Do Pork Scratchings make a good hiking snack?

In the UK, Pork Scratchings have been around for years and are a popular snack and bars and pubs around the country. The combination of soft fat, crispy crunch and the saltiness of the flavourings, combined with the taste like bacon (Mmmmm, bacon!) are an almost irresistible combination after a few pints.

Everyone knows they’re not the healthiest snack in the world but boy do they go down well. Eating them in copious amounts alongside 5 or 6 pints of beer is probably not the best weight loss strategy.

But what about when you’re out hiking? What about when you’re using and needing to replenish a lot of energy, plus get your protein in a manageable chunk? It’s fair to say that pork scratchings become a lot more sensible an option in these circumstances.

They’re light. They contain a lot of calories in a small space. They don’t get spoiled by being lobbed in a backpack. They are high in protein.

	Scratchings	Salted nuts	Cashews	Raisins
Typical values	Per 100g	Per 100g	Per 100g	Per 100g
Energy	2557kJ	2543kJ	2577kJ	1351kJ
	615kcal	614kcal	622kcal	319kcal
Fat	46.2g	51g	51g	1.4g
of which saturates	16.4g	8.1g	10g	<0.1g
Carbohydrate	0.2g	5.6g	19g	72g
of which sugars	0.1g	5.1g	5.6g	70g
Fibre		8.5g	3.2g	4.1g
Protein	49.7g	30g	21g	2.5g
Salt	3.0g	1.3g	0.70g	0.02g

The major downside is the amount of salt that’s likely to make you thirsty, although there are lower salt varieties available. In a situation of high energy usage pork scratchings are a valuable addition to a balanced set of trail snacks. I would never replace all of my nuts and dried fruit with them, but they certainly have a place in the hiking backpack.

You can buy wholesale pork crackling and pork scratchings from Snack Brands in the UK.