Rehydrating and eating it cold - stoveless question.

[The Cleaner]

Heck,just leave all of your gear&go barefoot and live of what you find.Then start a blog....

[10-K]

Heck,just leave all of your gear&go barefoot and live of what you find.Then start a blog....

I was thinking more along the lines of moving into Jerry Cabin shelter....

[The Cleaner]

I was thinking more along the lines of moving into Jerry Cabin shelter....

There are a lot of blackberries there and mtn blueberries nearby.....good water there too.I always find it kind of funny when hikers put chemicals in water there...After all it is known as Coldsprings Mtn to the locals...

[sarbar]

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Deh...Beans_c_2.html This is what you want!

[Spokes]

Heck,just leave all of your gear&go barefoot and live of what you find.Then start a blog....

That's what Bigfoot did...... Well everything except start a blog.

[10-K]

http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Deh...Beans_c_2.html This is what you want!

I bought these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i00

And Pintos too....

Did I do ok? This is a whole new area of interest - I really know nothing about.

[Snowleopard]

For me, Taste Adventure instant black beans rehydrate more easily than Harmony House. I haven't tried them without hot water but they should rehydrate pretty quickly:
http://tasteadventure.com/products/beans/index.htm

[Rocket Jones]

Look for instant refried beans, or dehydrate them yourself if so inclined. While I'm doing a tray of frijoles, I'll also do another of salsa out of a jar. The beans also make a pretty good thickening agent for meals you've added too much water to.

[Wise Old Owl]

Took some pinto beans that had been dried at the store and soaked them in water -checked last night and forgot about them - 18 hours later they were still somewhat crunchy and inedible.


They need to be precooked and sauced before drying.

[Fiddleback]

My Primus tea kettle and soda can stove have a combined weight of 6 oz. One ounce of alky is more than enough for a FBC meal, hot beverage and warm water for personal hygiene. For a two-night trip, that's a prorated 2½ oz additional weight per hot meal compared to the weight saved by cold meals (although the recipes above seem to have heavier ingredients, i.e., less dehydrated food). I see no other advantage of cold meals aside from the time savings from not heating the water. But that's just my uninformed opinon...if the cold meals are 'preferred' or just taste better, go for it. Feeling full from a pleasant meal is one of the top 'comforts' on the trail...my informed opinion.

FB

[perrymk]

Ok.. beans and rice was a failure.. 2 hours of soaking and the beans were ok but the rice (as predicted) was crunchy.

Was this pre-cooked rice? I've seen that on the grocery shelves buy haven't tried it. Maybe you could try cooking the rice yourself, letting it dry, and then reconstituting with room temp water.

Another thought is, leaving it to soak in the sun. Of course this is a method of cooking that isn't always possible but it is essentially stoveless.

Anyway, I'm enjoying reading this experiment.

[10-K]

Was this pre-cooked rice? I've seen that on the grocery shelves buy haven't tried it. Maybe you could try cooking the rice yourself, letting it dry, and then reconstituting with room temp water.

Another thought is, leaving it to soak in the sun. Of course this is a method of cooking that isn't always possible but it is essentially stoveless.

Anyway, I'm enjoying reading this experiment.

I tried with instant white Minute Rice and it worked perfectly. Instant brown Minute Rice never got soft enough. I'm waiting on my freeze dried beans and freeze dried meats and veggies and I'm going to experiment with making meals. Should be fun - I think it's awesome to be able to make my own "mountain house" meals....

[10-K]

My Primus tea kettle and soda can stove have a combined weight of 6 oz. One ounce of alky is more than enough for a FBC meal, hot beverage and warm water for personal hygiene. For a two-night trip, that's a prorated 2½ oz additional weight per hot meal compared to the weight saved by cold meals (although the recipes above seem to have heavier ingredients, i.e., less dehydrated food). I see no other advantage of cold meals aside from the time savings from not heating the water. But that's just my uninformed opinon...if the cold meals are 'preferred' or just taste better, go for it. Feeling full from a pleasant meal is one of the top 'comforts' on the trail...my informed opinion.

