What Are The Differences Between Different Forms Of Chicken In Trail Meals?

When I first started developing trail recipes for the outdoors, our choices were far smaller than they are now. I often used chicken in recipes because it’s a popular protein and relatively affordable. At the time, it was easy to find in cans and pouches, whereas beef and pork weren’t readily available.

The recipes were often developed for this, and specific sizes were used in each, based on the serving size (3-ounce cans, 3-ounce pouches, 4.5 to 5-ounce cans, 7-ounce pouches). But overall, they were usually interchangeable if you couldn’t find the one called for. You could use a can if pouches were not to be had.

Cans:

Canned chicken meat comes in breast and mixed forms. Breast meat will cost more, but for most people, it will taste better and be of higher quality. The cans are packed in broth, which you can add to many meals to provide more flavor.

Always ensure the cans you buy have pop-tops on top for easy opening. Do not overlook that opening cans with a WWII-style can opener isn’t fun, and honestly, does anyone under 65 even carry one of those anymore? Maybe a few of you, but I know I don’t.

Canned chicken can be affordable. For example, the 4.5-ounce cans below are 44 cents per ounce on Amazon. Your price will vary, of course, where you shop, and if you buy a house brand versus a name brand. Still, it is often the cheapest option.

Having said that, brand names can be of higher quality, though Costco is, for us, the winner by a mile.

Empty cans can be flattened with a boot and slipped into one’s garbage bag. The cans are very thin and lightweight now.

• 3-ounce cans (some stores still carry a 3-pack of these cans)
• 4.5-ounce cans
• 5-ounce cans
• 10-11 to even 12.5-ounce cans exist (Costco canned chicken is 12.5 ounces and is the highest quality. If you cook for a family while camping, it is well worth it.)

Pouches:

When pouched meat first came out, it was everywhere for sale. It was the early 2000s, and it was a shiny new thing. The sizes were 3 and 7 ounces. Then it disappeared for a while but has come back. It’s easier now to find small pouches than the big ones. But you can get them online.

The pouches have some broth in them, but not as much as the cans. Depending on the brand, the chicken can be in tiny pieces (looking at you, Walmart….) or big chunks (the 7-ounce pouches, Valley Fresh brand, for example).

A 2.6 pouch can have 13 grams of protein and serves 1. It is close to the 4 .5-ounce can after draining (though the cans have more protein per can versus pouch).

Pouched chicken can be slightly pricier than cans (the 2.6-ounce below is 54 cents an ounce). The big pouches (7 ounces), if bought in a case, can drop to 8 cents an ounce, so as always, how and where you shop can matter. One positive is empty pouches are neatly rolled up to tuck into one’s garbage bag.

I have found that brands matter in the pouch game. The Walmart one is…well…not the greatest of quality. In a pinch, it works, but it is better used in meals rather than to make a chicken spread on wraps.

• 2.6-ounces
• 2.6-ounces Lower Sodium
• 3-ounces
• 7-ounces

Freeze-dried:

The lightest-weight option is freeze-dried. However, it is also the most expensive option (for example: the first link below, a serving is $2.60, or $2,83 an ounce).

It has another positive—it is shelf-stable and carries in your food bag with no mess, empty cans or pouches, or smell.

However, remember it is freeze-dried, so do not add it directly to dry meals if it contains items with moisture in them (for example, dried fruit is moist, where as freeze-dried isn’t). The chicken will pull the moisture out, and go bad quickly. It is better to pack the meat separately, in a snack size zip-top bag.

If you substitute freeze-dried for a can/pouch, you will need to add extra water. There are 2 methods for this:

Bag the freeze-dried meat separately in a snack-size zip-top bag. A ¼ cup is an average serving size. Add in 2-3 Tablespoons water, let rehydrate, then add to your recipe (FBC, add it with the boiled water. One Pot, add it to the water before you add the dry ingredients.)

Add to the dry ingredients, and boost the water by about 2 Tablespoons when you rehydrate the meal, whether you use FBC or the One Pot Method.

• Freeze-dried white meat chicken breast, diced
• Freeze-dried Chicken Slices
• Freeze-dried Grilled Chicken Diced

Dehydrated:

Long ago the only way to take chicken with you was to dehydrate it. You had two choices: Either cook chicken breast in a moist method (simmering for example, or slow cooker), then shredding and drying, or you drained cans of chicken breast and shredded it before drying.

Why do most people not do this anymore?

It produced chicken jerky, and rehydrating it took a long time. You had to let it sit in water for quite some time before you started dinner to soften it. I tried it a few times in the early 2000s, and when pouch chicken became a thing, I never did it again. I wanted to eat quickly and not wear my teeth out.

~Sarah