View Full Version : What container do you use to re-hydrate your food?
Okay, I know this may be elementary here. Take it easy on the noob.
I have a 750 ml titanium pot that I boil water in. And I have Korrs sides in a bag. What do you mix the two in?
Do you pour the Korrs into the pot? If so, how do you clean the pot for future use? I've seen one guy use a plastic spatula type of thing to get every last drop of food out of the pot, and then boil water in it to clean it.
I've heard people use freezer bags as well. Do you just throw those away after, or re-use?
Or is there some other type of device I am not aware of? I don't plan to spend the money on pre-made backing meals, which I know would solve the problem b/c their bag is big enough to rehydrate the food.
Uncle Joe
12-20-2017, 12:32
Freezer bag. You can toss them, recycle if your recycler permits, or you can clean them and re-use. I like keeping my pot clean.
lonehiker
12-20-2017, 12:35
I use bread and storage bags. They are thin but withstand the below boiling water that you will pour into them. Just make sure you protect them from sharp corners on packaged food. I keep them in a freezer zip-lock bag. I think the current ones I am using are Kroger brand.
TwoSpirits
12-20-2017, 13:24
I also like to only boil water in my Ti pot. I've tried "freezer-bag cooking" for rehydrating preparing various foods, but I don't really care for it -- it's just too awkward for me, and I've had leaks.
What I have been doing recently is starting out with a MH meal or two, then (after cleaning with just a little boiling water) using that package a few more times for either my own dehydrated meals, other freeze-dried meals repackaged from bulk, etc. The MH package is stout and sturdy and easy enough to clean enough to use several times.
Tipi Walter
12-20-2017, 13:31
I used to cook up Lipton Pasta-Sides (pasta-cides?? death by pasta??) all the time. Place pasta contents in cook pot. Add cold water. Bring to boil and stir all the time. Turn off stove. Stir one last time. Cover with pot lid and put in pot cozy for 30 minutes.
This is for evening dinner. Afterwhich I fill the dirty pot with water and leave in my tent vestibule to boil up for morning herbal tea. No point in cleaning the pot every night.
Turtle-2013
12-20-2017, 13:43
I boil the water in my TI Jet Boil ... add whatever I'm cooking ... then similar to Tipi I may turn it off, then back on to heat one more time after a few min, then cover and let set 10 or 15 min ... and it is ready to eat out of the pot. THEN when I get everything I can with my utensil, I have a scraper to get most of the rest ... when I get everything I can I put a bit of water in it to rinse, and wipe and dry it with a cloth I carry. Remember, next time it will be used I start by heating water to boiling sterilizing it.... Personally I don't like having to have the dirty plastic bags ... plus I don't like to have hot food in plastic anyway. Obviously this works for me, but, you need to experiment and see what works for you.
I boil the water in my TI Jet Boil ... add whatever I'm cooking ... then similar to Tipi I may turn it off, then back on to heat one more time after a few min, then cover and let set 10 or 15 min ... and it is ready to eat out of the pot. THEN when I get everything I can with my utensil, I have a scraper to get most of the rest ... when I get everything I can I put a bit of water in it to rinse, and wipe and dry it with a cloth I carry. Remember, next time it will be used I start by heating water to boiling sterilizing it.... Personally I don't like having to have the dirty plastic bags ... plus I don't like to have hot food in plastic anyway. Obviously this works for me, but, you need to experiment and see what works for you.
Your scaper, where did you source it? I think that is the way I am going to go. I, like you, don't really want to carry dirty ziplocks for multiple reasons.
I used to cook up Lipton Pasta-Sides (pasta-cides?? death by pasta??) all the time. Place pasta contents in cook pot. Add cold water. Bring to boil and stir all the time. Turn off stove. Stir one last time. Cover with pot lid and put in pot cozy for 30 minutes.
This is for evening dinner. Afterwhich I fill the dirty pot with water and leave in my tent vestibule to boil up for morning herbal tea. No point in cleaning the pot every night.
What about bears? Wouldn't that food reminients lead them right to your tent?
Tipi Walter
12-20-2017, 14:42
What about bears? Wouldn't that food reminients lead them right to your tent?
I concur with Lone Wolf in this and sleep with all my food in the tent vestibule. Not advisable for most people of course but it's worked for me for the last 40 years. YMMV.
Then again, think about it: We are human cheese sticks putting out a tremendous amount of bear-delectable odors while we sleep in our tents. Oh and we just ate a one pound dinner which is in a bag in our tents---in our stomachs. Don't think a bear can't smell all of us and all of the food inside us???
