Meals without cooking

Enjoy sunset colors beaming through horizon clouds, as bats begin to flit and chirp, instead of staring at a loudly hissing stove and pot that increased your pack weight by nearly a pound! Enjoy pre-dawn bird calls, and see animals moving in the shadows as you walk, instead of squatting in the dirt, praying to the hissing idol between your knees. Stoves can fail. They have caused wildfires. Liquid fuel has leaked, ruining gear. Cook-less foods are nearly fool proof. And tasty!

Save time, weight, and reduce complexity by eating when you want to, not just when and where cooking is possible. Eating cook-less foods increases flexibility to respond to changing weather conditions and group dynamics.

Many athletes use diets such discussed below to thrive and thrill in the backcountry. Nutritional analysis is important, so one becomes
1) less likely to carry too much food
2) more likely to have balanced nutrition
3) less likely to be unhappy or hungry.

One does have to be a bit careful about dispensing advice on diet, particularly if it is going to be used by the undiscerning in places where medical help may be unavailable, and the newbies have not rehearsed it before the trip. Radically changing diet can lead to health problems: elevated blood cholesterol, acid reflux, heartburn, gall bladder problems, gall stones, kidney stones, etc. Folks new to a particular activity or diet may not be as discerning about their body's reactions and needs. Inadequate hydration and electrolyte imbalance among new mountain bicyclists and desert hikers are examples of this. So, try these cook-less meals at home, and on single day outings, well in advance of longer trips.

Experienced trail runners and through hikers often have personal preferences on various diets, and these are available on various blogs and web sites. Credit is due to Desert-Survivors.org members Kim C and Jim C for their contributions to this article.

Their tips, plus some of my own are summarized here:

Carry food with average energy density exceeding 100 calories per oz, or 3.6 calories per gram. (1 oz = 28 grams)

Avoid lo-cal foods.

Fats are good! (Though trans-fats are not the best type)

Watch for salt content - take into account when concocting re-hydration mix.

Start with about 1.5 lbs of food per day; adjust as you learn. (24 oz ~ 3000 calories per day, which is less than what is burned on strenuous hikes.)

Balance fats, protein and carbohydrates in a way that is palatable to you. Fats are most dense in calories. But just bringing a bottle of olive oil, while super efficient, won't make your body completely happy.

Plan carefully! The longer the trip, the more planning and preparation are rewarded. Preparing food can be done days before departure. Stories of those who brought a pound of cheese, or a loaf of bread belong in newspaper cartoons, not trip write-ups.

Calculating the energy density from the nutrition label. Pure protein is 112 calories per oz (4 calories per gram), as are carbohydrates. Fat is 252 calories per oz (9 calories per gram). Calculate the nutrition values per serving, and how many calories and grams are in a serving. Example: tuna is not an efficient protein source, but whey protein is.

Include the right amount of stool-softening foods to stay regular. (Approx 4 prunes or 4 medjool dates per day)

Carry a spoon to avoid dirty-hand contamination from sharing food in environments where people's hands cannot be kept clean.

Here are some energy-dense foods from which to choose:

potato chips (I like fritos)
mayonnaise (I use single-serving packages from fast-food franchises)
olive oil
peanut butter

tortillas
crackers

dried fruit (varied energy density, so analyze labels)
nuts (varied energy density and fat content, so analyze labels)
seeds
dry cheese (parmesan keeps well without refrigeration)
salami (pre-sliced, packaged salami is convenient, keeps well, and avoids dangerous slicing-in-the-field)
jerky

hard candy
energy bars
candy bars

Try combinations: Dried curry lentil soup is an efficient source of carbohydrates and fiber, which can be blended with olive oil and whey powder for a tasty concentration of nutrition, that is both balanced and calorie-dense.

Bring food that is not just energy dense, but actually tastes good. An ounce of dried fruit may be less than 100 calories, but is tasty and provides needed minerals and vitamins. (Several types come close to 100 calories per oz)

When comparing the weight of my stove+fuel+pot (14 oz for 10 meals) with a cook-less menu, I figure that cook-less compared to add-water-to-cook foods, I save weight on any trip shorter than approx 4 days (for trips where water is available frequently). On trips where I must carry days worth of water, the savings is lower.. Expressed another way, if I am going to have to carry days worth of water, I might as well carry it already embedded in my food, so I don't have carry an extra 14 oz of tools to rehydrate that food. Besides, I would rather look at the sunrise and sunset, and listen to the critters and the wind, instead of being focused on some hissing little device that may fail, and screw up my meals for the rest of the trip. Besides, I can eat cook-less meals while moving.

I try to never cut food in the field, because:
1) small sharp blades are likely to injure fingers
2) Finger (and foot) cuts are very hard to keep clean and uninfected.
3) Food hygiene is hard to maintain when dirty fingers repeatedly handle the uncut portion.
Why carry a knife at all? (I carry a scalpel in my medical kit)
If you are determined to slice things in the field, a plastic yogurt container lid makes a lightweight cutting surface.

For an interesting and authoritative counterpoint to some of these concepts, see
http://riskingtoofar.com/food-choices