View Full Version : What's the lightest and most calorie dense food?
Marketman
10-08-2004, 07:47
Could it be oils? Just want to get the best bang for the weight in the pack.
baseballswthrt
10-08-2004, 08:01
Fat is 9 calories/gram and it is the highest by far. Any fat or oil will have 9 calories per gram.
Anita
http://www.oc.edu/staff/phil.heffington/FoodCalories.htm
Youngblood
10-08-2004, 09:13
Like was mentioned, fatty foods like cheese, olive oil, peanut butter pack the most calories per pound.
I think it goes something like this:
Fats: 9 cal/gm.
Alcohol: 7 cal/gm.
Carbs & protein: 4 cal/gm.
2.2 pounds make up 1000 gm or 1 kilogram.
1 oz is 28 gm.
To burn 1 lb of body fat, you have to burn about 3500 cal.
Most sedetary people burn about 1500 to 2000 cal per day.
I'm really pulling numbers out of the air on this one, but I think a thru-hiker might burn between 4000 to 6000 cal per day when hiking and consumes something like 2000 to 3000 cal per day when on the the trail. This is neat early on when you start shedding a lot of body fat, but can be a problem later on when you don't have any body fat left. I have heard it said that the only thing that keeps a thru-hiker from starvation is reaching Katahdin... or maybe it's the town stops and the AYCE buffets. :)
Youngblood
Tha Wookie
10-08-2004, 09:39
Macaroons!
SGT Rock
10-08-2004, 09:51
Just get some olive oil and add it to everything you can. It tastes good, has 9 calories per gram, and it is mono-unsaturated fat, so it isn't bad for you like some fats.
Every wonder why a lot of dried foods still taste like cardboard after reyhdrating and cooking? Because some of the fats are gone which changes the taste. Put the fat back in.
I did exactly this on the PCT and then again on my AT section hike this summer. Kept in good form, didn't lose too much weight, and very rarely was I hungry in the back country. Olive oil seems to make everything taste better, from stuffing to potatoes to Liptons. Even Ramen. When you done with the noodles, use some tortillas to sop up the oily liquid, or just drink it down.
By the way, I did not take olive oil on the GDT and didn't suffer any ill effects.
smokymtnsteve
10-08-2004, 10:14
yep...Olive Oil,,
cept on your pancakes in the morning then you use canola ;)
HikeLite
10-08-2004, 10:56
Lard and more lard
I give a 3rd or 4th vote for Olive oil. I use Extra virgin cause it tastes best. As mentioned, I put it in almost everything. And at 280 cal per Oz it boosts my daily intake. I carry 10 Oz most trips, usually lasts 7 to 8 days, I also, on those rare occasions when I fry, use olive oil when frying.
Tip: If you sleep cold, some Olive oil in your evening meal will also help keep you warmer at night.
Doctari.
PS: please do not try to exist on oil or fats only, unless you carry massive amounts of TP ;)
Could it be oils? Just want to get the best bang for the weight in the pack.
Olive oil is about 240 calories per ounce. But I can't see drinking it straight out of the bottle.
Peanut butter is about 150 calories per ounce.
steve hiker
10-12-2004, 10:54
PS: please do not try to exist on oil or fats only, unless you carry massive amounts of TP ;)
Ditto on putting too much olive oil in your foods. It'll oil you up all right, and everything you ate will come out the other end fast and easy.
Nuts are calorie dense, contain "good fat", and keep well. They also contain fibre, vitamins and minerals, and protein, which can't hurt.
Peanuts 166 Cal/Oz
Walnuts 182
Pecans 189
Almonds 167
Cashews 163
Macadamia 200
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2298.html
steve hiker
10-12-2004, 18:31
Cream cheese blocks. :)
Pencil Pusher
10-13-2004, 02:39
Lard sandwiches.
HikeLite
10-13-2004, 10:05
My actual fav is lard tortillas :banana
sierraDoug
10-13-2004, 20:23
Doesn't dehydrating (or freeze drying) change the equation? Fats can't be dried (don't have any water in them). But carb foods and protein foods can be dried. Then what has the most calories by weight? Any scientists out there?
