What foods can last 3-4 days without refrigeration?
What foods can last 3-4 days without refrigeration?
I'm going to be camping for 4 days at a location without easy access to fire (hence no boiled water). As such, I'm going to be packing a bunch of canned stuff for my daily meals. The place is in England, where we're expecting a few hot days this week and maybe some rain over the weekend.
However, I have some free time before the trip to cook food. But I'm not sure if there's any good foods I could bring along that could keep for 3-4 days without a fridge. I guess that crosses out most meat dishes.
Some ideas I had were: falafel, fritters, bread, calzones, pasties. Have you tried taking such foods camping and if so, did they last a few days without spoiling? Are there any other foods you'd recommend? Thank you so much!
Cup noodles can be made with cold water too. But they will take about 30 mins instead of 2-3 minutes. Tried and tested. They still taste good. They are not very nutritious, though.
I would recommended making Energy Bars/Balls. You can find a lot of recipes online but here's mine:
- Roasted almonds
- Roasted cashews
- Roasted pistachios
- Roasted hazelnuts
- Roasted walnuts
- Raisins
- Dates
- Dried Cranberries
- Peanut Butter (unsweetened) (mine contains coconut oil)
- Sesame seeds
- Muskmelon seeds
- Flax seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Dark Chocolate
- Roast the nuts and grind almonds and walnuts to almost flour consistency, and grind the others coarsly.
- Just put everything in a food processor and let it mix everything. You can also mix it with hand or spoon.
- To make bars, just put the mixture in a baking dish or a tray and put as much pressure as you can on top of it with your hands or spoon to remove all the air pockets. Refrigerate it for 4 hours. Then cut it into bars.
- To make balls, just lightly oil your hands and form a ball shape. Again, press them hard to remove the air pockets.
These can last over a week outside the refrigerator (considering the ambient temperature in your area does not rise above 30° C). And inside the refrigerator they can last for over a month.
You can add different types of seeds, nuts, sweeteners etc, depending on what you like, what your body needs and what's available.
Hope this helps.
a jar of peanut butter with granola and dried fruit and candy mixed in is a solid go to.
granola bars in general are solid, even the ones you make yourself.
fresh fruit like apples and bananas are good.
canned condensed soups are surprisingly good cold if you have access to fresh water to reconstitute them and you aren't worried about dehydration. that brings me to my next and much, much more important question:
do you have water figured out?
you can easily survive for four days without food, but you can't make it that long without water. you can't expect to rely on springs/streams/wells especially if you haven't been drinking from them for a while already.
you need about a gallon of water a day, more if youre exerting yourself, sick or eating very dry foods (like camping foods). so if you don't have a supply already figured out, focus on water. If you do have a supply already figured out, pack a gallon or so and some iodine anyway. you literally can't survive if for whatever reason the supply that was fine last time isn't running or is spoiled.
if you do end up having access to water, you can use flameless ration heaters to boil it quickly and use that to heat up any sealed foods you have. frhs' are powdered metals and salt that make a real hot reaction when you pour water on em. so if you had a bag with a frh in it, you had say some food that would taste good hot in another sealed bag, you could put your food bag in the frh bag and pour some water in, fold it closed, prop it up on a rock or something and wait for your food to get hot.
You can always go with a historic solution to packing long term food: Pemmican.
I dig what you're getting at here man, however my advice is just get a little propane camp stove. Mine has improved my camping life so greatly I'm kicking myself for not buying one before. It's not even expensive one and you can cook in no time flat anywhere. That being said Tuna and crackers is a classic, there is a lot more canned meat than tuna and you can get a lot of variety out of crackers.
Beef jerky and salted/tinned fish.
Butter.
Eggs (unopened; only if not pasteurized/cleaned which you will not find in a typical US grocer for anyone other than OP).
Pretty much any baked goods.
Pasta (uncooked obviously).
Avocado, onion, tomato... Pretty much any fruit or veggie that isn't kept refrigerated at the store really.
Nuts.
