Cold Soaking food help/suggestions

everything starts resembling mush

Cold soaking oatmeal even at home, I’ll add a crunchy trail mix/granola right before eating.   Prefer a granola incorporating shelled pumpkin seeds and shredded coconut.

With dinner, do the same with some crushed chips (crisps), and if flavored (“nacho”, “cool ranch”, etc..) maybe setting aside the powder as more flavor to add to said mush.

I tend to cook dinner but cold soak breakfast oatmeal where I can, with lunch being no-cook/no-soak.

I would like to re-iterate – try cold soaking Mountain House Teriyaki Chicken

I tried. 30 min. soak in 60* tap water for 30 min. Worked well. I am well pleased. Thank you Murali C

Somebody needs to pass this info onto Yon Conti. :-)

Tomorrow I’ll try the Italian Pepper fried steak.

Black walnut cookies for dessert.

I say skip the Mountain House and eat the frosted cookies in the background.

Good deal Dan Y! Keep us posted!

Cold soaked Mountainhouse Buffalo Style Chicken Mac&cheese. Takes 45 min to completely cold soak. Macaroni needs thelonger soak due to cheese powder gets inside the mac preventing water from getting internal. Cold soaking works with MtHouse!

Cold soaking works in your mouth as well, but I wouldn’t suggest that. Freeze-dried food pulls in a lot of moisture. Smaller sizes makes it faster. Some foods just don’t soak well. One reason MH does OK is it is all fully cooked. Not everything you can by FD is actually cooked.

I’m preparing for the next 2 years :-) 6 #10 cans per case freeze dried/dehydrated goodies. Lots of experimenting this year. :-)

Also 24 packs of this:

I’m intrigued by the option (and Dan’s success) in cold-soaking FD meals.  As someone who hasn’t used FD meals in many decades (usually I’m using grocery-store items like rice and potato sides, tabouli, or making up my own mixtures of dehydrated beans, etc), I was impressed last week on a GCNP trip on which my hiking companion brought a bunch of MH FD dinners.  They were far tastier, had bigger chunks and more varied veggies (I’m pretty sure I saw a piece of zucchini go by) than what I remember from the 1970s and 1980s.  I wouldn’t be opposed to going that route in the future.

Cold food is really nothing for me (medical issues). However, your body is going to heat it up anyway before its going to use any of the nutrition so why not eat it warm?

I get the point; less gas, less work etc. but…..really. Cold dinner is for in prison, not on a beautiful hike in nature.

I tell people all the time that they should try it once. There is absolutely no difference in taste between a hot soaked meal and a cold soaked meal. Zero difference. Try it. You will be surprised. Though I have done it only in July/Aug/Sep here in US – Colorado/California etc. And March/April in Arizona. I have been doing it for the last 1000 miles.

Mountain House Teriyaki Chicken, Sphaghetti, Lasagna, Pepper fried steak are to die for. I look forward to eating them cold soaked during my backpacking trips.

these require a dehydrator which not many of us own I suppose

If you cook at home anyway, a home dehydrator is relatively inexpensive compared to the price of commercial packaged dry meals.  I have an earlier version of the models shown on this link:  https://www.nesco.com/product-category/dehydrating/dehydrators/

You can make a stew or other recipe you like, dehydrate it, and cold soak it on the trail if you remember to start soaking ahead of time, for example at lunch for supper.  You don’t get the comfort of a warm meal but it generally tastes fine and your choice depends on your priorities for the particular trip.  Dehydrators are also great for making jerky, much better and cheaper than the store bought stuff.

This thread has a lot of good meal ideas–thank you all for that!

I cold soaked on a good portion of the PCT.  At first I ended up eating a-lot of couscous salad, nuts, hard cheese.  But it wasn’t bad.  Eventually, for the cost of less than 1 pound, I started carrying FRESH baby cucumbers, and guess what?  They can totally make it 4 days.  Secret is to let them out at night and get cold, them pack them into your puffy in the morning.  I also started carrying Artichoke hearts in olive oil.  Open glass jar and repackage in small clean silicone or food safe jar.  Keep the oil and water, it has a bit of calories!  Between the cucumbers and small jar of Artichoke hears, they were around 1-2 pounds and lasted about 3 to 4 meals.  Heavy yes, but they’re fresh.

I even met a guy who cut cucumbers up and put them in his water. He claimed they last very long that way.  But I was hesitant because of the germs your mouth can impart.  Anyway, maybe it works if you don’t touch the lip of your water bottle.

When I could arrange it, this is my favorite couscous recipe:

1. Fine grain Plain Couscus, not the thick ones.
2. S&B Curry Powder: available most stores as a small yellow can.  Repackage.
3. Freeze Dried Chicken or Chicken Packets.
4. Dried cranberries.
5. Nuts of your choice, but cashews are awesome here.
6. (Optional) Savory Choice Chicken Broth Concentrate packet from amazon.
7. (Optional) Veggies: Diced up cucumber and torn up Artichoke hears.  These are a little heavy to carry but worth it if you want something resembling fresh produce.
8. (Optional) You might experiment with small shallots.  I am pretty sure they can last quite a while.

Besides the weight, it made life very simple.  I didn’t even bring a titanium cup.  Everything was cold soaked in the baggie it came with.  The only cooking gear I brought was a small gatoraid bottle, to shake my powdered coffee, tea, and chocolate, supergreens etc.

I’m going to get one of these for cold soaking:

Large Size – 3.5″dia. x 5″ H…Durable & Leak Proof – Made of rust proof stainless steel with clip-on lid with a watertight rubber seal inside. It’s heavy. ;)

I just use ziplocs….though I cold soak only after I get to camp.

I have been freeze drying for about 6 mos.  I am surprised how many foods come out of the freeze dryer perfectly tasty without rehydration.  Any vegetable, roast beef, tater tots….

There is absolutely no difference in taste between a hot soaked meal and a cold soaked meal.

I’d beg to differ on that one. There are plenty of dried (not freeze-dried) that really need heat. And frankly, a hot meal can really make one’s morale far better. Why suffer if you don’t have to?

Yup, I agree, Sarah! Smells (a major part of taste) is just volatile chemicals in the air. Heat means more chemicals escaping, soo, hot food tastes better.

Sarah…..can’t change opinions. So I will not try. People who carry framed backpacks think – look that that poor soul with a frameless pack – he must be suffering:-)