Freezer bag cooking

[Johnny Swank]

I'm going to give this a shot. The website is http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/

I've posted a little about this on my blog http://sourcetosea.net/Blog/Wanderings.html and I'll update it as I work out a few recipes.

Basically the plan is mix things up ahead of time in a freezerbag, pour in boiling water, pop the bag into a pot cozy of some sort, then let it do its thing. Not much different that what I already do with the exception of doing the actual soaking in the bag.

 

[oldsparkey]

Sounds like a good deal but makes me think it is a take off ( improvement) on the pre packaged camping meals where you just add hot water to them and then eat.

In this case you make the packages to your taste and size of the portions then add the water in camp. Light weight camping or should I say light weight food but heavy in flavor.

I have done the same thing with some of my camping chow but I will not get rid of my bakepacker ( Ultra Lite one ) http://www.bakepacker.com/ ..... I do like those pancakes which are about 1 1/2 inches high and 6 inches across.
The cornbread ( Martha White . Cotton Picking Cornbread , Just add water and cook) is not really to shabby , It is down right good , especially when served up on the side with some Hopping John. (Black Eye Peas, Rice, Onions and Canned Ham)

Again it is mix it up at home , Bag it , then cook it when out camping.

Speaking of cooking .... we have company coming over tonight so I better get in the kitchen and toss that turkey in the oven..... If we are going to have roasted turkey tonight with all of the side dishes.

Chuck.

 

[Johnny Swank]

It's one of those deals where you trade time for money. If I get off my arse this weekend and package a few of these things together, then I save $ on the trip. Not to mention, the food will be better.

Now the kink is, my main sponsor for this shindig is throwing Clifbars and food if I want it. I'm not a big fan of either, but free is free. I'll probably split the difference and make about half my meals ahead of time, toss in a few freeze dried (uggh) meals for later in the trip when I quit caring what I eat. There's a couple of towns I'll past by and will likely grab lunch/dinner there as well.

I've got a Bakepacker, but I'm usually moving around too much to use it. I get bored as hell in camp and am usually paddling/hiking till dark. The thing works great though.

 

[oldsparkey]

I've got a Bakepacker, but I'm usually moving around too much to use it. I get bored as hell in camp and am usually paddling/hiking till dark. The thing works great though.

This is what keeps the world spinning around on it's axis.

When we paddle it is just the reverse, we get up after the rooster is chasing the hens, then get a fire going, sit back and enjoy a leisurely breakfast or one of Jacks power bars. Break camp and get on the water around 10 at the soonest.

Paddle (after taking a lot of sand bar breaks) to around 2 or 3. Locate a campsite, pull off the river and set up camp.
Then it is firewood time, locate it and stock up for the night. I usually start supper for us at this time, unless we are doing some dead cow or pig parts over the fire with potatoes wrapped in foil on the fire. Then it is some strong drinks and snacks time with BS flowing very free.

It just depends on how we feel or don't want to rush things... Darn we even stay in a good camp for a day or two ... that is when the cooking gets serious ....

Add all of the stuff to the Dutch oven, let it cook all day and then get fat, happy and sassy after supper. YES... We do snore a lot when we are in the tents or hammocks but that is what makes a trip for us. No rush, no fuss, no hurry, no (to use a double negative) Nothing but a good time.

We have paddled from an exhausting distance of 2 miles and sometimes about 7 or 8 miles, just depending on the campsites we locate.

Don't get me wrong .... we have paddled from the morining into the late hours of the night and that was NO FUN. Now days we do not do that , NO SIR ... NO WAY.

We call it Geezer Paddling...... Can you say .. RELAXING We busted our Arses all of our lives :twisted: ... Not any more , retirment is great and we are not in a hurry , except at chow time or cocktail hour with all the snacks. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

John,

When my late wife would go fishing (she LOVED to fish) we would return t the dock, find a kid, and she would give the fish to the kid. A nearby Dad would be saying a weak, "Thanks" through clenched teeth. I snickered, but never where the Dad could see me. Same technique may work with extra health bars?

I like the ones I make from the recipe I sent you, but finally get tired of them. I try adding different spices - cinnamon, apple pie spice, vanilla, etc. Also, different dried fruit-type stickies - dates, raisins, cherries (my favorite), papaya, cranberries, etc. It's all good for us, and tastes a bit different. Dry roasted peanuts and jerky add more variety and are good for us too.

Then, of course, I suppose one could eat a real, decadent meal now and then.

And, I just returned form the local Kroger store - no corn flour. Will try the local food co-op; they have lots of off the wall-type items.

