Highest storable calorie to weight ratio?

Posted by: humblefan

Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/09/10 04:41 PM

What are some good foods for long term stocking for hikes that are high calorie foods without much weight in a ready to eat format?

So far I got peanut butter is .5 oz mylar squeezables, tuna in oil packets, marshmallows compacted in foodsaver bags, and dehydrated apple slices for snacks.

Anything else I might consider?
Posted by: phat

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/09/10 05:20 PM


Lard - you can eat it with a spoon.

Now haven given you the most obvious answer to your question that probably isn't all that helpful - how about I ask you for a little more info...

*for what reason* - backpacking? why is "long term storage" important.. etc..

Posted by: Roocketman

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/09/10 07:40 PM

Originally Posted By humblefan
What are some good foods for long term stocking for hikes that are high calorie foods without much weight in a ready to eat format?

So far I got peanut butter is .5 oz mylar squeezables, tuna in oil packets, marshmallows compacted in foodsaver bags, and dehydrated apple slices for snacks.

Anything else I might consider?


Do a google search for the file below:

Calories per oz 7500 plus foods.pdf

Copy the filename above and paste it into the google search. If you surround it by quotes, you may get a better result.

"Calories per oz 7500 plus foods.pdf"

This gives you a list, arranged by calories per ounce, for 7500 foods.

You can do with it what you want. You can also find the same files in a spreadsheet form, XLS instead of PDF.

It will help you to understand the data better if you remember that the macronutrient fat provides 9 Calories per gram or about 255 Calories per ounce.

Carbohydrates and Protein provide 4 Calories per gram or about 114 Calories per ounce.

Water provides 0 Calories, but it is essential for other reasons.

You might want to remember that meat is typically 3 parts water to one part protein with some fat thrown in and maybe some bone. Freeze dried meat has the water component almost completely removed.
Posted by: phat

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/09/10 09:33 PM


What I actually TAKE backpacking for high calorie stuff:

1) Hudson's Bay Bread - google the recepie. A 3 inch square of this slathered in peanut butter has as much voom in it as an entire commercial dehydrated backpacking meal.

2) Walker's shortbread cookies - oh god these are good, and so bad for you. I only take them winter hiking.

3) smoked almonds. almonds have tons of calories, and tons of fibre - all good.

4) sausage - I love landjaeger or dry salami or pepperoni sticks

6) Cheese - parmigiano reggio keeps forever, softer stuff less so.

7) Chocolate

So my snack loadout for 4 days out, doing 90 km in four days last weekend was:
6 landjaeger sausages
1 175 gram piece of emmentaller cheese
1 can black diamond smoked almonds (in a ziploc)
4 3 inch squares of hudson's bay bread
150 grams of peanut butter.
A small ziploc sandwitch bag full of dried fruit (mangos cherries, cranberries)

I ate oatmeal or egg and taters with coffee for breakfast,
and a dehydrated backpacking dinner for dinner.

I walked off the trail with a sausage and small piece of cheese which I ate in the car at the trailhead, and a few almonds and fruit, half an HBC bread, and some peanut butter.
In other words, I a had enough snacks to do an extra day if I needed to. - about as I had planned it. I didnt' feel hungry or wanting and made good time.
Posted by: BrianLe

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/09/10 11:30 PM

An old standard is to add some olive oil to any cooked meal. Tastes darned good too.
Posted by: HalfPint

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/10/10 04:21 PM

An old standard? what do you mean? Sorry if this sounds ignorant....I am just curious.
Posted by: Franco

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/10/10 07:24 PM

Old standard...
Well before Mountain House came about there was olive oil.
A few thousand years ago olive oil was in use on travel because of his many uses and not needing refrigeration/preservation.
Obviously it is food, but was also used as medicine ,fuel for lamps and as a cosmetic product (hair and skin)
look up " olive oil medical use"
BTW, Extra Virgin (cold pressed) is best
Franco
Posted by: BrianLe

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/10/10 09:46 PM

"An old standard? what do you mean? Sorry if this sounds ignorant....I am just curious."

Franco's reply is, as usual, a good one. I just meant, however, that it's a very common way to get to move closer to the goal of "calorically dense" food, i.e., as the thread says, a high ratio of calories per unit weight of food.

Among long distance trail (thru-) hikers, olive oil is perhaps the most widely used approach --- because it's not too hard to obtain (in the AT this year I even found 8-oz mini-bottles of olive oil in a couple of gas station mini-marts), it's calorically dense, and when your body is burning lots and lots of calories per day it's particularly tasty to add to any cooked meal. I typically add about an ounce (fluid or weight, take your pick) to any dinner meal, including a Mt. House (a 2-person Mt. House is a small to moderate sized dinner for a thru-hiker ...).

Okay, so an aside that I was expecting someone would trot out in this thread (seems to come up every time on this topic): chocolate and nuts are both very calorically dense, so at one point in a discussion of how to most efficiently fill a bear can, one wag suggested that pouring in a mix of macadamia nuts in melted chocolate to fill the can would be most efficient --- and that if a person got sick of eating that mix, they could trade for other food along the way. Assuming, of course, that you could manage to chip chunks out of the hardened mix!
Posted by: balzaccom

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/11/10 12:40 AM

Great thread--and fun answers.

