Best Trail Cooking & Food Drying Gear Picks for Backpacking

This collection of recommended products will help you with your food dehydrating projects and trail cooking adventures.

I use the featured products regularly, and if I haven’t yet, they come recommended by Backpacking Chef readers.

All product links will take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Backpacking Chef earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Dehydrators

High-quality dehydrators ranked by capacity. Read my Review comparing these dehydrators.

Excalibur Dehydrator Digital Controls, 9 Trays

NESCO Gardenmaster Digital Pro Dehydrator, 4 Trays

COSORI Dehydrator Digital Controls, 6 Stainless Steel Trays

Nonstick Dehydrator Sheets & Trays

Mesh sheets are needed for drying small food items in dehydrators that have tray supports with large spaces. Excalibur dehydrators come with mesh sheets.

Nonstick sheets or trays are needed for drying fruit leather and saucy foods. Flat sheets can be cut to fit with scissors. Trays with raised edges are great for containing liquidy foods. Sheets and trays made of silicone offer the best nonstick performance, but Teflon sheets also work well.

silicone-mesh-polyscreen-mesh-bright-kitchen-silicone-flat

Dostk Silicone Mesh Dehydrator Sheets, 14” x 14”, 12-Pack for Cosori dehydrator (cut to fit). Not for Excalibur.

Excalibur Polyscreen Mesh Screen Inserts, 14" x 14", 9-Pack. These come with Excalibur dehydrators, so only order if you need to replace them.

Bright Kitchen Silicone Flat Sheets for Excalibur Dehydrator, 14" x 14", 9-Pack. Must use on top of Excalibur polyscreen mesh screen inserts. Also available in a 6-Pack.

Hlimior Silicone Dehydrator Trays with Raised Edges, 12” x 10.6”, 6-Pack for Cosori or Excalibur.

Dostk Silicone Dehydrator Trays with Raised Edges, 14” x 14”, 6-Pack for Excalibur.

Homey Teflon Nonstick Sheets, 14” x 14”, 10-Pack for Excalibur or Cosori (cut to fit).

Digital Scale,Measuring Cups & Spoons

Use a digital food scale and measuring cups when cooking meals and ingredients for dehydration, and for weighing dried ingredients when assembling meals.

Etekcity Digital Food Kitchen Scale, Grams & Ounces

EWFEN Stainless Steel Measuring Cups & Spoons, Set of 20

Vacuum Sealers & Bags

FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer & Bags and Jar Sealer

Vacuum sealing removes oxygen and prolongs the shelf-life of dehydrated food. Vacuum-sealed meals are protected from moisture on the trail. You can seal mason jars with a jar-sealing accessory purchased separately.

FoodSaver FM2100 Vacuum Sealer

FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer Bag Rolls, 8" x 20', 3-Pack

Vacuum Sealer Kit for Wide & Regular-Mouth Mason Jars, Works only with FoodSaver Vacuum Sealers.

New!

Electric Vacuum Sealer Kit

For Wide Mouth & Regular Mouth Mason Jars. Does not require connection to a Food Saver Vacuum Sealer.

Mylar Bags & Oxygen Absorbers

Mylar bags, when used in combination with oxygen absorbers, are excellent for storing individual dehydrated meals. Cook meals right in the bag by adding boiled water.

For the most effective long-term storage, oxygen absorbers should be added to dehydrated foods stored in mason jars, even when the jars are vacuum sealed.

Mylar Pouch, Pint-size, 6" x 8", Heat Sealable Bags plus 100cc Oxygen Absorbers, Pack of 50 each, plus Long-Term Food Storage Guide from PackFreshUSA.

Mylar Pouch, Quart-size, 7" x 9", Heat Sealable Bags plus 200cc Oxygen Absorbers, Pack of 50 each, plus Long-Term Food Storage Guide from PackFreshUSA.

100cc Oxygen Absorbers, 100 Pack, plus Long-Term Food Storage Guide from PackFresh USA.

Insulated Food & Beverage Containers

Thermos food jars are excellent for rehydrating meals that you want to eat later in the day. Great for backpacking, hiking, work, and travel. It helps to have a long-handle spoon. Read more about thermos cooking.

THERMOS 24 oz. Vacuum-Insulated Food Jar.

GSI Outdoors Pouch Spoon. Good for eating out of a 24 oz. thermos or freeze-dried meal pouch.

THERMOS 16 oz. Vacuum-Insulated Food Jar.

GSI Outdoors 1-Liter Vacuum-Insulated Beverage Bottle.

GSI Outdoors Backpacking Pots

GSI Outdoors makes hard-anodized aluminum backpacking pots to meet the needs of solo minimalists and dualists. Explore my GSI backpacking pot reviews.

GSI Minimalist

GSI Boiler

GSI Dualist-HS

GSI 20-oz. Capacity Nesting Bowl Set

Backpacking Canister Stoves

I have used all three of these brands of canister stoves, and they all boil water very fast. The new MSR PocketRocket Deluxe features a pressure regulator for better performance in cold weather, plus piezo push-start lighting. The GSI stove’s pot supports fold down, and the Optimus Crux folds in half, enabling either stove to stow under a fuel canister.

GSI Outdoors Canister Stove

Optimus Crux Folding Canister Stove

MSR PocketRocket Deluxe Canister Stove

DIY Pot Cozy Materials

Hold the heat in your backpacking pot or bag by making an insulating pot cozy or pouch cozy. See how to make a pot cozy.

Double Bubble Reflective Foil Insulation, 24” x 10’

Reflectix FT210 Reflective Foil Tape, 2" x 30'

Water Filters & Purification

Backpacking Water Filtration & Purification Systems

Sawyer Squeeze water filters come in several sizes and work well. Carry a backup water purification method such as chlorine dioxide drops or tablets, or a UV SteriPen. Read more about water filters and purification.

Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System w/ Two 32-Oz Squeeze Pouches, Straw, and Hydration Pack Adapter

Katadyn Micropur MP1 Purification Tablets, 20 Count

SteriPEN Ultra UV Water Purifier

Food Products

Powdered Eggs & Instant Mashed Potatoes

OvaEasy Egg Crystals and Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes

Mix OvaEasy Egg Crystals with cold water, then cook in pan just like real scrambled eggs. Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes rehydrate instantly with boiled water into fluffy mashed potatoes.

OvaEasy Egg Crystals

Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes

Recipes: Fried Rice with Scrambled Eggs, Cooking Mashed Potatoes in a GSI Bowl.

Powdered Cheese, Peanut Butter, & Coconut Milk

Cheddar Cheese Powder, Peanut Butter Powder & Coconut Milk Powder

Add these powdered ingredients to backpacking meals and desserts.

Cheddar Cheese Powder by Hoosier Hill Farm, 1 lb.

Peanut Butter Powder by PB2, 32 oz.

Coconut Milk Powder by Anthony's Organic, 1 lb.

Recipes: Mac & Cheese, Thai Peanut Noodles, Thai Green Curry.

Single-Serve Meat Packets

Single-serve packets of chicken, tuna, and salmon are convenient to add to backpacking meals like mac & cheese and cold-soak backpacking pasta salads. They also roll up nicely in tortillas for quick, high-protein trail lunches. Essential for emergency home storage kits.