In supermarkets and local Asian stores, i find lots of good, prepackaged soups. Some are pretty tangy (read HOT) and so add a flair to an otherwise droll menu.

 

[oldsparkey]

Geezer Paddling an Camping

We always have someone or a couple of someone's with coolers on our trips. This helps out because then we can go overboard on the meals.

In the middle of the Everglades, half way thru a 10 day trip I made a Chiefs Salad, Deviled eggs, garlic potatoes, steaks and a bunch of veggies with a dip for them.

Did the same thing in the Okefenokee Swamp ... Turkey, Dressing, Chilled cranberry sauce, gravy, garlic potatoes, veggie snacks and a dip for them a meal that you would get at any good restaurant.

On the St.Mary's River for my 60th birthday, Swampy did a double layer chocolate, double chocolate cake when the meal was done and it was something else, Pork steaks over a grill, sweet potatoes, butter, sour cream and all of the sides a person would want.

All of that chow sure beats what I have when paddling solo ... beans an rice with fresh fish. Now and then a steak and hash browns with onions and garlic or something else I dream up here at the house and take with me.
I do like to cook an eating isn't half bad either. :lol:

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I'm wondering, if the foods here should be sealed in the vac-pack bags with a food saver? I do think, that once boiling water is added, a Ziploc-type bag would be wanted to seal it in case a bag of water and food fell over on a side.

Maybe, pack it in a Ziploc bag, then seal that inside a vac-bag? That provides water & odor proof protection. John, is that overkill?

 

[Johnny Swank]

Freezer bags by themselves don't work worth a damn as far as just holding them. Most folks keep them in the cozy things when they're eating.

What I'm going to do is make a cozy for the pot and put the freezer bag in that. (boil water, pour in bag, put bag back in pot). That way I not tied down to just prepared meals packed in ziplocks but can just buy rice and noodles along the way, bring them to a boil, then put the pot back in the cozy and let them "simmer".

That's pretty much what I do now - stir everything together in cold water in the pot, add just enough alcohol to the stove for however long I think it'll take to boil, light the stove, then go do some other stuff. Eventually I remember to eat and everything's ready. It's like magic!

One thing I think people make too much of a deal with is the lack of cleaning with the freezerbag method. The only problem with that is that you have to drag funky ziplocks around till you get to a trashcan. Since I started using alcohol stoves I rarely burn anything, so cleaning with a handfull of sand or leaves takes all of 2 minutes (I don't use soap). The less smellables (except for me) the better as far as critters go. I'm not worried about the big critters (bears, gators,etc) - it's the little bastards that are a pain in the ass (mice, squirrels, coons)

As far as clifbars go - hey, I don't turn down food. Free is free, and they'll get eaten. I will admit that we gave away about 25 bars during the Missisippi trip after a month or so. We couldn't look at them without gagging.

 

[oldsparkey]

Johnny

I will have to try your zip-lock cooking on one trip. When I go out by myself hiking I use the alcohol stoves, either the Trangia or a home made one out of beer cans. I like the home made one a lot better. http://www.pcthiker.com/pages/gear/peps ... ruct.shtml

For a single person cooking I found them to be really nice. One of the little stoves and a titanium pot will do some good single person meals.
I fill up a cough syrup bottle (got it from the drug store , the new ,empty, bottle cost $.50 ) with the alcohol. It sure beats carrying a gas stove and the extra gas, a lot less weight and a lot smaller package to pack.

My buddies were razzing me about the home made alcohol stove so on one river trip for three days I used them to cook for three of us. We had a gas stove but never used it. Now each of them have one of the home made ones to use.

Chuck

 

[Kayak Jack]

Good ideas. John, in one of your emails you mentioned straining pasta and boiling water through the bottom of a milk jug with holes in it. So, I cleaned and cut a plastic, gallon jug. While it was sitting in the drainer drying, I noticed a mesh bag nearby.

Got wondering, has anyone tried pouring pasta and hot water through a mesh bag? A bit easier to carry, but would need braced so hot water goes where you want it to go and not where you don't want it.

For washing dishes - I still use soap and hot water - I put washed dishes into a mesh shopping bag. One person then holds the loop handles of the bag while another pours boiling water over the dishes to rinse and sterilize them. Then the mesh bag hangs up for dishes to air dry.

 

[Johnny Swank]

I tried the mesh bag thing a few times, but it seemed like more of a pain in the butt than it was worth. The mesh got funky pretty quick.

That reminds me - I need to cut up another milk jug. Thanks!