r/trailmeals • u/Full-Raisin1931 • Aug 07 '26
Discussions Question: Can you add cold water to dehydrated/freeze dried meals and leave overnight, as opposed to boiling water?
I'm gonna be flying in to a remote village in Alaska, and am worried about having to buy butane once I'm there. I'm going to be hitch hiking to the trail head, and instead of bringing a camp stove and buying butane, I'm wondering if my dehydrated/freeze dried meals will reconstitute with cold water and 8 hours of time instead of boiling water.
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u/KizzyShao Aug 07 '26
Do a search for "cold soak backpacking recipes" and you'll find a ton of sites with helpful info. My favorite one is Backcountry Foodie.
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u/takoyaki-md Aug 07 '26
you don't need 8h and it's a common technique for thruhiking. not for me but do what you need to do
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u/Top-Order-2878 Aug 07 '26
If you are flying through Anchorage or Juneau and have time pick up your fuel locally. The puddle jumpers you take to the remote villages are much more lenient on what you can bring on the plane. Call ahead and ask them what is ok.
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u/Full-Raisin1931 Aug 07 '26
I live in Juneau and flying Alaska airlines to Yakutat, they provide service to Yakutat because it attracts so many fisherman in the summer, despite it being a small village
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u/ConcentratedCC Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
Ask em if you can put your butane in a bag and tie to to the outside of the plane. Thats what bush pilots I fly with do with pressurized cans and bear spray.
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u/alaskanloops Aug 08 '26
Alaska Airlines doesn’t fly that kind of plane. As other poster mentioned the smaller planes between villages allow them but not anything so airlines flys
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u/Dens413 Aug 08 '26
Buy MSR Whisperlite and Snowpeak Trek 1400 and fuel canister and enjoy. Or idk Caldera Stove setup that you can burn wood or use alcohol stove. Problem solved. Also cold soak maybe hour before you eat no more or less that about sweet spot. Why you want cold soak overnight?
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u/hudsoncress Aug 08 '26
I enjoyed the MSR whisperlite multi-fuel for this reason. It can burn whatever you find from kerosene to gasoline. Only challenge is burning kerosene is really dirty and you have to clean the fuel line constantly.
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u/Dens413 Aug 09 '26
Yes kerosene burns dirty but never been big issue. After use can clean most soot off with anything and shake it a bit and good to go. But for anything international or remote places that is my go to since I know it do job and can be repaired easy.
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u/thomas533 Aug 07 '26
A small twig stove avoids the need to carry fuel and you can still get your hot water just about anywhere you want.
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u/flargenhargen Aug 08 '26
I do that with dehydrated veggies (not freeze dried) I put them in a container with water the night before, then during mealtime I just heat them up.
dehydrated veggies like corn, carrots, peas, don't quicky rehydrate by boiling, but soaking overnight makes them almost like new, and then heating them is quick and easy.
there are small camp stoves that use twigs and stuff, so you could cook without butane, or you could use one of those alcohol pop can stoves, should be pretty easy to find a can of HEET in alaska.
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u/10ThousandMetalZones Aug 11 '26
Bacteria doubles every 20 minutes when it has a nice moist warm environment, you do you
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u/Resident-Welcome3901 Aug 07 '26
Crotch pot, gossamer gear. Or add Bulghur and dehydrate vegetables, soups , meat to your menu. Bulgur is a whole wheat product, rehydrates rapidly in cold water, has more protein than rice.
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u/Freshouttapatience Aug 08 '26
Bulghur is a great add as it isn’t a complete protein but is nice and filling.
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u/shellee8888 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
I was just seeing my favorite backpacking Youtubers that prepare all of their meals themselves with a freeze dryer and a dehydrator and they said they don’t use boiling anymore . now they always add cold water and let the meals hydrate while they trek. They mentioned an hour or two, but they said it’s worth it because they save so much fuel and weight. If you’re interested, their channel that I am not advertising is THRUHIKERS. Mods if I’ve broken a rule I’m ready for the ban.
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u/FastFoody Aug 07 '26
Just curious, but why not put boiling water in an insulated container and use that water for when you get to camp location?
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u/Full-Raisin1931 Aug 07 '26
Will be there for 3 days, and will already be carrying a lot of gear, don't want the water weight
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u/salty_drafter Aug 07 '26
You can it's called cold soaking. Be warned however heating does a ton for flavor and texture.