chefisaac

It's been an amazing adventure so far.

Bike on order, tent is bought along with sleeping pad, stove, sleeping quilt, panniers, etc. And planning the first tour now!

And now the spice kit is ready. he he he

Rob_E

Fancy. And I thought I was livin' large when I snagged the shaker out of the picnic basket that shakes salt out of one side and pepper out of the other.

chefisaac

lol! Good find though.

I cook for a living.

I am waiting for someone to say it is going to weigh too much to travel with.

ka0use

bummer, dude.

thought i was gonna see pics of the spice girls.

fietsbob

I was recalling a small single, segmented spice container, but bring old it may be false memories.

mirages or delusions..

if you got just 7, 35mm film containers, they glue together nicely.. 6 around one.

but maybe gluing a cord on the side will keep them grouped together..

raybo

I have found that I don't use spices in the same proportion as one another. Thus, I take much less cayenne pepper than I do granulated onions.

I also take olive oil, soy sauce (in a plastic container), a backpacking pepper grinder, and a few other things but all in different sized containers and then kept in a small zipped bag so that I can put my hands on my entire cooking kit in one grab.

I take asafoetida, to cut down on the flatulence.

Machka 

They're good, and you can find that sort of thing in the camping section of Canadian Tire, Walmart, etc.

During my first Australian tour, I just grabbed an extra packet or two of salt, pepper, or other condiments any time I ate at a restaurant, cafe, or fast food place. I had a little ziploc bag for whatever I collected along the way.

fietsbob

4 of these would replace 8 film canisters
https://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___80035

Rowan

Just as an aside, have you had a chance to set up your tent indoors and roll out the matt and quilt to see how they all fit together?

jabantik00

it is going to weigh too much to travel with.

i guess i suck at cooking because i don't know what half those spices are. could you share some easy recipes? i'll share my favorite: good ramen (e.g., shin ramyun) + veggies + can of soup or anything else + rooster sauce. my spice kit is peanut butter, rooster sauce, and sugar, all of which come in heavy, bulky containers.

Western Flyer 

My spice locker is pretty similar to yours. I traded my paprika for a Moroccan Melange . I carry two salts: a white sea salt and a black Hawaiian smoked sea salt. In addition to black pepper I pack some cayenne pepper when I need some real heat!

I notice you don’t have any savory dried leaves. I found dried basil doesn’t pack enough punch to volume for touring. I now take a mixed Italian blend. It works for a wide variety of foods. Fresh basil is becoming more common and served with sliced tomatoes, a drizzle of EVO and a squeeze of lemon or lime topped with a pinch of the smoked sea salt makes a divine salad on or off the road.

I also notice you don’t have a sweet spice. I use ground Saigon cinnamon, which covers my needs from hot cocoa, fresh simmered apple sauce or you name the fruit I pick from the road, and of course to make the morning oatmeal a real treat.

And of course if there is even a remote chance I will be near a fishing village I pack a bit of saffron.

Machka 

Which you can also sell for a night's stay somewhere and dinner, if you happen to run out of money along the way.

mm718

I like the connector on this one, which holds six spices. Two of these might pack better than several film canisters.

https://www.gsioutdoors.com/products/...e_accessories/

Western Flyer 

I tour in a spartan manner (I suppose most of us do.). Dinner is often picked out from the meager offerings of a small town grocery or worse a gas station mini-mart. I get whatever has the simplest and purest ingredients. But I will not skimp on my spices, and you never know when you’ll find all the ingredients for a great bouillabaisse.

Besides saffron relaxes tired muscles and prevents cramps.

chefisaac

Ah, nice to see a spice lover here!

I use Vietnamese Cinnamon everyday with oatmeal so I am on the fence about taking it. We will see. Might be too heavy!

I used dried herbs a lot in my day to day cooking for the company I work for. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I enjoy fresh over dry even though they have their own different applications at certain times. We will see what changes as I tour. Dry herbs go stale in flavor very quickly so we will see. I thought about packing some hot chocolate mix which I love.

I love saffron.

ScruffyChimp

Nice post. I've been assembling a little kitchen box for touring with next year. I still need to add a pot scrub, a cut-down spatula and some cutlery. I've got 6 baby food containers for spices. I plan to carry:

* Salt
* Pepper
* Oregano or Italian herbs
* Garlic granules
* Onion salt
* Turmeric

The bottles are for oil and dish washing liquid.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E...0/SpiceKit.jpg

raybo

I have found a small square of plastic cutting board to be very useful. It allows me to cut on something I can wash and know what has been put on it. The weight and space required is negligible.

chefisaac

Love the ideas and the pic! Where did you get the little containers to put the spices in? They are nice!

chefisaac

Will be doing this next week when I get back from traveling. Waiting on the footprint and the sleeping quilt.

KirkBeiser

Agreed. I have a thin plastic placemat I bring with me. It's nice to have a clean surface to work on and sometimes I am actually cutting fresh vegetables.

I carry salt, basil and montreal steak seasoning along with some cooking oil for flavoring. that's enough for me but I can also eat the same type of meal again and again.

ScruffyChimp

I just bought the containers off Ebay. They are for food storing baby food. They were the cheapest thing I could find. Frankly, I would use film canisters if I could find them somewhere.

I'm hoping I can use the lid of the plastic box as a cutting board.

Another option I saw was to buy a bunch of small zip-lock bags and put the spices in them. That requires less space and less weight.

chefisaac

Want me to send you some of the film canisters? I have some and do not mind shipping you some.

For a cutting board, I plan to buy a plastic one and cut it to size. I can send you the other half of the board too. The advantage of a cutting board is that it's different plastic then the top of your container. The plastics for cutting boards are harder and will not shred with knife use.

MichaelW

I carry a small pepper grinder, salt, paprika, chilli powder, french provencal herb mix in small plastic screwtop containers.
I use thin flexible plastic cutting board, takes up no space or weight and was very low cost but high utility. I once prepared dinner in a muddy clearing one the top of my rear rack. You dont need to cut these in half to save weight, they don't register on any scales.

Rowan

My cutting board was cut out of the bottom of a small, round red pail used for storing foodstuff in the fridge. It is cut to the same circumference as the frying pan/lid on my Trangia.

DropBarFan

"Everything spicy is so nicey." Always liked spicy food & some years ago got into Indian cuisine...learned a lot about spices from Yamuna Devi's "Lord Krishna's Cuisine" book. So if I was going to do longer bike-camping tours I'd certainly include some spices. Now with research we learn that much traditional knowledge of spices' benefits is quite correct. BTW Ms Devi mentions cooking in the field as being a test of the expert cook. Sadly she passed away last year.