Home dehydrated veggies, beef tallow, bullion and spices, textured soy protein. ~600kcal and 22 grams of protein. Note to all on a thru hike, use the least amount of water possible, and good quality tallow is still going to be nearly impossible to clean off the bag and off your spoon with just bronners.
Please share your cleaning tips!
Yeah, I was genuinely concerned it would not be edible. As it turns out, it was not only edible, it was actually pretty tasty aside from the dehydrated celery. The taste was fine but the texture was just flat wrong. Like crunching accidental egg shells or gravel.
were you trying to make a keto meal? what other ways do you eat beef tallow?
Actually yes, I was going for something protein rich and low on carbs. Not necessarily true keto, but definitely geared towards those basic diet principles. At home I use tallow as a cooking oil, or an increase in calories because I OMAD and it's sometimes hard to get enough calories in just that one meal. But I hope to use it on trail to increase caloric intake for lower carry weight, while also having a temperature stable fat source. I've been experimenting with making fat bombs with it, but I haven't found anything more edible than just adding it plain to any of my other meals.
I’ve been nervous about how in the hell im going to manage to stick with my way of eating on trail. Not from a temptation standpoint but from a practicality and food availability standpoint. I’ve been eating almost entirely beef bacon butter and eggs, with some chicken and fish thrown in. The few vegetables I’ve had have been garnish and I haven’t touched rice or pasta or bread or sugar at all. Feeling great, getting lean, and sleeping well. On the my overnights I’ve been bringing frozen steak and bacon with me. I guess I’ll be able to utilize fresh meat the first night and maybe second day depending on weather on the AT, but for the next few days before resupply I’ll need to utilize canned and foil packed meat, dried and cured meats, freeze dried eggs, and precooked bacon and maybe keto backpacking meals that I could mail myself. Biggest change has been my cook system. No longer can I get by with a stove with narrow flame that can’t simmer, or a thin aluminum pot. I bring a proper skillet and a heavier stove with a wide flame that can simmer. I don’t want to give this up and feel like shit for 4+. Months of what should be an awesome adventure.
I understand your concerns. Though a modified keto is required for more consistent and strenuous activities, which allows for a higher carb intake, pre-made backpacking meals are basically straight carbs. Gas station food is basically straight carbs. Protein bars a basically straight carbs. It's incredible how much sugar is in everything.
The protein sources I've come up with to rely on are: Textured Soy Protein Homemade Jerky Homemade Jerky Powdered Bone Broth Isopure Protein Powder
When I'm in town I intend to eat my fill of chicken and steak, and a day or two after I can bring packets of chicken or tuna and cured meats.
For fat and extra calories I'm hoping to be able to make do with these things: Beef Tallow Nuts (aside from carb rich peanuts) Heavy Cream Powder Coconut Milk Powder (carb careful) Butter Powder
I've found precooked bacon but hated it. I've also heard of egg crystals, which supposedly have high calories per ounce, but I haven't tried them yet. I do intend to just use simmering water because I couldn't convince myself to take extra weight or time of a different cook system.
Good luck on keeping up with it. I feel I'm definitely going to need it. Please share any tips you discover along the way, and I'll do the same.
Thanks! I’ll avoid soy but I too will load up on lots of meat in terms of restaurant stops. I like cans of sardines but for backpacking I stick to the ones in water because it’s less messy. It is nuts how much sugar is in everything. When I do the trail I plan on a February start. I won’t start off doing crazy miles or anything, I’m not ultralight, I’m just in the lightweight category and for winter not even that. My plan is to start of with my svea 123r white gas stove. It’s great in the cold, can simmer quite well, and has no pump to break. If I switch stoves as it warms I’ll likely have my camping moon turbo stove mailed to me. It’s a remote canister stove. I won’t mince words, it’s heavy. It’s a pound. It’s 16 friggin ounces. And it has better temperature control than my stove at home. I’ve been cooking on it at home for the last several meals because it’s just that good. It can run a canister inverted for cold weather, has a wide enough flame pattern and stability to handle a cast iron skillet for car camping, but has a focused enough flame to work perfectly with my heat exchanger pots and kettles for backpacking. Fuel efficiency is better than my soto windmaster. And it costs $40. The weight of it is preposterous for most hikers but given my enjoyment and desire to cook as much real food as possible, I’m willing to cut weight elsewhere to afford more weight in my “camp kitchen” lighterpack category.
P.s. editing to say that part of why I want a feb start is to have more weather that’s compatible with bringing fresh food
P.s.s. You can keep cheese safe and fresh even in 90+ degree heat by soaking cheese cloth in vinegar, allow to fully dry, then wrap around your block of cheese which has warmed to room temp, then put in plain cotton sack, THEN it can go in an air tight container after that. I’ve kept cheese multiple days that way. Tastes better than when cold, no vinegar taste or scent, and the surface of even sharp cheddar doesn’t get oily and weird like it normally would.
why did you white out the background, were you eating this at home?
I’d put money on that. I try out meals at home pretty often.
I test my trail-food at Home too, so i know if i need to change anything before i use them "in the field"...and yes u can make out a window one the left and artificial Lights one the Lid?.. of the Thermo bag
cause people are creepin on toes these days
Parece vômito
I bet that was good the first time you ate it.
You now have plastic in your stomach.
I did before, but I do now too.
-Mitch
as opposed to what food that doesnt have plastic?
Exactly. At least try to minimize it? Like maybe don't pour hot liquid in a bag that can melt and then eat it? I'm just saying. Cancer is ugly.
This is the most hiker hunger meal i have ever witnessed.