Tramping Food: The Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration Pack

A 24 hour total meal package from Backcountry Cuisine...

Several months ago I was in the Bivouac store here in Christchurch and spotted their supply of Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration packs. These packs are packed to be 100% complete and hold all of the food items you would need for a 24 hour period. 

The Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration pack no. 667

I decided to buy one of the ration packs to have a look at what was inside and see if indeed it contains enough nutrition to keep you going through a whole day. Backcountry Cuisine sell four varieties...two have meat as the main meals and the other two are vegetarian. The cost for one of these packs is $35 NZ dollars which is pretty good when you consider the freeze dried meals inside add up to $30 by themselves. 

Table of contents on a Backcountry ration pack no. 667

The main meals are freeze dried single serve portions from the Backcountry Cuisine meal selection, the item number for this particular ration is 667. I took this on a trip to Nelson Lakes National Park recently and this is what I thought about it....

Contents of the BCC Ration Pack...

There is a table of contents on the front of the ration pack which details all of the items contained in the pack. This particular variety contains a one serve meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner...the meals could be eaten in whatever order best suits your requirements.

The version I brought was one of the meat based varieties and had meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner a drinks pack and snacks. 

BCC 24 hour ration pack table of contents....no. 667

This ration pack contains the following food/miscellaneous items:

Main meals:Porridge Supreme (one serve)

Classic Beef Curry (one serve)

Roast Lamb and Vegetables (one serve)

Snacks: 1 pkt Candy Chocolate (Smarties)

1 pkt trail mix 

I pkt Oatie Biscuit (two biscuits)

1 pkt jelly beans

Drink Pack: Orange Drink

1 hot chocolate

2 tea bags

2 coffee sachets

4 sugar sachets

4 creamer sachets

2 Salt sachets

1 Pepper sachet

Miscellaneous Items: 1 plastic spoon

1 small packet tissues

What they are giving you in this ration pack is three meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner), snacks for during the day and drinks to accompany the meals. That is basically all that most people will need when out on a tramping trip. 

Contents of  BCC ration pack no. 667 laid out on a table....

All the main meals are freeze dried so you will just need to heat water and add it to the pack so he meals are quick, simple and little to no clean-up required. If you do not like the particular meals in the ration pack you could of course change them but this would mean extra cost. 

BCC ration pack no. 667: main meals, drink sachet, ANZAC biscuits, tissue and spoon

Having three-four snacks for during the day is my standard system as well...all of the packs are large so it might be hard eating all of a particular snack in one sitting. I ate half of each and then had the other half for a dessert after my lunch/evening meal. 

BCC ration pack no. 667: breakfast meal,snack packs, drinks kit and bag

The contents are packed in a sturdy plastic bag with a table of contents and a break down of the nutritional value in each of the individual components. The tissue are included for toileting purposes and you even get a spoon to eat it all with. 

The BCC 24 hour ration taste test....

My original plan was to camp at Kerr Bay and do some day hikes but because it was raining and because the campground was shut for maintenance I walked into Lakehead Hut and stayed for two nights over three days. 

The cooking bench in Lakehead Hut, Nelson Lakes National Park

On the first day I ate a homemade ration that I had made up for the occasion...

My homemade 24 hour ration and snack pack....

I had the Backcountry Cuisine ration on the second day while lazing about in the hut. It was a cold, wet and windy day so I spent half the day in my sleeping bag drinking tea and reading my book. A better test would have been to use it on a day of physical activity but beggars cant be choosers as they say....

First up was the Porridge Supreme which I ate for breakfast...I added two of the creamer packets to the porridge to make it more creamy. There is a separate packet of brown sugar in the porridge pack for scattering over your pog. BCC freeze dried porridge is good and has fruit added to the meal to increase the calorific count. A good start...

The chocolate candies aka smarties in the ration pack

I had the snack meals over the course of the day..the jelly beans and candy covered chocolate were very nice...similar to other commercially produced products. The biscuit was good...crispy, not too sweet, nice flavour and good for dunking in your tea. Yum!!!

The chocolate candies aka Smarties in the ration pack

I was not so fond of the trail mix....it consisted of dried fruit, peel, nuts, banana chips, chocolate chunks and coconut. I found it to be overly sweet and I hate coconut so it was not to my taste at all. I would definitely exchange the trail mix for something more savoury like salted nuts or a Bhaji mix. 

