Are you a boiler or cooker?

“From the discussions about stove choice, Outback Oven, etc., it seems BPers fall into two categories, those who quickly boil enough water for rehydrating "instant" foods/drinks, and those who actually cook in the field, spending time with simmering, baking, pan frying, etc. I'm the former, and enjoy the simplicity and fuel/utensil/ingredient weight savings. Which are you and what were your considerations in making that choice?”

“I am tired of boiling and try to cook every chance I get. Weight is still the primary consideration and so boiling is still a main way to cook.

Mel has perfected dehydrating and does wonders. I need to dehydrate more tasty stuff.”

“Does it ever become an issue when camping as a group? I can see someone who likes mixing pancake batter and frying some flapjacks getting miffed if a partner has jetblasted instant coffee, instant oatmeal and is ready to hit the trail. And dinner could even get more disparate.”

“For me it depends on how long I'm going out and what type of trip it is. Only a couple days with a base camp and side trips: I'm cooking for real. Multiple days, covering mileage and wanting to keep the load light: boil it. Plus, since I got a dehydrator for Christmas, I'm looking to see how tasty I can make those dehydrated meals.”

“alittle bit of both. mostly the boiling and simmering though. no pancakes for breakfast. i wanna get up and go in the am.”

“I mostly cook at night time. Breakfast is normally lots of water (tang) maybe coffee and those breakfast bars. I mostly boil though. When I do cook, it is normally the first dinner meal on the trail. I 'll have fresh meat, beef or chicken. I have yet to look into getting my own dehydrator so I'm stuck with MRE's or those other prepackage meals.”

“Briar, another Tang fan. I love it hot and thick on a chilly fall morning on the trail. Sticky stuff though.”

“So, a.m. we wanna git up n' go. No fuss. But as dinner is usually taken care of in those crepescular shadows that presage the height of bear/varmit activity, it's also wise to, aside from cooking and dining away from camp, take care-uh things in a hurry, i.e., Mountain House n' gone. Of course late fall and Winter (which is my preference), and given those long nites and the fact that fresh meat and cheeses aren't a problem, one can let one's culinary expertise shine.”

“I want to spend as little time on food prep as possible...leaves more time for exploring the area before the sun goes down. Boil some water, throw it in the package, chow it down, clean up.”

“Alpha, interesting point about the "attraction" effect of simmering that nice stew for an hour, the rich aroma wafting through the undergrowth to the sensitive noses of who knows what.

I recall seeing bear country advice to make dinner along the trail at least a short ways before you get to your camping site so as not to focus critters on your sleeping spot.”

“Boil and eat.
I like to cook at home when all my acoutraments are handy, but it's too much of a pain at camp.”

“You mean boiling doesn't qualify as cooking?

Breakfast is usually instant oatmeal & coffee as we want to get moving early. Lunch is usually easy, no cook though we will sometimes have some instant soup for those drizzly, cold days. Dinner is often those Lipton's pasta with sauce and either tuna or canned chicken thrown in, maybe some freeze-dried peas if we feel gourmet. Winter trips get fresh meat and other goodies that will spoil other times. If everything is prepared ahead of time, it doesn't really take that much more time and helps keep you fueled up against the cold.

Tang takes me back to my first backpacking trip with my dad and brother when I was maybe 7 or 8. To this day, whenever I hear Canada Geese, I can smell the burning Tang that got dumped in the fire. We had camped near a lake and dawn brought wave after wave of geese of the lake we camped near. Saw my first bear on that trip too. Been hooked ever since.”

“Boil and eat. Can't stand wasting time preparing food, at home or on the trail.”

“Well, Phil, we're not hearing much from the haute cuisine crowd yet.”

“I had a recipe for baking muffins in your cookpot. They were great, except that the heat on the cookpot without any water melted a barely visible hole along the edge. So on the zeleski trip last dec I went to cook dinner and SHAZAM! I cant boil water, fortunately walkincrow and nigal let me use their cookpots, thanks again. I am now a boil only man.”