(Just went to the above link with the list of food ranked by calories per weight. No freeze dried dinners, but gotta admit beef jerky was way down on the list. Guess that kinda sorta answers the question.)
smokymtnsteve
10-13-2004, 20:24
Olive oil ;)
wacocelt
12-17-2004, 14:40
I always carry an 8 to 10oz bottle with 2/3 olive oil 1/3 squeeze butter/margarine to pour into my meals. 2 packs of Ramen sans the flavor packet, 2 servings of a dried soup like corn chowder or black bean soup and a hand full of salted peanuts makes a meal that will make you smile at the end of a long, cold, wet and miserably day of slogging down the trail.
Anyone have any suggestions for food to try instead of Ramen? I'm going to start out with potato flakes this year as I'm still burnt out on Ramen from 03'. Thanks in advance, Be well!
Blue Jay
12-17-2004, 15:03
I always carry an 8 to 10oz bottle with 2/3 olive oil 1/3 squeeze butter/margarine to pour into my meals. 2 packs of Ramen sans the flavor packet, 2 servings of a dried soup like corn chowder or black bean soup and a hand full of salted peanuts makes a meal that will make you smile at the end of a long, cold, wet and miserably day of slogging down the trail.
Anyone have any suggestions for food to try instead of Ramen? I'm going to start out with potato flakes this year as I'm still burnt out on Ramen from 03'. Thanks in advance, Be well!
I hated Ramen before I started. Your main choices appear to be rice, other types of pasta and powdered eggs. I know powdered eggs used to suck but they're much better now. You can even get them enrched with omega-3.
wacocelt
12-17-2004, 15:08
I hated Ramen before I started. Your main choices appear to be rice, other types of pasta and powdered eggs. I know powdered eggs used to suck but they're much better now. You can even get them enrched with omega-3.
Thanks BlueJay! I've also been eyballing some of the lipton meals (pasta and rice)as alternates. I've looked but never EVER seen powdered eggs on a store shelf, where do I need to search for em?
Anyone have any suggestions for food to try instead of Ramen? I'm going to start out with potato flakes this year as I'm still burnt out on Ramen from 03'. Thanks in advance, Be well!
I like to use couscous. just dump it into a pot of boiling water. remove from heat. wait five min. fluff with a fork ansd eat. One can add tuna, olive oil, peas, curry whatever...its fast hot and easy.
wacocelt
12-17-2004, 15:21
Couscous! I saw lot's of SoBo's eating that in 00', it completely slipped my mind. Thanks! Is it a comparable price to the other alternatives, at the moment price is more important than weight unfortunately?
Blue Jay
12-17-2004, 15:21
Thanks BlueJay! I've also been eyballing some of the lipton meals (pasta and rice)as alternates. I've looked but never EVER seen powdered eggs on a store shelf, where do I need to search for em?
Supermarket dehydrated eggs, even when you can find it, sucks. Adventure Foods had a great one and mountain house #10 cans. I know you don't have a lot of time. Health food stores have the best or can tell you were, on line, to get them. I know mail drops also suck but if you want to eat well sometimes it's worth it. In this case it'll be mystery food. I'm always amazed how food that sucks, tastes great, when the alternative is tree bark.
Couscous! I saw lot's of SoBo's eating that in 00', it completely slipped my mind. Thanks! Is it a comparable price to the other alternatives, at the moment price is more important than weight unfortunately?I am in New England where it is sold in the super markets in a box with a flavor pack. I just go to the health food store and by it in bulk. it is real cheap that way.
