Winter food choices

Have a favorite trail recipe or technique you'd like to share? Please do! We also like reviews of various trail food products out there. The Backcountry Food Topix forum is the place to discuss all things related to food and nourishment while in the Sierra wilderness (as well as favorite trail head eateries).
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fishmonger
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Winter food choices

Post by fishmonger »

I'm heading out for a winter test trip in a few weeks and am starting to source food for the trip.

A few things I am used to from summer will become more difficult to use at below freezing temperatures (peanut butter, nutella, etc). Luckily most foods are already pretty devoid of water so they won't be much different from summer use, but I'm wondering what others have experienced when their supplies were colder than normal? Can you eat -10F beef jerky? What does olive oil do when it gets cold in your sqeeze bottle?

what about tooth paste in winter? probably gonna need to do the baking soda thing instead... any other fluid issues. sun tan lotion (need that for sure) - another one of those things that won't come out of the tube when it gets cold.

any favorites for winter cooking? I will be spending a lot of time hydrating and I guess soups are a good idea. There's only so much Mrs. Grass chicken noodle I can handle, though.

I'm not a tea drinker, and I don't want to OD on my instant Starbucks caffeine, but am looking for for other warm drink ideas (and please no Bovril :unibrow: ). Hot chocolate is already checked. Doubt gatorade tastes good while piping hot, but I haven't tried it.
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sirlight
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by sirlight »

I can't say what works best, but I know what does not.

Most energy bars become stiff as granite when they get really cold. Same goes for granola bars. You might want to keep your "eating" supply in a inside jacket pocket if you don't want to break your teeth!
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by rlown »

my olive oil is in a half size nalgene bottle. It congeals at night, but as it's not in a squeeze bottle, i can spork it out. As for stuff that i want to use like water the next morning (when frozen outside), I actually sleep with a camelback. yes, it's cold for a bit, but you have liquid water in the am. As for your nutella, or other stuff. when you crawl out in the morning, put it in your pockets. A reason for single serving packaging right there in winter conditions.

I do not like wasting my fuel on melting snow, even if that means filling a bladder or a poly with snow and dropping it in my sleeping bag. Tooth paste.. never had a problem.

Our morning ritual is to fire up the stove with the water, then steeping the Peet's coffee in the press. and with a 2 qt pot, we get two presses out of the water. Just me. I like a nice cup of great coffee in the AM.
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oldranger
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by oldranger »

151 in hot lemonade is pretty tasty! I would think some butter would add some needed fat and calories, and taste to oatmeal in the am.

Mike
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AlmostThere
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by AlmostThere »

After working up materials for a class on hypothermia I've read that at least 25% of your diet in a winter backpack trip should be fats.... Might be a good time to start adding butter to the instant taters. Nuts and dry meats should do pretty well.

I add Emergen-C packets to hot water, sometimes. Tang is another - and I recall drinking hot jello while camping as a kid, if you have a sweet tooth that would give some variety. I never get tired of hot cocoa but sometimes instead of the standard Swiss Miss or store brand packets, I get Land O Lakes flavored cocoas - really smooth chocolatey goodness.
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by fishmonger »

one thing about winter - stuff like butter stays fresh :D
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by fishmonger »

AlmostThere wrote:I add Emergen-C packets to hot water, sometimes. Tang is another - and I recall drinking hot jello while camping as a kid, if you have a sweet tooth that would give some variety. I never get tired of hot cocoa but sometimes instead of the standard Swiss Miss or store brand packets, I get Land O Lakes flavored cocoas - really smooth chocolatey goodness.
they also have cappucinos - my daughter loves that stuff. Definitely coming with me, too. Hot Jello - now that's something I need to try!
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by copeg »

Butter goes a long way in winter, and I'll typically add it to any meals I cook. Agree about the energy bars freezing up like a rock at temps even near freezing. Things like sunscreen do as well, at least to the point of making it useless to squeeze out of a bottle. What I typically do for smaller items such as this is place them in a pocket as close to my body as possible to warm them up (or warm them up in my sleeping bag before getting up in the morning) or near the stove when I'm cooking up something.

For warmer drinks I also bring a thermos, a bit heavy but don't mind the weight much in winter given it allows hot drinks all day without having to fire up the stove. Drinks will include tea, emergen-c, jello (although a bit too sweet for me I sometimes bring it along), hot chocolate, coffee, sometimes add a bit of crystal light.
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by paul »

I second the notion on the hot Emergen-C. The raspberry flavor is my standard morning hot drink for snow camping. Very tasty. For breakfast, I have found most granolas are good hot, and make a nice variation from oatmeal. Then I go with freeze-dried scrambled egss once or twice in a week-long trip. And of course, vitamin C - chocolate. Gotta have it - but sometimes it needs to go into your pocket to warm up or it will pratcically shatter when you try to bite it, especially the darker stuff.
I discovered that Power Bars are like rocks when cold - must be in the pocket for an hour before lunch or forget it. Clif bars much less so, but they still get harder. Tigers milk bars seem almost unaffected by the cold. Jerky - no problem. Nuts and dried fruit likewise.
I like Salami in the winter. Keeps great, tasty.

Toothpaste - I don't bring it. Just brushing is fine. Sunscreen I have never had a problem with in the cold. And be aware - sun on the snow at altitude is POWERFUL. I reapply sunscreen every two hours (and still get slightly burnt), and my rule on the lipbalm is to reapply constanly - sunburned lips are no fun at all and I have been there. Make sure the lipbalm is SPF 15 or better.
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Re: Winter food choices

Post by fishmonger »

paul wrote: Toothpaste - I don't bring it. Just brushing is fine. Sunscreen I have never had a problem with in the cold. And be aware - sun on the snow at altitude is POWERFUL. I reapply sunscreen every two hours (and still get slightly burnt), and my rule on the lipbalm is to reapply constanly - sunburned lips are no fun at all and I have been there. Make sure the lipbalm is SPF 15 or better.
great info on that part - I knew I'd have to use a lot, but I probably would not have done the lips that often. Got slightly burned yesterday - skiiing in cloudy conditions for 4 hours, but still enough UV even here at 1200 feet elevation to leave a mark... SPF 50 Bullfrog is what I usually use, and my lips get a layer of Labiosan - that European glacier lip stuff with zink in it, probably SPF 100 or better if you don't wipe it off.
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