Food

You gotta eat.  That said, this is NOT a guide to gourmet cooking in the backcountry.  There are plenty of sites that talk about wonderful dishes you can put together.  Here we mostly list the basic options for camping food with an emphasis on minimal weight, simplicity and sometimes economy. 

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High Adventure Food

Ultralight Food

Disclaimer

The following information includes common products and practices used by backpackers. 

These products and practices may violate food handling practices or expose the handler or consumer to pathogens or chemicals that may be unhealthy.

Dehydrated and Freeze Dried Meals 

Why dry food?  By removing water from your food, you get the maximum amount of Calories per oz.  Shave off packed weight by adding back water when you get to camp and have access to a stream. 

Note Dehydrated vs Freeze Dried Meals

• Dehydrated Meals

  • Usually need BOILING water to rehydrate and cook

    • May require 10+ minutes to rehydrate

  • 80-95% of moisture is removed (less for DIY dehydration)

  • Heat degrades nutrients (can result in 40-50% loss of nutrients)

  • Many dehydrated meals contain pasta or rice

    • Not using boiling water will result in a crunchy mess that may not be digestible or even cause digestive issues

• Freeze Dried Meals 

  • Usually precooked and need HOT water to reconstitute 

    • Per Mountain House "You Can Rehydrate Food With Cold Water Too"

      • Rehydration will take about twice as long with cold water

  • 99% of moisture is removed

  • Longer shelf life

  • Retains more taste, smell, texture once rehydrated compared to dehydrated meals

  • Quicker rehydration 

• Dried Foods that can be Cold Soaked

  • Many backpackers practice "Cold Soaking"

  • They slowly rehydrate their meals by soaking dried food in a jar

  • This reduces or eliminates the need for a stove and fuel

  • This is a questionable practice and raises the concern for foodborne illnesses

    • From a food safely standpoint - this is NOT acceptable

  • NOT recommended for Scouting or anyone else

• Dried Foods that Require Cooking

  • Certain foods need more than just rehydrating or cold soaking - they must be cooked to be edible

    • One options is to cook these first and then dehydrated/freeze-dry them at home

  • Many foods were NOT intended to be eaten raw

    • Exempt from the FDA’s Produce Food Safety Rule

      • May contain bacteria

    • Few nutritional studies - since not intended for raw consumption

      • Many may just pass through your system with minimal or no nutritional value

      • Can result in digestive tract issues and lead to reduced absorption, constipation or diarrhea  

    • Many contain proteins called lectins

      • Some lectins can be toxic or harmful if consumed without first cooking them

      • No longer harmful if cooked before consumption 

    • Starch gelatinization

      • Glucose is bound together into tightly woven amylose and amylopectin starch molecules

      • Hydrogen bonds hold amylose and amylopectin together

      • Heat causes hydrogen bonds to break and unraveling of stretch molecules

      • Makes it easier for your digestive enzymes to digest starch

  • Pasta

    • Risk of salmonella from raw eggs

    • Pasta needs to be cooked to enhance digestion

      • Starch gelatinization - breaking down of intermolecular bonds of starch molecules into amylose and amylopectin

      • Protein denaturization - unraveling of proteins

  • Grains

    • High in lectins

    • May contain salmonella, E. coli or listeria

    • Some common "raw" grains can be eaten without cooking 

      • They may have already been heat treated to prevent sprouting 

        • Rolled Oats

        • Kasha (toasted buckwheat groats)

  • Rice

    • Source of Bacillus cereus - may result in food poisoning

    • Protein lectin needs to be cooked to digest and avoid digestive issues

    • Needs to be heated for starch gelatinization to occur - critical in digestibility of rice 

  • Beans

    • Highest amounts of lectins

    • Soaking and heating inactivates these lectins

      • WHO recommends soaking for at least 12 hours and then boiled vigorously for at least 10 minutes

      • FDA  recommends soaking for at least 5 hours and then boiled for at least 30 minutes

  • Take home point: Cook foods that need to be cooked!

