Best Food For Muscle In SCUM

Summary

SCUM emphasizes realistic survival by balancing primary nutrients like protein, carbs, and healthy fats in food.
High-protein foods like rabbit meat are best for muscle building, but players must balance nutrients for overall health.
Variety in food types, from canned to cooked meals, helps players maintain muscle growth while considering portability.

The hardcore survival sim SCUM is now out in 1.0, after several years in early access. For the uninitiated, SCUM takes its survival seriously, and food is much more than just a hunger bar to be concerned with. The game prioritizes realism wherever possible, and feeding a character requires a balance of primary nutrients, including protein, Carbohydrates, and Healthy Fats. There are also micronutrients (Vitamins and Minerals) to think about, and on top of that, these stats all go toward determining how a character's physical stats develop.

For characters who want to build their strength, consuming high-protein foods is the best way to build muscle quickly. However, players need to ensure they balance their intake of protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and consider their water and stamina needs, so it's not possible to bulk up on protein and call it a day without suffering in other areas. There are other ways to build muscle at a faster rate, like walking with more item weight in the player's inventory. These all need nutrients to be at the right level to be effective, though.

SCUM: Where To Find Weapons

Check out these locations if you're looking to find some decent guns and other gear in SCUM.

Posts

By Marc Santos

That means that food is an important system for all players. There are an enormous number of food types in SCUM, from raw ingredients to canned food to cooked meals that the players can craft. A lot of cooking will be done at the player's base, but portable food is also something to think about for extended looting trips. These foods are some of the best for building muscle in SCUM while keeping balanced stats, including both the best protein return and foods that are easy to find, keep without perishing, or are convenient to carry.

10 Rabbit Meat

Small Game

Portions: 1
Weight: 100g
Energy: 34 cal
Protein: 33g
Water: 31g
Obtained: Hunting/Purchased at Saloon

Rabbit is one of the easiest meats to obtain in the game, and any player can grill it into a quick meal without any pre-requisite cooking skills. Rabbits are easy to hunt, and the meat can be purchased from the Saloon trader as a backup.

Players probably just want to rely on a natural supply from hunting, though, as rabbit meat goes into fewer of the more complex later cooking recipes than other animal meat types.

9 Bear Steaks

Some Days You Eat The Bear

SCUM hunting with focus mode animal track clue

Portions: 10
Weight: 300g
Energy: 46.5 cal
Protein: 6g
Water: 21.4g
Obtained: Hunting/Purchased at Saloon

Bear Steaks aren't too great on their own, but they can be cooked into a variety of great recipes, and players get a lot of meat at a time from carving a bear. The meat can be purchased at Saloon traders for players who don't want to risk the hunt.

Bear Meat also provides some fats as well as protein, so it can be used to balance nutritional needs. Players can use other red meat steaks like wolf, deer, goat, and others in similar recipes too.

8 Chicken Meat

Finger Lickin'

Portions: 3
Weight: 500g
Energy: 234.4 cal
Protein: 28.6g
Water: 120.4g
Obtained: Hunting/Purchased at Saloon

The meat of more docile creatures like chickens is easy to get hold of in SCUM. Whether players get the meat from the source or buy it from the Saloon, chicken meat can be quickly grilled into a great protein source, and goes into some more complicated recipes too. Any player can grill chicken without any pre-requisite cooking skills, so it's a good go-to for starters.

7 Pancakes

Basic Cooking

Portions: 4
Weight: 400g
Energy: 113.2 cal
Protein: 11.6g
Water: 44.9g
Obtained: Crafted food item (Oven)

There are some really useful cooking recipes in SCUM, and pancakes are an easy and basic place to start. They also have the advantage of keeping well and being easy to carry around.

How to Build a Base in SCUM

Here are the basic things that you need to know before you make your own base in SCUM.

