Freeze Dried Food for the Trail

imported
#1

I am planning my menu for the JMT this summer and part of my strategy is to bring several Backpacker’s Pantry Freeze Dried Meals from REI. However, they do not fit in a bear canister. My strategy is top carry them inside my backpack, but packed insde an odor-proof plastic back and then transfer them to a similar “trash bag” that I will keep inside my bear canister. That way no odor will be spilled at all (I also will try to clean the wrapping as much as I can.) If a ranger ever asks me for my canister, I will gladly produce my Bearikade, while my freeze dried meals will remain in the bottom of my backpack until they are needed.What do you guys thing about that?

Patronio

#2

I ran into a similar problem trying to get everything into the can for two of us. How about repackaging the food into ziplocs so every nook is filled then you may get all of it in the can. That is unless you plan to cook in the bags the meals came in.

BW

#3

I was planning on doing the same thing for my JMT hike last year until someone turned me onto this book. The methods suggested here will same you money and a bunch of space. I ressupplied at Reds and MTR. I did add one REI meal at each resupply just to change things up even more.

Google the book title: “travel light, eat heavy”

Mike O.

#4

Just take your FD meals and repackage them into quart freezer bags. Do this just before leaving for your trip. You don’t need to use the original bags they come in. Freezer bags work just dandy for “cooking” in.

If you would like a lot of easy to do and light recipes, visit my website: www.freezerbagcooking.com We have a lot of sections on recipes but also on technique. This can save you a lot of money and space in your pack.

sarbar

#5

This sounded interesting so I looked up one of the websites for the freezer bags and it said on it that the freezer bags were not made to handle boiling water and shouldn’t be used that way (paraphrasing).

I assume you have never had trouble with this but I was surprised to read that after looking at your site.

Tuco

#6

We repackaged the FD meals for hiking in the Sierras. I just dumped the contents of the foil pouches into plastic sandwich bags just before we left for the JMT. I boiled water in my pot and dumped in the contents of the baggie and let it boil a while, then turned off the stove and let it sit some more. I found that the meals needed extra time boiling on the stove at the high elevations in the Sierras anyway. Just adding boiling water and letting them sit never seemed to make everything tender enough. Getting rid of the FD pouches made it possible to fit 4 days worth of food for 2 people in one bear cannister.

Yes, you need to clean the pot, but we always follow up the FD meal by boiling water for instant soups (also dumped out of the cardboard cups into sandwich baggies, then made in our mugs). That cleaned the pot.

There is an art to packing a bear cannister - Read this before you start:

http://www.pcta.org/planning/before_trip/health/canistercare.doc

Turtle Walking

#7

Freezer bags are not designed to submerged in boiling water. The warnings you see are aimed at people who use freezer bags to prepare “Omelets in a bag”. In that case, the bags sit parked in full boiling water for up to 20 minutes.

When you prepare meals in freezer bags, your water is at boiling. By the time you pour your water, it is below water. The bags though are rated for microwaving leftovers-and the heat of steam can often exceed boiling temps. Often though, if you are using an alcohol stove, you never reach a full rolling boil as well.

I have a blog entry of my site that talks about this more in depth, and also touches on concerns about chemical leaching (name brand freezer bags are Dioxin free). Freezer bags are food grade plastic.

As an option for those trying to fit a lot of food into a canister, you might look into Food Vac’s. You can squeeze a LOT of food that way. It also seals your meals from oxygen, keeping freeze dried foods fresher over a long period. These bags are rated food grade, and can handle being submerged in water for long periods of time even.

sarbar

#8

That all makes sense. I will try that out. Sounds like a good way to save space. I’ll also check your site for that info.

Tuco