[pct-l] Cannister stove for thru-hik

[Meridith Rosendahl]

I think Piper ought to put a cookbook page on her website,
santabarbarahikes.com (when she has nothing better to do, of course).  Some
of her hiking meals make me so hungry I'd love to cook them at home.  Other
hikers could contribute (with her permission of course).  What do the rest
of you think?

That said, Dicentra's website, onepanwonders.com has a huge amount of
information about back country meals and snacks, prehike preparation, etc.
 Check it out.

Piper's Mom

Message: 12
Date: Sun, 26 May 2013 14:49:20 -0700
From: Diane Soini <dianesoini at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Cannister stove for thru-hik

It doesn't really matter what most people do. You do have more
choices than you think and can choose what you want to do. Most
people eat really poorly (I did too) and eat a lot of top ramen,
instant potatoes, Lipton pasta sides, poptarts and stuff like that.

1. You can carry some fresh food with you. Certain fruits and
vegetables carry well for a day or two depending on how hot it is. I
carried an onion, broccoli and chard torn up and stored in a bag with
a little water at various times.

2. You can cook regular pasta noodles without simmering. Just use the
pot cozy method. I have not tried rice but I imagine white rice might
work since it's edible in about 15-20 minutes normally. Red lentils,
available in Asian markets, might work since they cook way faster
than regular lentils. Potatoes cut up small might work. Experiment at
home. For sauces, some people dehydrate marinara sauce into a
leather. You can purchase Alfredo sauce powder and other similar
sauces in the same aisle where they keep taco seasoning. Rice stick
noodles cook in 3 minutes and you can make hobo Pad Thai with peanut
butter mixed with soy sauce.

3. Lately I have been dehydrating cooked and raw vegetables and
cooked meat for use on the trail. I mix them all together in random
combinations. I rehydrate in a plastic peanut butter jar for a few
hours and eat it cold with tons of the most gourmet real olive oil I
can find. Ingredients include
- Dehydrated cooked and mashed sweet potatoes and yams
- Dehydrated slow-cooked chicken, pork or beef that is in a shredded
consistency
- Dehydrated baked chicken breast cut in chunks (stays kinda chewy
when rehydrated but I like it.)
- Dehydrated cooked beets, rutabaga, celery root
- Dehydrated raw carrots, kale, chard, zucchini, tomatoes, beet greens

4. A friend of mine ate a lot of quinoa. I guess it cooks pretty
quickly. I might try quinoa sometime. There is instant quinoa but I
think it tastes rancid.

5. Polenta cooks fast. I don't really like it so I don't use it. Oats
cook fast. You don't even have to cook them, you can just soak them
over night and eat them cold in the morning.

6. You can purchase freeze-dried fruits and vegetables from various
companies online. There are a lot of quality freeze-dried products
that are way better than Mountain House.

7. Fresh hard cheeses carry well. Cream cheese carries pretty well,
too. As do regular cheeses, although the warmer the weather the more
of an oily mess they become.

8. Tuna, salmon, spam and sometimes chicken breasts come in foil
packets. Tortillas carry well. Peanut butter. I've carried a loaf of
bread, peanut butter and jelly. The bread did not get smashed up.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were probably the least satiating
food I've ever brought though, maybe second least after Danish pastries.

9. Instant pudding with instant Nido powdered milk makes a great
snack. Carnation instant breakfast or protein shakes are other
options. People trade Starbucks via packets like money and cigarettes
on the trail to mix in their shakes.

10. Avocados travel well and are probably the most amazingly
delicious thing you can eat on the trail.

More and more people just shop as they go rather than prepare
everything in advance. There's a market approximately every 2-5 days
on the trail until after about Crater Lake. Then the markets are
further apart.

Good news is you can mix and match all these things and make up your
own ideas. It does not have to be all one method, and probably
shouldn't be in case it turns out your planned food is no longer
appealing out there.