FB

FB, I get just a full from a cold meal and so far I haven't felt like I was missing anything by eating cold instead of hot meals. One of the things I like about being stoveless is having 1 less thing to have to keep up with, pack, and plan around.

[FarmerChef]

Perhaps chiming in a bit late here...

Beans require heat in order to become soft. Just soaking is the "overnight" method found on many packages of raw beans at the grocery store. In either case, you must cook them at the end. That said, you can save a lot of money by making your own "instant" beans if you're up for dehydrating them. Just select your favorite beans. Cook per the directions or buy them canned and already cooked. Then dehydrate. The beans will split open because the skin dehydrates at a different rate than the starchy interior causing it to break open. This is what allows the bean to rehydrate more quickly. As long as you don't mind that look, the texture of the bean is the same in your mouth as the "normal one."

Also, refried beans are ridiculously easy to make yourself. A 1st generation Mexican family showed me how one afternoon and I've almost never bought them from the store again, blech! Just buy a bag of raw Pinto beans. You can get 'em for a song at an ethnic grocer. Then throw in onions, garlic, salt and chicken stock or bullion to taste. Cook them until soft. Then remove most of the water and pulverize them with a potato masher. Add extra water as needed. Those should dehydrate nicely and rehydrate just as easily, even cold. I'll bet you could run it through the blender once dried to make it even smoother/faster to rehydrate. Will have to test...

Other items that have been mentioned: any flour based product will soften up cold - pastas, tabbouleh, cous cous, stuffing, etc. If you don't have to rehydrate proteins (say foil chicken) then you could assemble a no-cook meal quite easily from that. I also use a tealight to gently warm the water I'm rehydrating in before I throw it on the stove. No muss, no fuss. Just light and go. The only advantage is a faster soak. If you're throwing it in a bottle and hiking it all afternoon then it shouldn't be necessary.

Please report back on your findings!

[SheenBean]

This isn't on beans, but I wanted to share one of my healthiest cold "breakfast" meals.

Flaxseed, almonds, oats, granola with dried fruit or chocolate pieces, soak 4-8 hrs before consuming to allow the nuts/seeds to soak/sprout. It allows your body to digest them more efficiently. If you want even more of a protein boost add some protein powder right before consumed.

I'll be following this thread closely, I'm doing the same thing next year.

[10-K]

This isn't on beans, but I wanted to share one of my healthiest cold "breakfast" meals.

Flaxseed, almonds, oats, granola with dried fruit or chocolate pieces, soak 4-8 hrs before consuming to allow the nuts/seeds to soak/sprout. It allows your body to digest them more efficiently. If you want even more of a protein boost add some protein powder right before consumed.

I'll be following this thread closely, I'm doing the same thing next year.

Dang, that sounds good - I bought some flaxseed not too long ago too. I'm going to give this a try.

[LynnMT]

There are dehydrated black and refried beans at our health food store. You may want to check out Scott Williamson's blog as he rehydrated like this while hiking the PCT.

[Mags]

So, I did an overnighter this past weekend. Due to the heat in Colorado (even at elevation!), I am very glad I went cold. Some cous cous, a little sun dried tomato and a tuna packet.

One of my major vices is that I love coffee. So, how to feed my caffiene addicition? Well, Star Bucks Via mixes quite well cold and tastes pretty decent. Mix it with snow from the remnants of snow packs? You have a KILLER backcountry iced coffee. Seriously:




iced-coffee.jpg

[WingedMonkey]

So, I did an overnighter this past weekend. Due to the heat in Colorado (even at elevation!), I am very glad I went cold. Some cous cous, a little sun dried tomato and a tuna packet.

One of my major vices is that I love coffee. So, how to feed my caffiene addicition? Well, Star Bucks Via mixes quite well cold and tastes pretty decent. Mix it with snow from the remnants of snow packs? You have a KILLER backcountry iced coffee. Seriously:




iced-coffee.jpg

Giving 10-K any advice on how to get caffeine in his veins will make you his friend for life.