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Food Talk: For the meat lover

Jen Schaeffer

With apologies to the vegetarian/vegan crowd, I want to devote this column to meat. I stayed away from meat for years on the trail due to concerns over spoilage and the smell/attraction for wildlife. However, prompted by my husband, I have been experimenting with more meat on my hiking adventures to add diversity to my diet in both nutrition and taste. And I've been very sure to hang my food really well!

First of all, what's readily available? The obvious trail-suitable meat products include the range of canned products - Spam, canned chicken and other similar products, and the various dried and/or cured incarnations -- jerkies, sausages, lunch meats and the like. For the true meat eater, you could of course carry fresh meat and cook it the first night out -- but you might want to consider location and clean up first to avoid attracting and inadvertently feeding the wildlife. Most long distance hikers are likely staying away from canned products simply due to weight, but they can be nice if you want a change on your first couple days out of town and can deal with carrying the empty can.

Dried or cured products are the lightest, but often the most expensive. Aside from the familiar jerkies, look for cured products like "dry" sausages and lunch meats or smoked meats.

Dry sausages can be find in the deli section of a grocery store. They are often sold loose, are generally small (four to six inches long), and sometimes have a white coating on the outside. If you have difficulty finding them, try a gourmet food store or an Italian grocery. These are also good places to look for the hard lunch meats like salamis. Another product you can sometimes find is landsjaeger -- a thin cured sausage that reminds me of a cross between sausage and lunchmeat. Some slices of heavily smoked country ham can add a lot of flavor to the evening bowl of glop, and are sold unrefrigerated.

And of course there's always the good old standby of pepperoni or pepperoni sticks that you can find in almost every convenience store. One issue to be aware of: many of the sausages or lunch meats (as well as the jerkies) can be loaded with spices, garlic, and onion. If you are sensitive, be sure to try some at home first, which is a good idea with almost any hiking food.

If you are concerned about the BSE (mad cow) issue, then look to buy your meat from organic or free range producers or look for products made from fowl or pork. I personally like to buy high quality meat even though it's more expensive because I don't eat much, I like to know that the animals have been treated well, and I don't want to eat residual steroids or antibiotics.

Concerning spoilage, meat has been carried by many generations before us as trail food -- hence the development of ways to preserve meat through drying and curing. Just like any other trail food, the drier the meat the longer it keeps. However, I once saw a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker demonstrate his main meal on the trail: a hamburger bun, a piece or two of ham (soft, lunchmeat slice style), and maybe a piece of cheese. He reportedly never had a problem with things going bad in his pack. I am always amazed by how well things keep if you endeavor to bury it in your pack and keep it out of the sun at lunchtime. If in doubt, just put it in your trash bag and avoid the chance of getting sick.

If you want to save some money and you have time you can make your own dried meat treats. A few hints:

For Beef Jerky: Look for the leanest meat you can get and remove all visible fat -- the fat will make the jerky greasy and it will not keep as long. Gen MacMillian in "Dry It, You'll Like It" recommends flank steak and slicing the meat with grain for a chewy leather and against the grain for more tenderness. Salt it with sea or kosher salt alone or dip the meat into soy sauce for a more smoky flavor. You can also dry home or store cooked meat. Try roast beef ends from your local supermarket. Remove any visible fat, slice it thin and then dry it further it home.

For Fowl Jerky: Remove all fatty skin and fat and slice anyway you like. Salt or dust with your favorite seasoning.

For Meat Leather: Take a ground lean meat (anything you like) and process it through a meat grinder or blender with your favorite seasonings. My husband makes Thai style turkey leather using dark ground turkey, chopped peanuts, and fish sauce. Spread the mixture out just like fruit leather on plastic sheets on your dehydrator or on aluminum foil in the oven. You can also do this with leftover cooked meat: take leftover chicken or turkey, remove the fatty bits and bones, and blend it together with liquid like chicken stock or water and seasonings in a meat grinder or a blender.

For any meat, the thinner the strips, the faster it will dry. Dry meat at high temperatures (very quickly) to avoid spoilage during the drying process. If you don't have a dehydrator an oven works great. My husband dries jerky at 180 to 190 degrees in the oven. I'll emphasize again that the drier it is, the longer it will keep. Store any dried meat in tightly sealed jars (glass is best) out of heat and sunlight.