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What is Freezer Bag Cooking?

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    • What is Freezer Bag Cooking?

      Even amongst the older crowd FBC is still very new for the trail. A little prep at home makes for an easy inexpensive meal on the trail with little clean up. Dry food from the grocery store and dehydrated meats can make a tasty meal with lots of diversity to deliver calories and carbohydrates. An Average FBC meal delivers 400- 500 calories per meal and weight is in the ounces. Please be careful as the bag must be Glad or a Freezer bag to avoid melting the plastic with hot water. Once the boiled water is added it is slipped into a matching Cozy for re-hydrating and simmering 10-15 minutes, in a well made matching size cozy with minimum checking, delivers a hot meal. In colder temps a thick Reflectix Cozy works best. Here are a few picked videos to give you some ideas to improve on your experiences.


      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • Years ago Kathy and I had our Thanksgiving dinner this way, sort of, the food wasn't dehydrated at all.
      Kathy picked me up at the airport 3AM, with our gear in the car, and we drove up to Harriman State Park arriving at 5AM. We napped in the car for a couple of hours and then hiked the mile of so into Fingerboard Shelter in the cool, pouring rain. We arrived as another hiker was packing up to leave and we wished each other a "Happy Thanksgiving". After another nap we decided to eat. Kathy had put an entire Thanksgiving feast into plastic bags; turkey, stuffing, mashed white potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and a couple of kinds of vegetables. She also had cranberry sauce in a plastic container and a jar of brown gravy. Then for desert there were slices of pies in plastic containers. There was so much that all of the bags wouldn't fit into our pot at the same time so we ate in courses.
      And of course after we ate we napped again. That's one of the best Thanksgivings I'll ever remember. Then we spent the next few days backpacking around in the park.
    • i did somthing similar for thanksgiving at blood mountain shelter years ago. turkey cooked at home, mashed potatoes and stuffing made on site, cranberries that slide outta the can, pecan pie slices in tupperware. makers mark. no one else in the shelter that night.

      edit: just noticed this is the freezer bag cooking thread. didn't cook in freezer bags. oh well.
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • There is some fear in dehydrating Turkey and Chicken in slices or small cubes - but if its cooked soaked in light soy sauce for acid and I have tried it the other way where it's uncooked - soaked in soy overnight and then put on the dryer and moved to a Vacuum sealed bag it appears to be mold and bacteria free for two weeks. you add boiling water inside and soak for moisture in the cozy for ten minutes - pour off excess water - might be a little bland. I haven't died yet. (you are cooking this twice in both examples) It will not hydrate fully-sorry for the TMI.


      Sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving on the trail!
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • Here's a freezer bag recipe that looks delicious. I found it on Willow's Benton MacKaye trail journal.

      Potato Leek Soup - single serving

      3 Tbsp powdered milk
      2 Tbsp powdered butter
      3 Tbsp freeze-dried diced potatoes
      1 Tbsp potato flakes
      1 Tbsp freeze-dried leeks
      2 Tbsp freeze-dried onions
      1 tsp dehydrated celery
      1/2 tsp himalayan salt
      1/2 tsp tarragon
      1/2 tsp black pepper

      "To reconstitute, I suggest adding 1/4 cup of water to the mix inside a ziplock bag about an hour before you plan to cook your dinner. Regardless of whether you do this, add at least 1 1/2 cups of water to the mixture and simmer under a lid for at least 10 minutes to give the potatoes time to cook. If too much water evaporates during this process, just add more water to suit your soupy preference. This is fabulous with bacon bits sprinkled on it just before you eat it!"
      -Willow
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      I have never tried cooking a freezer bag. How long does it take?
      I know you're kidding but freezer bags are just that, for freezing. Pour hot water in them and you are ingesting plastic volatiles. However judging by the popularity of this practice it must add to the taste as it can't be to save washing. Is there another reason?
      Yep, I use it to save washing and because it's easy. I'm interested in cooking in the backcountry but I've tried it a few times and it was a PITA. I couldn't control the flame on either my Jetboil or my alcohol stove and had to stir constantly, turn both of them off and reignite them several times. It's easier to boil water, pour it in a bag, and let it sit. And my coffee tastes much better in the morning.

      Since I use the FBC method less than 20 x/yr, I don't believe the risk from the "plastic volatiles" is significant.
      Lost in the right direction.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Traffic Jam ().

    • Blue Jay La Fey wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      I have never tried cooking a freezer bag. How long does it take?
      I know you're kidding but freezer bags are just that, for freezing. Pour hot water in them and you are ingesting plastic volatiles. However judging by the popularity of this practice it must add to the taste as it can't be to save washing. Is there another reason?
      I disagree - from experience.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • Well the overblown BPA thing is over - there point was it "may" affect young children. Feel free to find some hard science behind it... I am not going to look it up. - because the whole BPA thing was nothing more than a "news cycle" distraction a few years ago.

      Here is my take, I have never eaten lead - but I tested positive for lead in the blood when my doc checked the wrong square - its not life threatening... It came from solder joints in the old plumbing and eating lots of leafy greens, Spinach is a big culprit .. I bet I test positive for Mercury, apparently its in Tuna and other ocean catch.

      If you are going to worry about BPA or a little plastic in your food... you are in the wrong country.

      As Janet Nudelman of the Breast Cancer Fund told the Washington Post, “It doesn’t make sense to regulate the safety of food and then put the food in an unsafe package.”

      Read more: care2.com/greenliving/is-there…y-food.html#ixzz3WlevbOCj


      Lets get back to the thread,
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • I have tested the following bags, with Boiling water and hold times of 10-15 minutes

      Glad Bags (sandwich) (passed)
      Ziploc (sandwich) (suspect-wont close) - not a great result at 212°
      Food Saver - Best! used with a vac sealer
      Hefty Quick Zip

      (I will add more)

      FBC is

      Protects dry food from getting wet in your pack
      Cooks in bag
      Eat from bag - no mess - no clean up-pack out the trash.

      Simple Ideas - cooked and uncooked.

      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • Here is two person prep and take notice - not a lot of work or effort. I think I would have chopped the broccoli smaller. found it interesting he kept the burger gravel seperate, you find out he adds it first, instead of last vs the noodle.

      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup: