Cookbook for trail hikers

[The Miracle Man]

So which trail hiker cookbook is a fairly comprehensive yet not too involved culinary guide for extended trail hiking?
one that a fairly kitchen challenged wayfaring wanderer can accumulate a useful menu to draw from for creating suitable sustenance on the AT?
any recommended titles are greatly appreciated!

MM

[HankIV]

From your prior post, can imagine you need planning distraction. I didn’t see too many thru hikers cook, most just boil water for instant whatever. I’d say start experimenting with various instant things you can get at a 7-11 or rural grocery store. Instant mashed potatoes, ramen, tuna packs, etc. Keep in mind you’ll be ravenous

This guy has some interesting info on nutrition for hiking. https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCflIoVkAjQnyAwDKFmhRDDw

You do start looking at cals/oz after a bit. Wish I had done more of that ahead of my hike, as I could have shopped quicker. I think doing so helped me keep a slightly lighter pack along the way.

Would also suggest finding small format multi-vitamins. The food you use on the trail won’t be balanced. Most vitamins are big and bulky, but there are some that are smaller, so you can carry more.

I found instant mashed potatoes with added fat (olive oil/ghee) and crunch (Fritos/nuts) to be my go to. They are ready as soon as you add water.

[HankIV]

Oh, and electrolytes? Turns out the aren’t just a Gatorade marketing ploy. Grabbed some on a whim after hearing so many folk mention them at camp. Made a huge difference in alleviating muscle tiredness. Study the stats on them, because there are some more effective than others.

[RockDoc]

Here's a recent post that has a lot of good ideas beyond bland starch & sugar used by many hikers. Meals can be centered on protein to provide better nutrition and support muscle repair. Also less reliance on carbs for fuel will lessen "hiker hunger", which is the result of huge insulin swings from all those Little Debbies and Top Ramens. Here's good suggestions for making dehydrated meals at home. He says "camping", but this applies just as well to hiking. This is all based on real food, not highly processed gunk.

https://www.marksdailyapple.com/easy-camping-meals-you-can-prepare-at-home/

[tiptoe]

If you do want to get into prepping your own food (or some of it), you can find lots of recipes and very clear instructions here:
https://www.backpackingchef.com/

This site was very helptul to me when I section-hiked the AT over a period of years. Many/most of the recipes involve dehydrating the ingredients.

[Hikes in Rain]

Quite a lot of discussion on food and cooking right here on Whiteblaze. https://whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdi...oking-and-Food

[HankIV]

It is all pretty individual, subject to tastes, needs and other factors.

In my limited section hiking experience, I consistently had more time for meal prep, as I just couldn’t hike as far/long.

A few weeks into my thru however I was coming into camp later, setting up quickly and really just wanted to eat and go to sleep. Especially the second half as the fall daylight hours got shorter.

Mashed potatoes aside I did try to eat a fat tilted diet, lots of nuts. Frequently had a Clif Builder bar for dessert for overnight protein.

Check out “Moon Cheese” and it’s imitators. Pretty good cals/oz. And a nice break from other things.

[The Miracle Man]

From your prior post, can imagine you need planning distraction. I didn’t see too many thru hikers cook, most just boil water for instant whatever. I’d say start experimenting with various instant things you can get at a 7-11 or rural grocery store. Instant mashed potatoes, ramen, tuna packs, etc. Keep in mind you’ll be ravenous

This guy has some interesting info on nutrition for hiking. https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCflIoVkAjQnyAwDKFmhRDDw

You do start looking at cals/oz after a bit. Wish I had done more of that ahead of my hike, as I could have shopped quicker. I think doing so helped me keep a slightly lighter pack along the way.

Would also suggest finding small format multi-vitamins. The food you use on the trail won’t be balanced. Most vitamins are big and bulky, but there are some that are smaller, so you can carry more.

I found instant mashed potatoes with added fat (olive oil/ghee) and crunch (Fritos/nuts) to be my go to. They are ready as soon as you add water.

