Freezer Bag Cooking

[dangerdave]

Is this practical for an AT Thru-Hike? Or is supplying along the way the way to go. I checked out the trail cooking web site, and all the recipes sounded great! But it would require a great deal of pre-hike organization and off-trail support to have all of your meals mail dropped to you at the exact time you need them...would it not?

I'm still learning, here, so someone fill me in. I haven't gotten to the mail drop section yet. So, you'd gather all of your ingredients for five or six months worth of meals (most of them anyway), including store-bought or personally dehydrated produce. Then bag up more than 400 meals, place them in boxes holding, what, a week's worth at a time and have them dropped to you along the way? It certainly could be done, but how may of you plan to or have done this.

I have the ability, but lack the inclination for such a project. Guess I'm not as OCD as I thought I am.

[Hikes in Rain]

Wait, wait. So you cook non-perishable foods then and don't have to freeze them for storage? Just leave them cooked or do you put them in a dehydrator? I'm a new and ignorant sort so you have to forgive me and preferably (though it isn't required) exercise a little patience I'm just wondering how does the food not spoil if not dehydrated or frozen and what's the shelf life?

You can cook your own stuff, dehydrate it, and use the freezer bag to rehydrate and heat. Or, use off-the-shelf dried or dehydrated stuff. One example might be a Lipton-Knorr side with a pouch of tuna or chicken. Transfer the side to the freezer bag, squish the air out and seal it. In camp, add the pouched meat and maybe half a cup less boiling water than the directions call for, reseal and mix it around. Insulate for a period of time (it varies), and the heat ends up cooking the food. That's a pretty simplistic view of it; some cooks can go ballistic with ingredients and such!

Somewhere up in the posts, someone linked to Sarah's Freezer Bag Cooking site. Worth scrolling up to find it. I have her book (it's excellent!) and one of her cozy's (ditto!). Her site is a wealth of information.

[Honuben]

Dangerdave, i was looking for a way to keep my cooking pot clean for sanitation reasons. By cooking meals in a freezer bag this allows me to do so. Im a simple dinner couscous cooker and only need to boil water for that and sometimes oatmeal. Some people do go crazy with the dehydrating process (i only stockpile dehydrated beans and peas) for long resupply points. I could have wife send me meals at every resupply poi t but that would be a pain for her. I just want to reduce chances of getting sick along the trail.

[gunner76]

add boiling water

Do not add boiling water to zip lock bag. Near boiling is OK and plenty hot to re hydrate your meal. Most of zip lock bags are not designed to handle boiling water.

[shelb]

As others have said, MAKE SURE to use the BRAND-NAME!

Unbranded bags tend to break while boiling! My preference: Zip lock freezer bags.

Also - DO NOT use the ones that have the "zipper" thing that moves across the top to seal it.

[rocketsocks]

Do not add boiling water to zip lock bag. Near boiling is OK and plenty hot to re hydrate your meal. Most of zip lock bags are not designed to handle boiling water.

Same, even in Winter I haven't brought it to a rolling boil...just under, when it starts smokin' a little.

[QiWiz]

Very true! That's why I don't recommend using a hat or spare clothes as a cozy. Leaks can happen, and then you've got a delicious smelling article of clothing.

+1 You really don't want any clothes (like your hat) that you will be wearing, especially at night while sleeping, to become a smellable. I love cozies and use them all the time, but would never use my beanie as a cozy for this reason.

[nuknees]

I use one of those manila mailing envelopes with the bubble pack lining inside for a cozy. Extremely light and can be folded down to the size of a bar of soap...works great!

[Obiwan]

For stuff like oatmeal I use freezer bags

For dehydrated stuff I use a foodsaver

Apparently I eat a lot of stuff :-)

[The Cleaner]

IMO it's kinda sad that some hikers plan to hike 2000+ miles but are not willing to wash a dirty pot.One reason contraptions like the Jet Boil type pots are really only for heating water.I take one pot that I cook in and the other for heating water only that is used to wash the cook pot.With my system your menu options are not limited.046.JPG047.JPG039.JPG033.JPG