Carbs

• Oatmeal

  • Groat (Whole Oats)

    • Requires an hour of soaking and cooking

    • Chewy

  • Steel Cut Oats

    • Low glycemic index - blood sugar rises slowly

    • 45 minute cook time

  • Stone Ground (Scottish Oatmeal)

    • 10 minute cook time

    • Makes smooth porridge

  • Rolled Oates (Old-Fashioned)

    • 10 minute cook time

    • Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods - Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

  • Instant Oats (Quick Oats)

    • High glycemic index - bad

    • 1 minute cook time

    • Often has a lot of sugar added

    • Trader Joe's instant oatmeal

    • Quaker instant oats

  • Oat Flour

    • pulverized oats

    • Use the thicken stews and soup

    • Use to make pancakes

  • Oat Bran

    • Outer layer of oat

    • used to increase fiber intake

  • Oatmeal Notes

    • Oatmeal is better with toppings

      • Dried fruit like cranberries or bananas

      • Cut almonds or other nuts

      • Wheat germ, granola or flax seeds

      • Coffee

• Grains

  • Whole Grains

    • Oats - see above

    • Quinoa

  • Processed Grains

    • Instant rice

    • Instant grits

  • Wheat Germ

    • removed from refined wheat products

    • Can go rancid

• Dried Noodles

  • Pasta

  • Ramen

  • Couscous

  • Rice noodles

• Instant Potatoes

• Bread

  • Bagels

  • Tortillas

• Crackers and Biscuits

Instant Meals

Why Instant Meals?  Easy to eat - just open and eat.  Cooking and hydrating not required.

• Pop-Tarts

  • Not really a food but Scouts love it

• Military MREs

  • Expensive and heavy

  • Can be fun for Scouts

• Omeals ($10 - $14)

• Foil Packets

  • Beans in Foil Packs

  • Fish or Poultry in Foil Packs

    • StarKist

• Cooked and sealed meals

  • Cooking or ice likely required

• Canned Goods

Meat

Why - because we aren't cows.

Meats need to be stored in airtight container to limit smells and hung or locked away at night.  Animals LOVE meat and fat too.

NOTE: Consuming meat on the trail can result in serious food-borne illnesses

• Dried Meats

  • Dehydrated chicken

  • Dehydrated turkey

  • Dehydrated Pork

    • Pork Fu

      • Find in Asian Grocery Store and sometimes at Costco

      • Shredded, dried pork

  • Meat Shredz - Premium Dried Pulled Pork

  • Beef Jerky

  • Landjäger sticks

    • German

    • smoked and air-cured

  • Biltong

    • South African

    • game meat

    • marinated meat strips in a vinegar solution before adding spices and hanging to dry

  • Droëwors

    • South African

    • beef

    • narrow, dried coriander seed flavored sausage

  • Meat Stick

    • So many different types

• Preserved Meats

  • Hard/dry salami

    • Salami is fermented meat meant to last a year in storage

    • If possible - keep whole for better preservation

    • Slicing up and storing exposes surfaces to bacteria

    • Ideally cover exposed end with salt to protect against spoiling

    • Ideally consume entire stick within 7 days

  • Soppressata

    • A type of salami

    • mixture of course cut of lean pork and rich fatty shoulder parts

    • Pressed

  • Pepperoni

    • Italy

    • A type of salami made with more spices

    • finely ground and seasoned with black peppercorns, salt, sugars, and herbs

    • Pepperoni sticks make great individual snacks

  • Summer sausage

    • Sausage that can be kept without refrigeration until opened

    • Not as dry as salami

    • Once opened - you need to consume it within a week (unless winter camping)

  • Prosciutto

    • Dry cured uncooked ham

    • can be stored unrefrigerated for up to a week

  • Cervelat

    • Switzerland, France

    • equal parts of beef, pork, bacon, pork rind and ice

  • Lola sausage (Lolita sausage)

