Light Weight Cooking

Food is an important element of the hiking and camping experience. At the end of a day's hike the meal selection must sometimes be based on what was carried in the pack. Along with the food, this usually involves a heat source (fire or stove), pots, pans, utensils and dishes. I don't like to carry more volume or mass than necessary, so mass and volume of food and equipment are balanced against need and usefulness.

Hikers and motorcycle campers usually have no access to coolers or refrigerators. The absence of refrigeration effects the amount of time the some food lasts before they spoil. I refer to this as shelf life in the following text.

Experienced hikers on a multi day hike often pre-pack the meals for a day using small zip lock bags, within a larger zip lock bag. Dried foods help in keeping the mass of a day's rations for one person to below 900 grams.

Equipment

The mass of pots and pans per person will be less when they can be shared with other hikers or travel companions. I use stainless steel pots. They weigh more than aluminium but for me food prepared in stainless steel pots seems to taste better. Some hikers eat from the pots. I usually carry a hard plastic or poly carbonate bowl and plate that store inside the pots. I use a 375 ml polycarbonate cup that has cup / ml graduations marked. It is more functional and useful than a smaller cup. Polycarbonate utensils are light weight, although fork tines have broken during transit. I carry a pocket knife for the cutting chores.

The number of pots and pans can be minimised by re-using them during the preparation process. This calls for the wash up vessel to be available during the preparation process. A two litre ice cream container does not add much extra weight.

I use a Coleman Peak 1 model 550B stove. It has an effective simmer setting. The fuel jet is cleaned each time the stove is shut off via a wire integrated in the pre heater / nozzle. Shellite / Coleman Fuel works well in this multi fuel stove. From lighting to normal operations takes less than a minute and most often no soot is deposited on the pots providing the pots are removed before turning the stove off. I normally use an aluminium wind shield to improve heat transfer.

Containers for Storage or Transport

Zip lock bags are available in a variety of sizes: mini storage (1 cup), sandwich size, lunch size and large storage. They are suitable for a wide variety of uses. They can be washed, dried and reused.

Plastic Jars - watch for these in the grocery stores - usually 250 ml or more, but peanut butter is sometimes sold in plastic wide mouth 200 ml jars..

35mm or APS film canisters - for herbs, spices and flavourings. The white / translucent 35mm containers have a volume of about 25ml (5 tea spoons or 1 2/3 table spoons).

Al-foil is sometimes good for storing products that store poorly in plastic - such as cheese, smallgoods (mettwurst, pepperoni, salami).

Food wrap / cling wrap - a twist of food wrap can be used to store pre measured quantities of spices, etc.

Nalgene containers are sold in many shapes and sizes. I use a 125ml wide mouth round bottle for olive oil and the 60ml wide mouth round containers for peanut butter, honey and jam.

Time Available for Meal Preparation

In South Australia, hiking and camping are more common in the cooler seasons with fewer daylight hours. The evening meal may often be prepared after sunset, after the days walk. In pleasant weather, meal preparation can be an enjoyable part of the camping experience. I recall when camping in Lightning Ridge NSW, our neighbours went off to the pub for their evening meal, while we were preparing ours. They returned before we were on to dessert and coffee.

A single burner stove will be used by one or two campers. The time to cook the meal will be longer than at home - where one can select from a multi burner stove, oven, microwave oven and electric kettle, crock pot, etc. Some hiking and camping pots can be used as double boilers. Once the soup is simmering, the water for the next course can be heated in the second pot on top of the soup pot. I use the pot lid to improve heating efficiency.

Typical Meals

In September 2001 I spent five days camping and bushwalking in the Gawler Ranges of upper Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The hikes were base camp walks. Selection of food took account of the space and weight restrictions relating to motorcycle camping. There was a nearby rainwater tank for potable water and other water for ablutions.

Breakfast

Muesli and All Bran, with powdered milk. I add warm water on cool mornings to the cereal and powdered milk mixture. Extra dried fruit was sometimes added. Tea was a choice of black or green leaf tea.

