Isle Royale Forums

Yea we did the same thing with cliff bars. They wore out their welcome in our food bag.

I started dehydrating all of my meals and never looked back. My wife has ordered a few meals from packit gourmet and Good to-go. She said they were good.

I don't like oatmeal, so I dehydrate pork or turkey sausage, onions & peppers and mix it with store bought hasbrowns for breakfast. Add Ova easy egg crystals if you like eggs. You can rehydrate any of those other ingredients, add the egg crystals and simmer in a freezer bag for an awesome omelette on a zero day when you're lounging in camp. You could buy any of those ingredients already dehydrated or freeze dried and assemble the meal.

Summer sausage, cheese, mustard and a tortilla makes a great lunch for me and I can eat it every day.

Dinners are any number of things that I dehydrate. Idahoan instant mashed potatoes are fantastic as a filler with any evening meal.

Has anyone tried dehydrating Campbell chunky soups? I have limited experience with my dehydrator.

Base654 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 23, 2019 8:52 am Has anyone tried dehydrating Campbell chunky soups? I have limited experience with my dehydrator.

I've heard good experiences from people from the process, but I'm far from an expert. Most of my dehydrator experience is wild mushrooms and jerky

"Has anyone tried dehydrating Campbell chunky soups? " Big chunks dry slowly......sometimes when I need to dehydrate something from a can, I take the time to cut things into smaller pieces so the drying (and later the rehydrating) goes faster and more evenly. The potato chunks, the carrot rounds, etc. I have successfully done Dinty Moore Beef Stew. Just make sure the pieces are small and it's really really dry, and give it plenty of time to rehydrate. Weigh it ahead of time so you will know how much water to add back when rehydrating.

Hey everyone! Thanks for so many responses! I totally agree, now that I look back on some of my trips, Clif bars will get old! I’ll take up some of the suggestions that were posted for sure! I don’t have any experience dehydrating food. I’m a little nervous about trying that one out, but who knows! I do have another question though. I know there are no bears, but should I still be hanging food over night like I would in bear country? Or can I store in in some way in my tent?

There often aren't trees with branches that are the right height and strong enough to handle a food bag (and there aren't any bear poles either). At ranger orientation, you'll be told not to bother. I usually double-bag food, put it in my pack, and keep the pack closed and stashed in my tent or shelter.

The things to watch out for are foxes, squirrels, and sometimes Gray Jays. Luckily, what I described above is more than enough to protect them. Don't forget to keep your boots secured too... I've heard foxes love them!

Camp Chow is a brand made in Minnesota. It is very good. We often include a meal or two from them. But, once again, you do need to get it shipped ahead of time.

https://www.campchow.org/#/

I'm with the instant oatmeal / Mountain House / Gorp crowd, but I found Starkist tuna packets with sun dried tomato in a wrap to be an easy, fairly lightweight lunch treat.

hooky wrote: ↑Sun Dec 22, 2019 12:08 pm I started dehydrating all of my meals and never looked back. ....

My camping buddy/brother is a fiend about ultralight equipment. His one-man tent cost more than my whole rig. However, when it comes to food, he's pretty much the opposite. He hates commercial freeze-dried meals and if I bring any of those, they generally get left in the car. He dehydrates almost everything himself: meat, veggies, cooked pasta, etc. The exceptions are onion, garlic and some herbs which must be fresh. No, we don't carry a JetBoil, the stove has to be able to simmer. Yes, this means we have to carry more fuel, unless we bring a wood-burner. First night's dinner often includes wine, with a tot of whiskey for the subsequent evenings. I mean, you can't give up your humanity, just because you're s*itting in the woods.

DonNewcomb wrote: ↑Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:54 am

hooky wrote: ↑Sun Dec 22, 2019 12:08 pm I started dehydrating all of my meals and never looked back. ....

My camping buddy/brother is a fiend about ultralight equipment. His one-man tent cost more than my whole rig. However, when it comes to food, he's pretty much the opposite. He hates commercial freeze-dried meals and if I bring any of those, they generally get left in the car. He dehydrates almost everything himself: meat, veggies, cooked pasta, etc. The exceptions are onion, garlic and some herbs which must be fresh. No, we don't carry a JetBoil, the stove has to be able to simmer. Yes, this means we have to carry more fuel, unless we bring a wood-burner. First night's dinner often includes wine, with a tot of whiskey for the subsequent evenings. I mean, you can't give up your humanity, just because you're s*itting in the woods.

I hear ya, I own more stoves than any other piece of backpacking gear... looking for that PERFECT setup

DonNewcomb wrote: ↑Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:54 am

hooky wrote: ↑Sun Dec 22, 2019 12:08 pm I started dehydrating all of my meals and never looked back. ....

My camping buddy/brother is a fiend about ultralight equipment. His one-man tent cost more than my whole rig. However, when it comes to food, he's pretty much the opposite. He hates commercial freeze-dried meals and if I bring any of those, they generally get left in the car. He dehydrates almost everything himself: meat, veggies, cooked pasta, etc. The exceptions are onion, garlic and some herbs which must be fresh. No, we don't carry a JetBoil, the stove has to be able to simmer. Yes, this means we have to carry more fuel, unless we bring a wood-burner. First night's dinner often includes wine, with a tot of whiskey for the subsequent evenings. I mean, you can't give up your humanity, just because you're s*itting in the woods.

If find everything you said to be reasonable, prudent advice and it would make the world a better place if everyone followed it!

Great thread. Ive been backpacking for while now but Im not happy with the food that Im bringing with me. Im also taking down notes. Thanks for the suggestions.

Packit Gourmet all the way!