Cold Soaking Meals 1st Try

I recently heard about cold soaking meals while on the trail. It’s where you add cold water to soften foods that are normally heated and leaving them for some time. Some do this to help shed a few ounces of weight since you wouldn’t need a stove and gas. I read that you can attach the container to the outside of your pack so that it heats up from the sun while you’re hiking.

I tried 3 different meals, Ramen Noodles chicken flavor, a Mexican Rice Knorr meal and a Cavatappi Pasta with Marinara Sauce Knorr meal.

I put each one in it’s own container, not leak proof backpacking containers, and filled them up with water to cover the noodles/rice. I read that a good container for this is a Talenti Gelato jar that is only 1.9 oz. You get those in the frozen section at grocery stores.

I read online that the Ramen Noodles will be ready in 30 minutes, nothing I read stated to put the flavoring in at the beginning or end, I decided to do it at the end since that’s what’s done when it’s boiled. At 35 minutes I checked on it. The Ramen had expanded and wasn’t a solid chunk, however it wasn’t soft enough that I would want to eat it. I added more water and let soak longer.

The rice had absorbed most of the water, however it wasn’t the right softness to eat, I added more water. I added water to the noodles too. I did notice that the rice and noodles need to be stirred or shaken around half an hour into their soak. If you shake them, make sure they’re in containers that won’t leak….I found this out by making a mess.

Around an hour and fifteen minutes I checked on everything again. The Ramen expanded so much that the water was coming out of the container! I emptied some of the water and added the seasoning. I let it sit longer so that the noodles could absorb some of the flavoring, which it didn’t. I need to try this again and put the flavoring in the water at the beginning. The noodles were a good consistency, but very bland.

The pasta was ok, there was something slightly crunchy in it, but it did have a good flavor. I decided it’s not a meal that I would eat on the trail.

The Mexican Rice was hands down the best of the 3! It had a good consistency and flavor. It wasn’t runny, it wasn’t dried out, it was perfect! This will come on the trail with me!