Chocolate
Marshmallows
Graham crackers
Edit: NO FIRE?! The hell you camping?! Could you at least get some sterno or an electric camping stove? How you gonna have a camping trip without s'mores? 😩
Although I also would suggest a basic ass ice chest. My family went camping all the time for that length of time when I was growing up and we would bring regular food to cook over a portable electric stove and keep it in an ice chest. It would keep for at least 5 days.
First of all, depending on the area you're going to be camping in, is a camp stove out of the question? I don't know what's readily available to you in England, but there's quite a range of different options out there from little folding metal things that fit in your pocket that use solid fuel tablets up to briefcase sized ones that are basically like a regular kitchen stove that use 1lb propane tanks (or larger tanks with an adapter) and basically every form factor in between using just about any kind of fuel imaginable. You can even make a small stove out of some soda cans that burns denatured alcohol. You can probably have most of them delivered to you from Amazon before you leave for your trip, and assuming prices are similar in the UK to the US, there's options out there that will only cost you about £10-£20 plus a couple more bucks for fuel
Some of them are practically like cooking on a blowtorch so the flame is too concentrated and intense to do much besides boiling water, but even that opens up your cooking options a lot. Being able to heat up your food or make some coffee/tea/hot cocoa can be a huge quality of life improvement. And having a method to boil water to sterilize it in an emergency is always a good idea.
Usually, at least in the US, camp stoves are exempted from fire bans if that's what you're up against, look into your local laws about that.
Beyond that, your options depend a bit on how comfortable you are ignoring "refrigerate after opening" warnings on labels. A lot of things will say they should be refrigerated but would probably be fine for a few days as long as they're stored with a little care (container with a tight lid, wrapped up careful in some plastic wrap, foil, wax paper, etc. kept clean, dry, kept in a shady place out of the heat of the sun, etc) and depending on the type of camping you're doing, if you can bring a cooler full of ice you can bring just about anything you would normally keep in a fridge, some things can be kept cool by submersing them in a cool stream. Anything that's very sugary, salty, packed in brine or oil will probably last at least a day or two after opening. Many of those types of foods originated as ways to preserve stuff anyway.
But assuming you for whatever reason absolutely cannot have any type of cooking appliance and no access to any way to keep your food cool- Most fruits and veggies will last fine for a couple days unrefrigerated. Breads should be fine. Jams, and jellies, pickles, and other types of preserves are probably fine. A lot of smoked/dried/cured meats should be fine (jerky is a classic choice, salamis, summer sausage, etc. should also work but try to get a whole one, not pre-sliced, country ham if that's available across the pond would probably do the trick, maybe prosciutto) Dried fruits, nuts, harder cheeses. In general you can take a lot of inspiration from a charcuterie board. A lot of "just boil water" kinds of foods don't necessarilyneed the water to be boiled, it just makes it go a lot faster, you could do some overnight oats, instant noodles, etc.
As for your ideas, falafel and fritters are probably fine, but will depend on the exact ingredients and recipe you use. Calzones are probably fine, but I'd keep away from using too many wet ingredients in them, keep a separate jar/can of sauce to serve them with, don't load them up with too many veggies and such, stick to cheese and maybe cured meats like pepperoni for the filling. I had to look up pasties because we don't really have them in the US, but I'd say largely the same as the calzones, probably fine but be smart about what you put in them. At any rate, if you don't have a plan to keep them cool, I'd say you probably want to plan on eating them the first or second day, they might start getting a bit questionable after a couple days.
24 packs of Scampi Fries and a dozen Mars Bars.
You can have meat, but something cured and in a pack like biltong.
And every hiker's favourite, Kendal mint cake, which is as close to Terry Pratchett's dwarf bread as any substance I know.
And this is England. Chances are you'll be like two miles from the nearest shop at a push.
I’ll add cured sausages such as chorizo and dried tomatoes. Both keep well unrefrigerated and add a lot of flavor to any dish.
Most of the foods that existed before the refrigerator was invented!
Lots of good answers here.