This is the sort of response I am looking for. Variety is a part of my end game as I work up possibilities for a trail menu over the course of this, my research/training year.
Ramen may be lightweight which enables a quantity to be carried over long distances between towns but I would prefer to avoid salt by the bucketful that Ramen is loaded with. A little is fine but not as a main staple.
Lots of reading up to do here throughout this site as well but there must be a good cookbook out there geared toward long distance hikers. Simple stuff, not looking to do a three course meal every evening.

MM

[perrymk]

Not exactly a cookbook, but I've taken to making my own Freezer Bag Cooking meals from dehydrated foods I purchase.

1. Cans of dehydrated vegetables are readily ordered online,
2. dehydrated beans or TVP is readily ordered online and
3. couscous or anything labeled "quick" or instant" (rice, barley, potatoes, etc.) are available from the grocery store.

Mix 1/2 cup from 1, 1/2 cup from 2, and 1 cup from 3. Add spices to taste, bring olive oil to add after rehydrating. It requires 2 cups boiling water and about 30 minutes to rehydrate.

I try them out at home first to see what works for me.

[HankIV]

Ramen may be lightweight

Actually when you do the math, ramen is heavy. See how many you need for a 1,000 cal dinner. Then start taking away ramen packs and adding tablespoons of butter, keeping the calorie count at 1,000 until you get to your personal butter saturation point. Pretty astonishing how much weight and bulk you save.

Olive oil is pure fat, available in most stores, and remains pliable at lower temps than butter. But caloric density about the same.

IMHO, the trick is to find the least amount of inefficient carbs and protein that you can stand to carry the most amount of efficient fat.

Holds true for snacks as well, trying to find the least amount of M&M’s and/or raisins I could to help the nuts go down.

[The Miracle Man]

Hank you're hitting all the right notes there, sounds good.

[The Miracle Man]

I have one winging its way to me on Amazon presently. Looks to be a good place to start.c3458511-7fe6-444e-8fed-fe56472d1882_1.3a279b3f94b5cf0d4180f18cdcadcba9.jpeg

[One Half]

I make my own backpacking meals using my freeze dryer. I currently have about 5 really yummy dinners in my rotation (and a few that didn't work out so well). I also have a few new ones I will be adding in this winter. In addition I have scrambled eggs with a variety of veg, salsa, and breakfast sausage for breakfast each day.

The best meals I have found are ones that contain some sort of "sauce" and a "powerful" flavor profile. As I am often not hungry when hiking sections the flavor is important as I keep telling myself "eat this so you have energy to hike tomorrow." The more flavorful the meal, the easier it is to eat it.

"Sauce" can mean a lot of things, here's my examples. I make a beef, okra and tomato meal. The tomato and okra makes a thick sauce. Rehydrates really well. Chilis or stews are good for trail meals. I might suggest that you make your chili/stew with a little "thinner" sauce at home so that when you rehydrate on trail you can be less concerned about how much water you add. IME, a thick sauce at home and over hydration on trail makes for a weak flavor. So make the sauce very flavorful but a little thinner at home, then it will still pack a punch when on trail. I make a "wet" chicken fajita filling at home. Fajita meats traditionally are rather dry as if they are wet, they destroy the tortilla. But for trail purposes it works well for rehydrating. I don't carry tortillas (but you could) as I don't eat grains. The excess liquid would be good to drink in your case, flavorful. Or do as I do and just eat the chicken/beef/etc and the peppers and onions from the bag. Gumbo, this one is fantastic.
Be sure to cut all your food into small, smaller than you think, pieces. It makes dehydrating/freezedrying easier as well as making rehydrating much better.

[The Miracle Man]

All of that great food for thought One Half! I will be test driving various recipes over the course of this year leading up to my hike start from Katahdin next May.
also testing packaging, cooking utensils, stoves/fuels, storage methods/containers, etc etc the works, all of it.

MM

[JNI64]

Freeze dried eggs are so much better than the rubbery dehydrated eggs!