Staple Ingredient - Hamburger Rocks

Dehydrated hamburger is quite simple to make. The key is to get the leanest beef available. Now, for normal cooking, I buy whatever is the cheapest but for making hamburger rocks I wait until the super-lean beef is on sale and then buy a considerable amount of it. Beef rocks are nearly indistiguishable when cooked in casseroles and soups. I love them because they store so well and are easy to use. Simply rehydrate by soaking 1 cup of rocks in 2 cups of boiling water for about an hour.

Step 1 - Brown the beef thoroughly and drain the fat, if any.
Step 2 - Rinse well in a colander with hot water until you are reasonably sure there is no more fat on the beef. Any additional fat can cause the beef to go rancid in storage.
Step 3 - Return the beef to the a clean pan, and continue to cook until you don't see any more steam. We are now driving off the extra water that was added during the rinse.
Step 4 - place the beef into the bottom section of a broiler pan or 9x13 pan. I prefer a pan that has higher sides for ease in stirring.
Step 5 - Place into the oven at the lowest setting available, about 175 or 200 in a pinch.
Step 6 - Cook at the low heat for 10-24 hours (depending on how much beef you have), stirring occasionally until the beef is completely dried. If you need to dry it overnight you can just turn the oven off and leave the light on, that will create a bit of heat that will continue the dehydration process until you can turn the oven back on in the morning.

Cool the rocks and store in a bag away from light and heat. The beef rocks will keep for two years if stored properly.