Backpacking Food, The Learning Curve

Now that my hiking boot issue is mostly solved (just dealing with a slight sock issue), I move on to learning about eating while on a long backpack trip. All I can say is that it is complicated and there are lots of theories out there. Dehydrate everything. Don’t dehydrate at all. Dehydrate some foods. Buy prepackaged meals. Package at home from scratch. So many different ideas!

I have one backpack cookbook called “Simple Foods for the Pack” by Axcell, Kath and Cooke which is a Sierra Club Outdoor Adventure Guide.

I borrow cookbooks from my sister, R. They are:

Lipsmackin’ Backpackin’” by Tim and Christine Conners

Backpacker’s Recipe Book” by Steve Antell

The Wilderness Chef” by Claudine Martin

Backpacking Cookbooks

Backpacking Cookbooks

Murray and I both have food issues, likes and dislikes. I peruse the four books looking for recipes for breakfasts, lunches and suppers. I put aside the Wilderness Chef book right away as the recipes in it are too involved for us basic chefs on a week long backpack trip.

I tag recipes and make a long composite list of possible ideas for the three meals plus snacks and desserts.

During this process I keep thinking about dehydrating foods to reduce weight. What can I dehydrate? How do I dehydrate? I break down and purchase an inexpensive Total Chef dehydrator from Walmart for $55 online.

Total Chef Dehydrator

Total Chef Dehydrator

I make a grocery list and go shopping for all sorts of items we will need for recipes from the books.

I am all ready to start practicing dehydrating foods and testing recipes. My successes and failures in the next post.

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