Backpacking food for any well-thinking person
Jun 22 '00
This is one in a series of "a few" reviews in regards to backpacking. I say "a few" because honestly I don't really know how many I'm going to write pertaining to this subject; it simply matters on (a) what I feel like writing that particular day, (b) how long it takes me to get bored of it, and (c) what other people think of them. For now however I've decided to take a brief break from my usual tech-oriented reviews.
If you haven't already, please read my previous review on backpacking packs before you read this one on backpacking food. There's a kind of flow here, y'know. It helps to keep in mind several things that I had mentioned in the previous review, as well.
That said, we delve head-first into that which is backpacking food.
Where to buy
If you're asking yourself this, then you obviously did not read the previous review. As I've said before, I'm a strong supporter of REI. This is simply because in my years of camping and backpacking REI has almost always had what I needed. There's also been several phenomena where they've had stuff that I didn't even know I needed; anyone who's gone into a grocery store on an empty stomach before will know what I'm talking about. It's that same type of feeling.
You will also find a ton of ample food that is perfectly fine for backpacking in your local grocery store.
To begin
In backpacking, you will want to be as light as possible while still having enough food to fit your needs. This, I'm afraid, means that you'll have to be leaving that iron dutch oven behind; scrumptious though those philly cheese steaks might have been, that would be a tad much in terms of both weight and size.
What I strongly suggest is that you purchase freeze-dried food that comes pre-packaged. There is a veritable mountain of such food in REI, from several different brands. What brand you choose really depends on what kind of food you like and just general personal preference of how one brand tends to taste over another. Some brands will also take less time and effort to prepare, which is always a plus.
Don't be wary when I suggest freeze-dried food! Generally, the freeze-dried meals that you can purchase at REI (from such companies as MSR or AlpineAir) are excellent- in fact, I've never had better meals on a campout! Here are some examples of dinner meals, just to give you a taste:
-AlpineAire Beef Stroganoff with Noodles
-AlpineAire Mountain Chili
-AlpineAire Sante Fe Black Beans and Rice
-Backpacker's Pantry Asian Fried Rice
-Backpacker's Pantry Jamaican BBQ Chicken
-MSR Mountain Gourmet Lentil Curry Couscous
-Mountain House Lasagne with Meat Sauce
Needless to say, you can really spoil yourself up there. The food is lightweight and fantastic, and requires almost no effort.
Price
Freeze-dried food can get pretty darn pricey; this is the single downside that I see to them. One-person dinners, for instance, might cost in the neighborhood of $3-4; 2 person meals will cost a couple bucks more; and 4-person meals might cost up to a whopping $9-10. I myself, however, as you might already know, don't have two pennies to rub together, and yet I still always find enough cash to buy freeze-dried food every time that I go backpacking (which is generally once every one to two months). Why, do you ask? Let me get to that in the next section.
Ease of Freeze-dried food preparation
Freeze-dried food is simply a cinch to prepare, and just as easy to clean up. This is a huge issue for me; I'm probably lazier than you'll ever be when it comes to camp cooking, and I find these meals almost too easy. That says something.
Generally what you do to prepare a hot meal is the following (keep in mind that you will need to bring a pot to boil water in):
-Look at back of package
-Boil XX amount of water in pot on small one-burner camping stove
-Rip open pouch that food comes in
-There will generally be a couple other separate packages inside the pouch; follow the instructions on how to prepare them. Generally it says something like, "pour both packages into pouch." Oh, I'm sweating now; that was hard.
-Hum a little diddy while the water boils
-pour boiling water into pouch along with afforementioned dried food
-close pouch and shake (or you can stir it)
-leave be for said amount of minutes (usually about 10)
-Eat
Cleanup then consists of:
-Clean spoon/other utensil used and cup that you drank from
-dry out pot used to boil water
-put empty food pouch in plastic garbage bag that you brought along and stuff it in your pack
There are no more steps. You might not be impressed right now, but you certainly would be after a long day's hike and a full stomach. There's no messy pots to clean up; there's no sponges to use; there's no food cooked to the bottom of a pan; there's no dishes to clean up. You're free. Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy that will often not even eat breakfast on the last day of a campout simply because he doesn't want to clean up afterwards. If I say that this is easy, then I guarantee that you will too.
