Food Weight

“Okay, I've seen the formula of 2 pounds/person/day for packing food on a trip. I'm guessing that this is for hydrated foods, and that dehydrating things lightens the load. Am I right?”

“That's approx. 2 lbs. of dried type food (pasta, beans, rice). Figure somewhere between 1.5 - 2.5 lbs. depending on what you're doing and for how long. For my 3 month hike on the PCT (average of 27 miles per day), 2.5 was perfect (I was eating about 5,000 calories a day and I only lost maybe only 3 lbs.). On our Borneo climbing expedition we did 1.5 lbs. for 2 months, and that was way too little -- probably lost 7 lbs. of weight in that short time. But, 1.5 is probably okay to start with for the first week or two of an expedition, but then kick it up for the remainer.”

“I dehydrate all my food - whole meals, not just jerky, fruit and veggies. A quart ziploc bag holds breakfast (oatmeal or cream of wheat with powdered milk, wheat germ, and dried fruit), dinner (meat and veggie entree, dehydrated, and carbo - dried beans, pasta, or rice), candy bars, cookies, instant pudding, or dried fruit for dessert. There's enough for two people and I've never had a bag that weighed more than 20 ounces. Figure that by the time you add the water to rehydrate, you're looking at at least 60 ounces of food. I suppose that by the time you add in trail snacks, lunches (tuna fish can be dehydrated!), coffee, cocoa, Tang, etc., it might add up to 2 lbs a day per person. Just make sure you keep your fat intake up. I add 2 or 3 packets of mayo to all my meals. Times I haven't done that, I've come home from a week on the trail and cleaned out the kitchen!”

“Long trip? Short trip? Dry food comes in at about 120 calories per ounce. I take 1# of dry food per day but all my trips are a week or less. If I kept that up for a long time I would lose weight”

“2-3 lbs per day sounds about right, for me...minus the beer.”

“One thing I'm not worried about is losing weight. It's part of the goal. So barring a true expedition and its calorie needs, I usually go on the lower end of the calorie/weight of food scale in hopes of coming back from a week out looking better than when I left.”

“We'll only be out for 3 and a half days--3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 3 suppers in all. I'm taking a church youth group so we won't be worrying about the beer. I was just curious, as I want to make sure I'm weighting my pack enough for practice. I've been "hiking" around the office at church daily for the last week. We're about a month away from our trip now. Thanks for the help.”

“make sure that the food you take is very nutritious and high in calories. The kids don't always eat well - especially the girls-
They need 20% more calories than we do with another 10% for teenage boys.

Had a dad wipe out on me 3 weekends ago because he didnt eat well enough - Have them eat well the night before also

Don't forget trail snacks.”

“I figure:

2.5 to 3 lbs. for a one-nighter and don't hesitate to take fresh food: steak, baked potatos, eggs, etc.

2.0 lbs/day for reasonable hiking using dehydrated foods.

1.5 lbs/day if I really want to cut down on weight. Use oatmeal, Quaker Valley Granola bars, dehydrated dinners, etc.

I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and am very weight conscious. However, when on the trail, you have to make getting enough calories your #1 concern. Don't "try" to lose weight...you may just lose energy. Just let it happen.

I lost 5 lbs. at Philmont, but probably put on several lbs. of muscle mass in my legs.”

“I tried the freeze dried food the last few trips I did. I've come to the conclusion that I hate the sh!t. I'm going back to getting my meals from the grocery store. It may be heavier but at least I'll look more foward to supper. Pack weight doesn't seem to bother me anyway. As long as my pack is under 35 pounds with food & water, It's all good.”

“I agree with walkindude, that stuff tastes like cardboard...or worse. If I take it, I just end up not eating. I've found that I like the dehydrated foods though.”

“Here's what we have planned:
Lunch Day 1--Subway, whatever they usually get.
Supper Day 1--Chili-Mac, homemade kraft deluxe (noodles cooked and dehydrated), Hormel Chili dehydrated, with extra dry veggies added.
Evening Snack--Jiffy Cakes and Hot Chocolate or Tang Tea
Breakfast Day 2--cereal and fresh fruit (I'm not sold on this one, any other suggestions)
Lunch Day 2--hard rolls (again, not my idea, I'm thinking pita bread would be better), ham, cheese, dried fruit
Supper Day 2--Nigal's Burrito's with Lipton's Spanish Rice
(burrito contents all dried, and taco seasoned chicken too)
Evening Snack--same as Day 1
Breakfast Day 3--eggs with add ins (powdered eggs, mushrooms, red & green peppers, onions, salsa) and tortillas
Lunch Day 3--crackers, summer sausage, cheese, dried fruit
Supper Day 3--Lipton Rice & Sauce Chicken Fried Rice with extra chicken (dryed)
Evening Snack--same as day 1
Breakfast day 4--oatmeal with dried fruit, powdered milk, brown sugar other treats on top.

