MRE's or other food sources
 

Hello fellow travellers. This summer, several of us are riding from Vancouver to the Arctic Sea (Beaufort Sea). While this is a "supported " tour for breakfast and dinners, lunches will be ours to cover along the way, unless we want PBnJ every day, and I don't. So I am considering bringing along freeze dried food-just add water. Recently, my daughter had a chemistry project which got me thinking. She used Calcium chloride in a zip lock bag, added water, and instant heat for as much as ten minutes. (kind of like a Hot Shot for your hands or boots) Calcium chloride is very light weight, and certainly I'll have a water source. If I took a large zip lock bag, put in the freeze dried food with the water added in its own pouch, and then added water to the large zip lock bag, in theory the calcium chloride with the water added would heat up the freeze dried food, making it more palatable to eat. Has anyone ever tried this idea before?
Or, has anyone taken MRE's. They would just be a bit heavier to carry, and I would either have to purchase the heater packs or possibly use the calcium chloride idea.
I have been putting money aside for a freeze drier, but still don't have quite enough for the model I'd like to purchase, so I will end up buying the freeze dried food or MRE's- unless I eat the PBnJ every other day and sardines the other days.
Your thoughts?

A few of my thoughts:
- From Vancouver, I assume you are taking the Klondike Highway and then Dempster? In that case, the longest gap between civilization points isn't much more than 3 days. If it were me, I'd probably still go for fruit, crackers, pb&j, cheese, trail mix, dried jerky/fruit, etc and augment as I find it on the way.
- I did do an experiment with MREs prior to my 2016 start in Prudhoe Bay. They work but in the end I picked up freeze dried dinner + breakfast instead. Partially because of the weight/space, but I also liked the taste better. I bought a box of 12 MREs and am still eating through the remainder on occasional weekend trips.
- If you are flying, check carefully on any potential restrictions on what heat sources you can bring.

I suggest you do an experiment with this at home before depending on it for your lunches. The freeze-dried meal directions are based on getting the water up to a boil before pouring it into the food bag. I doubt that the heat of dissolving CaCl2 will provide sufficient heat unless you use quite a large quantity of it. A small butane/propane or alcohol stove only weighs a few ounces and seems more feasible - and certainly more flexible and easy to use.

But frankly for only lunches my preference would be to choose a variety of foods that don't require cooking.

Unintentional duplicate.

****EDIT****

brain fart! i totally missed the "supported" part.

I've had MREs or something like them that sound like what you're talking about. The main course was sealed in a separate container. You filled an outer pouch with water to activate the heating process, wait, then carefully remove the inner pouch, open, and eat. It worked fine for short trips, like overnight trips. The whole thing was too bulky for an extended trip. I wouldn't want to carry more than a couple. However, depending on your situation, it could be perfect. You put "supported" in quotes, and so I don't know what you mean by it. When I say it, I mean someone is carrying the bulk of my gear from my starting point to my end point. You seem to be using it in regards to what meals they serve. If they are carrying your gear, and if you can get the necessary number of meals into your gear and keep it at an acceptable volume, then that seems perfect. You would only need to carry one meal at a time, and that's not a big deal.

However, I do agree with the others who have said that they would simply snack along the way or eat the pbnj, and enjoy the fact that two of your meals are prepared for you. When I tour self-supported, I try to grab meal on the road once a day, cook once a day, and snack the rest of the time, so two full meals provided per day would not have me taking extra measures for a 3rd, hot meal, but if that's what keeps you going, I think MREs would work if you didn't have to carry a whole trip's worth every day.

I find that I usually cannot handle a large meal during the touring day (breakfast and dinner are totally different). I will carry cereal bars, nut bars, sesame bars, chocolate bars, fruit snacks, fruit puree packets. They provide the energy needed, don't weigh a lot and don't challenge the taste buds, especially with the variety available.

A gal I used to work with would put a brick of ramen noodles in a water tight wide mouth bottle, add cold water in the morning, by lunch time it was re-hydrated and edible. But cold.

Summer sausage and cheese sure beats peanut butter and jam. Or, hard salami instead of summer sausage. I often get Sandwich Thins to take on trips, it is a bread but it is very compact (pre-crushed) and it will keep longer than most breads. Made by Brownberry, Arnold and Oroweat.
https://www.publix.com/pd/oroweat-ro...RIO-PCI-146432

If supported means that you could carry canned soups, chili, etc. in the vehicle, perhaps on cold days when you want some hot liquid for lunch you could heat it up in the morning and put in a wide mouth thermos?

But, Vancouver to Arctic sea, that sounds like the kind of place that you do not want to have lunches that have a lot of bear attracting scents and heated lunches could increase scent.

I usually carry a pint size thermos bottle for coffee. Occasionally put in a half of an envelope of instant coco. If your goal is something warm, ... ...

Have you tried living on freeze dried for a few days? I quickly went back to sandwiches. Agree with others, MREs are massive, I wouldn't want to carry them. They generally come with their own heating pouches, so that's a bonus.

