I've been working on my backpacking food load out and trying different things. I found those easy make pasta metals in a bag are really good on the trial. however some of them require butter. How can one transport butter and keep it good? I heard a good idea to use the butter packets from KFC... but in one of the meals i need 1/4 cup of butter.... thats a lot of KFC packets!!
ideas?
Also a Non-lite backpackers food section would be a good idea here
A lot of the pasta meals that I make (eg Lipton/Knorr sides) will cook up OK without butter (it helps that you are hungry though). For those that don't, I substitute olive oil. Butter will quickly turn rancid without refrigeration; olive oil will keep just fine if kept in a food grade bottle. I suspect that the KFC packets are margarine, BTW, with a significant content of trans-fats.
Olive oil is a great multi use item. Use it for flavour and to boost calories intake (you can add some to a hot chocolate before bed time) but also as a lubricant (stuck zips/squeaky stays as well as on skin/lips/nails) Add some to a piece of cotton/cotton ball and you have a fire starter, make a wick and with the bottom of a soda can yu have an oil lamp... Franco
Olive oil works just great and you can get it in single serving packets from minimus.biz btw. Or carry Ghee, which you can make at home - it is simply butter that you cook to make shelf stable. Quite easy to do! http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/homemade-ghee-butter
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I don't bring butter....but when I was a kid and did there was some butter in a squeeze bottle we would bring....don't know if they still make it but worth a look...
I'm not selling these products but I'm testing them. The products are called Wildtree..there are everything from appetisers to entrees to desserts..The one product is butter flavoured grapeseed oil. It is wonderful and very stable. It doesn't burn in the pan like I've had happen with other oils.Well worth checking out Wildtree Products to spice up trail meals..
Ghee I can still remember the smell from doing that. My grandparents were farmers so before winter arrived , and milk/butter production dropped, my mom made a few jars of "ghee" for the winter. That was before we had a fridge at home, but we had a cellar. Franco
Growing up, the butter in our house was always stored in the cupboard, and it seemed to keep well for days at a time at room temp. I filled a 4 oz nalgene wide mouth jar for a trip last year and it kept for a week with no problems. When we go fishing in hotter places, we bring lots of lard. It keeps well even if it 100 degrees outside, and is great for frying freshly caught fish. Olive oil is great, but very fragrant, so if there are bears that is a consideration.
They come in a box of eight half-ounce packets (about a tablespoon). Box says they are made by the Butter Buds Div. of Cumberland Packing in Brooklyn, NY. I have bought them in regular supermarkets in several states.
A packet of Butter Buds, a tablespoon or two of regular (skimmed) powdered milk and the same of flour in about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of water (usually leftover cooking water) make a decent white sauce, and with powdered cheese added, it will turn Ramen noodles into passable Ramen n' cheese. Also other Italian-style pasta dishes (with dried veggies call it primavera for instance).
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