Lunch

Hiking lunch was based around Arnotts sesame wheat crackers and an 95 gram tin of tuna, Spam, etc, peanut butter, cheese or metwurst. Dried fruit and nuts mix included almonds, peanuts, apricots and apples. A portion of dark chocolate or a yoghurt muesli bar to complete the trail lunch.

Evening Meal

Soup was the usual starter. Main course was one of the grains or legumes below with savoury elements. Nice red wine was a base camp luxury. Dessert was usually re-hydrated dried fruits then coffee, chocolate and port by the camp fire.

Grains and Legumes - Dried Foods

Where the camp is close to a source of potable water, one can avoid carrying water (as part of the food) by using dried or de-hydrated food - and re-hydrating the foods such as grains and legumes in the cooking process.

When cooked, one cup of dried beans, peas, rice or lentils will provide the basis for a hearty main course for two hikers. One cup uncooked rice yields 2 1/2 to 3 cups of cooked rice for example.

Beans

See the bean packages for cooking instructions and times. To reduce cooking time, soak the beans overnight if you are base camping. Otherwise start the soaking or cooking on arrival at camp. Adding salt or soda to the water when soaking should decrease the cooking time. I find that adding one or two ml of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) makes the beans less crunchy. (See - On Cooking Beans)

Stove top time can be reduced by bringing the beans and water to a boil, removing from the heat source and insulating the pot with a jacket, sleeping bag, etc, while the other meal preparations are carried out. Adding salt at cooking time is likely to increase the time needed to cook the beans. I add soup stock powder during the cooking process. Usually one cup of dried beans is cooked in 3 cups of water. I use my larger pot for cooking beans.

Lima beans, although larger than other beans, cook in the least time. Dried baby/small lima beans are sold in the Adelaide Central Market - but the small lima beans seem to require variable cooking time - some beans are soft after 20 minutes cooking while others in the same pack are still undercooked at the same time . A tomato and onion sauce is nice, grated parmesan cheese can added when serving.

I like Cannellini beans for chilli recipes but they take longer to cook and have a nice texture when cooked.

Navy / Haricot beans (often used in canned beans) are also good for chillies and soups.

Rice

The stir fried vegetables principle has "boiled" equivalent. If the white rice takes 14 minutes to cook, I add vegetables to the simmering rice pot a few at a time. The vegetables that require the longest cooking time are added earliest. Take account of the water that will be absorbed by the vegetables and boil sufficient water to start with.. I often add chicken or vegetable stock powder to the cooking water.

Ezi-Cook Basmati aromatic long grain aromatic rice cooks in about 20 minutes. One serve equals 150 grams of cooked rice.

Brown rice takes about 45 minutes to cook. I have not yet selected it for a camping meal.

The foil packs with rice and flavouring, such as Continental Rices of the World are saltier than I prefer.

Rice Flakes can be used for a hot breakfast cereal or used for a rice pudding dessert.

Lentils

Green or brown lentils can provide variety. They cook in about 30 minutes and combine well with tomato, garlic and onion flavours.

Barley

Pearl barley is often used with soups. Curried barley with vegetables is a possibility.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat kernels boiled in water are tender in about 15 minutes. Used in pilaf, with curried vegetables, etc. Buckwheat porridge is an alternative for breakfast.

Oats - Rolled - Quick Cooking

Packaged instant porridge is available. Quick cooking oats can be added to breakfast cereal or muesli.

Pasta and Noodles

Asian delis or grocery stores often have a better selection of noodles. Continental and San Remo have a wide variety of pastas and sauces in foil packs. Standard sizes are suitable for two hikers.

For a main course, about 100 grams of dried pasta per hiker is sufficient. Heated salsa is an easy to prepare pasta sauce. Grated parmesan cheese is tasty with pasta.

CousCous

Made from durum wheat semolina, San Remo brand Instant CousCous comes in 100 gram boil in the bag sachets. Place the bag in a pot of boiling water, boil in high heat for 1.5 minutes, remove from water let drain a few moments before removing the couscous from the bag.

Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)

TVP is available from health food stores and from some bulk food outlets at the Adelaide Central Market.

