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Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling [Paperback]

Alan Kesselheim
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

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Book Description

February 1, 1998

" . . . a book that will appeal to everyone who has ever choked down the pre-packaged, bargain-basement camp food (or gone bankrupt buying the good stuff)." --Canoe & Kayak

. . . if you're on the lookout for a way to bring real meals to the field, [this book] might have the answer." --Field & Stream

Life in the outdoors revolves around food--cooking it, eating it, packing it, carrying it. We even fantasize about it, especially after a week of eating store-bought provisions. This book is all about fulfulling those food fantasies and avoiding those expensive disappointments. Trail Food tells you how to remove water from food, to make it lighter and longer-lasting, without removing its taste. Learn to plan menus and prepare meals just like the ones you left behind, using fresh foods from your garden or market, prepared and seasoned the way you like them.

Why fantasize when you can have the real thing?


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Product Details

  • Paperback: 112 pages
  • Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (February 1, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0070344361
  • ISBN-13: 978-0070344365
  • Product Dimensions: 4.7 x 0.4 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Kesselheim dries his food in Bozeman, Montana, where he lives with his wife and three children. He is the author of five books, including Water and Sky: Reflections of a Northern Year and Going Inside, and has published hundreds of magazine articles.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 112 pages
  • Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (February 1, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0070344361
  • ISBN-13: 978-0070344365
  • Product Dimensions: 4.7 x 0.4 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Has a lot of good and easy recipes to try, very simple. Shannon Corder  |  10 reviewers made a similar statement
The suggested one week meal plan is a good guide to get you started on packing for a trip. M. L Strickland  |  7 reviewers made a similar statement
I tried a few of the recipes and was able to improvise from there. Thomas A. Ertman  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
112 of 113 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book! December 27, 2005
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have several books on dehydrating your own trail meals and this is easily the best. It is concise and full of good ideas and recipes. The guidance is flexible enough for the lightweight backpacker or for the canoe or pack mule traveler. For example, some of the recipes call for a dutch oven (too bulky and heavy for the lightweight backpacker) and others are suitable for a one pot meal (ideal for the lightweight backpacker).

A nice feature is the chart of drying temperatures and times for different foods. Also, the chart of calorie and protein content of different foods is important to making sure you get enough calories to keep going in the field and enough protein to keep your body from consuming your muscle tissue for fuel. There are also plans for building your own dehydrator for the do-it-yourselfer. The suggested one week meal plan is a good guide to get you started on packing for a trip.

The emphasis of this book is on drying individual ingredients and then rehydrating and combining them at meal time. This allows you to be more flexible in your meals, but takes a little longer at meal time. However, it also tells you how to use your own recipes to prepare a conmplete meal and then dehydrate it. Precooked spaghetti, rice or beans rehydrate and cook faster in the field. The book recommends having both types of meals with you for variety and flexibility. You can also dehydrate canned foods like vegetables or canned chicken, tuna or salmon and use them in your recipes.

This book is concise and a fast read, but packs a lot of information. This means that you need to pay attention to pick up all the important points.
... Read more ›
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56 of 56 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars straightforward drying advice February 22, 2004
Format:Paperback
I've had this book for a few years now, and have read it cover to cover several times.It gives good advice on how to dry everything from plain vegetables to your leftover dinner.I even started to dehydrate my own eggs,and let me tell you they come back wonderfully.Great book that will have you tossing aside those $6.00 nasty premade meals.
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50 of 54 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book July 13, 2000
Format:Paperback
Time was, drying food was a real pain and involved an old stove and a lot of attention. Now, with the proliferation of dryers on the market, anyone can dry, meat, fish, fruit and veg. The problem is that, in a lot of places, The how of drying is still a closely guarded secret.

No more. This is an excellent introduction to drying, and you don't need to be an expert to start either. Wanna dry? Get this book.