Trail mix snack pack from BCC Ration Pack no. 667

For lunch I had the Classic Beef Curry augmented with a packet of 2 minute noodles...I often eat this as a tramping meal as the two go together very well. With the meal I had a cup of tea with sugar and the remainder of the jelly beans. The classic beef curry is one of the better meals in the Backcountry range so I did enjoy it. 

Preparing the Classic Beef Stew for lunch...with 2 minute noodles...

I had the Roast Lamb with Vegetables for dinner later in the day...the lamb and the vegetables are mixed together with the gravy powder. There is also a small sachet of mashed potato in the pack...the lamb is nice with a lovely savoury gravy and the mashed spuds are good especially after I added a squirt of olive oil to them. 

All of these are classic freeze dried meals and just need hot water added to them...that is sum total of the preparation needed.  

Contents of the Roast Lamb and Vegetables meal.....

Overall I found the meal to be palatable and filling...I don't think I would have felt hungry subsisting on these meals over the short term. If this was all you had to eat for an extended period I think you might start feeling a mite hungry. Overall my experience of the meals and snacks was very good with the exception of the trail mix which I really did not like at all. 

The BCC ration pack brew kit...

The ration pack had an extensive drinks kit included with it and consisted of; 

Drink Pack: Orange Drink

1 hot chocolate

2 tea bags

2 coffee sachets

4 sugar sachets

4 creamer sachets

2 Salt sachets

1 Pepper sachet

All of the contents were Porters brand which I have seen in hotels and motels throughout New Zealand. The quality is OK I drank all of the items and didn't have a problem with any of the items....

BCC drinks kit from ration pack no. 667

I had coffee with my breakfast and tea in the mid morning and mid afternoon...hot chocolate after dinner. 

I would probably get rid of the creamer packs as they are not all that useful to me....I like both tea and coffee black and these non dairy creamers always have problems dissolving in your drink...who wants to chew chunks of powdery creamer in their morning coffee. 

Contents of the brew kit laid out,,BCC ration pack no. 667

There is also a loose pack of Vitafresh drink powder in the ration pack...this is the brand I usually carry when I go out in the bush in this case it was orange flavor. I mixed this up and had it with my evening meal as per usual...powdered drink sachets are a real morale improver after a long day tramping. 

What I would add to the ration pack....

While these ration packs cover most of the basic requirements there are a few items missing to make these total complete meal kits for a 24 hour period.  

The Backcountry Cuisine 24 hour ration pack.....

Here are some items I would add to these packs if I was using them on a regular basis:

Instant Soup:

First up I would add some form of instant soup to the packs...the obvious choice would be Continental or Maggi Cup-O-Soups...they have many flavour's and just require hot water to prepare. These are individual soups and make one cup or about 250mls. 

Cup-O-Soup...Dutch Curry...yum, yum!!!!

Other choices could be instant Miso, an Asian noodle soup or Continental/Knorr/Maggi simmer soups. These require slightly more preparation but are much tastier...the simmer soups make 1 liter (enough for two-three trampers).  All these soups can be found at large supermarkets or Asian food stores in New Zealand.

Knorr Simmer Soup...Chicken Noddle

Continental Simmer Soup....light, easy to prepare and flavour-some....

Water purification tablets:

The average adult needs from 6-8 liters or water per day preferably taken as just water but also as tea, soup, powdered drinks, coffee etc. In New Zealand you will often find that you can simply take water straight from a lake, river or hut water tank but this is slowly changing. With more people in the backcountry water sources are becoming tainted...pollution, human/animal waste, viruses and other ailments have entered many of our previously pristine water sources.

Aquatabs water purification tablets....

This means we need to treat our water either by boiling, chemical treatment or filtering. I use chemical treatment methods...chlorine based Aquatabs at a ratio of one tablet per 1 liter of water. I would therefore add Aquatabs or something similar to these packs...probably 6-8 tablets per 24 hour period.

