Backpacking While Keto

[IPv6Freely]

My wife and I are Keto, which can be a challenge while hiking. We've managed to find keto dehydrated meals, though they are expensive. The brand is called "Next Mile Meals". They're pretty decent, but man do I ever wish I was eating the chili mac or stroganoff that some of the other hikers have with them! We also eat a lot of nuts and meat sticks for energy, and Quest bars. Normally those would be a bit more carbs than we're comfortable eating, but while backpacking it's obviously much less of a problem because we need that energy. 

I wish it was easier to find jerky that wasn't absolutely loaded with sugar. We need to invest in a dehydrator! 

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

I don’t follow any particular diet, but I do like some beef jerky - and after some label checking here I was indeed surprised at some of the sugar levels on jerky I normally buy. Especially when you add up the whole bag - and who eats the suggested serving of just 1 ounce at a time?  

Just came across People’s Choice jerky however, which has no sugar in some of their varieties. Might be worth a look!

[RogerMoore]

I bought a dehydrator. I am on a third batch of pork loin jerky. It is good and only $3 a pound from CostCo. I seem to be making very hard style jerky so each batch I go smaller with the size so it is easier to munch.

One of their big pork loin makes about two quart bags of jerky BTW.

I dry rub, dehydrate then after it is dried I paint on a wet sauce and dry again. Something like a steak sauce, Tobasco or an oyster sauce seem to work well.

I am now looking to make my sauces as well since I'm eating fairly Paleo these days.

[IPv6Freely]

23 hours ago, RogerMoore said:

I bought a dehydrator. I am on a third batch of pork loin jerky. It is good and only $3 a pound from CostCo. I seem to be making very hard style jerky so each batch I go smaller with the size so it is easier to munch.

One of their big pork loin makes about two quart bags of jerky BTW.

I dry rub, dehydrate then after it is dried I paint on a wet sauce and dry again. Something like a steak sauce, Tobasco or an oyster sauce seem to work well.

I am now looking to make my sauces as well since I'm eating fairly Paleo these days.

Nice! A dehydrator is definitely something we need to get. There is another type of jerky called biltong that is cured using vinegar instead of the sugary rubs most jersey is cured with. I like both, but biltong is definitely better for diabetics (and therefore folks on Keto as well). Probably not AS good as regular jerky but it fills the need for fat and protein with much less carbs. Most retail jerky is inedible for us because of the sugar. 

[K. Urs Grutter]

Store-bought jerky is a drag - they sell you sugar for the price of meat. A dehydrator is the way to go. I prefer beef over porc. Turkey or chicken breast also works.

With beef, I store a good two to four pound piece of any lean steak for six to eight weeks in the fridge (not freezer!) to get it tender (about 8 to 10 weeks after slaughter, you should know that date to get it right). Then I cut thin slices, aiming for 1/4inch or less. Mix up a marinade mainly of soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, porto wine, crushed garlic, crushed onion, salt, pepper and tabasco. Meat slices get thoroughly wetted in the marinade and put in a ziploc, rest of the marinade poured over it. Second bag in another ziploc, and back in the fridge for another three to seven days, squishing the meat slices around twice daily to expose them well to the marinade. Then off into the dryer, about 3hrs at 70°C  / 158°F (for Pasteurizing), continue at 45°C / 113°F until leathery. If you dry it for too long, it gets crisp and tough. I aim for jerky weighing about half of the fresh meat. At 1/3 of the fresh meat weight, it already starts to get pretty tough, and if you get it really dry, you will end up with expensive and very tough chips...

For long-time storage, I put the jerky in the deep-freezer (-19°C /  -2° F).

Happy trails (or happy munching much rather...)

[Dogwood]

Bunch of Keto and paleo friendly bars, jerky,  and meat bars with O grams  and low grams sugar content and  very low carbs with very high protein and med fat content. EPIC Venison and Chicken Sriracha and Primal and Stryve immediately come to mind. People's Choice and aptly named Keto Carne are two others I've only been offered nibbles from some one else who offered. The first three I've bought even though I'm not Keto off  trail and not FT on the trail. I will go into Keto to save on  food wt once I've reached my LD backpacker Zen Zone.  I've been going to up to 45-55 % of total daily caloric intake from fats(good)  with moderate protein intake and low sugar for 15 yrs on trail  once in peak form simply to maintain.  

[Dogwood]

So many go to beef jerky. As a pesce vegetarian I like FishPeople brand Ahi  tuna jerky as a treat with low sugar content varieties @ 3 g of sugar at 12 cal in a 9o total  cal serving and 20 cals from fat.   I do  not consider it a  user high fat food. It's a high protein food! 

Jerky gets expensive though. 

[Dogwood]

Mission Meats and Chomps also make Keto and Paleo friendly beef sticks. 

[RogerMoore]

I haven’t tried Mission Meats.

Chomps? The shelf life is too short once I buy them. Meaning I eat one after the other after the other. Delicious!

[Dogwood]

LOL. That's why they call em Chomps.