    • Italy

    • mildly seasoned pork with garlic

  • Lyons sausage

    • French

    • dry sausage made of pork meat combined with finely diced fat

  • Smoked Bacon

    • Cooked Jerky

  • Smoked Salmon

• Meat Bars

  • Epic Provisions

• Canned or Foil Packed Meats

  • Tuna

  • Salmon

  • Spam

  • canned ham

  • Fish

    • Love oily fish in a can?  So do bears

• Non-Preserved Meat

  • Needs to be fully cooked and ideally chilled

  • Beef

    • If you must - dice up, freeze and store in freezerbag

  • Bacon

    • Despite what you may think - this is not a preserved meat

    • It will rot if not refrigerated

    • It must be thoroughly cooked

    • Note - shelf stable bacon is available (in can)

  • Fresh Fish does NOT keep - don't even think about it

Hard Cheeses

Hardness of cheese is very dependent on water content.  Less water content makes for a denser food that is more bacteria resistant. 

Notes on Storage

• Cheese doesn't like plastic - it doesn't breath.  If storing cheese before a backpacking trip - wrap with parchment paper to allow it to breath

• Shredded cheese is problematic - if one strand gets contaminated, the rest will be too

• Cutting up or dicing cheese exposes more surface area to air - increasing rate of "turning"

Based on Aging

"Soft Cheeses"

• Unripened cheese

• Made by coagulating milk proteins--or casein--with acid

• Higher water content

  • Less calories per oz

  • Not shelf stable

• Examples

  • cream

  • cottage cheeses

"Hard Cheeses"

• Ripened (aka aged)

• Made by coagulating milk proteins with enzymes (rennet) and culture acids

• Lower water content

  • Resistant to bacterial growth

• Ripened by bacteria or mold

• Bacteria-Ripened Examples

  •  Cheddar

  • Swiss

  • Colby

  • brick

  • Parmesan

• Mold-Ripened Examples

  • Blue

  • Roquefort

  • Camembert

  • Brie

Based on Water Content and Firmness

• Fresh cheese

  • Cottage Cheese

  • Ricotta

  • Mascarpone

  • Cream Cheese

  • Quark

• Soft

  • Brie

  • Camembert

  • Ricotta

  • Munster

• Semi-soft

  • Havarti

  • Jack

  • Friulano

  • Marble

  • Provolone

• Semi-hard aka Firm

  • Gouda

  • Roquefort

  • Gorgonzola

  • Stilton

  • Bleu de Bresse

  • Danish Blu

  • Cheddar cheeses

    • Edam

• Hard (aka Grafting Cheeses)

  • aged Gouda

  • Parmesan

  • Mimolette

  • Asiago

Cheese Shelf life

• Fresh Cheese

  • A few days

• Soft Cheese

  • Around one week

• Semi-soft Cheese

  • Two-three weeks

• Firm Cheese

  • Up to five weeks

• Hard Cheese

  • Up to ten months

Popular Backpacking Cheeses

• Cheddar

• Parmesan

• Parmigiano Reggiano

• Gouda cheese

• Cojita

• Gruyère cheese

• Pecorino Romano

• Colby

• Colby-Jack

• Manchego

• Monterey Jack

• Edam

• Emmental

• Comté cheese

Energy Bars

Instant food.  Add nut butter to increase calories and flavor.

• ProBar Meal Bar

  • High calorie to weight ratio

  • High fat to calorie ratio

  • Low protein to calorie (bad)

  • Good texture to some - not so much for others

  • Natural taste

  • Ok if cold or hot

• Kate’s Real Food

  • High average calorie

  • Excellent flavor

• Kind

  • Kind Dark Chocolate Bars (basically all of them) have fat percentage of 61-64%

    • Thought to be a good thing for backpacking

• Clif Bar

  • Low calorie to weight ratio (bad)