Jerky style steak bars:

Another item I would consider adding to this ratio pack are Jack Links jerky meat bars or some similar product. I always carry these steak bars...they come in three flavors; BBQ,  Peppered and Teriyaki...all of the flavors are delicious and would up the protein content of the packs. I would eat these as snacks usually mid morning or mid afternoon. 

The Jack Links steak bar....BBQ, Peppered or Teriyaki flavor the choice is yours...

Dish scrub pads:

You need something to clean your cooking kit with my go to option is a 2 cm by 2 cm square of scrubbing pad and an all purpose outdoor soap like Dr Bonar's or Sea to Summit. I would add a scrub pad in a small zip-lock bag to the packs and carry a bottle of soap for general purpose use. 

Green scrubbing pads.....

Sugar substitute:

While these packs have four serves of sugar I usually find I need more than this in an average day. You could carry more sugar but this is quite a heavy food item...better still would be a artificial sweetener...my go to choice is Splenda. I carry a small dispenser of Splenda with me every-time I go tramping they contain 200 tablets equivalent to 200 spoons of sugar and weigh only 3 gms. 

How can you complain about that ratio....

Splenda artificial sweetener tablets

By adding these few items these ration packs become much more useful items to take into the outdoors. You could add/subtract a lot more but obviously that would defeat the purpose of buying a 24 hour ration pack.....

My conclusion: How good are these ration packs?

Overall I think this is a good concept and would provide you with all of the nutrition you needed for a 24 hour period in the outdoors. I have no real problems with the contents they are all perfectly acceptable. My main concern is the weight...850 gms is a lot of weight for one days food, my home made rations usually top out at 600 gms per day. For a single day it would be fine but anything over 1-2 days would require careful consideration of weight to calorific content.  

The homemade ration pack I also took to Nelson Lakes NP...580gms!!!

I don't know that I would carry these all of the time but they are certainly worth considering for their ease of preparation and convenience. You can find them at most outdoor stores...in Christchurch I have seen them at Hunting and Fishing, Bivouac and Torpedo Seven...

Jon making himself comfortable in Lakehead Hut, Nelson Lakes NP

Maybe grab one the next time you are heading into the outdoors. 

Cheers!!!

Tramping Food: Pimp that meal- adding extra taste to your freeze dried experience

More flavour in your freeze dried meal...

I'm sure most of us have tasted a freeze dried meal before, they are light weight and easy to prepare but often the taste is less than ideal. There is no reason why eating a freeze dried must be a chore, with a few choice additions you can make it into food worth savouring.

Jon at Mid Robinson Hut, 2015, with freeze dried meal in hand

Tramping food: freezer bag or freeze dried?

I have previously covered suggestions for tramping food in another post, what I am concentrating on here is how you can improve the flavour of Freeze Dried (FD) meals.

When I am out for a overnight trip I generally carry two types of main meal. The first is the home-made "freezer bag" type which I make from store brought ingredients. These consist of a carb (rice/noodles/pasta/instant potato/pearl barley/cous cous/instant stuffing) with the addition of vegetables, protein (meat/chicken/fish/TVP) and some herbs and spices.  

A selection of home-made dehydrated freezer bag meals

Generally these require some "in pot" cooking time although it is possible to make meals that simply require hot water. I eat them from the bag or straight from the pot.

 The second type is the ubiquitous freeze dried (FD) meal to which you add hot water and wait for it to re hydrate. My typical breakdown would be two home-made to one freeze dried meal per trip. If the trip was 5 days or more, when food weight becomes more of a factor, FD meals will dominate.

Enjoying some freeze dried Spaghetti Bolognaise at Hawdon Hut, 2014

The advantage of freeze dry meals is their low relative weight (less than 200gms) and the ease of preparation which negates a whole lot of mess and bother at the end of a long day.

Some notes regarding freeze dried tramping meals

In New Zealand the three main freeze dried ranges are supplied by Backcountry Cuisine Absolute Wilderness and the Outdoor Gourmet Company. These are available at outdoor stores and some supermarkets. There will be a company in your locale which produce these type of meals, check your local camping/outdoor stores.

A Backcountry Cuisine freeze dried meal

Both companies produce a range of 1 and 2 serve meals including breakfast, lunch and dinner items. People will often tell you these rival products are different, i.e. one is better than the other, but in reality the differences are minimal.

