Does your packed food change in the winter?

[OhioHiker]

I was just thinking in the winter maybe even late fall and early spring you could potentially pack foods that might spoil in the heat of the summer. Meats, fish, yogurt, milk... etc

I guess as long as it stays below 40ish the food should be ok?

Anyone take advantage of nature as a refrigerator... :)

[kayak karl]

it does keep things fresher like cheeses and eggs, but them when it gets to teens things like to freeze. like snicker bars, hard boiled eggs, olive oil etc. carrying a hoagie r fried chicken is better then on a 90 degree day.

[Tipi Walter]

I agree with Kayak Karl---cheese doesn't get oily in the winter (although I've seen cheese freeze solid and get weird), and eggs do better but then again fresh eggs (in the right container) do just fine for a couple weeks in any season---as long as they don't jostle and crack. I had my entire egg stash get frozen solid though and that's a hassle. One time I took out 18 eggs in the shell on a trip in 2 plastic containers. That's when I was ingesting Teflon from a crappy MSR Flex fry pan. In my opinion eggs only work if you carry a fry pan.

And he's right about carrying in hoagies or subway sandwiches or fresh burritos etc. They don't last long in the summer.

One time before a trip I went to Tomato Head restaurant in Maryville TN and got a Jose Burrito---a giant vegetarian thing with rice and tofu and all else. Excellent. So I took it out with me and ate it the first couple days. In fact, when I reached my first trailpost I took a picture of it and eventually posted the picture on my interweb and Tomato Head somehow found it and posted it on their blog and titled it:

"Tomato Head Hits The Trail!"

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2009/The-Brush-Mountain-Hell-Ride/i-8sQDJnX/0/L/trip%2096%20034-L.jpg
THE ULTIMATE BURRITO---Tomato Head!!!

See Tomato Head link---
http://thetomatohead.com/calling-all-hikers/

[illabelle]

In cool weather, we've been known to start off on a section hike carrying a bag of frozen peas. Depending on temperatures, we might need to eat them with our first meal, or we might be able to save them for the second day. They're heavy, so I don't usually carry them very far anyway. But they do make a marvelous addition to a bowl of pasta.
Likewise, many foods can be kept for several days. Cheese, fake meats (I'm vegetarian, so I don't have firsthand knowledge, but I'd be leery of carrying raw meat for any length of time if temperatures were marginal), chili, eggs, zucchini, etc.
Yes, the trail is a refrigerator at times, so anything from your refrigerator at home that you're willing to haul on the trail is safe to eat, keeping in mind that the temperatures rise and fall over the course of the day.

[Tipi Walter]

Likewise, many foods can be kept for several days. Cheese, fake meats (I'm vegetarian, so I don't have firsthand knowledge, but I'd be leery of carrying raw meat for any length of time if temperatures were marginal), chili, eggs, zucchini, etc.


I'm also a vegetarian and routinely (every trip) take out fake meats but they can get heavy on a long trip so instead I home dry them in my dehydrator. Sliced up soy sausage etc. They can either be put in soups or eaten like beef jerky. Here's a rack getting ready for drying.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpack-2014-Trips-152/24-Days-in-the-Cold/i-S4cq6j9/0/L/TRIP%20152%20011-L.jpg


And you can also dry burritos and chew like jerky on the trail---

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpack-2014-Trips-152/21-Days-in-the-Snow/i-bfQ2NjC/0/L/TRIP%20153%20055-L.jpg

[TNhiker]

One time before a trip I went to Tomato Head restaurant in Maryville TN



the maryville location is now closed (for about a year now)....

there are two locations in knoxville though----the original one down on market square and one out in bearden......

[Tipi Walter]

the maryville location is now closed (for about a year now)....

there are two locations in knoxville though----the original one down on market square and one out in bearden......

We used to go to the Maryville location once a month and then DRAT IT they closed and I haven't been back since.

[TNhiker]

yeah......

apparently they werent doing so well in maryville........

i thought they would do better seeing as there's not a ton of local options in that area.......especially in the downtown part...

but they were getting, i think, mainly a lunch crowd.............while the market square (which expanded last year) does both a good lunch and dinner crowd.........

[TNhiker]

I was just thinking in the winter maybe even late fall and early spring you could potentially pack foods that might spoil in the heat of the summer. Meats, fish, yogurt, milk... etc



my typical dinner for my weekend trips usually consists (and year round---depending upon my funds) of picking up a filet mignon in the morning----throwing it in a ziplock bag with marinade and then in the pack----and cook it over a fire at a campsite.......

ive found if its put in the middle of my pack-----it will stay fresh...........

[RED-DOG]

Yep my hiking Diet totally changes from cold weather to warm weather, i pack a lot more meats than in the summer like regular link sausage, hot dogs, i am parcel to Red Hot sausages, bagels, and some times in town i will grab some KFC and put it in a zip-lock bag chicken will last 2-3 days if the temp is right and their Cole slaw and biscuits Bro thats an awesome lunch/dinner for the first day or two days out of town and i seem to carry more chili Beans and mexican rice in winter i personnaly have never had eggs spoil on me so i carry them year around no matter what the temp is.