  • Easy to find in grocery store

  • Cliff Bars (Nut Butter Filled) have a fat percentage of 40-42%

    • Thought to be a good thing for backpacking

• Ivan Bar

• Luna

  • Affordable

  • Find in grocery store

  • Melts in sun

• Bobo’s Oat Bars

  • Many flavors

  • Expensive

• Range Meal Bars

  • High calorie bar

  • High fat to calorie ratio

• TAOS Bakes

  • Great value

  • Hard to find

• Gatorade Whey Protein Bar

  • Good calorie to weight ratio

  • High in Sugar (bad)

• Robert Irvine’s Fit Crunch

  • High protein to calorie ratio

  • Still soft and edible when cold

• Met-Rx Big 100

  • High protein to calorie ratio

  • Taste? what is this even made of?

• Clif Builder Bars

  • High protein to calorie ratio

  • Low calorie to weight ration (bad)

  • Can be hard if cold or melt if hot

• Rise Bars

  • High calories to weight ratio

  • High protein to calorie ratio

  • High fat to calorie ratio

  • Get very hard if cold

• Bear Valley Pemmican Bars

• Perfect Keto Bars

  • Low Calorie bar (bad)

  • Highest calorie to weight ratio

  • Highest fat to calorie ratio

• Nature Valley Crunchy Bars

  • High calories to weight ratio

  • Budget Bar

  • Crumbly

• Clif Bloks

  • Low calorie

  • Expensive

• Clif Shots

  • expensive

Nut Butter

Why - calorie and protein dense.  Obviously there are a lot of people allergic to peanuts.  Also - it is smelly and animals love it so it needs to be hung or locked away.

• Almond Butter

  • Packets (Justin's)

• Peanut Butter

  • Small container vs Packets (Justin's)

  • Some use double baggies to store this (one just isn't enough to keep it off your gear)

• Nutella

  • Mostly sugar and modified palm oil

  • Hazlenut

  • Cocoa

Canned Foods

Old school food option.  If you have a strong back, or plan to canoe or car camp, this is an option.  One of the big drawbacks is that you need to carry out used cans.

OK for Car Camping

• Many options

• Affordable compared to what are generally considered backpacking options

• Easy to find in just about any grocery store

• Doesn't require cooking skill or much effort

Not Recommended for Backpacking:

• Too heavy (high weight vs calories)

• Creates a lot of trash (messy, bulky and heavy

• Often insanely high in sodium

• Don't forget can opener if cans don't' have pull tabs

  • Know how to open can with rock rub technique

Meal in a Bag

Cook up your favorite meals at home.  Vacuum seal them and freeze.  Throw in boiling water and you'll soon have a delicious hot meal.

Why:

• Easy way to set up food for group

• Group doesn't need to have cooking skills, just a cook at home

• Economical compared to other Backpacking meals

• Ingredients easier to find, unless you get fancy with meals

Issues:

• Heavy - lots of water weight

  • OK for Car Camping - but not so great for backpacking

• Longevity - not great for longer trips

  • OK for Snowcamping if you are dragging gear with a pulk - food stays frozen

Meal Deals

• REI

  • SAVE 10% - When you buy 8 OR MORE backpacking foods

  • SAVE 10% - When you buy 10 OR MORE energy foods or drinks

  • SAVE 10% - When you buy 10 OR MORE snacks

• Fred Myers

  • Look for Sports Goods Sale

  • Military discount on certain days

• BSA Discount

  • 10% Dick's Sporting Goods

  • 10% Sportsman's Warehouse

• Military Discount

  • 20% backcountry.com

  • 20% moosejaw.com

  • 10% campmor.com

• Meal Kits

  • Purchasing is bulk can save you money - if you are buying what you want

Spices

Wars were fought for good tasting food.

• Salt and pepper (packets or small container)

• Hot sauce (small bottle or packets)

  • Mini 1/8 Oz Tabasco bottles are fun

• Oil in small bottles or packets

  • Olive oil is a favorite

    • Calorie dense and tastes good

• Ghee packets - Hand Crafted Clarified Butter

• Soy sauce packets