Absolute Wilderness Bacon Mash

Outdoor Gourmet just pips Backcountry as their meals look more like real food. 

One of the  Outdoor Gourmet Company meals

Obviously, anything you add to this type of meal needs to be pre cooked, dried and or freeze dried as well. The idea is to add items that will increase the flavor of your meal while still minimising weight and size. 

Freeze dried Butter Chicken Curry and a big mug of Maggi soup...yum!

A note on serving size

Some people are happy to use the single serve freeze dried meals, personally I find this is too small a portion for me. I always buy the two person serves as I find them more filling especially after a long hard tramping day. You will need to decide which is best for you. A two serve will add an extra 50-75 gms to the weight. 

Backcountry Cuisine size comparison: a 2 serve, accessory pack and 1 serve

Alternately you can "bulk up" your single serve with some extra FD rice, cous-cous, par cooked grain or 2-3 dessert spoons of dehydrated potato flakes. Make sure you add water to allow these to hydrate fully.

Dried potato powder: great by itself, as a thickener or to bulk up meals...

Adding extra taste to your freeze dried meal

Below are some additions I have used to make my freeze dried meals more palatable.

Salt, pepper, herbs and spices

  

Freeze dried meals have a high salt content but given the amount of sweat you expend tramping adding a touch of salt to improve taste is acceptable. Taste your freeze dried  first as some are much saltier than others.

 Pepper is a great addition to any meal and adds a complex depth of flavour. I generally carry the small sachets of salt and pepper from take out restaurants, one of each per day used sparingly.

Salt n' Pepper alright!

A touch of dried curry powder, oregano, mint,coriander, chilli or your herb or spice of choice can add a blast of flavour to any meal.  Adding a good Tex-Mex mixture will maximise the taste of chilli and re fried bean meals.

Spice rack at the local supermarket...go mad!

I carry some small resealable bags with a selection of herbs and spices to add at meal time or you can staple your chosen mix in a small bag to the outside of the freeze dried bag.

Why not make a "spice tin" like the one in the photo below...I'm making one myself.

Small spice tin of a US hiker- from Equip2survive.com

Remember weight is important and a little goes a long way with spices; don't go overboard.

Sauce it!

There are a bewildering array of sauces on the market that you can utilise, here are a few I have used:

 Tomato ketchup/sauce/HP is probably the most obvious type, a small takeaway sachet added to dehydrated tomato dishes will maximise the tomato flavour. I use the McDonald's packets because you always get a fist full of them with your McD's meal and never use them.  

Tomato paste sachets can also be used but the flavour is a lot stronger.

Good old Mickey D's ketchup!

Tabasco hot sauce will give your meal a hefty kick,  it is especially good in stews and casseroles adding complexity to the taste as well as heat. I have a supply of miniature Tabasco bottles brought from an Asian food market but you can decant your hot sauce of choice into a lightweight plastic container.

Miniature Tabasco bottle

Soya Sauce is great with any Asian, rice or fish dish, I use the small "fish" shaped serves you get with sushi, again I found a supply of these in a local Asian food market.

Single use Soya "fish"

Worcestershire: I have taken to decanting Worcestershire sauce into a small plastic bottle as I find it adds great taste depth to any venison, beef or lamb meal. Worcestershire is a piquant fish based sauce with a hint of spice and a warm mouth fill, beautiful with all meat dishes (and on a meat pie...).

Worcestershire Sauce

Muoc Nam or fish sauce is a salty additive which is vital in any South Asian recipe. Again it is best with Asian inspired meals but can be used in a wide range of situations for example to give Bolgnaise an unusual fusion taste, or to add another flavour level to stews and casseroles. 

Muoc Nam or fish sauce I use

Dont spill this in your pack, my gawd it stinks, and it will stay there for years! 

Nuts & dried fruit

 Adding a handful of your nut of choice can add a nice crunch to any Asian or rice dish, including Risotto, the nut flavour also brings out the inherent taste of the rice. I personally favour peanuts, cashews and almonds but any nut can be used.

A selection of nuts for hiker meals

A handful of dried fruit is a traditional essential in any North African inspired meal including tagines, lamb cassolets and any cous cous based meal. Think raisins, sultanas, dates, dried apricots....