DownEaster
12-20-2017, 16:04
Your scaper, where did you source it?
I bought my GSI scraper at Amazon (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F0MHE6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1).
I concur with Lone Wolf in this and sleep with all my food in the tent vestibule. Not advisable for most people of course but it's worked for me for the last 40 years. YMMV.
Then again, think about it: We are human cheese sticks putting out a tremendous amount of bear-delectable odors while we sleep in our tents. Oh and we just ate a one pound dinner which is in a bag in our tents---in our stomachs. Don't think a bear can't smell all of us and all of the food inside us???
Not to mention the half pound of gas that is emitted all night long.
Your scaper, where did you source it? I think that is the way I am going to go. I, like you, don't really want to carry dirty ziplocks for multiple reasons.
No need to carry a specialized tool for this task.
My scraper is my long-handle ti spoon. (Sporks don't work well for this) After I cook and eat my meal out of the pot, I add a little water, scrape down the sides and bottom, and drink it. Add a bit more water, wipe down insides with my fingers, swish and sling into the bush. Wipe out inside with bandana. Repeat for breakfast, then wash well at a good water source.
L Dog
johnspenn
12-20-2017, 17:18
I use dutchwaregear,com Bowl Bags (https://dutchwaregear.com/product/bowl-bags/). Heavy duty food grade plastic, re-usable multiple times, flat bottom so it sits on the ground or a table top without spilling, inexpensive.
For cleaning I just add a little water and swish it around and drink it, then a little water and biodegradable soap, swish and dump it in a cathole or under a rock.
Sailor (The other one)
12-20-2017, 21:49
My wife, Mudpie, makes dehydrated one pot meals for us. Each meal is packaged individually. In the morning she selects one, adds water, and puts it inside an Opsak in one of her pack's side pockets. It re-hydrtates while we hike. We eat our big meal at lunch. Dump the re-hydrated meal in our pot, bring to a boil, stir and put pot in cozy. When we are done eating we give the pot to our dog, who gets out every last speck of food. Then I put water and Dr Bronner's in the pot, boil for a few minutes, dump it, rinse and done.
jimmyjam
12-20-2017, 22:23
Ziplock freezer bags. If I've got something like three bean chili I'll add cold water to it at lunch time to be sure the beans are soft by dinner and then just add a little boiling water. Other meals I'm just adding a cup and a half or two of boiling water to the meal in a freezer bag and wait fifteen minutes or so.
saltysack
12-21-2017, 02:47
I use dutchwaregear,com Bowl Bags (https://dutchwaregear.com/product/bowl-bags/). Heavy duty food grade plastic, re-usable multiple times, flat bottom so it sits on the ground or a table top without spilling, inexpensive.
For cleaning I just add a little water and swish it around and drink it, then a little water and biodegradable soap, swish and dump it in a cathole or under a rock.
Thx I’ve never seen this.....I’ve tried reusing ziplocks an MH bags but tough to clean due to the corners. I assume clean up simple without corners...
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gunner76
12-21-2017, 13:52
I also use the Dutchware bowl bags. Great item
Sarcasm the elf
12-21-2017, 14:05
While it's all a matter of personal preference, I use my jetboil pot. As others have recommended I put the dehydrated food and water in cold, bring it to a boil and let it sit for 5-10 minutes, the bring it to a boil again and stir, let it sit a few more minutes and eat. I like eating out of my cookpot better than trying to eat out of a plastic bag and find cleaning my cookpot easy enough to do on trail.
I tried the freezerbag cooking thing, but it just wasn't for me. It required too much otherwise unnecessary repackaging, took too much extra time to cook and never seemed to work well in the winter because it cooled too fast.
Turtle-2013
12-21-2017, 21:40
REI has them as well as many other places. I think the one I use is a MSR and has several different "edges", softer and harder depending on whether you need to scrape, or more like a soft rubber scraper. But I have picked up several over the years.
Your scaper, where did you source it? I think that is the way I am going to go. I, like you, don't really want to carry dirty ziplocks for multiple reasons.
Got one of these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RjviJ0AlVI
Tipi Walter
12-26-2017, 11:00
Got one of these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RjviJ0AlVI
I make my pot cozy out of cheap walmart blue foam cut to size and duct taped---
41298
My cozy is made from Tropical Cammy ripstop cotton, enveloping a layer of Insul-Bright. Works good. Weighs 56g.
