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So I've been looking at noodles and stuff to cook on over-nighters. Lipton makes these 5-minute noodle packets but they require a tablespoon of butter or margerine. How does it hold up while hiking on the trail? Or maybe, is there some substitute I can use that isn't temp. sensitive?

You might want to try the fake spray butter...we use "I can't believe it's not butter."... it needs to be kept cool, but will work in a pinch

I've tried alot of this stuff and just skipped the butter/oil and it usually works out just fine. Maybe a little less flavor. Some items may not work so well, so try em out at home and decide for yourself.

I don't think it has anything to do with the cooking process, so you might want to try it sans grease. If the absence of butter or substitute renders the soup bland, then I would question the value of the product.

I use the Lipton "cooks in 10 (or 7) minute" products a lot when back packing. I've never bothered with the butter/margarine and have no complaints. Just eyeball the water amount, boil it, dump in the mix, cover, and simmer. I've had about all the rice I can handle, so now I'm into the noodle products. I carry a 3 oz can of chicken or tuna to dump in with these and it makes a pretty good meal. Consider repacking the Lipton into a snack size ziplock, it cuts down the trash you have to carry and is quite compact.

My Grandma always left butter out on the counter. She'll be 104 on January 6, so it doens't seem to have hurt her any. I packed it in to Havasupai last April with no problem. The best approach I've found is to force the butter into one of those small 1-3 oz Nalgene containers and then refrigerate or even pre-freeze it. Left overs can be artfully spread on someone else's tent fly with a pinch of garlic salt to assure that the Bears leave YOU alone. -Randy

They taste the same to me with or without butter. I think the purpose of the butter is mostly to keep the noodles from sticking together.
When I make them for a quick lunch at home, I use olive oil in place of the butter. That would work well on the trail since olive oil would pack easy. Plus olive oil is better for you (so I've been told...).

Sweet, thanks for the help guys!

I take real butter either in a small sealable bowl or double bagged in ziplocks. It seems to do it no harm to get liquid during the day and solidify again when it cools off. I think one of those tubes would do too. We have also taken the margerine in a squeeze bottle or olive oil in a small bottle.

Next time you go to Kentucky Fried Chicken ask for extra packets of butter. They are perfect for backpacking!

This is weird. I was just going to ask the forum this question. My wife suggested that we get some KFC butter. It doesnt have to be kept cool/cold and it has a good shelf life because its vacuumed sealed.

I have seen or heard of several solutions for this problem. Real butter is not a good option unless you are taking a short trip in cold weather. It goes bad pretty quickly. Here are some other options:

1-Do without. With the Lipton Dinners, the butter just makes the sauce a bit more thick. It tastes about the same either way. However, one thing to keep in mind is that you will be losing calories by making it without butter. Butter/Margarine is one of the most calorie-dense foods out there, and my general formula for planning hiking meals is calories=energy. The more the better. This is more of an issue on longer trips.

2-Margarine. This one is my choice. It travels like a trooper and comes in convenient squeeze bottles. I had a bottle of margarine sitting in a resupply box at Tuolumne Meadows for 6 weeks on my PCT hike. It came out tasting just fine.

3-Butter Buds. This is some sort of garnish that you can find in the spice aisle at supermarkets. I've never used it but a thru-hiker buddy of mine swears by it.

4- Clarified Butter/ Ghee. You can alter butter so that it will last without refrigeration. I've been told this stuff tastes far better than margarine but I've never tried it myself. Here is a recipe:

"There's no need to go to a specialty store to pay a lot of money for
clarified butter, or ghee, which is clarified butter cooked a bit more.
It's a very easy process to make it yourself. Just melt butter over a very
low flame till it separates, then skim the solids off the top and either
pour or ladle the clarified butter oil from the white material on the
bottom. For gee let the white material brown, then seperate off the oil. In
fact it's much more versatile for frying and sauteing than whole butter. A
good thing to have around any time."

Lizard

Another option would be butter flavored Crisco. It keeps well and tastes like butter. I don't bother with it on backpacking trips though. Hot food seems to taste just fine after a 15 mile hike and setting up camp!

Olive oil. It tastes better and is good for quite a few things. It's even better on bread. It is the Itallian butter.

BoyNhisDog wrote:Olive oil..It's even better on bread. It is the Itallian butter.

But then you have to pack one of those fancy paint brush thingies...

Well I went ahead and forgot to bring any sort of butter/oil. Good news is it cooked just fine and I couldn't tell any difference in texture or taste.

Thanks again for the replies!

I have found that those little packets of stuff you get in popcorn bags to be quite tasty, I usually carry a little parmesan cheese and packets of lemon juice, you'd be surprised what a dash of each will do for flavorless noodles......

I'm a little late in this thread but haven't seen any mention of using Parkay Squeeze Margarine. I took a 1 pound bottle along on the PCT for 30 days and used it for my Liption dinners and it worked great. This stuff will last just fine in the heat for extended periods. Milkman 2% dry milk is also good for Mac & Cheese.

If you don't want to take the entire bottle (or want to cut down on the weight of the plastic), buy a few "Squeeze Tubes" and fill those with the spread. They're good for peanut butter and jelly too!

BTW... a little olive oil in your pasta helps too.

Coaster

Just field tested some ghee (clarified butter) I left it at room temperature after opening it and it tastes great! I add it to potatoes, oatmeal, ramen, rice. It says its supposed to be good for two weeks at room temperature after opening. www. mapi.com

I also use olive oil to add a few calories as well as keep pasta from sticking. I haven't ever tried margarine or butter, but do have some kind of margarine in a spray bottle at home that might work
hmmmmmm ...... I'm going to aqua fria where it will be over 100 proabably, I don't think i want to field test it there :roll:

I'm trying to think back to my chemistry days here, but I think Hoppy is on to something with the microwave popcorn butter packets. In order to prevent butter from melting at room temperature it is "injected" with hydrogen (I believe). So, anything prepared with hydrogen (as is microwave popcorn butter) should satisfy the need. Now, finding out if a product has hydrogen in it should be the fun part...