Food for a thru hike.

Food topics, including recipes.

Food for a thru hike.

Postby threshold » Fri 30 Mar, 2018 6:07 pm

Hi guys,

Would like to know anyones recommendations for thru hiking food. I am looking into doing the Bibbulum track and will need to get my parents to send me ressuply boxes.

When I mean recommendations I am aware of the backcountry cuisine meals, but I am sure for 2 months of them would nearly would nearly cost as much as my morgage, making this unfeesable. High calorie food for a 2 month walk thanks.

So any suggestions along the lines of 2 minutes noodle, deb etc etc.i am a carnivore more than a veggie eater too if this helps haha
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Re: Food for a thru hike.

Postby Lizzy » Fri 30 Mar, 2018 8:02 pm

Sounds like you need a dehydrator...
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Re: Food for a thru hike.

Postby Singe » Fri 30 Mar, 2018 8:20 pm

threshold wrote:Hi guys,

Would like to know anyones recommendations for thru hiking food. I am looking into doing the Bibbulum track and will need to get my parents to send me ressuply boxes.

When I mean recommendations I am aware of the backcountry cuisine meals, but I am sure for 2 months of them would nearly would nearly cost as much as my morgage, making this unfeesable. High calorie food for a 2 month walk thanks.

So any suggestions along the lines of 2 minutes noodle, deb etc etc.i am a carnivore more than a veggie eater too if this helps haha
You can buy beef mince in a single bag - split into bags for five dinners with added carbs (Deb, quick-cook rice or pasta, 2 minute noodles etc) and veggies this is a pretty economical option. I'm not one for real cooking out on trail, but having two components that are bagged and get rehydrated separately then served together is nicer than a nosebag of nondescript mush imo.

Means you also get to choose your own flavourings. My favourites have been Mexican (with tortillas or flatbread, taco spice mix, some corn chips and cheese if early in the walk) and satay (rice, the flavour packet from one of those 2 minute noodle packets with chilli sauce, oil etc) and a generous squeeze of peanut butter.

Of course the more you dehydrate yourself the cheaper it will be. And whether re-packing commercial meals or DIY-ing you do need to make sure everything is well sealed with as much air removed as possible to keep it from spoiling.
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” -Heraclitus
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Re: Food for a thru hike.

Postby Mark F » Fri 30 Mar, 2018 8:31 pm

Agree with LIzzy - definitely need a dehydrator and time to hone your skills to get the meals palatable, understand the drying process and sort out portion size. You most probably need about 3 or 4 standard dinners, spag bol is always an easy one to start with and can be loaded with "invisible" veges as you really need to maximise your veggie intake. An easy non-dehydrator staple for me is small tin of Sirena tuna with chili oil and Deb. I also produce a tasty curry with flavoured tvp and ingredients from the Indian spice shops. With care I can get my food per day down to 650g although that may move up to 700g after the first two or three weeks.

PS don't forget to cook and then dehydrate brown rice and pasta to make them reconstitute far faster than cooking from scratch.
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Re: Food for a thru hike.

Postby threshold » Sat 31 Mar, 2018 7:27 am

My mum says I can have her dehydrator.(I feel like I am 12 not 33 when I say my mum says haha) Do you just put them in zip locks? Are there any reccomended dehydrator recipe web sites?
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Re: Food for a thru hike.

Postby ofuros » Sat 31 Mar, 2018 7:57 am

Googling dehydrated hiking, backpacking or bushwalking recipes & trail cooking...will get you started.
There's free pdf's & blog recipes out there & also cheap pay recipe ebooks for the kindle app.
Choose your favourite foods you would normally have at home, learn how to dry those, then add a couple new ones from the recipes to add variety....tried beforehand of course. Goodluck.

A good starting place...
http://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-food.html
Last edited by ofuros on Sat 31 Mar, 2018 12:37 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Food for a thru hike.

Postby RonK » Sat 31 Mar, 2018 9:32 am

There are a plethora of foods suitable for the trail in the supermarket, you just need to spend some time to research what is available.
Apart from the perrenial favourites such as Deb and two minutes noodles there are any number of pasta dishes and instant couscous which can be supplemented by foil pouches of salmon/tuna, canned fish or chicken, salami, beef jerky or sausages from the Asian foods section. There are many flat bread to choose from - naan, tortilla etc and that other perrenial favourite, Laughing Cow cheese wedges (from the spreads section).
Instead of relying on good old mum, you should go see for yourself what is available and take some home to experiment to see what works for you. If you stick to commonly available supermarket foods then you should be able to resupply from the larger towns along/near the track and save mum the trouble of running around after you.
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Re: Food for a thru hike.

Postby threshold » Sat 31 Mar, 2018 12:46 pm

Hahaha Ron, it wasn't like my mum has to run around after me. She just has the dehydrator at her place that I can use (in my own house) and she said she can post my ressuply boxes. Absolutely agree with ressuply on the trail as Id probably get sick of the food I make.

Thanks for your input everybody. Definitely a point in the right direction.
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Re: Food for a thru hike.

Postby Gadgetgeek » Sat 31 Mar, 2018 3:50 pm

pick up a copy of the cookbook from https://xtremegourmet.com/heaps of great info and ideas.
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