41338
When I pack up my kit; my fuel canister, stove and lighter fit in my pot. Cover goes on, and pulling the drawstring tight holds it all together.
41339
How I made it with lots of photos here:
http://www.laughingdog.com/2014/04/backpacking-pot-cozy-v30.html
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I use a 900 cc pot and put my dehydrated or freeze-dried stuff into boiling water in my pot. I may then bring it back to a boil and/or simmer a bit, but then quickly put the pot into a Reflectix cozy so that it stays hot, it rehydrates fully, does not bottom burn, and saves fuel. Easy to eat, easy to clean a pot with no bottom burn with no soap. No freezer bag for me. A 750 pot would not be big enough for the way I like to cook and eat. YMMV
Dump the re-hydrated meal in our pot, bring to a boil, stir and put pot in cozy. .
That's exactly what we'e done for many years. Uses minimal fuel, minimal gear to carry.
nsherry61
12-30-2017, 22:02
I rehydrate meals in a variety of containers, depending on the food and my mood.
I often cook/reydrate in my pot (whatever pot I'm using for the particular trip) as noted above by others, often bringing the meal to a boil and placing in a cozy.
Another one of my favorite methods, which has not been mentioned in this thread yet, it a ziploc screw-top container (https://ziploc.com/en/products/containers/round/containers-twist-loc-small) or a generic equivalent. They are super light, water tight, and come in about three sizes. I have made cozies to fit whatever size ziploc screw top container I'm carrying, and that frees up my stove and pot to boil more water for drinks or other meals for other people. It's kinda like freezer bag cooking without the bag and, yeah, a bowl to clean up after.
These screw top containers also work well for cold soaking food, storing left-overs, if any, dipping water from shallow sources, dog bowls, etc.
On overnight trips, I will often just mix my dry dinner ingredients directly into the ziploc screw-top container carry it as an almost ready to eat dinner. Then, at dinner, I just add boiling water, stir, cap it, let it sit, then eat. . . super simple.
Another one of my favorite methods, which has not been mentioned in this thread yet, it a ziploc screw-top container (https://ziploc.com/en/products/containers/round/containers-twist-loc-small) or a generic equivalent.
These screw top containers also work well for cold soaking food, storing left-overs, if any, dipping water from shallow sources, dog bowls, etc.
Absolutely! I carry two 8oz Nalgene HDPE Wide Mouth Round Containers. One to carry olive oil, the other to rehydrate dehydrated veggies and beans. Real secure, screw-on tops. I usually put what I want for dinner in on one during a mid-day water stop, fill it with water and slip it into my pack. When it's time to cook, I dump the contents into my pot.
They weigh 38g each, so hard-core SUL backpackers don't even need to peek at em. But the expression "we pack our fears" applies. I fear olive oil spilling in my pack!
https://smile.amazon.com/Nalgene-HDPE-Mouth-Round-Container/dp/B001OPMG52/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1514729235&sr=8-2&keywords=nalgene%2Bhdpe%2Bwide%2Bmouth%2Bround%2Bc ontainer&th=1&psc=1
41357
Freezer bags. I. Not “doing dishes” in the woods.
I concur with Lone Wolf in this and sleep with all my food in the tent vestibule. Not advisable for most people of course but it's worked for me for the last 40 years. YMMV.
Then again, think about it: We are human cheese sticks putting out a tremendous amount of bear-delectable odors while we sleep in our tents. Oh and we just ate a one pound dinner which is in a bag in our tents---in our stomachs. Don't think a bear can't smell all of us and all of the food inside us???
The gas produced by the food in your intestines is what keeps the bears away, over powers the remnant food odors that would normally linger.:D
I re-hydrate in the pot.
I never liked using my jetboil pot, since it's sorta tall and narrow, and because of the anodized coating
but
I like eating out of a bag even less.
I have yet to try out my ti pot and brs stove.... but I think I'm going to like it more.
Something like a mountainhouse meal, I'm a little more likely to hydrate in and eat out of the bag, because the bags are a bit sturdier and self supporting. I especially dislike using ziplocks or the instant oatmeal envelopes.
Freezer bags. I. Not “doing dishes” in the woods.
I learned my lesson about trying to eat directly out of a ziploc freezer bag.
While eating my beef stew the bag slipped through my fingers and the contents went all over my lap, my camp clothes, which was all I had to sleep in.
I thought sure I’d attract every bear within five miles.