But I'm curious. What is the RDA for Voom?
Posted by: phat

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/13/10 11:04 PM

Originally Posted By balzaccom
Great thread--and fun answers.

But I'm curious. What is the RDA for Voom?


Depends how much you're trying to voom..

"You're flagging - sit.. eat this.. drink stuff.. now voom" smile
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/14/10 12:30 PM

Dried foods, either freeze-dried or dehydrated, contain very little fat. You want to remove as much fat as possible from home-dehydrated foods to keep them from becoming rancid, and they should be stored in the freezer.

A few squirts of olive or canola oil mixed into your dinners when you rehydrate them will help make up this fat deficiency. The monounsaturated fat in these oils is also much healthier for you than the saturated fats found in meat. I personally love high-quality olive oil (see Franco's post) and use it instead of butter at home.

My main source of fat out on the trail is nuts: almonds, hazelnuts (called filberts here in Oregon), walnuts, peanuts and (my favorite) cashews. In lieu of lunch, I nibble on nuts and dried fruits throughout the day. Again, this is healthy monounsaturated fat. I seem to be able to digest this kind of fat, while having digestive problems with the fats found in meat and dairy.
Posted by: Franco

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/14/10 08:16 PM

My historical context type reply was a bit cheeky , nevertheless true...
I would add pine nuts and Brazil nuts the the Oregon Mouse list.
Maybe an easy way to remember is just to look at the most expensive types.
We have Macademia nuts here. More fat content than any other nut. (toxic to dogs)
Although peanut butter is cheap and works too.
For a cold weather boost before bed, a nice hot chocolate with a bit of olive oil added will warm you up for the night.
Franco
Posted by: thecook

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/16/10 09:49 PM

How about Neutella? I don't have any on hand but since it is mostly chocolate and hazelnuts I would think that it has a high calorie content.
Posted by: Franco

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/17/10 09:29 PM

Ferrero advertise Nutella as an healthy spread made seemingly with hazelnuts, skimmed milk and cocoa.
The actual ingredients change according to the market place, however there is a fix 13% hazelnut content, 7-8% cocoa powder and 5-7% of skimmed milk.
The main ingredient at around 50% is sugar.
Franco
Posted by: GDeadphans

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/17/10 09:35 PM

Candy like that will just give you a short term energy burst.

Chocolate is the best thing to have when you want to warm up quickly. Because it is a lot of sugar, your body burns it quickly and you create metabolic heat. I usually eat some on a cold night before I go to sleep. This way I feel a bit warmer when I get in to my bag. Caffeine, unless i have a few cups of coffee, doesn't effect me that much.
Posted by: Franco

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 08/17/10 09:40 PM

Re: Nutella
BTW, don't take my word for it...
This is from Ferrero :
How much sugar and fat does nutella contain?
We recommend that nutella is eaten in a 15g portion, and per serving it contains 80kcals, 4.7g fat (2.6g monounsaturated, 0.6g polyunsaturated, 1.5g saturated) and 8.3g sugar. The Food Standards Agency ‘Eatwell plate’, states that both sugar and fat are acceptable in appropriate quantities as part of a balanced diet. The key is balance and moderation - some foods like fruit and vegetables in large amounts and others like nutella, other spreads such as jam and peanut butter, in small amounts.
(FAQ : how much sugar ? http://www.wakeuptonutella.com/faq.html)
Posted by: MistaBrown

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 11/15/10 10:01 AM

A friend of mine who has participated in some adventure racing swears by Cheetos. They are one of, if not the highest calorie to weight ratio. Keep in mind though, that they eat them because of the need to consume 5,000+ calories per day to travel rough terrain contstantly. It's probably not the healthiest solution!
Posted by: skcreidc

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 11/15/10 12:25 PM

I thought the calorie count of Nutella (yum!) was somewhat equal to peanut butter; about 200cal/2 tablespoons. High density calorie foods includes nuts...and the king of them all is the macadamia nut. 320 calories per chopped 1/3 cup. I've substituted these into Phat's snack bar formula and it works for my taste buds. Lots O fat in those suckers (Macadamia nuts), but it is good fat. Hey, you are going to burn it off backpacking or mountaineering.

sK
Posted by: oldranger

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 11/15/10 03:58 PM

What could have a higher ration than good ol' Crisco? - perhaps with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg for a bit of flavoring.
Posted by: sjohnny

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 11/15/10 04:05 PM

Cinnamon Crisco. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Posted by: lori

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 11/15/10 07:02 PM

Food for thought.

