[pct-l] RE: Drying foods for backpacking

[WSpeer1161@aol.com (WSpeer1161@aol.com)]

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Peggy, This is a great question and one a lot more hikers should ask. I
dehydrate almost all of my pack food and am very pleased with it. My diet is
mostly veggie; however the biggest advantage to my home-dehydrated pack food
is that I gained 12 pounds while hiking 3,300 miles on the AT last year!
Compared to the usual thru-hiker weight loss of 15-40 pounds in only 2,000
miles, that's quite an accomplishment. Not only was my food light weight and
low volume, it was also nutritious. My pack weight varied from 12 to 22 lbs
and I averaged 18.5 miles/day!  Not bad for a 54 year old!

I recommend the book "Dry It, You'll Like It!" by Gen Macmaniman. It's only
75 pages of hand-lettered text, but it's all you need to get started. The
book is sold in many outdoor shops, but can be ordered by calling
425-222-5587. Plans for a homemade dehydrator are included; however my
dehydrator was bought from Nature's First law  www.naturesfirstlaw.com  or
800-205-2350.

My hiker diet is mainly one-cup soups, fortified with extra calories. I start
with a basic commercial soup mix (i.e., Knorr, etc) and add my own dehydrated
veggies (sweet potato, corn, squash, cabbage, broccoli, etc). I then add a
thickener like brown-rice flour (from health food store), powdered green peas
(cooked, dehydrated, & ground myself), powdered lentils (c, d & g myself), or
dried beans (health food store). I also add VTP, nondairy creamer (more
calories than powdered milk), powdered cheese (Parmensan/Romaro), and
seasonings such as Mrs. Dash, Chef Paul, Emrils, Butter Buds, etc. I'll also
use commercial chili mix such as Fantastic from the health food store. This
give me lots of variety; I prepare 2-3 one-cup soups for dinner and 1 for
breakfast; may prepare more soups any time during the day (it's so quick &
easy). Since my cooking is limited to only heating water (never boiling), I
save greatly on fuel consumption; in fact my cook pot is a 0.9 liter Ti cup!
I often make hot green tea during colder weather.

Lunches are continuos snacks, such as dehydrated apples or peaches (also some
blueberries, pineapple, strawberries, etc), peanut butter w/ honey, corn
chips, and candy of choice (M&M's). The last items were bought at stores
along the trail, all the rest was dehydrated months ahead of time and placed
in my resupply boxes. I eat a lot of peanut butter (highest claorie-per-ounce
of any readily available non-animal food). For my upcoming PCT hike, I will
also take soy protein powder (flavored with sugar-less drink powder like
Wyler's or Kool-Aid) for 'shakes' twice a day.

Most people will notice the lack of wheat, noodles, oatmeal, coffee, and the
near-lack of all animal products in my diet. The object here is to avoid
foods that retard digestion and cause inflammation (your feet and joints will
be swollen enough as it is). In fact, my diet is heavily based on
non-inflammatory and even anti-inflammatory foods. I also take numerous
supplements both on and off the trail (vitamins, flax seed oil, formula of
vegetable extracts, glucosamine, aspirin, etc).

While this diet may not be healthy enough for year-round use, I've used it
extensively on wilderness trips up to 7 months. Of course, once in trail
towns, I pig out like any thru hiker, but I try to avoid consuming excessive
amounts of unhealthy foods; donuts & ice cream however, are my downfall!

Hope this gives you some ideas

Not To Worry