Since I heat water with a Traildesigns Caldera Cone and F Keg can, the whole unit comes with a plastic container that screws together in the middle. Either half accepts a quart size ziploc bag perfectly to hold your dinner.
traildesigns.com
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mtnkngxt
06-12-2018, 10:37
I use a 475ml Ti cup as my pot. I pour the water into my ziplock baggie and then put that in a cozy. I eat directly from the bag in the cozy.
AngryGerman
06-20-2018, 20:03
I too have found the freezer bag method taxing and prefer to cook in my Jetboil. I find the freezer bag method too messy for me for one and secondly I like some others have stated do not like boiling/hot water cooking my food in plastic.
I like Sarcasm the Elf, put my dehydrated meal and water in the pot, boil and then let it sit for a few minutes then bring back to a boil and usually ten more minutes the food is good to go. I do the same thing with mac and cheese and most other meals.
On a side note; I actually love the Mountain House meals and have been purchasing the big pales in bulk. Much cheaper than the two and three serving meals. You can get beef cubes and burger along with many other selections. The bulk Mountain House selections have definitely increased my meal options over the years. I've been known to pack out steaks and potatoes on resupply nights and boy is that good when you get to camp and get those babies going!
chknfngrs
06-20-2018, 21:01
Empty peanut butter Or pesto jar from Costco
Five Tango
06-21-2018, 17:24
I use a container like prunes or cottage cheese comes in with the snap on lid.It houses my SP600,Zelph Starlyte Burner with stand,and other paraphenalia associated with alcohol stoves.
Once the pot comes out the container is lined with a Ziplock freezer bag and the boiling water goes in the bag and the lid snaps on.I quit using a cozy as I cant tell much difference without it for the simple foods I eat which is mostly instant potatoes,Knorrs rice/pasta meals spiked with other ingredients.No washing dishes and it gets the job done.I hang the used bag with the food of course.
Empty white chocolate peanut butter jar. No cooking/hot water.
Ziploc quart size freezer bag. Cheap, effective, and I don't have to do dishes :)
Pour appropriate amts of Knorr Sides into 750 ml(if that's your pot size). Heat. Eat. No soaking required unless you're eating cold. As a heads up I find a 750 ml pot to be the smallest volume pot for a full size packet(4.4 oz) of Knorrs Sides and a bit of add ins(green onion, greens, tuna packet etc). Most hikers have a usable Ziploc or small stuff sack if needed for anything more. I'm trying to personally move away from Ziplocs/trail trash to get rid of on trail... and I tend to already have little trash. Between shoulders seasons I like to rehydrate- grow sprouts for added nutrients from a small amt of seed in a small hemp mesh bag hung off the back of the pack.
I don't particularly like to eat out of freezer bags UNTIL I discovered that quart sized bags fit perfectly in my 850ml pot. Once rehydrated I open the bag and pull the top around the lip of the pot. Just like eating out of the pot without any mess.
Just got these "sous vide" bags. Like a ziplok on steroids. made out of the safest plastics. they cone with a pump for vacuum sealing, if you want.
When it's dinner time, I put this bag with the food in it, in a cozy, then pour in the hot water.
You could rinse it out, and you can reuse...
DownYonder
06-22-2018, 20:42
Freezer bag cooked inside a pouch like the one Flake posted. I remove the bag and place in in my pot to keep it from spilling.
Freezer bags =best!!!!!
I do sometimes find that I need to use a cozy to put the freezer bags in to allow them to hydrate...
MtDoraDave
07-01-2018, 20:09
I use my ti pot. I got lucky, I guess, and bought a Stoic kit from backcountry.com on clearance. Looking at it from the outside, I can't tell a difference between it and the Toaks pots the same size, but mine has non-stick coating in them which makes cleanup a snap.
As has been said, once the food/water comes to a boil, shut it off and let it set (covered) for a while. Maybe turn the stove back for a bit (doesn't take long to bring back to a simmer) after about 5 minutes. Never burned the food to the bottom of the pot this way, so the pot cleans easily.
I, too, use the spoon/ water method to scrape down the sides, drink the "dishwater" (or soup), then I wipe it out the remaining residue with about two squares of toilet paper and put that in my trash bag.
I usually hang my pot with my food bag overnight.
Vargo Bot...for cold soak/stoveless
We always rinse out and drink.
Have always hung the pot with food in the food bag.
Two Tents
07-02-2018, 08:23
Vargo bot, the mug style. Cold soak and for over a fire or with Esbit.