Pencil Pusher
12-17-2004, 15:31
It's easy to forget stuff, and I think it's this tendency towards forgetting things that keeps us doing things of misery. Or maybe we're just born to suffer. Either way, I remember a time when a few friends and I were on such a quest: to find calorie dense food for a long and cold trip. We added oil to everything we cooked except breakfast. We browsed the grocery stores and checked out the labels on the backs of the boxes. Price was an object for me, so I wound up getting a bunch of those Noodle-Roni boxes, more with the cheese flavorings since those had the most calories. The cheddar crackers sure packed them in as well. Whatever you do, if the trip is a long one, bring variety. Otherwise you'll go bananas eating the same crap day in and day out. One friend brought nothing but Snickers bars for his candybar supply and by day three was begging others to trade with him. Maybe Mags is the exception;) Angel hair pasta is nice because it cooks quick. And for making your own Gu, you can buy brown rice syrup from the local health store and add some coffee grounds to help with the rather bland taste. Just add sparingly to offset the taste without turning yourself into the Great Cornholio (a caffeine overdosed freak running around with his shirt over his head). Anyhow, this homemade Gu is super cheap and works just the same. Here's a little info on it for those that know of the crash and burn of sugars: http://www.starch.dk/isi/starch/ricesyrup.htm Someone brought a box of that seasoned Idaho instant potato mix and that was pretty good. Just don't forget to bring toilet paper because wiping your butt with snow is a rather cold and wet affair. And people will trade you good food knowing this.
Oh, and don't forget about needing protein. I brought a container of some buyah Healthy Weight Watchers Soy drink mix and would chug this chocolate glop drink each morning, in addition to my breakfast. I also brought some powdered protein muck from the bulk bins of the health store. It was like black beans or something.
wacocelt
12-17-2004, 15:32
Health food stores have the best or can tell you were, on line, to get them.
I just go to the health food store and by it in bulk.
I'll check with the one health food store here in town this afternoon.
I'm always amazed how food that sucks, tastes great, when the alternative is tree bark.
AMEN!
Great input folks, very cool!
Nameless
12-17-2004, 15:45
Great thread... At 105 lbs and 5'1" getting enough calories to maintain my weight is a huge deal.
One thing that packs the calories and tastes great: Take a jar of peanut butter. Take a stick or two of softened butter and mix it in (adds calories...) Ad honey to taste. Add cornmeal untill it is a thick paste. Put all this back into a peanut butter jar, and the extra in another jar or something. Extremely calorie dense, tastes a lot better then regular peanut butter, and can be eaten plain while walking. Better then Gu, it doesnt have all that caffiene (last time i had caffine 2.5 years ago, i ended up with purple hair. Its still hot pink)
Cous Cous is undoubtedly my favorite trail food. Ate it on my first backpacking trip years ago, and havent stopped since. Put it in your hot coco in the morning, drink the coco, and you got great cous cous left. Or mix some cinnamon sugar in. Tofu, nuts, veggies, meat, anything tastes great with cous cous.
Thanks
Pink
Couscous! I saw lot's of SoBo's eating that in 00', it completely slipped my mind. Thanks! Is it a comparable price to the other alternatives, at the moment price is more important than weight unfortunately?
The cheapest trail food is generic rice, macaroni, and oatmeal, flavored as appropriate with some supermarket dehydrated onions, a little sugar, salt and pepper, and bouillon cubes. Generic powdered milk adds protein. I always bring also some home dried basil -- though store versions are pretty inexpensive.
In '93 I carried liquid margarine. If I hike again, I'll substitute olive oil.
I used the money saved for Pizzas and all you can eat salad bars in town -- well with a little beer and bourbon on the side. I usually left town stops with a couple of six ounce cans of tuna in oil if I could find it.
Weary
I've got Olive Oil & Franks Hot Sauce ready to rip for my hike starting tomorrow. Woo Hoo! Hey, if I pour hot sauce on myself, will it keep me warm if the temps drop into the teens? :D Isn't that what sleeping bag liners are good for anyway? Soaking up the extra hot sauce.
I see some have mentioned oatmeal. I have a quirk...I always bring maple syrup. It feeds your body with carbs and it feeds your soul and warms your heart. It is mother's love in liquid form.
ltralight Joe's Moose Goo
NOTE: If you pass this around to your friends, I have but one request - please refer to it as "Ultralight Joe's Moose Goo". Since I run this site anonymously, it's not an ego thing. I just get a kick out of hearing it mentioned on the trail, let's me know I'm contributing to my fellow trekkers. A simple pleasure, perhaps, but I take what I can get. :-) Thanks!
Basic Recipe:
2 parts honey
2 parts corn flour (NOT corn meal! I plan to try sweet rice flour soon.)
