View Full Version : Foods that will kill you at room temp
If you asked me this morning, I would have bet $1000 that eating mayonaise left at room temperature for a long time would make you sick. Then I stumbled across this:
http://www.cainsfoods.com/faqs.cfm
Looks like Mom didn't know everything after all.
I am wondering what other foods I grew up thinking had to be refrigerated really don't have to be.
Butter is safe at room tempature. And it spreads a little easier. :)
What foods don't have to be refrigerated, and how long will they last. That would be a great article if someone knew where the info was, and it's accuracy. I have a lot of meal ideas, but don't know if they are safe for backpacking.
shelterbuilder
10-10-2007, 18:52
If you asked me this morning, I would have bet $1000 that eating mayonaise left at room temperature for a long time would make you sick. Then I stumbled across this:
http://www.cainsfoods.com/faqs.cfm
Looks like Mom didn't know everything after all.
I am wondering what other foods I grew up thinking had to be refrigerated really don't have to be.
Mom wouldn't let me go swimming for an hour after I ate, and if I had tried to, SHE would have killed me....
Butter is safe at room tempature. And it spreads a little easier. :)
So if I run out of Olive Oil, and the market on the trial I am at only has the butter sticks, they are perfectly safe to carry?
Mother's Finest
10-10-2007, 18:54
informative reading.
notice how they avoid using the word Poo in relation to food poisoning???
peace
mf
shelterbuilder
10-10-2007, 18:58
So if I run out of Olive Oil, and the market on the trial I am at only has the butter sticks, they are perfectly safe to carry?
If I recall correctly, butter only goes rancid in the presence of oxygen, which is why the old-style french butter pots worked so well. As long as you can keep most of the oxygen away from it, butter keeps long enough to use it.
And I believe eggs are safe too. I know someone who safely kept eggs unrefrigerated for 8 weeks by spreading petroleum jelly on the shell to prevent air from penetrating the shell. To test the eggs before cooking, wipe off the petroleum jelly and place in a glass of water. If the egg sinks to the bottom of the glass, the egg has not spoiled due to air entering the shell. Of course, this is probably not much use to a hiker but it worked well for the boater who used this on an extended voyage.
The Minnesota Department of Health mentions a number of foods that can be kept without refrigeration, including butter, during power outages:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fs/powerout.htm
Thanks for the link - interesting reading.
Jack Tarlin
10-10-2007, 19:05
I often try to leave town with frozen meat in my backpack, usually beef.
By dinnertime, it's thawed sufficiently for cooking, and the fact that it hasn't been refrigerated for up to 12 hours doesn't seem to do it any harm. Just double ziplock it to prevent leaking, bleeding, etc).
(If you do this, keep in mind that chicken and fish need to be used up sooner than beef or pork!)
I've also done this with cooked non-frozen food, including leftover steak, pizza, burgers, etc. If properly ziplocked, the fact that they've been out of a fridge all day won't hurt you.
You wanna drive people crazy? Pull a bag of Whoppers out of your pack at the end of the day and start chowing down.
Other stuff that I've carried includes hard-boild eggs, cheeses of all sorts, including cream cheese, lasagna (I carried around 9 pounds outta Janet's once and started at Springer once with a piece twice the size of a Frisbee. The newbies thought I was insane).
Oh, and ignore the "warning" on squeeze butter. It's fine outta the fridge for weeks.
If you asked me this morning, I would have bet $1000 that eating mayonaise left at room temperature for a long time would make you sick. Then I stumbled across this:
http://www.cainsfoods.com/faqs.cfm
Looks like Mom didn't know everything after all.
I am wondering what other foods I grew up thinking had to be refrigerated really don't have to be.Mom was no fool. 25 years ago the mayo at room temperature would have sent you to the bowl for sure. The manufacturers now acidify all those type egg based products. With the pH lowered, most self respecting bacteria won't live in it. Yum, Yum, eat up.
Midway Sam
10-10-2007, 19:14
If I recall correctly, butter only goes rancid in the presence of oxygen, which is why the old-style french butter pots worked so well. As long as you can keep most of the oxygen away from it, butter keeps long enough to use it.
Nope, butter can sit out in the open with no risk of going rancid. The trouble arises when someone uses a knife to spread butter on toast or bread and then inadvertently transfers bread crumbs into the butter when going after a "second helping" of butter. The bread crumbs mold and then things go downhill from there...
Frozen beef is an important first meal and goes well with instant potatoes and red wine. Egg beaters, with cheese and Canadian bacon on English muffins work well for the first breakfast. Quesadillas with different cheeses and foil-packaged chicken works well on subsequent nights. Pancakes and sausage work well for the second breakfast. Watching other hikers watching us feast while they eat instant oatmeal, ramen or cup-a-soup - priceless.
Here you go, you just need a French butter keeper...
http://clayconnection.com/history_frenchbutterdish.html
shelterbuilder
10-10-2007, 19:23
Frozen beef is an important first meal and goes well with instant potatoes and red wine. Egg beaters, with cheese and Canadian bacon on English muffins work well for the first breakfast. Quesadillas with different cheeses and foil-packaged chicken works well on subsequent nights. Pancakes and sausage work well for the second breakfast. Watching other hikers watching us feast while they eat instant oatmeal, ramen or cup-a-soup - priceless.