My home-made Moorish style cous-cous salad with feta, raisins, nuts

  Craisins (dried cranberries) will go well with any venison or chicken meal, they add an interesting sweet-sour note.

Ocean Spray craisins...

Adding vegetables to your tramping fare

 There is no reason you can not add vegetables to your freeze dried meal including your choice of fresh ones. There are also a variety of dried and freeze dried vegetables commercially available which can be added to any meal. 

BCC make a freeze dried vegetable mix (as well as rice/potato/beef mince/cheese and egg) which can be added straight to any freeze dried meal. I know that Backpackers Pantry and Mountain House make similar products in the US.

A quick search of your local supermarket will yield dried onion/shallots, mushrooms, garlic, capsicum, peas, beans, olives and sun dried tomatoes. All of these, properly re hydrated, can be added to freeze dried meals.  Better yet, buy a dehydrator and make your own home made dried vegetables to order.

Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

Don't forget fresh vegetables; a diced clove of garlic, some sliced ginger,  diced onion or capsicum, freshly sliced mushrooms, carrots and celery can all add a touch of class to your meal.

Preparing vegetables for the dehydrator

Onions and garlic will last a long time in your pack. Do not go overboard with the vege's as the fresh varieties are heavy to carry.

Extra protein for long term energy

 If you want to add extra protein to a freeze dried meal then go ahead. The downside is that adding any form of protein that is not dried will add considerably to the weight of that that meal. Personally I do not do this as I usually find FD meals have more than enough protein already.

Jack Links Jerky is a good source of protein

Good sources include cheese, tuna (or other oily fish), smoked meats (salami/jerky/bacon) and canned chicken and shredded ham. If you are going to use cheese a hard one such as Parmesan, Pecorino, Romano or aged Chedder is best (they last longer) or some form of shelf stable processed cheese.

Olive oil

Long distance "through hikers" in the US and Europe swear by olive oil: they add it too everything. Olive oil is a rich source of fats and anti oxidants as well as tasting delicious.

A local brand of Olive Oil

 A tablespoon of oil added to a freeze dry can make that meal more unctuous as fat is one of the elements the freeze drying process removes.Carry it in a well secured small plastic bottle stored in an outside pocket as it will make a real mess if spilled inside your pack.

Milk powder

Milk powder will add to the creamy  nature of many FD meals, anything with a cheese or cream based sauce will benefit.

A coconut milk powder available in New Zealand

Coconut cream powder is especially good for those who are Lactose intolerant as well as going well with Asian style meals. Make sure you add enough water to reconstitute the powder correctly.

What about crackers?

If you are the kind of tramper who eats crackers for lunch and you have a couple spare, break them up and add them to your freeze dried meal.

Leave some crackers for that tramping dinner...

 Most if not all of these meals are soupy or stew like so anything that adds a crunchy texture is appreciated.

This is hardly an exhaustive list, you should visit your local supermarket or Asian food market and see what they have available.

What about some practical tramping meal examples?

Here a couple of practical examples of how this works using meals from both Backcountry Cuisine and the Outdoor Gourmet Company product lines. I have made all of these additions in the past.

BCC Chicken Tomato Alfredo: add olives, olive oil, diced sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper

BCC Chicken Tomato Alfredo with added olives and tomatoes

BCC Morrocan Lamb: add pine and or peanuts, raisins, olive oil, dried mint/nutmeg, freshly diced garlic clove, salt and pepper (this is my current favourite BCC meal)

BCC Spaghetti Bolognaise: add diced garlic, tomato ketchup, olive oil, olives, freshly shaved Parmesan

BCC Creamy Carbonara: add sliced sautéed mushrooms, garlic, diced salami, olive oil, milk powder, salt and pepper

One of the Outdoor Gourmet Company meals

OGC Lamb and Black Olives: add nuts, raisins, olive oil, mint, garlic salt and pepper

OGC Venison Casarecce with White Wine Sauce: Craisins, garlic, sliced mushrooms, salt and pepper

Absolute Wilderness Bacon Mash: Salami, cheese, oil, chilli sauce, onions

As you can see you could really go crazy with your additions the only limit is your taste buds and imagination. Just remember to keep the weight factor in mind as you could easily negate any initial savings by adding too much to your meals.