No refrigeration needed

[Kevin108]

I carry a little bit of everything, but thinking about the non-refigerated stuff specifically:
Vienna Sausages
Bush's Baked Beans
Easy Cheese / crackers
Peanut butter and jelly
Beef jerky

 

[Knickter]

Right on, this looks interesting so far.

So, now that I am back in front of the computer I can add some items that I've been gathering and trying/testing that should hold out during at least 2 weeks in hot/cold climates.

As I test more items at home, I'll add them to this list.

• 
  Meats:
• Spam singles
• Smoked clams
• Sardines (Lemon Pepper, Kippered, Smoked, Tomato Basil)
• Chicken of the Sea Tuna single serving pouch
• Chicken of the Sea Pink Salmon single serving pouch
• Chicken of the Crab single serving pouch
• Starkist Tuna Single serving pouch
• Starkist Tuna Creations two serving pouch (Herb Garlic, Hickory Smoked, Lemon Pepper, Sweet Spicy) These are AWESOME and need absolutely nothing added like mayo for moisture.
• Icy Point Salmon (Red or Pink) Wild caught, just salmon and salt. Tasty right out of the can.
• Canned Chunk Chicken
• Jerky (Beef, Chicken, Turkey, etc.)
• Pork Rinds (Several flavors available)
  
  
  Breads, Pastas, Mixes:
• Tortilla (corn or flour)
• Artisian breads
• Pita breads
• Bisquick Mix
• Pancake Mix
• Corn Bread Mix
• Baking Mix (found a really good one at the Dollar Tree)
• Ramen Noodles
• Pasta Noodles
• Instant Pasta (Lots of brands and flavors out there)
• Macaroni and Cheese Delux (Cheese sauce, not powdered cheese)
  
  
  Starch:
• Instant Potato flakes
• Boxed Scalloped Potatoes (Too many flavors to add here)
• Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes (Too many flavors to add here)
  
  
  Cheese:
• American Cheese Singles
• Easy Cheese (Cheeze in the pressurized can)
• Cheez Wiz (Still looking for smaller container for 1-2 servings)
• BabyBel Cheese Round Singles in wax coating (An assortment of flavors) I tested one of these by placing in the window sill facing South for nearly 3 weeks. House is usually 67º-70ºF and the window sill saw upwards of 85ºF. After sitting there all that time, I tried it and found no issue with the flavor, texture, or usefulness in eating or cooking with.
  
  
  Drinks:
• Water
• Fruit Juice boxes (Way too many brands and flavors to list here)
• Hershey's milk boxes (Plain 2%, or Chocolate) Not a fan of the plain milk, tastes kinda chemically to me.
• Horizon Organic lowfat milk. (Plain 1%, or Choc, Straw, Vanilla) Tried this one warm, and it's actually good. Tastes like warm milk, and not chemical at all.
• Gatorade
• Capri Sun drinks
• Crystal Lite/Lipton drink mix singles for 8-16oz water bottles (Lots of flavors to choose from)
• Instant Coffee (Starbuck's VIA, Nescafe flavors, etc.)
  
  
  Fruits/Nuts:
• Dried Fruits
• Freeze Dried Fruits
• Nuts (Most anything dry roasted)
• Canned Peaches (Yum!)
• Canned Pinapple Rings (On the BBQ!)
  
  
  Other:
• Honey
• Real butter (Sealed in individual servings) The Food Saver comes in handy here.
• Various condiments from favorite fast food places (Taco Bell, McD's, etc..)
• Canned anything! (Olives, mushrooms, peppers, green chiles, refried beans, fruits, veggies, etc. )
• Pickles
• Cookies
• Chips
• Crackers

I like all the details provided! Thank you!

 

[brentdavenport]

I am interested in growing a good solid list of foods that don't require refrigeration for storage during overland travel. Travel temps could be 20º-120ºF, so freezing or melting points may become note worthy.

Smaller portions for maybe 1-2 people is my aim here. I don't want to deal with left overs, or much to throw out when done eating.

I do have a pretty good list myself, but thought I'd pick your experience as well.

Gotta head to work at the moment and wanted to start the thread while I was thinking about it, but will get back on here and add what I have come up with.