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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars More helpful than a barrel of jerky... June 5, 2001
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent, concise guide to the process of drying as well as impetus to get the canoe onto the top of the car. While Kesselheim does give instructions detailed enough for the most persnickity among us, he also describes method, allowing the use of the imagination. Good tips, good recipes, wonderful guidelines -- and some memories to start the inner loon calling. Very glad I have this book.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good little book! January 11, 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you're looking for condensed information and ideas on how to purchase & use a food dehydrator, preserve fruits vegetables and mushrooms, meats for home use, as well as ideas for planning back country packing meals, this is a very good little book.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Glad I bought this one! July 27, 2008
Format:Paperback
Trail Food by Alan S. Kesselheim is a spectacular little read for anyone interested in adventuring in the outdoors, self reliance, preperation, or even just making healthy snacks at home for a fraction of the price of storebought. Encouraging, practical, and written by an obviously experienced author, Trail Food helped enhance my outdoor experience. If you're still buying those freeze dried meals or even worse living off of ramen noodles when you're out in the wilds, I really suggest you consider dehydrating your own food, and this book is a great place to start. In addition to dehydration the author seasons the book with a bunch of other tidbits. There's little blurbs about the pros and cons of cooking over fires and various stoves, advice on setting up the camp kitchen, and at the beginning of every chapter there's a little blurb of a story about canoeing, backpacking, dogsledding, or just cabin living, that helped get me in that outdoorsy frame of mind. My two dehydrators are going to be working overtime!
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellant and Concise - Worth Every Penny October 24, 1998
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
KESSELHEIM knows how to appeal to a useful purpose and makes a simple process an ease to work with. His book is what everyone should have on their bookshelf or carry a copy in your backback with some blank paper and pencil to plan future trail meals. You don't need glitz to be good. Christopher D. BORDEN - RCMP - Northern BC
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The best, the healthiest. September 6, 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this and lipsmackin backpackin at the same time and found this one to be the best. You can control the food you put in your body, you can use up garden extras, and the ideas for cross-use of items are excellent. Also small enough to pack along if you're not a lightweight hiker. I would highly recommend this as he's realistic about what you might want to purchase or not purchase to make the process easier - all budgets can afford his methods and he doesn't load you down with sodium. You can see my review of lipsmackin backpackin over there and find that sodium is a huge concern for me. It may not be a concern for you but even without that this book doesn't rely upon many store bought sauce packets or seasoning packets so you can choose what you like and enjoy your wilderness cooking that much more!

In other words, if you have a husband as I do with high blood pressure this book will give you options that others don't. :)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
An excellent How To book on dehydrating foods for camping/canoeing and recipes for same.

I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to eat quick healthy meals on the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by T. DEWEESE
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
I thought this book was excellent for developing meals to eat on the trail. The material was easy to understand, the authors provided their personal wisdom, successes and not so... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Frank L. Pinter
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Pack Without It
If you're planning to spend a few days in the woods and understand the role of good nutrition and adequate caloric intake in making a backwoods adventure safe and more enjoyable,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cynthia
4.0 out of 5 stars Trail food
Good info and advice, wish I had bought it in a book and not kindle so I could refer back easier. Think ill get a lot of use out of it
Published 3 months ago by D. Barnett
5.0 out of 5 stars You won't be dissapointed
If you are looking for ideas for an outdoor menu while on the trail this book has many great ideas and recipes. Read more
Published 3 months ago by 1 NME
4.0 out of 5 stars good recipes
This was a gift for my daughter who likes to camp and hike. She is very conscientious about her food. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Workman
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect transaction - rapid and product just as described.
Perfect transaction- rapid and product just as described. I am also enjoying the book immensely. I would not hesitate to recommend this product and this seller to who ever is... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Shakti
5.0 out of 5 stars Trail Food review
A "MUST READ" for any long hiking trip. I have found the recipes and details for dehydrated foods excellent. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Deb
2.0 out of 5 stars Not sure I trust it.
The book was short on usable recipes. But my main concern was the advocacy of drying eggs. I suppose it can be done but everything I have seen on drying eggs has said that it was... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Riely
4.0 out of 5 stars Met expectations
Covers the basics of dehydrating foods. A Fast read. Would've liked to see a more extensive listing of food suggestions. Good quick reference.
Published 9 months ago by Brett
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