Organic Vegetarian Mince - from Planet Organic www.planetorganic.com.au Add one cup or vegetarian mince to 2 cups of water, heat to boiling and simmer 5 minutes. Allow to stand for 10 minutes and use in place of meat following the directions of your normal recipe.

Eagle Water Hole Camp - Deep Creek Conservation Park SA

Damper

Damper is a traditional Australian bush camp crusty bread, usually made in a cast iron camp oven heated by coals from the camp fire (the camping equivalent of a domestic "hot" oven). I've made damper using my Coleman Peak 1 stove. The following procedure yields one 350 gram (approximately) damper about 3 or 4 cm high and 14 cm in diameter.

The damper can be cooked in the evening and any remaining damper can be used for breakfast or lunch the next day. If a steel / iron plate barbecue is available, the damper can be cooked on the barbecue. I cover the damper with a pot while cooking, and rotate the damper occasionally if the barbecue plate is not uniformly heated. Cooking time depends on the barbecue - around 12 minutes per side.

A convenient source of water for washing up the cooking pots and pans is needed.

Savoury Elements - Flavours

The grains and legumes mentioned above taste much better when combined with one or more of the elements below. For example, cooked beans might be combined with a sauce made from chopped onions, garlic and chillies sauteed in butter or oil and some tomato paste or a can of chopped tomatoes. Further cooking the sauce with the beans combines the flavours. My main course is usually a one pot combination, although meat and vegetables might be served separately.

Tomato

Onion

Fresh or dried flakes. Fresh onions are usually chopped and sauteed in butter or oil before adding to the casserole or one pot wonder. Dried onions should be re-hydrated - this can be incorporated as part of the cooking process. I found fried (dried) spring onions in 100 gram packs in the Asian foods section at the local Coles supermarket.

Garlic

Chilli

I usually use fresh chillies but dried chillies can be more convenient. Fresh chillies can last 4 days or more in a zip lock bag. A sharp knife is needed to chop the chillies. I use the seeds as well. I have also used dried hot chillies - adding two or three to the boiling process. The flavour seems to transfer to the pasta, rice, etc. I find that Jalapeno peppers have a more consistent hotness than the fresh red or green chilli peppers. A bit of chilli adds zing to a re-hydrated dried fruit dessert.

Chilli powder usually contains a portion of oregano. So if you use fresh chillies, add some oregano as well.

Soup Stock Powders or Cubes

Chicken, beef and vegetable stock flavours are available. Check the salt content on the ingredients list. Chicken soup powder with no MSG is sometimes sold in the bulk food section of grocery stores.

Butter / Oil

These are needed for cooking chopped onions, chillies, curry powder, damper, etc. Depending on the temperature and season butter will melt and require care in transport and storage. Olive oil can be decanted into a plastic screw top bottle - and stored in a zip lock mini storage bag.

Cheese

Dried grated parmesan cheese is light weight. Stored in a zip lock plastic it should last for a week without noticeable deterioration.

Other harder cheeses such as cheddar last a few days, depending on the temperature.

Peanut Butter

Providing a suitable size and weight container is available, peanut butter goes well with crackers for the on-the-trail lunch. Peanut butter is the basis of satay flavourings. .

Pesto

Pesto provides a lot of flavour in a small mass / volume but will probably need to be decanted at home from the glass jar to small wide mouth container with a tight sealing lid. Legos brand pesto is available in several flavours.

Dried Marinated Olives

Pepper / Salt / Paprika / Herbs / Spices

Finding a suitable size container can be a challenge. Photographic film containers are about 25 ml. A twist of food wrap can be used for tea spoon / table spoon amounts.

Canned foods contain more salt than I am used to. Added salt is seldom needed with canned foods. I add salt to the cooking water for beans, peas, etc.

Curry - Available as curry powder, curry paste (in jars) and foil packs. Curry simmer sauce is sold in 350 ml cans - a lighter weight alternative can be made from curry paste, dried coconut milk and water.

Soups

In South Australia San Remo and Continental brands have a variety of soups in foil packs, most make one litre of soup. Asparagus, mushroom, leek, pumpkin and vegetable soup mixes can be supplemented with re-hydrated mushrooms (sliced and added for texture), quick cooking peas or green beans, red lentils, rice or noodles can increase the calorie content.

