Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling (Paperback)

~ Alan Kesselheim (Author) "We have been windbound on this vast, cold lake for two days, so it is with exhilaration and relief that we finally paddle off..." (more)
Key Phrases: veggie mix, solid trays, dried veggies (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

" . . . 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?

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: 7.9 x 4.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,734 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!, December 27, 2005

By	M. L Strickland (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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. Fully half of the book gives infomration on dehydrating and meal planning as well as other important instructions and the other half gives some excellent recipes.

One important point (based on experience) is to be sure to try the recipes at home on the same stove and cooking utensels that you will have in the field. You want to make sure that you have everything you need and know how to use it BEFORE you are in the field and cold and wet and tired and hungry. That's not a good time to find out that you need another pot or that your pot isn't large enough to properly prepare your recipes!

"Trail Food" is all you need to dehydrate your own meals, but a few other general books on dehydrating wouldn't hurt to help you gain a full understanding of all the nuances of dehydrating.

Excellent book!

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars straightforward drying advice, February 22, 2004

By	"grgor292" - See all my reviews

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.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book, July 13, 2000

By	Randall Barnhart (Earth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.