I have lots of noodles, spaghetti, mac and cheese and such in my stores. I know everyone bashes ramen but I've got that in my BOB along with MREs, canned meats and such. So, I think that's a swell idea. Pasta stores very well as long as it's kept dry and bugger free and does well in a wide temp range. It's got loads of carbs for helping keep that energy up and it's easy to eat - raw or cooked.

 

I know everyone bashes ramen

Why is this, is it not good to have?

 

I bought 2 cases of [mountainhouse freeze dried pouches {2} servings per pouch 1 case spaghetti and meatballs and 1 case lasaugana.. I keep 2 of each in my bob in each of my jeeps. MY home is my retreat but carry bobs in case i cant get back home right away. also i have an AR7 in each rig. I just received my kel-tec pmr- 30 22 mag had it on order for over a year. im going to order another for my other bug out bag. 30 rd mags and only 13.5 oz weight and works great.

 

I used to crunch on uncooked pasta also when I was a kid. But honestly, if I am not going to cook it, I would rather carry something like a nutrition bar or something.

Why is this, is it not good to have?

It is fine to have but it has a lot of oil in it that makes it go rancid faster than other dried pastas.

 

It is fine to have but it has a lot of oil in it that makes it go rancid faster than other dried pastas.

I always thought it last forever, thank you!

 

I'm glad someone posted this question. It's something that I have overlooked as far as BOB/BOL foods.

Thanks

 

It seems like eating uncooked pasta could cause disestive discomfort. Maybe if you drank lots of water with it it would be okay?

 

Hey I eat the stuff raw all the time.

 

Ramen does spoil and the packets are loaded with sodium so I do rotate things. That's one thing to remember...Rotate things in your BOB BOL. And, I know, expiration dates are "suggestions" haha...but, if it's more than six months past an expiration date on a dry good, I go ahead and cook it up and replace it. It hasn't killed me yet.

 

Pasta is vastly overlooked. And in my opinion, Mountain House pasta doesn't count, as it's mostly spicy dried powder and stuff, which can give you bad heartburn, and that's bad when backpacking. But that's just personal opinion.

Personally I would consider angel hair if you wanted to use pasta. It's thin size cuts cooking time down significantly. You can cook it in less than half the time as fettucine. Same stuff as spaghetti, but it cooks faster, so there's no reason to choose spaghetti.

 

Pasta lasts practically forever and when dehydrated as it is before you cook it it is a very good value on weight and volume. The same goes for rice, beans, etc. Very good uses of weight and volume. I have lots of spaghetti and ramen in my stores as well as large bags of rice and beans.

My kid loves ramen (as non-soup noodles with soy sauce and no seasoning packet) so I have no problem rotating it and saving the seasoning packets for flavoring less-than-tasty foraged food and making soup out of collected water. It easily replaces my salt loss and gets rid of that wonderful river taste.

 

Ronzoni has a new pasta that cooks in 3 minutes instead of the usual 8-10. It was on sale so I picked up a box to try this weekend during the hurricane with my alcohol stove. You can bring water to boil, put in the pasta, leave it on the heat for a few seconds and then cover and take it off and it cooks without using fuel (if you are using a fuel stove) in about 4-5 min. Rather neat. Seems pretty much like standard pasta.

 

If I am not mistaken Ronzoni is dehydrated cooked pasta.

You can make your own with a dehydrator. Just cook your standard pasta to al dente, then dehydrate. It is similar to Minute Rice versus "regular" rice. Works very nicely.

You can do the same thing with beans. Cook them, then dehydrate them. Then you are able to rehydrate them later with a MUCH shorter cooking time.

Check out The Dehydrator's Bible

http://www.amazon.com/Dehydrator-Bible-over-400-Recipes/dp/0778802132

 

What is Posta??????????????

 

A gang member who is also a forum participant.

 

As long as we're talking pasta, don't leave out couscous. It's pasta that is in the form of little balls, and is incredibly easy to cook. Pour in boiling water and cover and let set for a few minutes, stir and eat. My favorite is Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Couscous - the garlic and basil (with milled flaxseed and soy). I rotate the stuff regularly, so no hard info on long-term storage, but it tastes great!

 

Oh yeah! I forgot my big sack of couscous. It's delicious. Soaks up any seasonings and you put in and then hammers your taste buds with them. I know what I'm having for lunch...

 

Eating raw pasta sounds like a quick way to get dehydrated. Ok in small doses but don't over do it without drinking plenty of water too. Just like eating a bunch of dehydrated or freeze dried fruits without water. It will suck the water out of your gut to rehydrate itself in the digestion processes, leaving your body without water it needs.

 

pasta for breakfast. Water for lunch. Swell for dinner.

 

Stock up on ramen. Cheap and effective. Doesnt take much space. Can eat it on the go without preperation.

 

I do have such in my food supplies but one thing I do not quite like about pasta/spaghetti, it takes 10 minutes or more to cook, therefore more fuel and water is required which is my concern.....unlike ramen, takes only 2 minutes.

 

If you have a whole foods or a co-op (hippie organic grocery) that sells bulk food, get COUS COUS. Pasta. Just add boiling water. They also have dry bean soups, just add boiling water. Etc. Nuts are excellent source of fat/protein and dont go bad as fast as say, jerky. Pasta by itself, takes forever, 100% carb. Energy food, but need protein to keep you going, and fat to keep you warm with the extra calories.... Just my .02

 

2 x a week, with canned tomato sauce or clam sauce for year one. (104 boxes). Total investment under $250 for a year. Muco savings here when buying in bulk.

 

I stock up on pasta like crazy. As far as having some in your pack I would recommend Mountain House Spaghetti. Other than that there are other foods that would be more beneficial to have in your pack.

Eating a very small amount of dry pasta is fine. Actually makes you feel full for awhile. There are better options however.

 

Pasta is good for a BOB. Full of simple carbs which provide quick energy, which is good when you are on the move. They do cause a blood sugar spike if you are not being active after eating it (setting off a roller coaster of being hungry faster). For longer term food source, or during periods of less activity, whole grain pasta is better because it does not cause the blood sugar spike (but, whole grain pasta, unfortunately, doesn't store as well as plain pasta).

And, if you want to "cook" pasta, you don't have to sit around boiling it. Just put the pasta in a thermos, add boiling water, and close it up. In no time the pasta noodles will turn soft just like if you had boiled them.

 

You can't go wrong adding a few hundred pounds of dry spaghetti to your prep pantry. I've experimented with leaving the stuff out in the open on a wire rack ... pantry moths about from the dry dog food, but they leave the dry pasta alone.