r/WildernessBackpacking • u/footsieMcghee404 • 4d ago
hardtack: better than ramen?
I recently made a batch of hardtack (also called ship's biscuits) and immediately thought of how it could be used on trail. Hardtack was an unleavened bread used by sailors and soldiers due to its ability to be stored for long periods. How I would use it is to carry a bit of dry bouillon, and simmer the hardtack in the bouillon water until it's edible. This has some advantages over ramen: 1: it is usually whole grain. 2: it has no additives or preservatives. Has anyone brought hardtack camping before? How did you use it?
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u/Chorazin 3d ago
How I would use it is to carry a bit of dry bouillon, and simmer the hardtack in the bouillon water until it's edible.
Nothing like a big chunk of soggy, vaguely meat tasting bread slop after a long day of hiking.
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u/jim_br 3d ago
Antarctic explorers in the early 1900s used a version of hardtack with added fat, that they called “sledging biscuits”. Combined with (their version of) pemmican, this was their primary meal. That might be fun to make as a, “well, if you think that was a bad meal, I made this!”.
But I wouldn’t recommend using 19th century food options, which were developed without knowledge of vitamins and nutrition, as a modern meal.
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u/Masseyrati80 4d ago
Joining in to see if people have experience of using it.
In case OP is interested, the dry bread used in the Nordics is called näkkileipä/knäckebröd and unlike hardtack, it is airy and can be eaten without having to break and soak it. It typically contains rye and wheat full grain flour. It's a common sight in school cafeterias and is a super common choice for hikers. My veteran grandfather made sure to have several packages of it at home at all times, creating a sense of security: no matter what happens, at least he won't go hungry.
It can be made at home. Googling for "näkkileipä" recipe, you'll find different versions, many of which use more different sorts of seeds compared to the typical commercial alternatives.
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u/CO_Beetle 3d ago
Our Boy Scout Troop made this at a meeting before a backpacking weekend. Everyone had high praise for the shelf life, nutrition and taste.
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u/bigfloppydonkeydng 3d ago
I'm going to look this up. My troop hiked over 125 miles this summer. I'm always looking for new food options.
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u/footsieMcghee404 3d ago
thanks I will definitely look into that.
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u/Filmandcanvas 3d ago
IKEA sells this bread if you have access to one and want to try it before baking it.
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u/madefromtechnetium 3d ago edited 3d ago
it's great! so does trader joe's. $3. 110cal/0.8oz for anyone else looking. pretty punchy calories to weight ratio.
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u/Degreed1982 4d ago
Hardtack = cheap, long shelf life, compact easy to pack calorie dense. You can mix it with bouillon, coffee tea or just hot water. or for some variety, make some johnny cakes.
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u/bodhidharma132001 4d ago
Granola bars typically have a shelf life of 6 to 8 months from the manufacturing date, but they can still be consumed safely beyond that date.
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u/-JakeRay- 3d ago
💯 It's always wild to me how many people don't know the difference between a "sell by" date (food might be unsafe for consumption a certain amount of time after this date) and a "best by" date (we will only guarantee the quality of the food up to this date, but it'll probably be fine for a longer time after).
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u/FollowingConnect6725 3d ago
And granola bars, pro bars, or whatever brand/style will taste soooo much better than hardtack.
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u/see_blue 3d ago
And may include added sugars, artificial sweeteners, added salt, highly processed grains, highly processed proteins, etc., all things it sounds like the OP is wanting to avoid.
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u/FollowingConnect6725 3d ago
Yeah, I get that. But there’s a reason the military moved away from hardtack and ships biscuits over 100 years ago….better nutrition, better food preservation, better tasting items, ease of use, etc. All of these advances in food production means people will eat it more readily and gain the calories and nutrients they need to fight or in this case hit trail miles. The whole history of military rations is an interesting dive if you’re into food, especially when looking at different eras and countries. Mexicos current rations come with Coca Cola, Italy’s with wine, and it was always fun to trade MRE’s for other folks rations just to try them out.
We had a guy who we went backpacking with a couple times who was a civil war reenactor and he would bring hardtack and salted pork or beef with him to cook. It’s a novelty experience for sure but eating that for months on end? No thanks.
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u/GiantKrakenTentacle 3d ago
You can find a million different kinds of granola/protein bars that use only natural ingredients. Added sugar, added salt? Those sound like a win. This is a subreddit for wilderness backpacking, sugar is great for energy and salt is extremely beneficial to have in a food. Most hardtack uses at least some salt to help preserve it, anyway.
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u/jjmcwill2003 4d ago
There are Ramens that are significantly better than your low-end grocery store ramen both in terms of nutrition and taste. My current favorite are ramens from Immi Eats but I've also tried Vite Ramen before. There are also great ramen add-ons from both Immi Eats and Ramen Bae. The Immi Eats Tom Yum Shrimp ramen combined with the Classic Seafood Mix from Ramen Bae is pretty good. I really need to get some of Ramen Bae's other add-ons.
If you think hard tack soaked in bouillon competes with ramen, man you are seriously missing out.
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u/stung80 4d ago
Did you fortify it with weevil protein?
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u/LordBlunderbuss 3d ago
I chose the lesser weevil protein blend. The full strength blend I've been told to stay away from
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u/-JakeRay- 3d ago
The combination of your username with your comment is exactly the kind of hidden gold I come to reddit for 😁
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u/sirbassist83 3d ago
hardtack was/is meant to keep you alive, and no more. its fallen out of favor because we have more nutritious and tastier food with a long shelf life. if you want to eat hardtack in the back country, be my guest, but i dont think youll convince many of us to do it with you.
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u/RYouNotEntertained 3d ago
1: it is usually whole grain. 2: it has no additives or preservatives.
Hard tack is so nutritionally bereft sailors had to suck on limes to keep their teeth from falling out.
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u/YAYtersalad 3d ago
Is this anything like the lembas like bread of (I think) danish or Norwegian folk? Like it’s super nutritionally dense, travels well, doesn’t spoil, etc.
ETA: turns out I’m referring to crisp bread, a special bread, knäckebröd in swedish. It's made to be dry. If you keep it dry, it never gets bad (sort of. It tastes dust eventually).
Here, wiki explains it better! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispbread
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u/stefanlikesfood 3d ago
Bro you and your comments got down voted hard for no reason. What's up? Ps go for it that sounds like a fun meal
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u/petey9145 3d ago
Try Hudson Bay Bread. Much better than hard tack. https://www.holry.org/HudsonBayBread
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u/Which-Iron-2860 3d ago
How do you make it?
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u/Hammock-Hiker-62 3d ago
Here's one way to make hardtack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPTdSMOQRnY
And on a related note, if you want to try pemmican: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUAayg3D0XA
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u/StillShoddy628 21h ago
Replace the bouillon with pemmican, add some snow and seal blood if you’ve got it and you have traditional Antarctic hoosh
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u/TheBimpo 4d ago
That’s completely subjective. Neither is exactly a nutritional fortress.
Ramen can be modified with lots of different ingredients and is one of my favorite trail meals. Found some ramps or mushrooms on the trail? Into the soup.
Hardtack boiled in stock sounds like a prison meal to me, but if you prefer it, HYOH.