Posts

By Marc Santos

Pancake's stats can vary as optional ingredients like nuts and sugar can be added to balance nutritional sources across protein, carbohydrates, and fats. The basic recipe needs flour, eggs, milk, water, and baking soda, as well as a pan and an oven range to cook it on.

6 Tuna MREs

Survival Diet

Portions: 1
Weight: 600g
Energy: 111.8 cal
Protein: 10.5g
Water: 89.5g
Obtained: Purchased from Armory trader, looted

MREs are a go-to for survivalists, and they can be a convenient protein source in SCUM, since players can basically carry them around or store them indefinitely. Tuna MREs are the most balanced protein source out of the MREs, and provide more micronutrients and less fat than others.

Beef Stew MREs are also a decent protein source with slightly more fat, but Cheeseburger MREs come with a ton of fat content as well as protein. MREs are found as random loot or purchased from the Armory trader.

5 Canned Sardines

Portable Protein Snack

Portions: 1
Weight: 115g
Energy: 232.2 cal
Protein: 24.6g
Water: 59.6g
Obtained: Fish Factory, map square A1

While they have a very specific source, canned sardines are a very good portable meal of protein and energy. They can always be found at the fish factory in Map Square A1, so there's a reliable loot source, even if it's only one location. They're lighter and more efficient for protein than an MRE, so don't pass up canned fish if you want to keep building muscle.

4 Canned Tuna

Tuna Surprise

Portions: 4
Weight: 180g
Energy: 49.1 cal
Protein: 29.1g
Water: 59.8g
Obtained: Fish Factory, map square A1

Canned tuna is very similar to canned sardines. They're even found in the same place in the fish factory. The tuna variety has less protein and energy per portion, but there are four portions in a can, so it's even more efficient as a portable meal than the sardines.

scum-cheats-enable-admin-console-commands

SCUM: Cheats & Console Commands

If you're trying to learn or experiment with stuff in SCUM, then using admin commands will be the best way to go about that.

Posts

By Marc Santos

The canned tuna and canned sardines are the best processed, pre-packaged foods that players can find if they want to keep protein topped up.

3 Grilled Poultry

Kill It & Grill It

Portions: 1
Weight: 150g
Energy: 234.4 cal
Protein: 28.6
Water: 120.4
Obtained: Crafted food item (Grill or BBQ)

Grilled poultry can be made with any fowl meat: chicken, goose, duck, or pheasant. The stats can vary depending on the meat used (the breakdown above is based on chicken), but grilled poultry is a simple cooking recipe that any player can create.

Players just need a grill or BBQ to make grilled poultry, and only the meat is required for the recipe, though players can season the meat with salt and pepper too. Once players have better cooking skills, there are more complex recipes that can be made with chicken and poultry, but simply grilling the meat remains one of the quickest and most efficient options.

2 Mixed Skewer

Mixed Ingredients

Portions: 2
Weight: variable
Energy: variable
Protein: variable
Water: variable
Obtained: Crafted food item (Grill or BBQ)

The mixed skewer is one of the most versatile recipes in SCUM in terms of the ingredients players can use to make it. Any kind of meat steak can be used, along with a large variety of vegetables, to create a skewer with the perfect balance of protein with other nutrients.

For players who are foraging for whatever they can find, this recipe forgoes the need to find specific meats, veg, or pre-packaged ingredients from traders or random loot.

1 Balkan Ratatouille

Hearty Stew

SCUM large base cooking setup with stews

Portions: 4
Weight: 800g
Energy: 244.2 cal
Protein: 33.6g
Water: 110.6g
Obtained: Crafted food item (Oven)

The Balkan Ratatouille is one of the more complex recipes in the game, but it can satisfy both protein and other dietary needs for some time. Players can use any meat steak for the meal, but they also need the specific ingredients of rice, onion, pepper, zucchini, carrot, and tomato, as well as water to boil them all in.

The Balkan Ratatouille needs at least the basic cooking skill to make, and it's more of a meal to prepare for a journey than to carry along on the road. With that said, it can be loaded with protein and other good nutrients.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image