Experimenting with meals and packaging.

[Lewis Clark]

I'm currently packaging dried meals in quart sized vacuum bags. For most things its working well as far as holding foods go. I haven't cooked with them yet, but will start that next week. I have experienced one problem when repackaging Idahoan sliced potatoes. They often puncture the bag when a vacuum is applied. I may have solved that problem by breaking up the potatoes into smaller bits, but that means I won't have nice big pieces of potato in the meal. Does anyone have a work around for this, or am I on the right track? Would dehydrated potato dices work better thanthe slices? Can the be rehydrated using a cozy?

Thanks for being patient with this noob.

[TwoSpirits]

Someone once suggested placing a bit of paper towel into the vacuum bag, to act as sort of a barrier between the sharp edges of the dried potato (or pasta, etc.). Obviously you'd remove the paper towel before cooking...and voilà! You have something to clean up with.

Haven't tried that yet with vacuum-sealing, but it sounds plausible.

[jefals]

I found these "sous vide" (French for "under vacuum") bags on Amazon. Look like 1 gallon zip-locs, but stronger. These are much easier to seal, and once you pump the air out, it stays out much better than other vacuum bags I've bought at the grocery store. I put the bag into a cozy before adding hot water -- otherwise it would be difficult to handle. They work fine. I haven't used them with potatoes, so not sure about that.

~~~~~
I have another question, tho, which would come under the "experimenting with meals" part of the title of your thread; Do you guys carry extra food? I'm not sure if I'm gonna cook, so I might carry a mountain house and a pack of jerky. Might also carry a tortilla and a pack of tuna. All so I can have a choice of those 3 things. Does anybody else do that?

[OCDave]

... They often puncture the bag when a vacuum is applied. ...

My vacuum sealer has a a manual over-ride to stop the vacuum early. It makes the foods easier to pack because they are not vacuumed board stuff but rather remain flexible. This also avoids the puncture problem you describe.

Good Luck

[MtDoraDave]

I have another question, tho, which would come under the "experimenting with meals" part of the title of your thread; Do you guys carry extra food? I'm not sure if I'm gonna cook, so I might carry a mountain house and a pack of jerky. Might also carry a tortilla and a pack of tuna. All so I can have a choice of those 3 things. Does anybody else do that?

I usually bring one extra meal, but it's the boy scout in me making sure I can eat if I get stuck somewhere due to injury, or if I run into someone who needs a meal due to critter pilferage or simply bad planning.
.
I have choices of meals until I'm down to one.

[MuddyWaters]

Maybe get heavier bags??

[movats]

I'm currently packaging dried meals in quart sized vacuum bags. For most things its working well as far as holding foods go. I haven't cooked with them yet, but will start that next week. I have experienced one problem when repackaging Idahoan sliced potatoes. They often puncture the bag when a vacuum is applied. I may have solved that problem by breaking up the potatoes into smaller bits, but that means I won't have nice big pieces of potato in the meal. Does anyone have a work around for this, or am I on the right track? Would dehydrated potato dices work better thanthe slices? Can the be rehydrated using a cozy?

Thanks for being patient with this noob.

I don’t understand, Lewis & Clark didn’t have this problem.

[RangerZ]

Someone once suggested placing a bit of paper towel into the vacuum bag, to act as sort of a barrier between the sharp edges of the dried potato (or pasta, etc.). Obviously you'd remove the paper towel before cooking...and voilà! You have something to clean up with.
Haven't tried that yet with vacuum-sealing, but it sounds plausible.

I wrap my dehydrated meals with sharp edges in a paper towel, like an envelope, and then put it into a vacuum bag. I haven’t had any puncture problems.

You up can also open the vacuum bags from the wide side, making it easier to spoon everything out.

[zelph]

I have experienced one problem when repackaging Idahoan sliced potatoes. They often puncture the bag when a vacuum is applied

Sort out the broken slices, use only the whole slices.