1 part peanut butter (preservative-laden)
Mix thoroughly, will take some time.
Pack into Coghlan's Squeeze Tube (REI, Campmor, etc), or in cold weather wrap in wax paper.
Single Squeeze Tube Proportions (2-3 lunches w/ large tortillas):
8 tbsp honey
8 tbsp corn flour
4 tbsp peanut butter
Per tube:
1320 calories
172g carbs (70 simple, 102 complex)
24g protein
38g fat (That's a high proportion of fat, but what the heck...)
BEWARE! Below 40F, Ultralight Joe's Moose Goo becomes impossible to squeeze out! I open the tube from the back and spoon it out when that happens. For snow camping I pack it in wax paper instead, eat it like a candy bar, or pre-pack it into tortillas.
http://www.ultralightbackpacker.com/moosegoo.html
puck, you can get maple crystals and rehydrate your own.
puck, you can get maple crystals and rehydrate your own.
Or, if you have more time than money, just buy ordinary maple syrup from any supermarket and dehydrate it. How? Just stick it in your lowest possible oven setting until crystals form.
Weary
Toolshed
12-18-2004, 12:56
The old italians and greeks used to drink a shot of olive oil every morning.
I carry a few ounces on all my trips. 8 ounces on winter trips. It is much better than squeeze margerine.
minnesotasmith
12-18-2004, 22:43
"PS: please do not try to exist on oil or fats only, unless you carry massive amounts of TP"
If your diet is very high in extremely lean meat, and you don't have significant intake of fats from other sources, you will assuredly contract what the early Arctic explorers called "rabbit diarrhea". It was called this due to the result of subsisting solely on a diet of rabbit, a very lean meat. This affliction is not simply inconvenient, but debilitating. Explorers with this problem would look for a bear to kill to provide the needed missing dietary fats, bear meat generally being fairly fatty much of the year. As this solution is not realistic for AT hikers, you will need to ensure some fats in your diet to avoid this issue.
Ditto on putting too much olive oil in your foods. It'll oil you up all right, and everything you ate will come out the other end fast and easy.
Got that right.
steve hiker
12-20-2004, 06:25
I tried this and it is delicious. And easy as hell to make. I made mine with Smucker's Natural peanut butter, no sugar or preservatives. The honey provides all the sweetner you need and it's very sweet. Also the corn flour gives it a real nice texture.
NOTE: If you pass this around to your friends, I have but one request - please refer to it as "Ultralight Joe's Moose Goo". Since I run this site anonymously, it's not an ego thing. I just get a kick out of hearing it mentioned on the trail, let's me know I'm contributing to my fellow trekkers. A simple pleasure, perhaps, but I take what I can get. :-) Thanks!
Basic Recipe:
2 parts honey
2 parts corn flour (NOT corn meal!)
1 part peanut butter
Mix thoroughly, will take some time.
Pack into Coghlan's Squeeze Tube (REI, Campmor, etc), or in cold weather wrap in wax paper.
Per tube:
1320 calories
172g carbs (70 simple, 102 complex)
24g protein
38g fat (That's a high proportion of fat, but what the heck...)
BEWARE! Below 40F, Ultralight Joe's Moose Goo becomes impossible to squeeze out! I open the tube from the back and spoon it out when that happens. For snow camping I pack it in wax paper instead, eat it like a candy bar, or pre-pack it into tortillas.
walked southbound w/ a doctor who researched this question....ate only giant snicker bars...most calories/least weight & most readily available.
Percival
12-20-2004, 13:53
walked southbound w/ a doctor who researched this question....ate only giant snicker bars...most calories/least weight & most readily available.
Can you say sugar crash?
Peter Mossberg
12-20-2004, 23:20
If you are trying to save weight in your pack, consider bringing livestock along the trail with you. (Preferably a ruminant, like a cow or goat, so they can graze on grasses along the trail).
Just lead them along with a short piece of rope. and your pack will stay light.
minnesotasmith
12-20-2004, 23:43
"If you are trying to save weight in your pack, consider bringing livestock along the trail with you. (Preferably a ruminant, like a cow or goat, so they can graze on grasses along the trail)."