http://thru-hiker.com/articles/pack_light_eat_right.php

Posted by: PDA

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 11/30/10 09:27 PM

@lori - excellent site.
Re Hudson Bay Bread. Looks good, but I would suggest that the history is probably false. I attended the UK army outward bound school in 1961, and the recommended high energy food was "Edmund Hillary's favourite - Kendal Mint Cake." (This is a sugar/glucose opaque confection flavoured with peppermint.) as an alternative, fruit cake was recommended. Hillary was rumoured to have taken 4 tea chests of Kendal Mint Cake to the Everest expedition and the party complained that there might not be enough! Certainly, I can report that pupils of the Outward Bound School consumed enormous quantities of Kendal Mint Cake and we all placed copious quantities of it in our packs as "emergency rations". Nowadays I prefer home-made fruit cake which contains complex and simple carbs, dried fruit, nuts, and if I made it, a good slug of rum. Makes it moist and delicious. Slather it with butter to up the fat content. I suppose modern energy bars are easier, but much less fun.
Posted by: DJ2

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/04/10 11:39 AM

As kids we would mix Crisco with brown sugar for a treat.
Posted by: oldranger

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/04/10 01:45 PM

OMG! I was trying to be funny.....
Posted by: CamperMom

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/04/10 03:47 PM

Brown sugar plus Crisco-

Kinda like apple pie without the apples in the middle and the flour in the crust.

Yum! (NOT!)

CM
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/04/10 04:19 PM

Brown sugar plus butter (not Crisco!) plus brandy or rum = hard sauce. Great way to make the Christmas fruit cake more edible (steam the cake for a few minutes before adding the hard sauce). Yummy!

Also helps to sample the rum or brandy before and after. laugh
Posted by: sarbar

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/05/10 09:52 PM

Originally Posted By OregonMouse


Also helps to sample the rum or brandy before and after. laugh


Plenty. Beforehand. laugh
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/05/10 10:55 PM

Actually, not just seasonal! Fruit cake plus hard sauce has lots of calories, fruit, nuts, fat.... Maybe pop the Christmas fruit cake in the freezer and save it for backpacking?
Posted by: PDA

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/06/10 12:55 PM

Seems ironic to think of fruitcake as "lite food"!
Most commercial fruitcakes really are beyond eating. I have made my own for many years using my mother's recipe. However, that was complicated and long. I now use the recipe presented by Alton Brown of the Food Network who gives a brilliantly simple but moist and tasty recipe (search alton brown fruit cake on foodtv.com) which can only be improved by soaking with a little rum (or brandy if you're posh). It'll keep you hiking for hours. The rum butter would obviously improve it, but difficult to stop going rancid on a summer hike.
Posted by: phat

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/06/10 06:54 PM

Originally Posted By PDA
Seems ironic to think of fruitcake as "lite food"!


Seems ironic to think of fruitcake as food at all.. Can't *stand* the stuff.. the last bite of it I ate was my wedding cake 21 years ago (my wife and I both hate fruitcake, don't ask how this happned) - my wife didn't have to eat it as I got cute and shoved it in her face so she took the opportunity to spit it out when wiping her face... and brags to me to this day that she didn't have to eat the vile stuff...

My weight saving idea if eating fruitcake is to not take it, and go on a trail shared by horses.. then I can pick up things left on the trail by horses that I will enjoy eating more than fruitcake...
Posted by: CamperMom

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/06/10 07:16 PM

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh.

One Christmas, about 35 years ago, I was making pumpkin nut bread and threw in some mixed candied fruit, along with raisins, etc. Most people SAID they liked it. My mother, who really does like fruitcake, LOVED the "jeweled pumpkin bread." It MIGHT be good for a trail food...

CamperMom
Posted by: PDA

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/06/10 08:34 PM

@phat - more evidence that people this side of the Atlantic have never had the great pleasure of "proper" fruit cake. The commercial offerings I have tried , both over here and back in the U.K., are as terrible as you suggest, but the real thing is a heavenly ambrosia - O.K. a really heavy heavenly ambrosia. As for calorific content, my mother's recipe used beef suet (makes lard seem like a wimp option). I have to admit that I use vegetable oil instead, but the finished product is loaded, and, IMHO, delicious. Think of it as trail mix with a fat laden binder.
Posted by: ncmtns

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/06/10 10:29 PM

FRUIT CAKE!! in its various degrees of potency
Posted by: sarbar

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/07/10 11:37 AM

My MIL sent me their family fruitcake recipe a couple years back (I guess that meant they accepted me....hah!) that they have been making for a good 100 years or so. Anyhow, it actually is really good.

The key thing is I don't use any of that nasty dyed "fruit" or "peel" in ours. I use raisins, cranberries, etc so it is all natural. And booze. Lots and lots of booze.

The recipe was "fun" to use though - it was a very random recipe written by an old lady - who I am sure years ago they cornered her to cough it up. I had tasted his Grandmothers version so I had an idea of what it should taste like. Then I made it better laugh

Btw, I do a bunch of them in muffin tins so I have portable cakes. And they freeze well.

Thanks fer reminding me laugh I need to go make some!
Posted by: stonemark

Re: Highest storable calorie to weight ratio? - 12/07/10 10:32 PM

maybe the chocolate bar would be helpful to make energy?