Cooking in the Backcountry
A Guide to All of the Gear You Need to Cook While Backpacking
Backpacking cooking gear and food is a lot different than the gear and food you bring for car camping. It has to be lightweight and compact to fit into your pack without weighing you down. I started off car camping and started off right away buying a backpacking gear, as you can really use it for any kind of camping. I have now backpacked enough to know what has worked for me and what I would like to upgrade in the future. Below I am going to go over the gear I use to cook in the backcountry, as well as the type of food I cook while backpacking. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The Stove
There is a huge variety of backpacking stoves on the market, and it can be a bit overwhelming. Different stoves also take different types of fuel. I bought my super cheap butane stove several years ago on Amazon, but it does not even exist any longer. One of the most popular brands of backpacking stoves is Jetboil. Jetboil’s backpacking stoves come in a system, so you are not just buying the stove, you are also purchasing the cooking pot or cup that you will be boiling the water in. I have been wanting to splurge on one of these stoves for a few reasons. They are super lightweight and compact for backpacking, they boil water much faster than my little stove, thus using a lot less fuel, and they use a special blend of fuel (isobutane/propane mix), that is supposed to be superior to other fuels for backpacking. It also sits on top of the fuel canister, unlike my stove (pictured below), that has the canister connected on the side. If you are looking for fast boiling, Jetboil makes the Jetboil Flash, that boils in just 100 seconds. If you are hoping to have a more lightweight and compact stove, I would try this one instead. The downside to Jetboil? It is pretty expensive. If you are looking to just purchase a stove, another highly rated brand is MSR. They carry an extremely small and lightweight stove, called the PocketRocket 2, and it has excellent reviews. This is another one I would consider, as it would take up a lot less room in my pack, and space is very precious to me.
The Cookset
If you purchase a stove system like JetBoil’s, you will not need a cooking pot. Although most of the dehydrated meals I purchase allow you to hydrate by pouring the water directly into the bag, we typically buy two-serving meals that we split, so I like to have bowls to split our food, and cups for tea or coffee. However, having all of that separate would take up a large amount of space in your pack. For this reason I have a cookset, that has everything I need nested into the cooking pot. There are several lightweight brands out there, but wanting to keep the price to a minimum, I purchased GSI Outdoors’ Halulite Microdualist 2 Cookset. They sell a one person cookset as well, if you are traveling alone. It had good reviews, a good price ($70), and had everything I was looking for. It comes with a 1.4 L pot with a strainer lid, two insulated mugs and lids, two bowls, and two folding sporks. After having used it for several backpacking trips, I can say that I am pleased with the quality, the weight, and the size. It is also the perfect size for two people, and the pot holds enough water for our meal and our tea or coffee. If you do end up purchasing a stove system, such as the JetBoil, you will not need the pot, and you can purchase a mess kit instead. I really like the MSR 2-Person Mess Kit, here.
Food
When backpacking, you need to save weight and space everywhere you can, and traditionally packaged food not only takenup a lot of space, it also is very heavy. Most people bring dehydrated food or meals. You can either dehydrate the food yourself, or purchase prepackaged dehydrated meals. This of course requires a lot less work, and you do not have to buy a dehydrator. We have always purchased our food, as I would not consider purchasing a dehydrator, unless I was going on an extended backpacking trip. I really like Backpacker’s Pantry meals, as they are typically two servings, so they end up being cheaper than most if you split the meal. They also have a huge variety of meals, with several that are plant-based and gluten free. The bags also allow you to pour the boiling water in and seal it, and it rehydrates inside the bag, leaving less of a mess. If you really don’t want to worry about dirtying dishes, you can just eat it out of the bag. We have tried many of them, and both of us can agree that the Pad Thai is our favorite. Patagonia also started to make backpacking food in 2012, under Patagonia Provisions. It is fairly affordable, but the food cooks in the pan, instead of the bag, which does leave more of a mess. Also, because it is not vacuum sealed like other meals, we have noticed that a lot of air gets into the bag at high elevations. I usually pack it into a a eco-friendly back beforehand. We are obsessed with their spicy red bean chili, which you can find at Whole Foods or REI. For breakfast, I like oatmeal, and the Backpacker’s Pantry Peanut Butter Banana is pretty delicious. I’ve tried several brands of oatmeal, and enjoy the Trailtopia Apple Cinnamon as well, as it is super cheap ($2.50 online), and a smaller serving.
Read Next: Best Backpacking Meals
Food Storage
If you are hiking where bears reside, you will need some kind of way to store your food securely at night. When we were backpacking the Trans Catalina Trail and the West Coast Trail, every campsite had bear boxes, so we did not have to worry about carrying our own. However, most places do not have built in bear boxes, and many places require you to store your food in a bear canister, such as the BearVault one here. I bought this one in medium, which has worked well for a 2-3 night backpacking trip for two people. The medium canister takes up a lot of space in my pack, so we only bring it if we have to. In places that do not require food canisters, you also have the option of putting your food in a stuff sack and hanging it from a tree. You can find a kit here, that has everything you need to hang your food. This is not only a more affordable option, it also takes up less room in your pack.
