High Sierra Topix

I fell into a rabbit hole this morning. I like to make kombucha and I have a couple of sites I have subscribed to. First thing this morning, I get an e-mail from one of the sites on making kombucha with honey, which takes a different SCOBY. One thing lead to another. You know how youtube is. Come noon, I was making hardtack. I want to play with it because it may be a nice, quick form of carbs to dip into coffee before breakfast. Well, it didn't stop there. Now, I'm looking at making pemmican as a compact source for meat protein and fat. It is supposed to be rather flavorless, but I'm thinking of making bouillon cubes out of it to add to rice sides or potato soup/rice meals. Strange where youtube can take you.

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I have been experimenting with precooking butcher shop (lean thick cut) bacon at home and packing small amounts of that. Does that count as old fashioned pioneer food? Tasty, highly caloric and I have had no issues with spoilage. Season up the frying pan with it, then add the trout!
Bringing small biscuits made from scratch and a gravy mix is on my radar too.

What happened to jerky? In some ways, the modern day equivalent of packing a protein rich, high calorie preservative like pemmican is to simply take along a small jar of olive oil. I got a 4 oz plastic bottle from REI for $1 which I then put inside a ziplock. Oil has the highest ratio of weight to calories (120/oz), plus it makes backpacking food taste great.

OTOH, nowadays I simply leave the stove behind and subsist on Fritos, cheese & tortillas. Tortillas have a lot of water weight, but they make a great cheese/Frito delivery platform. That being said, I got a small, lightweight frying pan for more traditional base camping types of outings.

I'm counting on you to bring a full kitchen to the meet-up.

Jerkey is great in and of itself. Less so as an additive to dinners unless your jerkey marinate goes well with what you're having. Remember, this is a rabbit hole I've climbed into. EVOO is an essential, for sure. What happened to the dry refried beans? Did you just forget to list them? I used to bring tortillas, but Lisa gets sleepy after eating gluten. Most gluten free tortillas fall apart when you roll the burrito. I found one GF variety that uses tapioca flour and that seems to hold together well and taste's good. This year, I'm skipping the tortillas and replacing them with fritos.

I had planned on the frito replacement for last weekend's trip, but something happened (insert embarrassed here). We stayed in an air b&b in Fresno. I was responsible for one dinner and my daily snacking. I put my food in the refrigerator. When we got to the TH, guess where my food was?

Ya know Hobbes, when you go, you go big. I've heard of hikers hitting up others for food, but never for a full kitchen outfit You know I will, though.

BTW, the hardtack is a hit. The boy digs crunching on them. A bit less salt and a lot more cinnamon and I think I have a winner. Maybe I'll try a batch with Rye flour.

Jimr wrote:BTW, the hardtack is a hit. The boy digs crunching on them. A bit less salt and a lot more cinnamon and I think I have a winner. Maybe I'll try a batch with Rye flour.

Where can I order two dozen?

JMHO,

-Russ

Just finished up my first batch of Pemmican. I elected to skip the dried fruit since I intend on using it like bullion in soups and other dinners. I used a lean roast, cut off as much fat as I could, then chunked it and simmered for about an hour. Once cooled, it was easy to just pulverize it in my fingers and put it on a cookie sheet to dry it in the oven at 175F. Then, I put it into a magic bullet and pulverized it. I had to order Organic Beef Tallow, but I found a supplier in California and received it in two days. Since it is hot in my house, the tallow was at just the right consistency to spoon into the beef with added salt and pepper. It's now in a small brownie pan in the refrigerator so the tallow will solidify.

I plan to try it out on my trip to upper Big Pine Creek. Heading out tomorrow for 5 days. I would have liked to have made some rye flour hard tack for the trip, but it ain't happening. I'll bring some to the meetup along with the Pemmican.