Pemican/Hearty biscuit

[Bretwalda]

Is there any trail food that is traditional/easily made that is a complete meal that can be eaten hot or cold and is satisfying? I know I am asking a lot here, but... :applause:

 

Yes. Pemmican can be made to have the correct proportions of fat, carbohydrates and protein. So, in that sense, it is a "complete meal".

What you think is "satisfying" is subjective.

 

[boar]

The best one I have used when I camped at the deer camp for a week was scrapple I made and had frozen it. I would take some with me and eat it in the woods. Would heat it up back at camp. Had your carbs and meat all in one. Carbs is what I allways missed when in the woods. All ways had enough meat. Scrapple- hog head meat and cornmeal. Dilly

 

[ameling]

Pemmican is one of those "complete" foods to carry with and eat either hot or cold. Well documented. Basic recipe is dried meat pounded up into very small pieces with melted fat poured over it and mixed up together. Sometimes dried berries were added.

But it sure takes some getting used to. Especially if you eat it cold.

The other main trail type food was a combination of parched corn and maple sugar. You parch the corn, then pound/grind it up fairly fine. Then mix in crumbled up maple sugar. When you parch corn and grind/pound it up fine, it is then digestable. And the maple sugar gives you sugar for energy, plus lots of sweet taste. Mark Baker shows making some up in one of his video tapes - #3 I think. Since the corn has already been cooked, you can eat the combination cold as-is, or you can cook it up in water. Adding dried meat (jerk) pounded up small also helps add protein. Or even jerky (spiced dried meat).

Note: grease and sugar are big parts of these combinations. They provide your energy boost.

Be careful with storage of any of these foods. The fats can go rancid with heat, and mold can develope on the meat/corn if too moist/damp. A few days on the trail usually do not present any problems. But store in the fridge or freezer for longer periods.

And they all take time for your system to get used to. Don't try to go from your normal diet to just these for a few days. Your system will protest! Acclimate yourself to them over a number of days before you try to live on just them.

Hope this helps.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[redwing]

Yes, corn parched in fat suger added. Its called carmel corn. Just take a box of Craker Jacks along on your next hike. :thumbsup: And there is a prize in every box. :rotf:

 

[Bretwalda]

Redwing I fully understand what you mean...why do we make something so simple into something so complex? :rotf:

 

[Birdman]

Bret some of the folks mentioned Pemmican, if yer gonna make your own don't use to much fat, most folks use way to much fat. Its really only a binder to hold the meat pieces together, that why alot of guys don't like it cold, it has that greasyness to it. I learned this from a native woman I talked to at a pow wow some years back.And leave out the berries, dry em n keep/ eat em seperate, she said that they would be the first thing to go bad in a batch of pemmican

 

[Claude Mathis]

Bret some of the folks mentioned Pemmican, if yer gonna make your own don't use to much fat, most folks use way to much fat. Its really only a binder to hold the meat pieces together, that why alot of guys don't like it cold, it has that greasyness to it. I learned this from a native woman I talked to at a pow wow some years back.And leave out the berries, dry em n keep/ eat em seperate, she said that they would be the first thing to go bad in a batch of pemmican

I agree about the fat. Just enough to bind it is good.

I have found that if you make it with dried fruit, it will not go bad. It will keep for months.

 

[Birdman]

Just passing on what I was told Claude, she was an old Grandmother n may have helped the Creator name stuff way back in the begining(she was old!! hee hee)I've always just done it the way she said n left the berries out, but may try a batch or two with some in just to try it out in the future.

 

[renovato]

A common food was parched corn, ground and simply washed down with some water. Satisfying it's not, but it does keep you full and energized for longer than you'd think. That along with some dried fruits and nuts makes the basis of a good hikers ration. Add in some jerky and you're stylin'.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Is there any trail food that is traditional/easily made that is a complete meal that can be eaten hot or cold and is satisfying? I know I am asking a lot here, but... :applause:

The two basic trail foods of the native americans and early pioners were jerky and parched or dried corn corn.There are many recipies for jerky and the simplist way to get dried corn is to take a can of whole kernal corn and put it on a screen and place it in the oven set at 140 degrees for about ten hours. This will keep for several years. Native americans could go for weeks with just a handful of each every day and plenty of water.

 

the simplist way to get dried corn is to take a can of whole kernal corn and put it on a screen and place it in the oven set at 140 degrees for about ten hours.

Cooking canned corn for ten hours is not parched corn. You can only parch uncooked, whole-kernel corn. This should be done in a skillet or pan, and only until it is golden-brown.

 

[Claude Mathis]

I agree, canned corn has been cut and soaked in water. Not good for parching. It can be "dried", but it's not the same as parching. Parched corn actually swells up a little when it's made. Corn that has had the kernel cut open will not produce the same results. It's the roasting in the pan that makes it 'parched corn', otherwise it's just dried corn.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showpost.php?post/311440/

 

[Blizzard of '93]

many of the 'trekkers' and hunters hereabouts carried ground corn meal to make mush. dried/smoked/salted meat also and some other stuff, coffee and so on. in cold weather even bacon and butter

 

[blackhorse]

So, is the whole kernel corn dried on the cob first then parched or do ya rub the raw corn offn the cob and try to parch it the ????




I always let sweet corn dry then parched it.....Put a lil' bit o' salt in it.....

 

[the11]

Up here in the north country, one of the main trail foods is bannock, a type of trail bread. Easy as pie. For every cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and a pinch of salt. You can premix the dry ingredients at home if you want. Mix in water until it forms a sticky dough, and then cook it .... almost any way you want.

Make bun shapes and bake them on hot rocks next to the fire.

Or form into patties, and fry in bacon grease until nicely browned on both sides, and then finish in the dutch oven. (My personal favorite)

Or wrap it around a green stick, and prop it up over the fire.

Or make it into tortilla shapes, and fry both sides really quick on a dry (well seasoned) skillet.

Or even drop spoons full into a your stewpot with the boiling meat to make dumplings.

Or for dessert, make a kind of turnover with whatever berries are in season. But you really need a bit of sugar in the berries for this to work well. Seal that puppy up well, and bake it on a rock.

Or stew a whole pot of berries with some sugar or honey, and then drop in bannock dumplings.

Or put about 3" of berries in the bottom of yur dutch oven, and lay a ig circle of bannock dough on top. Put the oven on the coals, and pile more coals on the lid, and let 'er cook.

When I used to run a youth camp, we ate a lot of bannock on the trail (and God help the kid who ever dumped the bacon grease in the fire.) :grin:

 

[the11]

Here is a video of a Brit making bannock, using another cooking techniques that I didn't mention.

I laughed when he spoke of his recipe as being "simple". Anything with powdered egg, raisins, and rum in it ain't simple in my books. Plus, he left out the salt, and ya gotta have a bit of salt.

But the vid does make a good point in that the basic recipe can be added to with almost anything else you have at hand. Five lbs of flour will take a guy through a lot of miles.

BTW, bannock is actually of Scottish origin, and they would usually add some oatmeal. I have never tried this, but I think I will soon.