Snacks for the trail: GORP (peanuts, raisins, m&ms and runts), Dried fruits (apples, pineapple rings, strawberries,kiwis, pears, fruit leathers), beef Jerky, granola bars.

Does that sound like we'll be okay?”

“Always eat your heaviest food first. Your pack lightens up quicker.”

“Sounds like a good menu to me. Now weigh it LOL”

“WOW, just about all of you dry your food. I'm kind of surprised. I may have to look at the dehydrator threads.”

“Has anyone tried dried tofu? It comes in blocks and crumbles at the health food store. I heard it tastes better than dried chicken when rehydrated, but I haven't tried it. I'm sure it would need a spicy sauce. Dried soup vegetables aren't bad, in the spice aisle or soup aisle, if you don't dehydrate your own.”

“Heres what I do:

Ditch the stove and cooking gear.

Take tons of blueberry frosted Pop-Tarts!
No cooking, Individually wrapped for freshness, tasty, and calorie packed!
MMMMMM-GOOD!”

“At least people wouldn't have to listen to all your pots & pans clanging together as you walk.”

“Mama,

Suggestions for you to consider. Regarding meat to add into meals, you might want to consider dehydrating some ground meats. Have the butcher grind lean meat, you fry it at home, with no seasonings. Dehydrate it on sheets of fine mesh (so it doesn't drop thru the dehydrator screens).

5 pounds of ground meat will turn into about 2 pounds of dried rubble, and it will rehydrate completely in a half hour or so. With that as a base, the world of hamburger and chicken helper meals is open to you. I prefer turkey over chicken myself. Your chicken dinner recipie would work fine with ground turkey breasts.

For breakfast, maybe Biscuts & Gravy? Use sausage flavored gravy mix (Jimmy Dean makes a great one that just needs water). Read the package, and buy enough packs to build 2 finished cups of gravy per person. Be careful and measure the water closely so the end result isn't watery. Rehydrate beef rubble (see above) for the meat, using the leftover rehydration water as part of the water for the gravy.

Cook the gravy in a 4 quart pot, and place the rehydrated beef in the pot while you brew the gravy. Stir very often, to avoid scorching on those jet engine hiking stoves. I carry a small whisk, because I do several gravy type meals and it's very important not to scorch gravy while cooking. After the gravy reaches the bubbling tar pit stage, remove from fire. Take one pack of six English muffins, tear into small (bite size) chunks, and toss them into the gravy. Stir in the chunks of muffin and serve.

About 1.5 pounds of rehydrated ground beef, 4 or 5 packs of gravy mix, and one muffin six-pack will fill a 4 quart pot almost full, will absolutely gorge six people, and you can hike all day on a bellyload of this breakfast.

If you want to be really delux, take a nice summer sausage, dice it up fine, fry the dices, and use the singed sausage in this recipie instead of the dried beef rubble.

If you are interested in trying this recipie, I'd recommend cooking up a small batch at home, so you can see if it makes sense for you to try on the trail. Never rely on an untried recipie when you're 'out there'.

If you did your very first breakfast with Fresh eggs (Yes, I said the "F" word) and the B&G breakfast last, you could avoid those powdered eggs. If you break eggs into a polybottle, then keep them in a cooler until you leave the trailhead, they'll be cool in your pack for that first day. Drop the poly into a creek under a rock, and they'll stay cool overnight. Fresh egg fajitas sounds lots better, yes? I fit 18 to 20 eggs into a 1K liter poly. I usually figure 3 eggs per person for egg fajitas.

Another breakfast idea (and a big hit with the kids) is a few packages of big (and I mean the BIG ones, like the monsters from Cinnabon) cinnamon roles, one each, plus a couple extra to divvy up between those extra hungry kids. My kids loved this breakfast, especially with hot chocolate. It's kinda bulky, but not all that heavy.

For your lunch sammies, consider Hoagie rolls instead of hard rolls. Add a squeeze pack of mayo, mustard, and relish for each sandwich, and it's wilderness deli time.

Food for thot.....”

“I like bagels instead of rolls and crackers. They're usually good for a few days, if you seal them up well. A bit heavy, but they don't get smashed. Cream cheese will, surpisingly, last for a week.
As for snacks: variety is key. Add some chocolate- maybe a couple of power bars, cheese and candy. Gorp can get prety boring after a while. The trick is to add variety without ending up with too much in total.”

“English muffins handle the trail well. so does the " Boboli" brand pizza crust. Dont forget dark chocolate covered espresso beans for a quick jolt of energy!”

