Episode 28 | Making Your Own Backpacking Meals

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Summary

In this episode of the Backpacking Light podcast, Andrew and Ryan discuss the gear, skills, and hacks you need to create your own backpacking meals. This giant two-hour episode is chock full of actionable tips, with input from Backpacking Light’s resident dehydration expert, Dave Swink, and Aaron Owens Mayhew, MS, RDN, CD from the Backcountry Foodie.

Just a few of the things covered:

• All the gear you’ll need to get started with at-home dehydration
• How to make good backpacking meals using only ingredients from dollar stores
• The best tricks to decrease food prep time and increase the taste and texture of your dehydration efforts
• Which foods to dehydrate and which foods to stay away from
• …and more!

Also in this episode:

• Van life
• A new Dyneema shelter from Tarptent
• Luxury couples backpacking gear
• What’s new at BPL

Outline

• Introduction
• Catching up
  • Ryan has been focusing on the live online Trek Planning Course.
  • Andrew is in the middle of a huge round-up of cottage industry pre-packaged backpacking meals.
• Interview #1 – Dave Swink
  • How Dave got into dehydrating
  • Dave’s current setup
    • Nesco
    • Excaliber
    • Various tray types
    • Mandolin slicer + protective glove
    • Egg slicer
  • Prep time is the biggest barrier to entry
  • Some of the skills Dave has learned to lessen prep time
  • The problem of blueberries
  • Foods that are good (and bad) for dehydration
    • Fruits are great for snacks
    • Bananas are great for flavoring
    • Watermelon is surprisingly dehydratable
  • Meal bases and rice types
  • Keeping meals simple
  • The importance of food safety
  • Dave’s favorite successes
  • The importance of variety and texture
  • Food saver bags vs. ziplock style baggies
  • Dave’s favorite resources
    • Chef Glenn McAllister (backpackingchef.com)
      • Recipes for Adventure
    • Dehydrating Divas and Dudes (Facebook group)
    • 21st Century Simple Living
  • Dave’s desert island food picks
• Dehydrating Skills
  • The advantage of preparing separate ingredients
  • Fats, oils, and meats
    • Cured meats – like Patagonia Provisions Smoked Salmon
  • Cold soaking
    • Techniques, pros, and cons
  • Ryan’s hacks for food-prep efficiency
    • Large blocks of food prep time
    • Testing in the field vs. testing at home
  • Spoiled meals
  • Freeze-dried meats vs. dehydrated meats
• Dehydrating Gear
  • Oven vs. dedicated dehydrator
  • Ryan uses this freeze dryer – Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryer
  • Dehydrator machines
    • Presto Dehydro 6300
    • Excalibur Food Dehydrators
  • Storage gear
    • Mason jars
    • Mylar
    • Vacuum sealers
  • Prepping for trail
    • Shield Pro mylar bags
    • Impulse sealer vs. vacuum sealer
  • Seasonings
    • Ryan packs seasonings separately.
  • Oxygen absorbers
    • How large should your oxygen absorbers be?
• What’s New at BPL?
  • Garmin inReach Masterclass
  • Backpacking Light Diversity Fund
• New Favorite Thing
  • Andrew
    • Fatmap
    • Tarptent Protrail Lithium
  • Ryan
    • Nemo Dagger 3P
    • Nemo Tango Duo 2P sleeping bag
• Interview #2 – Aaron Owens Mayhew, MS, RDN, CD
  • Prepping food for the PCT
  • How Aaron went from a thru-hiker to owning her own business
  • Backcountry Foodie’s early days as a 1-on-1 consulting business
  • Aaron’s cookbook
  • Backcountry Foodie’s current online/membership-driven model
    • Recipes
    • Meal planning
    • A curated list of resources
  • Food misinformation on the internet
  • Some common mistakes people make when making backpacking meals
    • Fuel yourself on the trail like you fuel yourself at home (hopefully in a healthy fashion!)
    • Avoid flavor fatigue with variety and enough spices and flavors!
  • Aaron’s guiding principles for meal planning (it’s more than about calories/ oz)
    • Eating as you eat at home
    • Water needed for each recipe
    • Pliability and space
    • Macros
  • Maximizing food
  • Aaron’s tips for making logistics easier
    • How to re-supply from non-premium grocery store chains
    • Knowledge + creativity + being open to new things
  • How to get 700 calories into a powdered drink
    • Using bags instead of bottles for meal replacement shakes
  • Reading food labels
  • Van life
    • Having a dog
    • Showers and such
  • How Aaron measures success for her business and life
  • Plans for the future
    • On trail food trucks?
    • Making and packaging Backcountry Foodie meals
  • Advice for making a career out of a love of the outdoors
    • Take the leap!
    • Research, study, and learning
    • Adjusting your expectations
    • Make use of webinars
    • Get a business coach
    • Figure out how to weed out good advice from bad advice
    • Tap into people that have skills that you don’t
  • Aaron’s favorite backcountry meal
  • How Aaron comes up with her ideas
  • Creating recipes while in the van
• Aaron is a utilitarian coffee drinker

Resources

• Find Backcountry Foodie online
  • Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Related Content

• Did you enjoy this food-related episode? Check out episode #3 of the Backpacking Light Podcast, where we focus on the nutrition side of backpacking food.
• You should also check out our Nutrition Webinar.