Alternatively, some soup powder can be added to the one pot rice or noodle dishes to create a thickened sauce.

Salads

Salads usually require some fresh vegetables and is delightful in hot weather. The base of the salad could be rice, pasta or beans. Vegetable content could be quick cooking green peas or beans. Dressing from olive oil, vinegar, ground pepper, herbs, curry, tomato paste, etc. For fresh vegetables, cucumber, capsicums, onions, garlic, blanched carrots, etc.

Prepare the elements that require cooking first and allow them to cool before serving. Let the savoury elements marinate in the oil and vinegar mixture.

Meat and Fish

Legumes offer a convenient food source of protein. Fresh meat has a short shelf life without refrigeration. Sometimes frozen meat can be packed and used on the first day. Smoked meats or dried meats may have to remain in the original packaging until just before using.

Small Goods

If the grocery store displays the food in a refrigerated cabinet, then the shelf life without refrigeration will be a concern. Some varieties of small goods such as Mettwurst (fermented meat) are available in various size sticks and may have reasonable shelf life without refrigeration - depending on the temperature. Pepperoni often has a reasonable un-refrigerated shelf life.

Tinned Meats

Dried Meats

Asian food stores sometimes have a selection of packaged dried meats such as pork, beef and duck

Fish

Tuna in 95 gram ring pull cans is available in a variety of styles (fresh water, brine, oil, etc) either plain or with added flavours. Other common seafood in 190 ml or smaller cans includes salmon, shrimp, crab and sardines.

Asian food stores also have dried shrimp. These go well with some soups or rice dishes. They need to be re-hydrated before simmering the rice or soup.

Pate

Pates are sold in 100 gram tins. In cool weather pate in sealed plastic packs could also be used in the first day or so of a hike.

Vegetables

The aim of reducing the mass and volume of food items is a real challenge for this food group. Tomatoes and onions are from the vegetables food group.

Fresh Vegetables

Motorcycle campers will occasionally pass a fruit and vegetable store at a convenient time to allow fresh fruit and veg with the evening meal.

Carrots pack and travel well but loose some crispness when not kept cool - still a good choice.

Fresh red or green capsicums will last about 2 days depending on the temperatures. Chopped capsicums add colour and texture to rice and pasta dishes. They are commonly used in stir fry dishes and I use them in the "boiled" equivalent of stir fry.

Peas

Quick cooking dried peas are available. They cook in about 10 minutes. Add some sugar to sweeten slightly. Peas can be added to rice, barley or pasta dishes. The Surprise brand includes, peas, peas and corn, peas and carrots.

Green Beans

Potato Flakes

I have used instant potatoes in combination with quick cooking dried peas served with corned beef. Powdered milk or parmesan cheese make the potatoes creamier.

Mushrooms

I purchase dried mushrooms from Asian grocery stores. They are light but need to be re-hydrated. I put them in the lid / frypan with hot water and let them soak while preparing the remainder of the soup. Dried thinly sliced mushrooms re-hydrate faster than the larger mushroom caps. Mushrooms also go well with pasta, rice, lentils and barley.

Vegetable Soup Base

Bulk food sections of grocery stores sometimes sell a mixture of dried vegetables as Vegetable Soup Base. The mixture takes about 30 minutes to re-hydrate. It lacks flavour but provides a good variety of dried vegetables.

Milk and Dairy Products

Powdered milk can be stored in zip lock bags. Milk with breakfast cereal and in coffee should help to raise the dairy food group toward a the daily minimum requirement.

Dried grated Parmesan cheese can be stored in a zip lock bag after opening the plastic pack.

Hard cheeses - depending on the temperatures, may last a few days without refrigeration, wrapped in foil, in a zip lock plastic bag.

Fruit

Dried fruit meets the hiking and camping criteria for high nutrition and minimum volume. In South Australia, the Sanitarium brand includes dried apples apricots peaches and pears. These can be simmered in a covered pot with an equal amount of water, to re-hydrate them. Of course, currants, sultanas, raisins, figs or dates go well in re-hydrated fruit combinations.