But not the AT, where it is proscribed to bring draft animals and such.
Whether you were getting milk or meat, that could work. If the latter, several smaller animals would work better than a single larger one (so you would be able to spread out your butchering and meat drying).
Frankly, though, I think supported hikes, caching supplies in advance, or (for the wealthier hikers) satellite-phone/GPS combo directed air drops of food would all be more practical.
MedicineMan
12-21-2004, 00:11
muktuk from Beluga whales
Can you say sugar crash?
My research involves only reading the ingredient list on the Snickers wrapper. (And eating them on the trail.) But I've long believed Snickers are an excellent trail food with an especially nice mix of protein (peanuts), fats and carbs.
Weary
Fiddleback
12-21-2004, 10:46
must of been a Doctor of Philosophy...:jump
snickers(amongest other brands), sardines packed in olive oil, peanut butter, nuts, powerbars, my favorite is pepper/pecan jelly with cream cheese on a cracker. I've found if you are doing 20 mile days you really can't eat or carry enough food necessary to maintain your weight, you just try like hell.
MedicineMan
12-21-2004, 23:45
i'd rather have a snickers any day over a powerbar, or even a PayDay-one of my favorites
The Weasel
02-12-2005, 18:51
The question is "what is the lightest and most calorie dense food," which is a bit of a conundrum: Fats, at 9 cal/gram, are the most dense, but they are neither practical as a fulltime diet nor necessarily the "lightest."
The prize for that, I think, goes to probably the best overall backpacking food (at least in MHO)...yellow grits, also known as Polenta to snobby Northerners who will pay $10 for plate at a classy Italian joint.
Yellow Grits (hereafter, "YG") are NOT the same thing as "grits" or "hominy", which are the quintessential Southern breakfast food, and generally hated by all others. YG are a reduced kernel of corn, ground roughly after being very dried. But to the surprise of many, and unlike other "carb" backpacking foods like noodles and rice, they are extremely nutritious across-the-board:
Serving: 35 gr (1/4 cup dry)
Cal: 130
Fat Cal: 5 cal
Fat: .5 gr
Carb: 27 g
Protein: 3 gr
The surprising part thus is that 10% of YG are protein. But the REALLY good news is the weight-to-prepared ratio: While rice, noodles and other items require equal amounts of water to cook, meaning that to get 2 cups of, e.g., cooked rice you need to carry 1 cup of dry rice, for YG the ration is 1:3. This means that to get 2 cups of cooked Yellow Grits (and the same calories as 2 cups of cooked rice), you only have to carry 1/2 cup! Do the math: As a "base food" a ten-day supply of YG is 5 cups, or about 2.5 lbs, while a similar amount of rice (or noodles) is double that. So if you're into lightweight packing, YG are an immediate bonus of 2.5 lbs for a 10 day trip. That can reduce the resupply cycle significantly.
For historical fans, YG are what is generally known, as a breakfast food, as "corn meal mush" and was/is a classic Appalachian food, served in the morning with syrup and some fruit. It was also the basic food of many/most Confederate troops in the field, since it is virtually imperishable, easy to cook, and nutritious.
In flavor, Yellow Grits are very bland, with slightly sweet and nutty flavor. YG takes any kind of sauce well, but cheese powders (my favorite is powdered nacho mix) are especially good, and various meats (dried or tuna) go well also. Essentially, YG will do anything rice will, although they look more like yellow oatmeal when cooked. Cooking time is about the same, too.
The Weasel
GaVa '00, The rest -------->?
jmaclennan
02-12-2005, 20:24
wacocelt, you can always put potato flakes in your ramen, along with some cheese and olive oil. ditch the flavor pack and spice it up with something else. i also enjoyed for much of my end-to-end hike summer sausage with cheddar (or pepper jack) cheese on bread or a bagel. good for lunch. summer sausage stays pretty long and is much cheaper than beef jerky. i also dipped bread into olive oil that i added spices to (garlic powder, red pepper, and oregano). as several posts have hinted at, variety is good. not only for your body, but your sanity. you think you could hike for 5 months on nothing but giant snickers bars? come on. p.s. i hate oatmeal and it only took about 3 days.