Cooking and Recipes for Lightweight Backpacking

High Sierras Cookbook

Resources

On this page we are collecting information that may be helpful creating meals that are high on taste and low on weight. We include sources for dehydrated foods that may not be readily available locally, ratings on cookbooks we have read and tips that did not fit elsewhere.

Dehydrated Food Suppliers

Following is a list of sources for dehydrated foods sold in bulk as opposed to ready-made small portion meals in foil pouches.

Company	Web Site	Comment
Adventure Foods	http://www.adventurefoods.com	Individual food items are listed on page 9 of their catalog (PDF)
Harvest Food Works	http://www.harvestfoodworks.com/index.cfm	Source for powdered shortening and much more
Alpine Air	http://www.alpineaire.com	Mostly packaged meals , but freeze dried turkey, beef and chicken are available
Bakers Catalog	http:/www.kingarthurflour.com	Go to the Bakers Catalog to find "Flavor Powders" and many exotic dried food stuffs

A few examples from the Adventure Foods catalog include:

Beef, ground pre-cooked, freeze dried in a 10lb can
Broccoli florets and pieces, freeze dried
Butter powder
Cheese, cheddar powder (white)
Cheese, cheddar powder (yellow)
Chicken dices, breast meat, freeze dried
Corn, freeze dried
Cream cheese powder
Egg, white powder
Egg, yolk powder
Egg, whole powder
Honey powder
Lemon juice powder
Maple sugar granules
Milk, whole powder (26% fat)
Onions, chopped dehydrated
Salsa powder
Shortening powder
Sour cream powder
Soy sauce powder
Tomato flakes, dehydrated
Tomato powder
Tuna chunks, freeze dried
Wine, Burgundy powder
Wine, Sautern powder
Wine, Sherry powder
Worcestershire powder

Cookbooks for Backpacking (and car camping)

As you might expect the following books are available at amazon.com and elsewhere. Amazon.com also includes reviews by people who have purchased the book.

Rating	Cookbook Title

**	NOLS Cookery by Claudia Pearson
	The cookbook published for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) has over 88 pages of recipes with 99% of them meatless. The recipes are an extension of using a "meal planning system" where bulk items and condiments are used to conjure up recipes. Recipes selected for testing by reviewer: (6) Reviewed by MDW
****	The Back-Country Kitchen by Teresa Marrone
	Teresa Marrone is a gourmet at heart. Her book has over 100 recipes for the hunter, canoeist, fisherman, backpacker and car camper. Recipes selected for testing by reviewer: (13) Reviewed by MDW
***	Trailside's Trail Food edited by John Viehman
	The first 70 pages cover a backpacker's nutrition requirements, maintaining your body temperature through calorie and liquid intake, background information on packaged freeze dried meals, home dehydration and building a fire. The remaining 50 pages are recipes divided into five categories: Make Water Delicious, Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners and Desserts. At least half the recipes will meet the needs of vegetarians. Recipes selected for testing by reviewer: (5) Reviewed by MDW
*	Trail Food by Alan S. Kesselheim
	This is a 100 page book with 25 pages of recipes. the soups look worth trying and a one week backcountry menu is a helpful planning tool. Recipes selected for testing by reviewer: (3) Reviewed by MDW
***	Lip Smackin' Backpackin' by Tim and Christine Conners
	The idea behind this cookbook is to collect recipes from thru hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. Wouldn't be great to know what long distance hikers eat? If the recipes are any indication, 8 out of 10 thru hikers are living the life of a vegetarian. This book has a noteworthy collection of recipes for breads, gorp and jerky. Most interesting are the "salad" recipes for backpackers. Recipes selected for testing by reviewer: (10) Reviewed by MDW
To be Reviewed	The BakePacker’s Companion. This is the second edition of Jean Spangenberg’s outdoor cookbook for the BakePacker and other ovens. Lots of nutritional data, and some more recipes and resources too!

To be Reviewed	The Portable Baker. J. & S. Spangenberg, a review of outdoor baking devices and 115 recipes with nutritional data including diabetic exchanges.

To be Reviewed	The One-Pan Gourmet: Fresh Food on the Trail, by Don Jacobson and Robert Irwin

To be Reviewed	Cooking the One-Burner Way. 2ed. Gray & Tilton, teach gourmet cuisine cooking over one burner.

To be Reviewed	How to Dry Foods. DeLong, a complete guide to drying your own foods at home, plus lots of recipes.

To be Reviewed	Edible Wild Plants. 2ed. J. Meuninck distills 30 years of global experience in this useful book.

To be Reviewed	High Trail Cookery: All-Natural, Home-Dried, Palate-Pleasing Meals for the Backpacker, by Linda Frederick Jaffe

To be Reviewed	Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook, by Mary Bell

To be Reviewed	Good Food for Camp and Trail: All-Natural Recipes for Delicious Meals Outdoors by Dorcas S. Miller

To be Reviewed	Wilderness Cuisine: How to Prepare and Enjoy Fine Food on the Trail and in Camp, by Carole Latimer

To be Reviewed	Cooking the One Burner Way: Gourmet Cuisine for the Backcountry Chef, by Melissa Gray and Buck Tilton

To be Reviewed	Backcountry Cooking: From Pack to Plate in 10 Minutes, by Dorcas S. Miller. Tasted, tested, and trouble-free from the editors of "Backpacker" magazine and other outdoor experts, this book includes over 144 recipes, along with expert, trail-tested advice on how to plan and pack simple, delicious meals, plus culinary tips from trail veterans. 50 photos. 100 illustrations.

To be Reviewed	Simple Foods for the Pack, by Claudia Axcell

To be Reviewed	Cooking in the Outdoors (Basic Essentials), by Cliff Jacobson (Preface), Cliff Moen (Illustrator)

"To eat is human. To digest divine."
Mark Twain
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
(1835-1910)