[Tipi Walter]

Beloved Eggs

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2013-1/Backpacking-Bryan-DeLay/i-RtqqqkH/0/L/TRIP%20148%20075-L.jpg

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2013-1/Green-Cove-Cabin/i-Bkh9qpS/0/L/TRIP%20147%20019-L.jpg

[illabelle]

This thread is making me hungry. Well, it IS almost lunchtime! :)
Maybe I'll order me that Kepner Melt sandwich from the Bearden Tomato Head...

[Connie]

I have soup. I practically never have soup in warmer weather.

I like spicy garbanzo bean indian cuisine wrapped in a tortilla, if the slightest chill. In winter, I really like Indian Cuisine. I recently discovered Moroccan cuisine. The mildly spiced entrees of both countries can be "warming".

I have started finding recipes online.

[1234]

YOU bet, sausage, biscuits, meat, hot dogs, BBQ, nothing like a nice hot BBQ sandwich for lunch.

[Firefighter503]

I am more likely to pack hot foods than during the summer months..

[Dogwood]

Tipi Walter posting a Ultimate Burrito from Tomato Head atop a SlickRock Citico Wilderness trail junction post - no surprise. South Fork(Tr 105) and Falls Branch(Tr 87). I remembered S. Fork Tr being 105 but had to look up Tr 87 to recall it was Falls Branch Tr.

For those hiking in the area check out Tellico Grains Bakery where everything is baked on the premises in a rehabbed cool older building. The young proprietors are the bakers making great sandwiches too. Great stop highly recommended for a bakery, coffee, and sit down cafe in a historical Tennessee area.

[Tipi Walter]

Tipi Walter posting a Ultimate Burrito from Tomato Head atop a SlickRock Citico Wilderness trail junction post - no surprise. South Fork(Tr 105) and Falls Branch(Tr 87). I remembered S. Fork Tr being 105 but had to look up Tr 87 to recall it was Falls Branch Tr.

For those hiking in the area check out Tellico Grains Bakery where everything is baked on the premises in a rehabbed cool older building. The young proprietors are the bakers making great sandwiches too. Great stop highly recommended for a bakery, coffee, and sit down cafe in a historical Tennessee area.

Several comments to make on your post. Actually, the trailpost is wrong and the number should not be 87 but 97. BIG DIFFERENCE as 97 is the trailhead to the dreaded and rugged Brush Mt Trail. They goofed up when making the post. Brush Mt trail leaves the South Fork 105 and immediately crosses South Fork Creek and begins it long journey up Brush Mt to pop out on Trail 149, the Cold Spring Gap trail. Here's the top trailhead to Brush Mt on 149---(see second picture)

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2013-1/Backpacking-Bryan-DeLay/i-c2rMMZm/0/L/TRIP%20148%20090-L.jpg
Here's another pic of that trailpost at a later date and they might've come out and replaced it as the number clearly says 97. The burrito pic shows an older trailpost, or either someone altered it with a knife.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2013-1/Citico-Wilderness-Trailwork/i-hNtJv6M/0/L/TRIP%20149%20267-L.jpg
Here's the top trailhead to Brush Mt.

Oh, and about Tellico Grains Bakery! Man, how many sandwiches did I hump out from their shop??? All pics taken in camp by my tent.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/Thru-Hikers-on-the-Benton/i-hDjdccV/0/M/TRIP%20109%20005-M.jpg
TELLICO GRAINS SANDWICH #1

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2009/Chattanooga-Cheryl-and-the-Bob/i-JNGCBqd/0/L/Trip%20103%20004-L.jpg
TELLICO GRAINS SANDWICH #2 Start salivating, boys.

[Another Kevin]

TW: What's that skillet you use, and how much does it weigh? Sometimes, on one of my clueless weekends, if I started bringing a skillet and one of those collapsible Shakespeare rods, the forecast might be for cloudy and short mileage with a chance of trout. :)

I find that eggs do OK - not terrific, but not bad - if I steam bake them in foil muffin cups. Optionally, crumble in some precooked bacon and dehydrated veggies (peppers, onions, whatever) and tear up a string cheese on the top. This method (including mix-ins) is the only way that I can stomach powdered egg. Fresh eggs are still just OK with it, a real skillet does better.

[Tipi Walter]

TW: What's that skillet you use, and how much does it weigh? Sometimes, on one of my clueless weekends, if I started bringing a skillet and one of those collapsible Shakespeare rods, the forecast might be for cloudy and short mileage with a chance of trout. :)

I find that eggs do OK - not terrific, but not bad - if I steam bake them in foil muffin cups. Optionally, crumble in some precooked bacon and dehydrated veggies (peppers, onions, whatever) and tear up a string cheese on the top. This method (including mix-ins) is the only way that I can stomach powdered egg. Fresh eggs are still just OK with it, a real skillet does better.

