I'm after suggestions for weight-efficient edibles that don't need cooking and would be suitable for an overnighter / 24 hour-type ride. I'm thinking I'll be able to buy some stuff as I go but I'm not sure how often I'll pass somewhere open.

Depending on how long you are stopping for, ie overnight, some food will "cook" without the need for heat.
For example if you put a bowl of porridge, with milk added to stand overnight, it will be porridge as you recognise it in the morning, just cold. Same goes for pasta, rice etc. I was talking to our chef re this very thing a few weeks ago, another example was that kitchens par cook rice and pasta to re-heat during service, one of the main reasons was because it continues "cooking" while in the chiller etc.
When you cook food with a stove you are simply adding energy to the process in the form of heat, to speed the process up, simples....
Of course if you are simply doing a 24hr ride thru type of thing, this is of no use at all :D
in which case my preferred option would be Haribo and Wine Gums! or wraps if you don't want to eat like a 15YO

Beef Jerky, tuna & sauce sachets & pitta bread

Curiak’s Survival Cookie Dough Recipe
1 lb. of chocolate chips
2 sticks of butter, softened but not liquid
20 ounces of peanut butter
1 lb. of brown sugar
5 cups of oats
No eggs, no flour

This is what the nutters that did the lost coast ate alot of.
Bothy Phil made it on our Loch Maree trip, and it tastes great.

These are good: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefoo ... tein-bars/
and/or:
9-bars
Malt loaf
welsh or eccles cakes
jelly babies
dark chocolate bar of some sort

I also like to carry something savory as I get sick of carbs all the time:
Those little "sauages" of Austrian smoked cheddar
Green olives neutralise an excess of sweet stuff (for me, at least)
Mathesons fridge raider chicken pieces
salt and pepper cashew nuts

That pretty much sums up what I took on the Trans Cambrian Double, which was 32 hours of riding.

Wholemeal pita breads with cold bacon and cheese. They survive rough packing well and still taste good

Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, the king of energy food! Cliff bars still a favourite here. Eccles cakes and jam, peanut butter or PBJ sandwiches on brown rolls. Waffles. Trail mix - smarties, nuts and raisins - is a good one for the gas tank.

Wholemeal pita breads with cold bacon and cheese.

mmm.. good idea.
There's a weight-calorie scale apparently, where peanut butter is 1-6, 100g gives about 600cal energy, dark chocolate is 1-5. Olive oil is top of the list if you have a stomach like a polar explorer, or John Stamstad )
I don't take anything really sugary like jelly babies on longer rides as I find there's a risk of a sugar high then crash if you get low on energy. Prefer to rely on slower-release stuff, but that may be personal metabolism rates related as much as anything.

These are really good for a savoury snack:

http://lovingthebike.com/cycling-nuriti ... rice-cakes

I have been cooking up quite a lot of my own trail food of late using the Feed zone portables book by Allen Lim.

I have had a go at a bunch of recipes and done my own variations and written them up:

Baked Eggs With Bacon & Parmesan
Bacon & Parmesan Rice Cakes
Bacon & Parmesan Rice Souffle
http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... il-food-1/

Baked Eggs With Ham & Parmesan
http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... il-food-2/

Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Mochiko Stickies (milk chocolate)
http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... il-food-3/

Mochiko Stickies (white chocolate/maple syrup)
http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... il-food-4/

Got some new rice cake variations to publish soon using the correct type of rice this time and they worked loads better.

Sausage and apple pies. made small for easy packing and snacking.

fry onions, add meat from sausages. add chopped, skinned apple. cook through. add creme fraiche and wholegrain mustard and leave to cool.

make (or buy if you are lazy) pastry - use shortcrust - and line small alumnium pie tins/cake tins.

fill, fit top, glaze with beaten egg. and bake in oven.

great at any time of day.

but will only keep for a short while, so not suitable for hot days and multi-day trips.

@composite - gourmet endurance riding. A whole new Niche!

I like it, they're getting my mouth watering in the office.

Stu.

Cooked bacon, cold sausages, avocados , cold sweet potato, protein powder before bed. I have a nightmare as don't eat grains, rice and currently off most processed foods, keep having cravings for maynards Sport Mix :?

@composite - gourmet endurance riding. A whole new Niche!

I like it, they're getting my mouth watering in the office.

Stu.

The first time I took a load of these out I exclaimed to my ride buddies that I had cooked them all ride snacks. They all looked at each other uncomfortably for a bit.

Then I broke them out and they saw what I had made and from that point on I was a trail food GOD. 8-)

Rice cakes as promised. :)
http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... il-food-5/

That lower one looks just the thing. I'll maybe give it a go this weekend,


Thanks everyone else for your tips too. I hope to put some of them to use very soon.

I've been modding a basic recipe for breakfast bars from Nigela lawson. The basic recipe is below and as you can see they are pretty stacked with protein, sugar and fruits and oatz as standard so should make great energy bars. As extras I usually throw in some vanilla whey protein powder as well, some ground almonds, a couple of eggs and a couple of bars of smashed up green and blacks chocolate. You can pretty much substitute the cranberrys for any dried fruit and same goes for the nuts. If adding whey powder you can usually add an extra tin of condensed milk too!
As long as the mixture is pretty dry after its all mixed together then they should still come out crunchy, if its a bit wet add more oats. Well worth trying out the standard recipe as I think it's really good.

Enjoy

Ingredients

1 x 397 grams can condensed milk
250 grams rolled oats (not instant)
75 grams shredded coconut
100 grams dried cranberries
125 grams mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
125 grams natural unsalted peanuts


Method

Preheat the oven to 130°C/gas mark ½/250ºF, and oil a 23 x 33 x 4cm / 9 x 13 inch baking tin, or use a throwaway foil one.
Warm the condensed milk in a large pan.
Meanwhile, mix together all the other ingredients and then add the warmed condensed milk, using a rubber or wooden spatula to fold and distribute.
Spread the mixture into the tin and press down with the spatula or, better still, your hands (wearing disposable vinyl gloves to stop you sticking), to even the surface.
Bake for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and, after about 15 minutes, cut into four across, and four down to make 16 chunky bars. Let cool completely.

This looks good, I might give this a go this weekend. Thanks. :)

My flapjacks.

http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/201 ... il-food-6/