Bushwalk Australia

Hi all,

I've been reading some of the threads here for advice but wonder if anyone can offer some on this topic ...

If I'm going on a walk for 4-5 days what's the best form of food to take? I do prefer 'natural' (fruit etc) but of course the weight and bulk comes into it! I'm not into dehydrated food as it often 'dis-agrees' with me (!)

Any good tips please?

Dehydrate your own food. If you can eat it at home, it is unlikely to disagree with you on the track...

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Hadn't thought of that! I am a Newbie so won't ask 'How?' as I'm sure the forum here will cover... Thanks mate

JonnyBoy wrote:Hi all,

I've been reading some of the threads here for advice but wonder if anyone can offer some on this topic ...

If I'm going on a walk for 4-5 days what's the best form of food to take? I do prefer 'natural' (fruit etc) but of course the weight and bulk comes into it! I'm not into dehydrated food as it often 'dis-agrees' with me (!)

Any good tips please?

I usually just use Continental pasta or rice dishes from the supermarket and perhaps some cuppa soups and pre-packaged deserts that you can heat up in boiling water (rather than nuking as the directions suggest). Cheap and light.

DIY dehydrating is the bees knees, but you need a dehydrator and some spare time, so I have never done it.

If you are comfortable carrying extra weight there is no reason hold back. For example we did the Overland Track over 10 days and had proper meals for at least the first 4 days (such as eye fillet steak, fresh veggies, smoked salmon, sweat sweet and sour chicken, golden dumplings, Pringles etc. But we did have 28-29kg, 80-90L packs. Not a problem if you are used to it, but not fun otherwise. The real issue is getting stuff that won't spoil too quickly.

Pringles

Home dehydrated food is nothing like the packet mix JB. Someone mentioned a cheap dehydrator a few weeks back. Its pretty easy, you can dehydrate almost anything, a few hours work would give enough food for a lot of walks.The last batch i did i tried sliced roast lamb and vegies. Not gawmay but came back kinda 'pub meal' quality.

What more can I say... http://ourhikingblog.com.au/food-to-go
Well worth it.

Home dehydrating can be a bit of work, but you can make it very easy by just cooking a bit extra of what you're normally going to eat at home, and afterwards dehydrating some of the leftovers (after chopping it up more, if necessary - eg, meat). Of course some foods and meals dehydrate a bit better than others, so there is a bit of learning to do. Adam's suggestion of the "Food to Go" eBook is a good one. It's an excellent resource.

As SoaB said, just cook extra of your normal meals.

I occasionally have a few hours dedicated to making food to dry, but 90% of the time if i am cooking something for dinner that i particularly like or think it might dry well, i will make an extra servings worth and just chuck it in to dry once i have eaten dinner. Next morning i turn of the dryer and either bag it then or when i get home from work. Easy As!

PS. Don't forget to test a tiny bit every time to dehydrate a new meal or food type for the first time. You don't want to be out bush rationing crappy meals because they didn't turn out as well as you'd been expecting. Yes, I've been there.

Son of a Beach wrote:PS. Don't forget to test a tiny bit every time to dehydrate a new meal or food type for the first time. You don't want to be out bush rationing crappy meals because they didn't turn out as well as you'd been expecting. Yes, I've been there.

Yes very good advice Nik I think most of us have had a "dehy" disaster mine was canned tuna slices taste was ok but just as well my son and I have our own teeth as it did not re-hydrate too well
corvus