Another thing, you seem to be on a paid-for supported tour that provides a lunch option. I don't know your group or how its set up, are there others on this tour that aren't part of your meal planning? If the rest of the group is sufficing on some sandwiches and snacks for lunch, and you are taking time to cook meals, being the odd guy out on what the group is doing is something to take into consideration. Especially so if your lunches are taking longer than others. All moot if you are taking care of everyone's cooking, though.

MREs are generally heavy and gross. I'm sure things have changed since I had to eat them, but go with another option.

The Mountain House and Good to Go stuff actually tastes pretty good and is quite light. You will need some sort of aparatus for boiling water though.

When I ride (or hike) all day, lunch starts right after breakfast and continues until just before dinner. I eat something every time I stop, if just a handful of nuts or raisins or at most a tortilla with cheese or PB. I won't ride for more than two hours without a good snack break. I agree with the above, a full meal midday doesn't sit well with me.

But I'm a stoveless camper, so my perspective is skewed. I don't see the need for a heat source at all when traveling, especially if I have access to hot food that has been cooked for me every day or two, not to mention twice a day!

Another vote for light lunches/snacking through the day. When touring, bikepacking or backpacking, I enjoy a solid breakfast and good, hot dinner, but a heavy meal in the middle of the day is not appealing at all. Since you are supported, I think it would be a way better option to carry good foods you can buy along the way, particularly when you have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, or you can make decent sandwiches, etc. And no need to fuss with cooking utensils or heating apparatus.

Dried salami, dried fruit, beef jerky and snacks work for me.

My preference would be towards GORP and the occasional Clif bar. Hot tea or coffee might be an interesting addition, but means longer stops and stove+fuel+lighter+kettle to worry about. An insulated bottle maybe?

I'll take MREs with me sometimes, but I pull them apart and take only the entree packet and whatever side items I like. They're a little too bulky otherwise, and people who obsess over weight usually go for freeze dried stuff.

Thanks for all of your input! Yes "supported" means that someone is carrying my gear from a to b every day, so I just ride, and take what I need for the day. We all seem to be creatures of habit-one of my habits being 3 squares a day and a snack in between. The idea of snaking all day is interesting, but I look forward to stopping and having a sit down meal for lunch. Call me spoiled. That goes the same for the fellows I will be riding with, (we have done this before), when we biked across Canada a couple years ago (difference being that we were generally always near restaurants or stores at some point in the day). Since for the majority of the adventure we will be not near any conveniences, that is where my brain got to thinking of how I was going to eat along the way. PBnJ, as much as I like it, is ok for a couple of days, but after 4-5 days in a row fogetaboutit!

I am xUSN, and I don't have an issue with MRE's or freeze dried foods, we had them all the time when we were in the field for weeks with the Marines. Maybe those that some of you have tried weren't all that great, but there are some good ones out there, and everyone's palate is different anyhow. When my Dad and I walked the Camino Frances 2 years ago, we put sardines on a chunk of bread with tomato, onion and cheese with mustard nearly everyday for lunch, and washed it down with a cold beer. Some say gross, but in our opinions we were living the good life. That may be the way I go for Tour Arctic, but I have yet to find bread in North America that is as good as what we had in Spain.

You are going to have a great time.

I pity the ones who say "gross"

IKR. When we started our group x-U.S. tour we felt obligated to buy PB&J to make sandwiches for the road. After a couple of weeks that got old big time.

+1 on sardines. And Spanish bread is excellent. Toured in Andalucía for 7 weeks. I would usually stop in a small town for jamon, queso and pan and make sandwiches while gazing at the beautiful scenery in the middle of nowhere.

I'm just trying to envision "stopping and having a sit down meal" in the way out yonder, middle of nowhere. Every freeze dried I've had required boiling water, don't know about just warming it with a heat pack. No experience with MRE's. Backpacking, I usually carried hard cheese, summer sausage, almonds, tortillas for lunch & just snacked on that during the day. I'm kind of new to bike touring but so far I've found while on the bike, if restaurants are available, I sometimes stop but mostly find it inconvenient & would rather keep riding. Just depends on the mood and available food. I seem do do okay snacking on dates, almonds, apples, oranges and a few cookies between breakfast and dinner.

These MRE's are on sale if you is interested.
https://beprepared.com/mre-seasoned-black-beans.html

Now imagine it with many mosquitoes and biting insects...

From the original poster's description it sounds like the Dempster (or the Dalton) to get to the Arctic Ocean. I've cycled both. My trip on the Dempster was a while ago, but it was the one I learned I can do just fine with "no cook" meals. In a few spots I found the mosquitoes and biting insects severe enough that I avoided being stopped in one place outside my tent for long. Cooking was enough of a problem that I mostly ate my no cook stuff. At lunch spots I'd walk around and keep my mosquito net in place except for brief instances to get a bite.

This wasn't everywhere, but often enough to leave a lasting impression.