Pre-soaking pasta / rice before cooking?

[Yoyo]

In the past, I’ve always pre-cooked and dehydrated pasta, then boiled water in camp and let sit for a few minutes.  Has anyone tried presoaking it instead?  This would allow me to cook macaroni, pearl couscous, etc., directly from the shelf in camp without this extra chore at home.  Thoughts?

[Michael Gillenwater]

sounds reasonable if you are going to be carrying that water anyway. otherwise seems like a trade of time for weight. alternative would be to just use smaller pasta (orzo) or smaller size couscous and then save both time and weight.

[Gary Dunckel]

Yep, pre-soaking pasta is the way to go. Barilla makes a line they call Pronto Pasta. They offer penne, rotini, elbows, and half-cut spaghetti and linguine. The idea is to just cover the pasta with water, then turn on the stove and cook it for 10 minutes, at which time you add the sauce. Let that warm up for a brief time, then eat.

What I’ve found even better is to pre-soak the pasta for about an hour (practice this at home first, to not let it get past the al dente stage and get all soggy; each pasta type absorbs water a bit differently). I turn the stove on at a medium or medium-low setting, and in about 3-5 minutes it’s ready for me to add the powdered sauce mix, FD veggies, and spices. I keep the heat on for another minute or so to get everything nice and hot. This approach means I need to have an hour or so to let the pasta soak properly. This can be on the trail if you have a leak-proof container, but I usually get to camp a few hours before I feel like eating anyway. So it soaks while I am treating my water and chasing firewood.

Give the Barilla Pronto Pasta a try. They used to sell something they called “3-Minute Pasta,” which likely was the same thing. I e-mailed them about that, but they never responded. I’m not at all sure, but it kinda seems like they cook and then dehydrate this form of pasta. At least that’s how it seems to perform. My favorites are the rotini, which fits my spoon best, or the linguine if I want to carry a fork and eat like a true Italian. The cool thing is that the spaghetti and linguine perfectly fit inside a Food Saver vacuum bag. I tend to stockpile the linguine (and also the rotini) and package it into 2.0 oz. portions (for home use) and 2.5 oz. portions for the trail.

The sauce is up to you. I package up  Knorr alfredo, 4-cheese, and rosa. I use 2 Tbs of those, 1 Tbs of Milkman powder, and some Italian spice. I vacuum-seal 1-person portions. I also package some FD veggies separately to add to the concoction when I pour the sauce mix in. My favorites are tomato chunks and diced zucchini from Packit Gourmet. (is this too much information?)

So yes, pre-soaking works nicely, and you aren’t relegated to just orzo or cous cous (although they are good too).

[James Marco]

Glad it worked for you, Gary. There is a BIG BUT here. Most pasta is glutinized semolina flour. The proteins making up the pasta need to be cooked to provide texture and stability. Often, simple boiling is enough, IFF you are using a fresh product, say 1-3 minutes. Like Gary says, “I’m not at all sure, but it kinda seems like they cook and then dehydrate this form of pasta.” I agree with this. Plain jane macaroni just turns back into dough if not boiled, kind of a soupy mess. (Note, there is some time between absorption of the water and the actual cooking of the glutins, two separate processes.)

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Cooking rice on the trail is pretty easy: 1/2 cup rice + 1 cup of water yields about 2 cups of cooked rice.  Bring to a boil, let simmer and when the water level drops to about a grain of rice, remove from heat and let is sit for 10-15 minutes.

I pre-soak pasta all of the time, especially when making lasagna or spaghetti & meat sauce.   Usually, I steam or dry bake the meal.

[David Thomas]

You didn’t ask about dehydrated beans, but IME, pre-soaking beans really makes them viable as a cheap and fairly protein-rich food on the trail.  I get 16-ounce containers of dehydrated black and red beans from Amazon, divided them into meal-sized portions, and add water an hour before I get to camp.  Then it doesn’t take much fuel to heat them, let them soak, and possibly reheat them again before serving them.

Coconut-milk powder and red, green, or yellow curry paste/powder make for a nice variety in your menu without adding needless weight.

[Tipi Walter]

I used to be a big organic brown rice eater until I found out there’s arsenic in rice, even organic—but before this I used rice on all of my backpacking trips.

Cooking brown rice in the field is nonsensical unless you have a white gas stove that simmers (like the old Svea 123) and plenty of fuel.  My current MSR simmerlite DOES NOT SIMMER.

Store bought dehydrated brown rice sucks.  And cooked brown rice at home and then dehydrated ends up hard kernels in the field.  Solution?

**  Cook up beaucoup brown rice at home.

**  After cooking place in blender and add sufficient water to allow thorough blending.

**  Pour this mix on your dehydrator trays atop silicone sheets.

**  Dry and put into ziplocs.

**  Cook in the field by adding water or adding rice to soups and/or beans or chilis.

You can also blend up brown rice with cooked beans for a real good gruel.  Below is a pic of brown rice blended with whole milk and ready to dry.

 

[Katherine .]

“My current MSR simmerlite DOES NOT SIMMER.”

and it’s not light weight-wise, but if it lights ignition-wise, at least there’s that.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Soaking rice works well. Pasta, not so much.

[Yoyo]

Hi Sarah,

Good to hear that you are still around.  I’ve been using your instructions on your website and in your original book to pre-cook and dehydrate my pasta at home.  I suppose I’ll continue doing that for my pasta.  In the meantime, I’ll experiment with other stuff.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Half the fun is trying :D

[Yuri R]

Why pre-cook pasta? I usually take vermicelli, so once the water has boiled – just add pour it into the pasta pack (or toss vermicelli into the pot), cover and turn off the stove. Wait a few minutes and it is done. Super simple and quick since it is very thin and cooks rapidly.

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