What brands to buy
Again, this really depends on personal preference, mainly. However, some brands are different than others:
-Mountain House is probably my favorite brand; however, the packages are usually very bulky and somewhat heavy in comparison to some other brands. This does not mean that they are bulky and heavy in general; it just means that some brands will be lighter and smaller. Mountain House tends to have some very delicious meals, though, and I usually think that it's well worth it.
-Richmoor Natural High is another fantastic brand that is easily another favorite. Frankly, I think that Richmoor makes the best desserts, for example, and also some of the best breakfasts. (Their chocolate cheese cake dessert is positively sinful.) This is another semi-bulky and large brand, though; especially their dinners. They're about the same size as Mountain House.
-Backpacker's Pantry is a brand that usually has longer but narrower pouches than other brands. I think that their packaging technique is unique, and some of their dinners are pretty good, as well.
-MSR Mountain Gourmet meals are probably some of the smallest and lightest that you'll find. Although I don't think that I actually like some of their meals particularly, they are very good in terms of nutrients provided. If you're going on a particularly long hike (say, a week's journey), I'd suggest getting these dinners to save space and weight.
-AlpineAire meals are the second-smallest and lightest meals that I've found, following only MSR. They usually come in wide, flat packages, and while their meals aren't as hearty as others, they are similar to MSR in that they still provide good nutrients and will save a lot of space and weight. AlpineAire also makes some meals that are "self-heating," which totally eliminate yet another step to cooking; supposedly all you have to do is pull a tab on the pouch and wait for about 10 minutes, and it's done. I've never tried one of these so I can't tell you if they're effective or not, but I can say that they are really expensive and probably not worth the cost.
Other Meals
Freeze-dried food is not suggested for all meals; mainly, you'll be eating them at dinnertime. Breakfast and lunch are different stories, however:
Breakfast:
At breakfast I would probably suggest either a freeze-dried meal or oatmeal. All you have to do is bring along those little packets of Quaker Oats oatmeal, heat up some water, and pour the water into the packet (or, if you're less lazy than I am, you can always bring a bowl). I'd also suggest hot chocolate; there's a killer recipe for hot chocolate called "backpacker's hot chocolate" that involves pre-mixing at home certain amount of each:
-regular hot chocolate mix (eg Swiss Miss)
-powdered sugar
-a small amount of coffee powder
-chocolate powder (eg Chocolate Quik)
-Nondairy creamer
This mix will give you plenty of energy to start off the day. It's also so good that I drink it at home at well! Experiment to see how much of each you like in your mix.
Lunch:
Lunch is usually a simple meal with a high amount of complex carbohydrates and protein. Usually what I eat for lunch is:
-Sausage/pastrami
-wax-wrapped cheese (eg goudah)
-hard candy (eg lemon drops)
-Tang
-Gorp (Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts; I always include M&M's too)
-small crackers
You can vary on that combination as much as you see fit. I don't suggest freeze-dried food or food that requires cooking or preparing at lunch. This is because usually you're on the move and want a quick meal that won't bog you down but will give you the needed carbs and protein to last you through the day.
Planning
You'll want to plan out every meal that you'll be taking ahead of time. Once you've bought all the needed food, separate it into meals and divide meals between party members (assuming that you'll be hiking with other people; it is always recommended that you have at least one other person with you when backpacking). I'd also suggest somehow putting each meal into a plastic or paper bag so that all the food for one meal was in one place, and you don't end up confusing things. Label each bag according to what meal it is on what day.
I hope, as always, that this review has helped you in some way. Have a good time wherever you may go.
Please leave comments or questions; I'd be more than happy to answer. If you'd prefer me E-mailing you instead of posting a reply comment, tell me.
Regards,
-JTroll
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Epinions.com ID:
JTroll
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Member: JT
Location: Bay Area, California
Reviews written: 27
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