shown below) are of the sliced turkey on the dehydrator. Notice how much they shrink!

NOTE: the tray on the right was a tray that had five slices on initially, not three.

(I think "someone" ate two of them before dehydrating them...)

Pre-cooked turkey, before and after dehydrating

Cut Evenly Sized Pieces of Turkey

As with the chicken and roast beef pages, I note you can use your leftover meats (as in whole chicken and turkey, and cuts of beef).

Just cut the meat into "dehydratable" pieces—make the pieces similar sizes—now they will dehydrate uniformly!







REMEMBER to turn the heat UP to 160°F
never dehydrate meat on a lower setting,
that's not safe (germ-wise).

REMEMBER to turn
the heat UP to 160°F
never dehydrate meat
on a lower setting,
that's not safe
(germ-wise).

Ideal Temperature for Dehydrating Cooked Turkey

Cooked turkey is best dehydrated at 160°F as mentioned above—but please consult your food dehydrator's owner's manual for their specific instructions.

Back to the store-bought pre-sliced turkey:

The package from Target filled all four of my Nesco Dehydrator trays, with around three slices of turkey on three trays, and four slices on the fourth...

and I couldn't believe that it only took TWO hours to become fully dehydrated!

The Turkey Slices Re-hydrated Really Well!

Pre-cooked Turkey after dehydrating and Re-hydrating

As you can see in the photo, I purposely draped a slice of the re-hydrated turkey around my finger so you could see that it was indeed moist again, i.e. not straight and crispy!

Pre-cooked and sliced Turkey

I was very pleased, to say the least. IMPORTANT: re-hydrate in the refrigerator in CLEAN water. Don't leave it out on the countertop! Don't waste your time and effort and let the turkey go 'off'!

In the photo above, you can clearly see three packages of pre-cooked turkey, all vacuum-sealed with their oxy-packs and ready to store.

I will check on these in about a month, to make sure they haven't 'turned'... because there is fat in meat and we don't want to be eating rancid bad turkey!

UPDATE: Turkey still 'perfectly good' after one month with no refrigeration! :-)

Turkey from Tastes Better from ScratchImage and recipe courtesy of Tastes Better from Scratch

Easy,
No-Fuss Thanksgiving
(or any day)
Turkey!

I can't wait until next November or December for turkey!

Here's an easy, no-fuss turkey recipe.

It's from a place called
Tastes Better from Scratch.

Then you'll be back here—dehydrating turkey leftovers! :-)

Memories

One of my favorite "turkey" memories is getting to eat Turkey Risotto. My mom made it every year back in the UK at Christmas time.

After moving to the USA, I got to enjoy my favorite turkey meal twice a year. Yes! Now Thanksgiving is another reason for going the extra mile for a sit-down turkey dinner.

Instead of using rice every time, I changed it up and added orzo. Adding orzo also shortened the cooking time by half!

Mom's Turkey Risotto Recipe was simple: A can of diced tomatoes, small can of peas, half a white onion, handful of mushrooms. And cooked, sliced up turkey, of course!

Cook it all down in a large shallow frying-type pan with a tad of chicken stock. Then add the rice, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 mins or until the rice is cooked. Again, if you substitute orzo for the rice, you've only got about 15 mins of added cooking time!

Believe it or not, I preferred the Risotto to the 'turkey, mash, and gravy' sit-down dinner.


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