Another option would be taking MRE-s (meal ready to eat) it's pre-packaged food designed for soldiers to eat while not having access to a kitchen. It usually has a solution to heat the food and plenty of calories for a full day.
You can order them on the Internet from military surplus or other places and there is a bunch of flavours to choose from. They also have a long shelf life, don't need refrigeration, and fit in a small space.
jerky, granola, lots of vegetables are fairly stable and can be eaten raw. Carrots, garden peas, green beans, lettuce (you can eat that in the first day or two before it wilts), apples,
Pemmican
Beef jerky
Pork rinds
Apples and other fruits
Nuts
Remember to bring water.
You can easily make overnight oats with dry ingredients (oats, fruit, nuts/seeds, some syrup) and some water each evening and then have them for breakfast/lunch.
Can you bring a canister cook stove? something like a Jetboil? that way no need for a whole fire etc. you can boil water etc, cook basic stuff like ramen etc. make coffee...Hardy veggies should be good, beef jerky, cured meats like salami etc. dried fruits and nuts, bread, crackers etc. regular fruit, granola bars...i would just bring a little burner thing if you can it will be so much nicer than only eating cold foods etc.
Tabouleh is great in summer and does not need to be cooked.
You put some bulgur wheat, chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, fresh herbs like parsley or mint if you have any with a bit of olive oil and lime in a container. A bit of water and you let it like that for at least half an hour. I usually prepare it in the morning for lunch when I go hiking.
How come most people try to solve the no heat problem instead of the food that does not need heating problem?
Some stuff that can taste well even "cold":
Canned tuna + precooked canned beans + onion + salt pepper oil vinegar.Watermelon (quite inefficient when it comes to nutritiom but tasty)
Bread + mustard+ hard cheese or certain types of sausages (especially smoked with low amount of water inside).
Most vegetables and fruit will survive 5 days if they do not have defects and you can keep insects away from it.
My mother's fridge is only maintaining a temp of 6C (you want 4). While waiting for a new fridge she was concerned about this. I explained that for the first 15-20 years of her life, their was kept cold by putting in a cabinet with a block of ice in it. She calmed down a lot about it after that. :)
I mean I would just eat cold canned ravioli because that's delicious and it would be a great excuse to eat cold canned ravioli, but you do you
Freeze-dried vacuum-packaged hiking food. A bit expensive though.
Get bread and canned fish. You can also get canned tomato soup and eat it cold. And then make sure to bring some fruits or something.
Get some mason jars and do oldschool canning. Food will stay preserved well as there's no bacteria at the temperature you put it in there, and no air will get in.
Toss in some macaroni and pasta sauce, goulash, tomato soup, premade cup-o-noodles with your favourite veg and protein. Your imagination is the limit.
Whenever I go camping I pack a cooler with ice and put my perishable food items in there. Easy to grab snacks, like fruit, pastries, and pre packaged items are also a favourite of mine.
Also, having a portable grill helps when you cannot use fire to cook.
No easy access to fire? Is that because fire is forbidden or because getting wood and/or a place to burn stuff isn't available? If it's the latter, a gas burner is your friend
I’d recommend cured meats like smoked sausage or jerky along with crackers. I believe you can do cous cous without boiling the water too but I could be wrong there.
There are also some dehydrated backpacking meals that don’t require boiling the water. Usually they are the breakfast ones with powdered milk and granola and dehydrated fruits - they’re delicious and some of my favorite backpacking food!!
That's just long enough for things that aren't shelf stable to start going bad, depending on local conditions. Bread can mold in a couple days though, in warm and humid places.
So, focus in on shelf-stable or preserved things, whether made in a modern method, (sterile packaging of some sort) or an old fashioned method, (drying, curing, smoking) or just naturally able to keep (nuts, seeds, chocolate, honey).
Someone posted their granola bar recipe, that looked pretty solid. I would certainly not bring a bunch of pasties or a calzone unless I was also bringing a cooler. Then I'd be bringing ingredients and tools and making them on-site just for fun, as I assume I'm now car camping, or at least camping fairly close to my vehicle. If backpacking in, then absolutely not. Ready-to-eat, shelf-stable stuff only, to cut weight and stay efficient. And a pasty or calzone would squish in the backpack and end up gross anyway.
