[pct-l] cold water food experiment

[elisenme2 at gmail.com (Carl & Judy Rush)]

Thank You Bob,

   I have been eating the mashed potatoes cold for a couple of years, but I
didn't know that stovetop stuffing and Ramen noodles could be eaten that way
too.

                                                   Carl


On 2/11/06, Robert Ellinwood <rellinwood@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> Roll your eyes now and get it over with...
>
> Last summer on the very few evenings when I decided to "eat cold" and not
> cook, due to tiredness or inclement weather, I found myself "wired" late
> into the night by too much sugar, I guess, in the snackables that I
> consumed
> in place of "dinner."   Tonight, I finally got around to experimenting
> with
> some traditional hiking dinner foods and seeing how edible they became
> after
> periods of soaking in just cold water.  A couple hikers have told me
> mashed
> potatoes fixed with cold water were quick and good.
>
> Arranged before me were couscous, stovetop stuffing, mashed potatoes,
> ramen,
> pre-cooked minute rice, a Lipton noodle dinner, and Mac & cheese spirals.
> Arbitrarily, I chose intervals of 10 min, 20 min and 30 min for tastings.
> Predictably, at 10 min the mashed potatoes and stovetop stuffing were just
> fine for eating and probably were almost immediately.  At 20 minutes the
> ramen noodles were fine for eating and may well have been at the 15 min
> mark, but could definitely not be included in the 10 min group.. At 30 min
> the couscous and the minute rice were "doable" but gritty and not
> enjoyable,
> while the Lipton noodle dinner was "barely doable" and definitely not
> enjoyable.  30 min didn't even make a dent in the Mac & cheese spirals.
>
> The mashed potatoes and the stovetop stuffing have the same caloric value
> and taste good immediately.  The ramen has more calories at fewer ounces,
> but takes a bit longer to soak.  I had assumed, incorrectly, that the
> couscous would be among the top finishers, but nope.  Stovetop stuffing,
> while good, has a distinct, pronounced flavor, while the mashed potatoes
> and
> ramen seem to me better suited to "doctoring up" with cheeses and other
> additions.
>
> So, FWIW, if I find myself stuck in a tent in a storm on the PCT this
> summer, any deviation from a normal hot dinner will probably involve
> mashed
> potatoes or ramen fixed with cold water.   I hated lying there wide awake
> most of the night from too much sugar too late.   It was probably not the
> caffeine in the chocolate, in that the "level of caffeine in chocolate (6
> milligrams per 1 ounce of milk chocolate) is low when compared to the
> level
> in coffee, tea, and some soft drinks." (ask.yahoo.com/20001018.html)
>
> Dr Bob
>
>
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