The skillet is the MSR Flex which I originally thought would be perfect but DANGIT I went thru 3 of them and every one of them delaminated and flaked off PTFE---that's
Polytetrafluoroethylene (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPolytet rafluoroethylene&ei=C-eaVJKXG8a0ggSfvIGYCA&usg=AFQjCNH3CCqcka9zTYj888DR-FacyNYNWQ&bvm=bv.82001339,d.eXY) into my food. Who needs a steady diet of teflon?

It may be the worst product I used in 2014.

[Connie]

I never consider fried food for backpacking in Summer.

In wintertime:

GSI Bugaboo 12" fry pan is not teflon.
http://www.gsioutdoors.com/products/hardanodized/40500.html

Fry-Bake has two sizes, is not teflon either. Their non-stick defies damage. Need pot grabber, if you like a handle.
http://search.store.yahoo.net/wildernessdining/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=wildernessdining&query=Fry-bake&search.x=-183&search.y=-10&.autodone=

Best eggs I ever had were scrambled, small chunks of cheese dropped in, few drops of truffle oil, "baked" to semi-solid in a heavy aluminum baking "can" much like Shug shows in a recent dry baking video. Someone made those. Handed the can to me. I found that brand truffle oil at the Safeway grocery store.

[Another Kevin]

That little Fry-Bake looks interesting. 10 oz is bearable for a lazy trip, and it doubles as a mini Dutch oven. Thanks for the pointer!

I hate flaking Teflon, because when that happens, food sticks worse than it does in a properly seasoned uncoated pan. I'm not worried about safety, because the stuff doesn't react with anything. I'd expect that it would just be a little bit of extra roughage in the diet, emerging pretty much unchanged from the far end of the digestion.

[Tipi Walter]

I'm not worried about safety, because the stuff doesn't react with anything. I'd expect that it would just be a little bit of extra roughage in the diet, emerging pretty much unchanged from the far end of the digestion.

As a side note, on one of my Flex pot trips I noticed a marked increase in the ability of my Turtlehead squat-and-release Stools (yes, giving birth to the human turd), that they slid out with remarkable ease. I attributed it to having a colon greased with Teflon.

[Traveler]

I think I coulda' gone my whole life and not known that....

[Tipi Walter]

I think I coulda' gone my whole life and not known that....

The subject of Cooking and Food can't be discussed without also mentioning the end result---the human turd:)

[Connie]

I have been looking thru the GSI website.

There is also their Bugaboo 10" non-stick fry pan and the Extreme Mess Kit 7.5" non-stick fry-pan and lid - no teflon. They also have their Pinnacle 12" 10" and 8" hard anodized frypans, each sold separately.

[rocketsocks]

The subject of Cooking and Food can't be discussed without also mentioning the end result---the human turd:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJMKupYF14I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJMKupYF14I

[illabelle]

I have a small very ordinary teflon-coated frying pan that was bought for home cooking. Carried it on the trail once, and then took the handle off. Been carrying it ever since. We also have a frying pan with a folding handle specifically made for hikers. Turns out my handleless pan weighs within an ounce of the handled pan, but it holds more food, and has a thicker bottom for better heat distribution. Works for me, plus it was cheap.

[Cadenza]

TW: What's that skillet you use, and how much does it weigh? Sometimes, on one of my clueless weekends, if I started bringing a skillet and one of those collapsible Shakespeare rods, the forecast might be for cloudy and short mileage with a chance of trout. :)

I find that eggs do OK - not terrific, but not bad - if I steam bake them in foil muffin cups. Optionally, crumble in some precooked bacon and dehydrated veggies (peppers, onions, whatever) and tear up a string cheese on the top. This method (including mix-ins) is the only way that I can stomach powdered egg. Fresh eggs are still just OK with it, a real skillet does better.


To answer the part of Kevin's question that didn't get answered......
The fry pan weighs 6.8 oz

I know because I weighed every item in my pack for the trip I'm about to head out on. I ended up pulling the pan out in an effort to get my pack weight below 85 pounds.



The skillet is the MSR Flex which I originally thought would be perfect but DANGIT I went thru 3 of them and every one of them delaminated and flaked off PTFE---that's
Polytetrafluoroethylene (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPolytet rafluoroethylene&ei=C-eaVJKXG8a0ggSfvIGYCA&usg=AFQjCNH3CCqcka9zTYj888DR-FacyNYNWQ&bvm=bv.82001339,d.eXY) into my food. Who needs a steady diet of teflon?

It may be the worst product I used in 2014.


I haven't used my pan much so the teflon is still intact.
My problem with it is that despite the fact that I carry a stove, I still like to cook on a fire.
The very first time I used my fry pan I melted the little red latch that unlocks the folding handle.
It still works. But I'm not taking it this week.