Overnight backpacking is a great outdoor activity that is enjoyed by several people. It is easy, convenient and most important of all, it is very economical. The other enticing factor about it is that you can visit other places or even have a look at some of the locations in your hometown that you never dared to explore.
However, you must understand that there are very selected food items that you can actually carry and cook. Hence, knowing what to cook over stove backpacking equipment will make your life easier.
What to Cook Over Stove Backpacking Equipment: Top Picks and Tips
Eating right while on a backpacking trip is essential if you want to make the most out of it. The better food you eat, the higher energy you will have, and you will be less tired too. Along with what you eat, it is also essential to consider how to cook the food and in what surrounding you cook it in. Since it is the outdoors, you will have to take that extra step to ensure that everything is hygienic.
In order to make sure that you have food throughout the day of your trip, there are several vital things that you need to consider so that you can cook safely and adequately.
Some Considerations for Your Backpacking Trip
Learning and Planning:
Before you set a date for your backpacking trip, it is essential that you plan the entire day of your trip prior and preferably have an itinerary ready for you. This applies to the food you carry too. To make things easier for you, especially if you are an absolute newbie, we highly suggest that you do a lot of research on the internet and learn as much as you can. You must also consider seeking the advice of experienced backpackers. That will ensure that you are always prepared for everything.
Choosing the Right Cooking Materials:
Every backpacker must know that they need to carry cooking materials with them for them to have fresh and how food and beverages during their trip. These items can also be useful in cases of emergency like hypothermia and unexpected rain. Nonetheless, you must make sure that you bring handy ones so that you will not have a hard time.
Fortunately, there are already a lot of backpacking stoves that have sizes for individual, couple, and group use. Along with your stove, you should also carry essentials like pocketknives, spoons, paper towels and other utensils, as well as spices placed in a ziplock bag.
Start Your Preparation at Home:
If you plan to eat food that is almost the same as what you consume at home, you can prepare the necessary ingredients one or two days before you leave. Meaning, slice the vegetables or fruits and place them in ziplock bags, then, freeze them.
Better yet, you can consider buying freeze-dried products in the supermarket. If you have a food dehydrator, you can also prepare meat, fish, and chicken that have been dehydrated. That will definitely be a good source of protein for you.
Quick and Easy Food
As mentioned earlier, to have a good meal during your backpacking activity, you must always consider cooking in the area. Since you will only have a small cooking machine and materials, you will not have food that is as delicious and scrumptious as the one at home. The most important thing is that there is something that can heat up your stomach especially during morning and evening when the wind is cold.
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with Dried Fruits: Cooking oatmeal is very simple and quite easy too. So, choosing it while you are camping makes perfect sense. They taste amazing and by adding some dried fruits in it, it can slightly elevate the taste and make it healthier.
Noodles: Cooking noodles is also very simple since you only need water and a few spices and vegetables. You should not worry that the water may take a lot of time before it boils since you will also be using a small pot. Hence, the fuel of your gas canister will not be consumed quickly.
Lunch:
Hummus, Vegetables, and Wraps: The best thing about pita bread is that it will hold its shape well no matter how many hardships it endures during the travel process. Adding hummus to the pita bread along with some vegetables will make it a wholesome meal that will keep you full for a while.
Freeze-Dried Food: Not only is this food easy and light to carry but is also very shelf stable. These also make sense as you could be exhausted from all the hiking and traveling. Freeze-dried food has minimal effort without the need to sacrifice on taste. You can reheat it or eat it as is.
Dinner:
Pizza: This may not be the healthiest option, but it definitely is very convenient and also incredibly delicious. It requires hardly any preparation and the best part is that you can enjoy a hot pizza while you are away from home. All you need to do is prepare and cook the dough at home, and reheat it using your backpacking stove and cooking essentials.
Rice or Couscous with Meat or Vegetables: Rice isn’t the most difficult food to make even while you are outdoors. Adding some vegetables to your rice or some cooked meat with some sauces will make it a nutritious meal and also keep you feeling satisfied. The beauty of selecting rice as a meal is that it is very versatile and you can experiment a lot with it.
Final Conclusion
When thinking about and identifying what to cook over stove backpacking equipment, you must always consider the fact that you have limited and small tools and fuel supplies. Thus, it is essential to select food products that are light and are easy to prepare and digest, as well as those that you can just reheat.
Also, when you plan to bring ingredients that can become stale along the way, you must make some necessary preparations at home to preserve their quality and protect them from spoilage.