:chef:

I buy a variety of Mountain House brand backpacker freeze-dried foods which literally have a 25 year shelf life. They have all sorts of meals--breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks--even dried ice cream [never tried that but, who knows.] Anyway, they take minimal water to reconstitute, are available at most every Walmart Super center, and have portions in the single or 2.5 serving variety. Cost is between $4 for a single serving to about $8.50 USD for the 2.5 I have been using these for years and they have never disappointed. Oh yeah, I think most of them are delicious. Don't know what that says about me, but it is what it is.

 

[trae]

Does anyone have any good recipes for canned corned beef? I tried one with a basic pasta it was mostly good but too salty.


@brentdavenport we use mountain house when backpacking, it's way more efficient..but with a base camp/car camping I prefer real food. I'd like to have a set of non-perishable staples in my camping/pantry box though. Right now it's:

• noodles
• rice
• tomato sauce (canned)
• corned beef (canned) <- this one requires some investigation to make palatable.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Although not cheap, Werlings makes some pretty high quality canned meats. Totally different from the typical grocery store tinned meats. We used them a few years ago for a sailing trip and it was really good.

 

[trae]

Although not cheap, Werlings makes some pretty high quality canned meats. Totally different from the typical grocery store tinned meats. We used them a few years ago for a sailing trip and it was really good.

Did some googling, these seem to get high praise. Not cheap though, and it seems the minimum order is on the order of $60-70 usd. Any other options?

 

[Photomike]

Does anyone have any good recipes for canned corned beef? I tried one with a basic pasta it was mostly good but too salty.


@brentdavenport we use mountain house when backpacking, it's way more efficient..but with a base camp/car camping I prefer real food. I'd like to have a set of non-perishable staples in my camping/pantry box though. Right now it's:

• noodles
• rice
• tomato sauce (canned)
• corned beef (canned) <- this one requires some investigation to make palatable.

That is one problem I am finding with many of the "shelf" foods that do not need refrigeration and have a suitable shelf life. EVERYTHING is soooo salty!!!

My other issue is that I need foods that can stand no refigeration, good shelf life AND also can handle the cold so I can leave them in the van if I have to hit the road. Backpacking food is still the highest on my list for all three.

 

[krick3tt]

There have to be some good things in here. Check it

http://www.camp-cook.com/forum/

 

[VerMonsterRV]

If you can find it locally Sweet Sue makes a "Canned Whole Chicken". Yup, a whole chicken in a can. Also used these on sailing trips and they were pretty good. Quick check on Amazon (they have them) show they are not all that cheap also. Also the canned white chicken meat is not bad.

We have eaten many of the freeze dried backpacker meals (while back country camping). We started to faze them out due to the salt content and the cost. We would both have to eat 2 meals each a night to have even remotely enough calories, and even at that I would lose weight on each trip. The salt content is out of sight.

 

[CSG]

The salt content in Mountain House and similar is crazy high but I still have a few tubs I bought from Costco as just in case food (I live in a rural area) and occasional camping use, especially for emergency use there too.

But a real expo man can live on coffee and beef jerky!

 

[tundraconvert]

I think I read through this entire thread, extremely valuable.
I did not see trail mix (maybe I missed it).
CSG- coffee, jerky, and some trail mix...I"m probably good for a week.

 

[CSG]

Better grab a bag of dried apricots just to keep the pipes working...

 

[CSG]

I think I read through this entire thread, extremely valuable.
I did not see trail mix (maybe I missed it).
CSG- coffee, jerky, and some trail mix...I"m probably good for a week.

Better grab a bag of dried apricots just to keep the pipes working...

I've become more of a fan of Mountain House over the past year as it's pretty tasty and reasonably priced when Costco has a sale on tubs of it (I bought two more yesterday). But it's good for just one meal a day IMO rather than a steady diet of it. So many other things available now that are pretty healthy and don't require refrigeration.

 

[GHI]

Better grab a bag of dried apricots just to keep the pipes working...

I've become more of a fan of Mountain House over the past year as it's pretty tasty and reasonably priced when Costco has a sale on tubs of it (I bought two more yesterday). But it's good for just one meal a day IMO rather than a steady diet of it. So many other things available now that are pretty healthy and don't require refrigeration.

I always have a couple buckets of Mountain House hanging around. Super convenient and I think they taste great. I mostly use them for backpacking though. I suppose anything tastes great after a few miles of hiking.

 

[trae]

Agreed mountain house is good. I got an amazon lightning deal for a bucket it’s great to have. The convenience for backpacking is outstanding.

For car camping I don’t mind bringing a bit extra though. Cooking real food on an open flame is pure pleasure.


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