Anyone venturing out on a trek into the great outdoors via a camping excursion or a hiking proposition will know the importance of proper preparation and possessing the right gear.

This should involve the correct choice of sturdy attire, footwear, handy utensils, logistical knowledge and letting people know your intended route and schedule before setting off.

But what about food? If you are clambering up some snow-capped peaks or traversing desert-like plains there will be no grocery stores conveniently placed for you to stock up with supplies. So the whole gamut of adventurers from climbers, explorers, anglers, hunters, hikers, backpackers and anyone else who spends time outdoors, must assess their needs beforehand.

In many cases the solution will be to turn to freeze-dried meals. Frequently mistaken for dehydrated food, freeze-dried nutriment is concocted via a totally different method. With dehydrated helpings, a machine disseminates dry, hot air across fare, eradicating the bulk of any water. With freeze-drying, grub is swiftly frozen and placed in a fierce vacuum. As the liquid in the fodder is channelled from ice to vapor, the victuals virtually wither while retaining the capacity to be rehydrated at a future stage.

So freeze-dried meals form the foundation of many rural enthusiasts’ culinary choices as long days burning calories at a hectic pace leaves scant interludes to satiate yearning appetites.

While old-style dehydrated rations lose a considerable degree of natural flavour, freeze-dried foods hold the initial taste much better, meaning a refreshing, delicious and sustaining meal. Added to this, since the freeze-drying procedure jettisons water weight without disturbing nutritional values, every meal retains its caloric content and about 90 per cent of its vitamins and minerals.

Rehydrating freeze-dried food is a speedy, simple method: Pour on boiling water; stir in the blend; and seal the pouch, allowing it to sit for just a few minutes. After another hasty whisk, your meal is set to sample in hardly any time at all.

Many backpackers also opt for freeze-dried meals because they don’t burden down their packs with an added load. The freeze-drying process removes about 80 per cent of water, drastically reducing the overall weight of food items. The end products are healthy, delicious, rapid to rehydrate and are able to enjoy a long life. Some nutrients, such as vitamins C and E plus folic acid, are partially rundown due to the freeze-drying treatment. However, once rehydrated, many food science and technology experts reckon the offerings are comparable in dietary worth to even fresh food.

Preparing your own backpacking meals can be enjoyable and a wonderful avenue to gain command over your nutrition while also keeping tabs on your purse strings. Store-bought freeze-dried meals are convenient and lightweight, but feel free to go your own way.

Once you grasp the hang of things, you can even begin to trial your own recipes and create tasty instant meals you can tuck into in any setting. Whether the requirements are merely for a couple of serves for a weekend jaunt or you are building up months of helpings for an extensive ramble, the methods are constant.

Also, remember to dismiss everything you may have taken on board about curbing your consumption of calories but instead think in reverse and turn things upside down. Backpacking is virtually an endurance discipline and your body demands copious carbohydrates, proteins and fats to retain its dynamism and assist on the recovery path. The healthier you partake on the mission, the better you will feel and accomplish.

If the DIY option is not one that you wish to follow there are various companies in Australia that will do the job for you. And some of the offerings on their menus are not to be sneezed at and would not sound out of place at reputable restaurants. The descriptions alone are enough to have the most casual diner salivating. On the open-air table or sitting by the campfire you can feast on Mexican chicken, beef Bourguignon, spaghetti Bolognese, cauliflower and pea dahl, green spicy chicken curry or balti vegetable curry. Plenty to ponder and these ready-made dishes sound a lot more substantial than a mere packet of peanuts.

These yummy recipes are the work of a trio of leading, reputable companies ‑ namely Back Country Cuisine, Outdoor Gourmet and Campers Pantry. Back Country Cuisine’s meals are available in single and twin serves, the Outdoor Gourmet nibbles solely in twin portions and the Campers Pantry variety in single rations. The three brands are stocked by the majority of the major and many of the smaller appropriate stores around the country. The list doesn’t lean on serving size but rather taste on its own so this may sway your preferences.

Plus check out the offerings from wild food guru Vic Cherikoff. The Australian scientist featured in Great Australian Outdoors and his passion for the health benefits of natural foods is plain for all to appreciate. One of Vic’s offshoots is his production of a varied array of freeze-dried wild fruits, herbs and spices. So with the fruits involved, it seems like the dessert course for a snack in the wild is covered.

All the packeted eats should not take up too much room in any backpack. Maintaining your pack weight at its lowest level is highly advisable on long-haul assignments. Canned foods and other bulky items can add kilograms of mass to your load, which is not recommended especially if you are intent on passing prolonged days in the wilderness. It also helps if you lean towards a suitable selection of foods that you relish and make you feel full of beans, so to speak. The aim is to conjure up refreshments that deliver the highest calories and nutrition with the least volume of weight.

Keep your eyes open for hearty, calorically-solid chow (100-plus calories per ounce) that tender total hunger-tackling delights and see that you remain topped up for the journey. The reasoning should be: ‘Less volume, more substance’. Stirring in oil or butter is another trick to enhance your caloric ingestion as well as making meal times succulent and something to look forward to.

So there is no need to try to emulate the iconic baked beans by the campfire scene from Mel Brooks’ classic 1974 movie Blazing Saddles. Forget about loading your backpack with cans of the sturdy sustenance, even though such food intake has health benefits. A less weighty option is there to be enjoyed which will ease the load when crisscrossing the vast Australian Outback.