Fresh fruit such as apples and oranges provides better nutrition than dried fruit.

Breads

Crackers are a convenient substitute for bread, but pita bread, flat bread and tortilla shells have reasonable shelf life. Some bread rolls have a shelf life of a few days. Arnott's Vita-Weat sesame crispbread is widely available common in Australian hikers' menus. Damper can be made locally.

Memory Cove area - Lincoln National Park, SA

Beverages

Water

Water is a critical element for survival. I re-use wine bladders from the 4 litre casks for storing and carrying water. On a May 2001 hike in Lincoln National Park I found that I required more than 4 litres of potable water per day.

It is handy to have a 600 ml plastic water bottle and screw top. Instant puddings can be made by shaking up to 400 ml of the ingredients in the bottle, then pouring into the serving bowl. Add water and shake to clean the bottle.

For back packing I now use a hydration pack - a sturdy plastic bag/container with a hose and bite valve attached. I find the 3 litre hydration pack allows me to filter enough water for breakfast requirements and have enough left in the pack for the day's hike.

Tea

I use large leaf green tea, jasmine tea or black leaf tea such as Russian Caravan. I boil the water a clean cooking pot, remove from the heat, add the tea leaves and let it brew. I use a small stainless steel or plastic strainer when the tea is poured into the cup.

Coffee

I prefer premium ground rather than instant coffee. I boil the water in a clean cooking pot, remove from the heat, add the the ground coffee, cover and let it brew. If made correctly the grounds will settle to the bottom - the "Cowboy Coffee" method. I formerly used a small screen strainer for coffee before I became proficient with the "Cowboy Coffee" method.

Ah! The aroma and taste of fresh brewed coffee, enjoyed outdoors as the stars appear in the evening sky.

Vegetable Juice

Pasta sauces such as the Dolmio Traditional Range can be diluted with an equal amount of water for a tasty vegetable juice.

The Shopping Challenge

The initial stock at the start of a trip can often be obtained from the home kitchen / pantry. The excess can be stored for normal use or for the next trip. If the start of the trip is not from one's usual residence, then food pack sizes can be a problem. However, some grocery stores have bulk food sections - this will allow more appropriate quantities to be purchased.

When I was hiking in Banff and Jasper National Parks, Canada, I purchased most of the food supplies for 18 days of camping, in the bulk food section of a supermarket. I repacked using zip lock mini storage bags. I stored the excess food (and equipment) in a locker at the bus depot, until I returned and re-stocked my back pack.

Food Groups - Nutrition

The 12345+ Food and Nutrition plan is published by the CSIRO (Division of Human Nutrition (SA)) and the Anti Cancer Foundation (SA), 1991. "A simple guide to healthy eating and weight control" it suggests the following.

Group	Daily Serves	Example Serve
Indulgences or Extras	No more than 2	60 grams jam, honey; 30 grams nuts; 2-3 sweet biscuits; 2 std glass wine
Meat and Alternatives	1 Serve	60-100 grams lean red meat; 2/3 cup cooked dried beans or lentils
Milk and Milk Products	2 Serve	300ml milk; 40 grams of cheese
Fruits	3 Serve	2 tablespoons sultanas; 4-6 pieces of dried fruit (apricot, fig, date, etc.)
Vegetables	4 Serve	1/3 cup cooked pea; 1/3 cup carrot; 1/2 cup potato
Bread and Cereals	5+ Serve	1/2 cup cooked rice; 1 cup cooked noodles

For a hiker or motorcycle camper, the dry mass of the above would be about 800 grams. My experience indicates that the "Indulgences and Extras" group is very easy to pack and consume - eg chocolate and nuts. One 95 gram tin of tuna is the entire daily amount for the "Meat and Alternatives" group.

A loaf of damper made from 1 1/4 cups of flour is equivalent to 10 serves the "Bread and Cereal" group - and Jam is in the "Indulgences and Extras" group!

A quick calculation of my typical meals also shows that the Vegetables group is under represented unless dried beans and lentils contribute to the Vegetables.