NOLS Cookery

by Claudia Pearson

The keystone of the NOLS library, the Cookery has been a trusted and reliable resource used in the field by NOLS students and instructors for 50 years. First published by Stackpole in 1991, NOLS Cookery is in its 7 th edition with 125,000 copies in print.
Whether you’re a first-time backpacker or a seasoned backcountry cook, you’ll learn from the cookbook used by the experts in outdoor education. With more than 2 million meals prepared in the wilderness, NOLS speaks with authority on the art of outdoor cooking. This new edition includes important nutritional information that supports the 200 recipes plus a special section of recipes from around the world, new recipes for lightweight backpacking and recipes that can be prepared in advance of the trip.

Genres: Cookbooks, Outdoors, Nonfiction, Cooking, Reference

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Mark Schleier · Rating 5 out of 5]

No formal review on this one, as it's essentially a cookbook, but a classic... Learned a lot about backcountry cooking from this book in college!

Only feedback: I wish there was a recommended weekend trip meal list. Something to quickly reference as a starting point for planning a 2-3 day trip. That would be sweet!

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems to have too high an entry jump for my interest. NOLS cookery seems to be an entire system, and a highly evolved one at that. The few recipes I looked for looked (to me) to be needlessly complicated. I may come back to it a some point in the future.

[Ryan Ditrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snape kills Dumbledore in the Environmental Considerations chapter.

[Walter Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice update to the 5th edition, adding some recipes with home preparation or simpler trail prep. The NOLS-style from scratch recipes are still there. Every recipe has nutritional info--fat, protein, carbs, and so on.

Even if you don't plan to cook NOLS style, you should get this book for the chapters on planning and cooking technique. The info on nutrition and ration planning is clear and comprehensive. The cooking techniques include the best discussion of cooking fires that I've seen.

I read this before bed and dreamed of making yeast bread on the trail.

Maybe tonight I'll dream of Donna Orr's Gado-Gado Spaghetti.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really useful if you are currently a NOLS student (and therefore not reading this review) or if you are a backpacker that likes to use the same cooking practices, equipment, and measuring devices NOLS uses. It's not so useful otherwise. When I'm out on personal trips I carry a lot less cooking gear and spices and we carried with NOLS and I don't necessarily have the same measurment devices with me.

There's nothing wrong with NOLS methods, it's just a matter of personal preference. Look through this book before you buy it.

[Walter Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOLS has a very specific, cook-from-scratch approach that might not work for you. But even if it doesn't, the first few chapters of this book are the best I have found on ration planning, bear protocol, and even fire building. And who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to make fry bread in the backcountry.

[Coger Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read: "Recipies for Adventure" instead