“Boiler. I don't even cook at home. That's why they invented microwaves & fast food.”

“I have a small ovenrack - about 12"x8" - that's perfect for packing. I roll-off several feet of foil, fold it to about the size of the rack, and pack it all in a freezer bag. It's the charm for cooking fresh fish over a fire. I will wrap the fish in the foil before throwing it on the grill. The fish stays nice and juicy. Thats good only where fires are allowed, tho.

90% of my hots come from dehydrated stuff, actually. Boil and boogie.
This new tuna packaging is the bomb! Tuna Mac... ummm!”

“Both...but more of a boiler than cooker. It's so much easier to have everything in a zip-loc freezer bag, add hot water, knead and let sit in sleeping bag, then eat. No mess and little fuss!”

“If I'm baasecamping, I'll take the bake packer oven and make pizza, biscuits and gravy, burritos...good stuff. If I'm travelling, it's good ole' boil and eat.”

“The tuna in a bag hasn't reached our area markets yet. It will be a great addition to the quick meal department next trip, if it's here by then.”

“Long time BOILER but got Mels book and plan to semi-convert. Do some NO-COOK now and again as well. Trying some MRE's this season.”

“bpbaby
I'm going camping with you if Pizza is one the menu!”

“I'm a cooker for sure. I usually eat pretty much the same things on the trail. Coffee and hot cereal with dried fruit in the morning. I rarely cook lunch except on day hikes. I dry my own food so for supper I usually boil water, toss in dried food, let it stand for a while and then relight the stove and simmer.”

“Everything becomes either stew or soup on the trail. And we like it that way!”

“I cook, I boil, I fry, I rehydrate, I bake, I eat it raw. Every situation requires a different solution. Enjoy lots of situations!”

“mostly boil and go!

But I have been known to carry in a frozen T-bone and a potato to bake for the first night.

I also love to carry odd things in on weekend trips, just to make folks look around and scratch their heads, like whole melons and such. LOL!
They wouldn't carry one but they always want to share a slice :)”

“Trying to be a cooker, hope to perfect the art someday.

Boil and ramit is fine when the circumstances warrant. With nasssty cold weather, and you're forced into a quick chow down and hit the tent, that's fine. Likewie if time constraints force me to rise, pack, and split in quicktime. Most times, I like to schedule my days with free time morning and evening. This allws me to prepare meals I can enjoy, not just ram down.

Meal time is also an opportunity for socializing and relaxing. Just like the family dinner at home, I think it's better if it is something more than just refueling. While the meal's a'building, there's the opportunity to gather and chat over the day's events, tell stories, kill olives, etc.. Sharing the cooking chores among the party members creates opportunities to experience other people's recipies. A meal that's closer to home cooked tastes Sooooo Much Better when you're 'out there', especially if it's the other guy's turn to cook and all you have to do is sit back & be served.

I also like the challenge of finding ways to create enjoyable meals in spite of restrictions created by the need to manage food weight, deal with lack of refrigeration, rely on a campfire or whisperlite, etc..

Open a foil pack, dump in boiling water - no challenge at all. Most of them don't taste all that good either, certainly not when compared with some of the 'home cooked' trail meals I've experienced.”

“I have managed to avoided cooking in general on the trail.”

“A bit of both here ... I try to cook fresh stuff the first day & resort to dehydrated rations after that.”

“Thought I could be a cooker...but am really just a boiler. I usually save the weight for some fruit. Apples are a great treat when you get to the days destination. Mmmmmmmm!”

“plain old camping:
full cooking using multiple stoves. Weight not an issue since I'm not carrying it.

Bping: Boil and rehydrate. Usually regydrate in the bags to reduce cleaning. The less time I spend cooking, the more time I can spend hiking.”

“pack up camp, boil, eat, go.

it's part of my style. i think folks hike too fast and spend too much time cooking. they don't spend enough time on BEING there. does there always have to be a reason?”

