Retail dehydrated or freeze dried foods are gear right? :)

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So I'm at that age where some people's blood pressure starts to go up or in some cases get out of hand, if they are not doing the right things and / or if they are genetically predispositioned.

Generally there is not a lot of sodium / salt in my diet but I'm in a situation now in which I have to be more sure about it.

Retail backpacker foods are known to have lots of sodium.

Anybody know of higher quality backpacker foods that don't? Preferably that taste pretty darn good!

Someone or many people are bound to chime in about dehydrating your own foods, and I'm cool with taking tips and suggestions on that, but I do like the no fuss nature of retail backpacking foods that are edible enough!
 

not sure about the taste, but that person lists the sodium, so you could start there.

but, yes, you are better off dehydrating your own food. make an extra serving or two when/if you cook at home, and dehydrate. its super easy, cheaper, and you can reuse the packaging if you prep right. lots of garbage with the retail bags in my experience.
 
I'm a reasonably healthy guy in my daily life, but on the trail it's all about whatever I'll actually eat. I don't want to get back to the trailhead w/ a bunch of uneaten food - for a number of reasons.

I've been better in recent years about buying bulk dehydrated ingredients, but I still keep a stash of Mountain House for quick trips. I also have a weak spot for instant potatoes and bacon bits.

But anything that goes down and stays down is what I advise newer hikers joining me on a trip.
 
on most backpacks a person ends up sweating quite a bit -- this gets rid of a huge amount of excess salt. so I'd not worry about this particular thing (I have hypertension as well). also there's some discussion about salt here:
 
linked thread mentions packit gourmet, and I would second that recommendation -- amazing stuff. no idea about salt, and I don't care either.
 
I'm a reasonably healthy guy in my daily life, but on the trail it's all about whatever I'll actually eat. I don't want to get back to the trailhead w/ a bunch of uneaten food - for a number of reasons.

I've been better in recent years about buying bulk dehydrated ingredients, but I still keep a stash of Mountain House for quick trips. I also have a weak spot for instant potatoes and bacon bits.

But anything that goes down and stays down is what I advise newer hikers joining me on a trip.

Gotcha, so you primarily only concern yourself with what is edible when backpacking because so much backpacking food is not too edible...and then you try to go back to eating healthy when back in civilization?
 
Gotcha, so you primarily only concern yourself with what is edible when backpacking because so much backpacking food is not too edible...and then you try to go back to eating healthy when back in civilization?
I'm not very picky, so it's pretty much all edible to me. But it's a pretty common phenomenon for hikers - especially new hikers (but not exclusively) - to actually be less hungry on the trail and sometimes dangerously so. It's not a big deal on shorter trips, but on long and/or intense trips that calorie deficit is a much bigger problem than a less ideal diet. A week or so of poor nutrition is a small price to pay for a successful trip.

Plus - to @regehr's point, even on a pretty tame backpacking trip your metabolism is generally working quickly enough to handle excess salt/sugar/etc. that might be a problem if ingested on a day-to-day basis.

That's my experience, at least.
 
You can make your own meals with a couple bulk dehydrated ingredients, much easier than dehydrating your own but more control vs buying pre-made food.

For example, ramen noodles (throw out the flavor pack) and dehydrated tomato powder and dehydrated vegetable soup mix makes a pretty imitation of spaghetti and tomato sauce and you can add a pack of chicken or tuna if you want some extra calories and flavor.

Totally agree that with the idea that a week of poor nutrition won't kill you.
 
You need the salt if you are sweating a lot. I can personally attest to wrecking myself and having to bail part way through a trip by skipping the salty meals, pounding water and living off chocolate bars. Check with your doc of course, but assuming you are healthy enough to be out there at all you should be able to handle ingesting salty meals for a bit.
 
You can make your own meals with a couple bulk dehydrated ingredients, much easier than dehydrating your own but more control vs buying pre-made food.

For example, ramen noodles (throw out the flavor pack) and dehydrated tomato powder and dehydrated vegetable soup mix makes a pretty imitation of spaghetti and tomato sauce and you can add a pack of chicken or tuna if you want some extra calories and flavor.

Totally agree that with the idea that a week of poor nutrition won't kill you.

Lol.....

Ramen noodles....I'd be better off eating paper... I have always just gone with the mtn house flavors I like...be it 2 days or 10 days....
 
We're mostly vegetarian, and my husband does not like typical dehydrated meals (Mountain House etc) but we really like Food for the Sole. You might want to check that out.
 
This recipe has only three ingredients (plus mix in sharp cheddar and fritos to make it five I guess) and only takes a couple of minutes to slap together before a trip: https://andrewskurka.com/backpacking-dinner-recipe-beans-rice-with-fritos-cheese/. It's way cheaper than mountain house or the like, lighter, has more calories, is more packable, and everyone I have introduced it to agrees that it tastes much better than any of the freeze dried meals. It's seriously magical and I bring it on every trip (often for multiple dinners)
 
This recipe has only three ingredients (plus mix in sharp cheddar and fritos to make it five I guess) and only takes a couple of minutes to slap together before a trip: https://andrewskurka.com/backpacking-dinner-recipe-beans-rice-with-fritos-cheese/. It's way cheaper than mountain house or the like, lighter, has more calories, is more packable, and everyone I have introduced it to agrees that it tastes much better than any of the freeze dried meals. It's seriously magical and I bring it on every trip (often for multiple dinners)
Sorry...... GAG
 
Looks like a bowl of mush.... Lol
 
Looks like a bowl of mush.... Lol
Unlike most rehydrated food? :lol:

My favorite Mountain House flavor is Beef Stroganoff and I'll still admit that it's visually indistinguishable from dog vomit.

In regard's to Skurka's meals though - individual preferences aside - they do exemplify a pretty good template for straddling the fence between pre-packaged meals and dehydrating everything yourself. It's pretty easy to buy dehydrated ingredients in bulk and then mix-and-match some pretty decent meals.
 
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My mtn house stuff looks edible... Unless you leave it smashed in the sack.... Guess I pick the right ones...
 
This recipe has only three ingredients (plus mix in sharp cheddar and fritos to make it five I guess) and only takes a couple of minutes to slap together before a trip: https://andrewskurka.com/backpacking-dinner-recipe-beans-rice-with-fritos-cheese/. It's way cheaper than mountain house or the like, lighter, has more calories, is more packable, and everyone I have introduced it to agrees that it tastes much better than any of the freeze dried meals. It's seriously magical and I bring it on every trip (often for multiple dinners)

I keep reading/hearing from others who've tried some Skurka recipes, this one being among the most popular, and they've all raved about the food and flavor. Even those who've paid for his guided trips have raved about the flavor of the food being the most memorable thing, more so than the skill instruction they received. So I've already committed myself to test out that recipe very soon here.
 

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