“Thanks Strider, BC, and Hyper--great things to consider. We're going to start testing things out this week I think. I need to get a fuel cartridge for my stove, then we'll be ready to do a real test. I've already dried a bunch of canned chicken. We were wanting to do sausage, I thought I could dry it, rinse well, and vacuum pack it.

I think we'll maybe try the biscuts and gravy on the first morning, we've got a long haul, and will need lots of energy.

The problem with fresh eggs is that we're packaging almost everything before we go, and we have two days between when we leave and when we hit the trail.

Thanks for all the helpful hints.”

“Toss the eggs in a poly, toss the poly in a small cooler with some ice, and you can get them to the trailhead no problem. Or, you could just buy the eggs when you're close to the t'head. There must be someplace between home and trailhead that sells eggs, yes?

I have tried drying pork sausage - haven't had good luck. It rehydrates OK, but it leaves an odd aftertaste. Maybe there's some trick I'm missing. Maybe the vaccume pack thing would work well. Then again, you're only going to be out there three days. A good hard sausage should last, no problem. Just dice it fine and fry it.

If you do B&G the first morning, you could use regular white gravy mix (rather than the sausage flavor version) and real jimmydean sausage. Now That would be Deee-lux.

Whatever you do, it'll be fun.”

“You're not kidding it will be fun--it's a high school church youth group trip--4 high schoolers, a boy scout dad, a former mountain camp counselor, and me--the youth director-their mama on the trail of sorts.

Thanks for the note on the sausage, maybe we could do a chipped beef gravy, you know with that dried beef from the store? How would that be?”

“Look at the Knorr products - they actually taste great. Also PB with honey mixed half and half works also for lunch/quick energy.

Also Fantastic Food has several good products that are dried. And check out King Arthur Flour co in Vermont (on-line). They have whole dried milk, dried eggs, dried buttermilk and soymilk and their dried cheese is good. I use their porriage and soy grits (mixed together) with dried fruits for trail breakfasts.”

“Stick bread....

Jiffy mix or Bisquick. Mix with water to a very thick consistencey, like bread dough. Wrap a piece about 7"x2" around a green stick. Cook over fire.”

“Pay attention to Strider, he knows, I?ve had the pleasure of his tasty cooking.
Maybe you should invite him along, He loves to cook.”

“The last hike I went on one of our party made dumplings. He mixed the water and Bisquick in a zip bag and then he snipped the corner of the bag off and squeezed the dumplings out into the boiling soup. Sure smelled good.”

“Mama, never tried chipped beef on the trail. I see no reason why it shouldn't work, tho.”

“Y'all are making me hungry!”

“Jam sammich...take two pieces of bread and JAM'em together!”

“Lots of you are mentioning Bisquick. Here's a recipe to make your own - a lot cheaper than buying it:

8 c flour, 1 tbsp salt, 4 tbsp baking powder, 1 c Crisco. You can add 1 c powdered milk for richness. Sift the dry ingredients together and cut in the Crisco with a pastry cutter or forks. Store as you would normal Bisquick.

Fruit dumplings are great. Rehydrate mixed fruit and cook the dumplings in the fruit water.

Dehydrator's crankin' this weekend. Big sale at the market. Got 20 lbs of bananas, enough plum tomatoes, garlic, and onions to make up 15 lbs of Cincinati Chili and spaghetti sauce, and a grocery bag of Ramen. They practically paid me to take them out of the srore.”

“I revived the lightweight cooking thread from last year.
I miss Scurvy!”

“Mtn. Mamma...

Dried beef works perfectly for chipped beef. I use the Country Gravy mix that only requires water and sevre with fry bread, bagel, crackers or mix with garlic mashed taters. Watch the amount of beef used as this type of meat is VERY salty. Test drive your recipe before hitting the trail. mmm-mmm good”

“No one answered about the tofu. I went to the health food store and got Soy Granules. I made a recipe (in my kitchen to test it before camping).
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup soy granules
1 tsp dried onions
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp of combined sage, thyme, chives, tarragon, whatever you have dried or larger amounts of fresh.
1/8 tsp pepper
1 packet chicken boullion
Put all in one pot, boil 5m, stir, cover, simmer 5m then let sit covered for ten minutes (unless it is really cold out, then simmer for 10m).
Add vegetables if possible, arugula and green onions fresh, or dried peas, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, etc. that are reconstituted. The soy had the texture of bits of clams from clam chowder, but no real taste of its own. Took on the taste of spice. Can do a mexican version with garlic, cayenne and chili powder. Serves 1 -2 depending on vegetable amounts and appetite. The soy granules are very light and low cost compared to dried chicken, unless you dry your own. My kids like it in spagetti sauce on pasta with parmesan cheese.”