What I found to be quite interresting and working well are the solid fuel stoves from esbit. You should be able to bring them on a flight and one small tablet lasts long enough to boil enough water for some instant ramen, soup or a cup of instant coffee.
If you're in England look into the Duke of Edinburgh club. It's an outdoors camping club for youth. You should be able to find a packing list and it will have food suggestions.
You can get either canned or dried fruits and veggies that last longer un-refrigerated and have some nutrition to them. Obviously there's power bars as well. Dry cereal if you don't mind eating it dry, makes a decent snack too, or bring powdered milk if you do want to eat it with milk. I've heard freeze dried foods are popular with backpackers. Bananas last long enough if you get them fresh enough. I think there are other fruits and veggies that you don't need to refrigerate for them to last long enough, like tomatoes, cucumbers, oranges, pears, kiwis, apples, etc, just as long as you eat the whole thing in one go cause they don't last as long once they're cut or bit into. Oh and fruit cups are also an option. And of course there's bread, but if you want some variety there you can make/buy some banana bread to take with you as well. Popcorn also lasts quite a while if kept in a sealed bag. You can also eat ichidan or other dry packaged noodles dry, just break them up into smaller pieces in the bag, take out the flavour packet, and either pour the packet into the bag, or pour the noodles and flavouring into a bowl, and mix it up. Tastes pretty good, and makes for a good snack. Not very nutritious, but cheap and easy. There's also pop tarts, which can be eaten cold.
Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. You don't need to take all of them for just 4 days, but it's nice to have options.
Triscuits.
This website is very helpful and informative https://trailcooking.com/
Ramen and soylent
You can dehydrate literally anything, and re-hydrate it on the trail with a little water and heat. Meats, Fruits, Vegetables, Soups, the works.
I highly recommend getting a gas burner, if you are comfortable with it. It’s great for cooking while camping. We’ve recently made tacos and risotto while camping. Also, depending on the brand/model, it works in most weather and you’re not reliant on gathering wood for a fire.
Nuts and dried fruit, granola bars, halva, canned beans in tomato sauce, canned meat and fish and other canned stuff, bread, all sorts of cheese, cucumbers, smoked meat were the staples of no-cooking-needed foodstuffs that keep for several days in the summer when I did hiking in my younger days. For breakfast, muesli with milk from powder. You can prep buckwheat overnight in cold water and eat it for lunch or breakfast. Onions and garlic to add taste, fresh herbs will keep just fine, too. Sun-dried tomatoes. Bell peppers.
Basically, you need to start thinking antique: what did travellers and adventurers eat several hundred years ago when refridgeration wasn't a thing?
If you bring a few apples and don't bruise them on the way in, they'll keep several days and give you some nutrition.
Protein bars & Nuts. Lightweight, packed with nutrients / calories.
Canned food tends to be heavy for the amount of nutrients included.
MREs are great too, lots of variety. But, these things can plug you up pretty bad. The uh, gum, will help flush you out. Pretty bulky though.
Why no boiled water? A small backpacking stove, something like a Pocket Rocket from MSR, is lightweight and can give you a very small, controlled flame that's hot enough to boil a liter of water in less than two minutes. And if you look around on Amazon, you can find them even cheaper than MSR, usually for less than $20. They connect to an isopropane canister which runs about $5.
Can’t you just bring a Trangia stove? They burn for EVER on half a litre of spirit.
Beans
Here's a list of some candidate foods, compiled from the experience of people who live in vans and other vehicles without refrigeration.
Mcdonalds cheeseburgers. I saw a video of a guy doing the pacific trail with just a bag of hamburgers and he said they lasted well over a month. He also said its the best thing hes ever done as they gave him more strength than protein bars ever have. I couldnt find the hamburger but i found mcdouble guy
Tortillas