Calorie dense foods for winter backpacking?

elkins45

elkins45

Joined
Jun 17, 2006
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I'm not 100% sure if this question belongs in this forum, but it made sense to me. I'm planning a winter or spring multi-day hike and I don't want to carry a stove. I want to pack non-perishable foods that don't need to be cooked or heated and that have a maximum calorie to weight ratio. What ready to eat foods have the greatest number of calories per ounce?
 
I'm not sure what others will say about the actual numbers, but at my local grocery store they sell dehydrated refried beans (black beans too) and salmon or tuna in packet/tear open packs for protein. I recommend some Creole spice and a MRE heater. Cheers!
 
nuts, nut butters, cheese, honey, sweetened dried fruit, sausage (salami, summer sausage, etc...)
pretty much anything with a high sugar or fat content.
 
I was gonna say Peanut butter.
if you get the prepackaged ones in the foil
envelopes,you could keep them close to the body to
stop them from freezing.
 
Here are some of the food items I pack in. The instant powdered potatoes are nice because they cook fast but suck up a great deal of water. Summer sausage and pepperoni are winners. You need fats. Lipton sides are good but the rice and beans takes a long time to cook. Hot coco, sugar, nuts, olive oil, powdered milk etc etc are all good. Mountain House is also ok but expensive. During winter camping there should always be a kettle near or on the fire/stove when in camp. Hot water on demand means more will be used. During cold weather sometimes people don't drink enough water (not booze :D) and this can be a bigger problem than not eating enough calories. 100 calories per 1 oz is a good benchmark.

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Dried and smoked sausages hold lots of calories or any dried sausage for that matter,paired with a dried cheese and a baguette or crackers with whole grains.Ive gone many miles with almond butter and honey (with a smear of real butter)on any type of bread.Personally like a dark rye.Make up quite a few of these sandwiches -as long as kept cold they will last!!I gnaw on them all day as a kind of homemade powerbar.Will even mix it up with the dried sausage and a bite of sandwich with a splash of water to keep hydrated.Miles go behind you and I feel strong when fueled with this stuff.In a pinch will tank up on energy bars or again dried sausage.
I know you asked about not cooking but its always nice to take that break, take out the twig stove,penny stove or just a fire brew up some hot tea or chocolate ,eat what you have,enjoy the scenery the company or your moment company or not and have some fun
Dan'l
 
Fruit. Peanut butter. Whole wheat crackers and bread. I'm really suprised that nobody said Granola. Fiber and protein bars are good. Clif bars
 
My Metis ancestors made and used pemmican. Pretty close to 2500 Calories per pound. You could make your own from beef suet and lean sirloin for @ $15 per pound.
 
dboles said:
I know you asked about not cooking but its always nice to take that break, take out the twig stove,penny stove or just a fire brew up some hot tea or chocolate ,eat what you have,enjoy the scenery the company or your moment company or not and have some fun
Dan'l
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I agree. A winter hike/campout for days without hot food or drink. Not fun. A little hobo would be UL.
 
Like others have listed but not sure if its been stated openly: foods with high fat content. When you are tring to pack in calories nothing has the density of fat. Beaver tail use to be a big on for trappers up northern USA and Canada. Almost pure fat. With the cal burn you have in extreme cold health issues would be minimal in the short term from animal sources.
 
Fat has nearly 3 times the calories per gramme compared to protein or carbohydrate.

The other thing is foods with little or no water as water has no calories. Fresh bread is nearly 50% water by weight for example. Always provided collecting water en route is not a problem of course.
 
Salami and other dried sausages are good easily available and cheap (compared to "special backpacker food") calories source. Also nuts and seed(have fat), dried fruits (only sugars).

What source of water will you have?
 
I like peanut butter a lot. It has plenty of calorie's , fat and protein. Very portable and Walmart now sells Justins brand and Smooth Operator in small packets so you don't have to lug around a jar. That with honey or maple syrup tastes pretty good.

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elkins45 said:
What ready to eat foods have the greatest number of calories per ounce?
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I was stuck in a liferaft once on a training exercise, and had to eat the emergency liferaft rations. They provided a whopping 10,300 kJ/2,500 kcal per 500 grams. Thats like 141 kcal per ounce. I only ate it because i had to.

I dont consider it real food, and id never pack it along on a trip. I'd rather pack a stove and dehydrated food, even though its heavier.
 
Such a trip requires a lot of energy. Therefore any kind of food containing a large amount of fat, sugar and proteins will be appropriate. But make sure that the stuff is easily digestible, too. Food does not only provide you with energy, but also needs some due to digestion. It's also very important to somehow keep with your "usual" amount of food intake - I mean, you will have to eat more, but do not begin to think you have to eat masses, your body will take revenge! My personal favorite is peanut butter! It contains a lot of "good fat" - I can also recommend emergency kits which often include such things as cheesy macaroni, granolas and rice products.
 
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