“It depends, sometimes I cook a full meal, sometimes I just boil and go. Depends on the trip, who I'm with, where I'm at, how far I'm going.”

“bile 'em cabbage down !!!!!”

“rad, I like your straightforward explanation. As for socializing around the campfire/stove, I always called that cocktail hour rather than dinner. Fuel bottles can carry more than fuel, ya know (just mark them clearly!).”

“Both. Depends on the trip. I've been known to make things like curried shrimp and key lime pie on the trail.”

“Depends on the trip. Car camping I cook over the campfire or use my backpacking stove - everything tastes better over a campfire. One of my fondest memories of camping with the girl scouts was eating this stuff called "campfire stew." So I asked my mother what was in it, thinking I could recreate those fond memories - it was Campbell's soup! Bacpacking I mostly boil or eat cold stuff.”

“I usully eat my dog food rite in the refreezerater baggys. Sometimes my daddy will put jerkys or nuts or pepperoonies or chees in my mouf or let me finish his nootles and lik the bole. Sometimes I eat trowt but only if they are meet and not ded! I DO NOT like ded aminals or fishes or brids!”

“Whats the estimated "trail life" of a hard-boiled egg, asssuming mild temparatures like 50s/60s/70s for the afternoon highes?”

“Boil.

I backpack for the nature, not the food.

Someday I'd like to go on a trip with someone who likes to cook. I'd do all the dishes!”

“I love to cook almost as much as I like to eat. For me, it`s a time to unwind and I won`t be hurried if I`m cooking. The best times are times spent with others around a fire, with food and easy talk to keep them there. It`s when some of the best things of life are shared, not all the best things mind you.

There are some good things you can just boil too so, it`ll do in a pinch.”

“Boil. The whole camp set up/take down process already seems to take long enough. Often accomplished (set up) in the dark. Actaully cooking and cleaning would be too much of a pain.

Having said that, I am usually only out for up to three nights. If I was out longer I could see expanding my repitiore”

“I'm a boiler maker.”

“So if I schlep the bourbon, and Rad brings the brew, deathmarch knows the formula for cocktail hour, blue collar style?”

“I dehydrate, so Iguess I boil but I have some fine chow. I like textures whilst I am out, Blue cheese, Stuffed olives, roasted peppers etc.... Or is that ECT....LOL”

“Guess I'm with jerbear. I dehydrate my own meals so I eat EXTREMELY well. Takes a bit of preparation, but no complaints from my companions!”

“Boil and slurp. I can make bulk veggie mix go a long way, each night different. Easy clean up too.
Morning meal is a breakfast bar and hot coffee. Lots of cold snacks along the way.”

“Boil. Only thing to clean is the spoon and prep is nil. I do take some spices to pep up some meals, though. I have heard that beer covers all the main food groups, so maybe I'll just pack beer on the next trip and forego boiling altogether!”

“I am mostly a boiler but as you well know the only proper way to prepare SPAM is to fry it! When I go solo I often bring a small grill to put over the campfire and bring a steak or some big pork chops to put on it.”

“Here's an idea for you from times past. My spouse bought an old Seal-a-meal for me at a local second hand shop for $2. I had to order the bags from a hardware store. You can cook anything you like at home, seal them up in these bags, freeze them until time for your trip, let them thaw in your pack, and boil them on your bp stove. I have tried chicken pot pie, spaghetti, turkey and dressing, soup,chile. My favorite is chicken parmesan for the first night and chili the second. Beef dishes will keep in your pack better and won't spoil in mild or cold weather, so save them for the second day. Third day, it's usually box dinners with rice and canned meat or whatever.

She also bought me a dehydrator for Christmas, but I haven't used it yet. What are some of your favorite dehydrator foods?

One note - if you do try the seal-a-meal route, boil 20-25 minutes until you are sure it's done, as your food may still have been frozen in the middle. Once the bag has been opened, you obviously can't boil it anymore. Seal-a-meals and other items like it with different brand names are still around retail, but I bet you can find one at a garage sale or second hand shop. Good luck.”