You have a wonderful, wickedly warped sense of the appropriate - I like you.:D
Midway Sam
10-10-2007, 19:24
Nope, butter can sit out in the open with no risk of going rancid. The trouble arises when someone uses a knife to spread butter on toast or bread and then inadvertently transfers bread crumbs into the butter when going after a "second helping" of butter. The bread crumbs mold and then things go downhill from there...
Upon further review of the facts, the above commentary is hereby retracted. Please excuse me while I go find my friend who told me otherwise and force feed them all my rancid butter...
The Minnesota Department of Health mentions a number of foods that can be kept without refrigeration, including butter, during power outages:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fs/powerout.htm
Thanks. That answered a couple of questions I've had.
Rain Man
10-10-2007, 21:18
Egg beaters, with cheese and Canadian bacon on English muffins work well for the first breakfast..... Watching other hikers watching us feast while they eat instant oatmeal, ramen or cup-a-soup - priceless.
Why egg beaters, when you can take fresh eggs, and watch other hikers drool as you crack open the eggs and drop 'em in some sizzlin' butter?!
There are a couple of threads on here about how to treat eggs so they stay good for up to several weeks.
Rain:sunMan
.
Why egg beaters, when you can take fresh eggs, and watch other hikers drool as you crack open the eggs and drop 'em in some sizzlin' butter?!
There are a couple of threads on here about how to treat eggs so they stay good for up to several weeks.
Rain:sunMan
.
We used to carry real eggs, but when we started in the more rocky areas of VT and NH, we started falling more...
Appalachian Tater
10-10-2007, 21:41
There is at least one error on that Minnesota DOH website. For instance, whipped butter is just regular butter, whipped with air, and will keep just as long as regular butter without refrigeration if it melts.
Many older people do not refrigerate butter or eggs. They keep longer at cooler temperatures, though.
And I have a hard enough time eating a jar of mayo before it starts to have that slightly off smell keeping it in the fridge!
What foods don't have to be refrigerated, and how long will they last. That would be a great article if someone knew where the info was, and it's accuracy. I have a lot of meal ideas, but don't know if they are safe for backpacking.
I agree it would be a great idea for an article, but I wouldn't want to be the poor scribner. WB is full of people with differing ideas. For example, some people filter their water, while others chemically treat their water and still others never do either. An article about what foods are safe without refrigeration vs. what cannot be without refrigeration would be more fodder for debate.;)
Jim Adams
10-10-2007, 22:22
marinate the steak before you wrap it in foil and freeze it. it you put it in a ziploc and then stuff it in the middle of your pack inside of your jacket or sleeping bag it will last for a few days.
cook it in the foil over coals
if you cook this on the third day out...CARRY A GUN!
you will be attacked by other hikers with ramen hanging out of their mouths.
geek
Butter is safe at room tempature.
For some reason my wife won't believe me on this one. To me she, seems almost paranoid about keeping food in the fridge at times. I've had to spend a lot of time away from home lately while I'm finishing my masters degree and I think she would be freaked out that I've often kept mayo and block cheese in my backpack (ok, its a laptop bag) or in my car for 4 or 5 days. The cheese just gets a little greasy when its in the 90's, but is still fine.
Appalachian Tater
10-10-2007, 22:34
Actually you're supposed to keep hard cheese cool but not near freezing--remember cheese is ALIVE. If your refrigerator has different temperature zones, it should be in the warmest one. Really hard cheese like cheddar can be kept around 50-55 degrees. And the mold won't hurt you, just don't eat that part.
People also don't realize you can freeze butter, milk, hard cheese, and even eggs. I can only use a half gallon of milk before it goes bad so I freeze the other half. Butter keeps better frozen if it's airtight.
Monkeyboy
10-10-2007, 23:07
Eggs do not need to be refrigerated. We only started doing that here in the US back in the 60's, and that was only to decrease the risk of salmonella.
You still buy eggs over in Australia right off the unrefrigerated shelf....
Monkeyboy
10-10-2007, 23:09
You also do not need to refrigerate ketchup after opening.....
Look on the bottle yourself......nowhere on it will you see "refrigerate after opening".
Last year I picked up a pound of smoked trout from Cloud 9 on my way through Hiawasee, it was frozen, and lasted about four days in my pack till it was gone, and never went bad. Yum! Shared little pieces with drooling hikers one evening :)
I agree it would be a great idea for an article, but I wouldn't want to be the poor scribner. WB is full of people with differing ideas. For example, some people filter their water, while others chemically treat their water and still others never do either. An article about what foods are safe without refrigeration vs. what cannot be without refrigeration would be more fodder for debate.;)
Yeah, good point. It seems to be too open to debate. I bet if you asked a profesional, they would tell you that you have to keep Cream Cheese refrigerated. People on this site have proven that you can carry it in your pack. Too much liability I guess. When it comes to food, no one wants to give a definite answer. That's why everything says keep refrigerated.
Why egg beaters, when you can take fresh eggs, and watch other hikers drool as you crack open the eggs and drop 'em in some sizzlin' butter?!
There are a couple of threads on here about how to treat eggs so they stay good for up to several weeks.
Rain:sunMan.
Fresh eggs remain good for several days even in the warmest of climates. In the woods of Maine in the spring and fall they remain good for at least a week without any special coatings. If anything most coatings hasten spoilage, rather than prevent it.
Hens evolved so that eggs remained fresh for at least a dozen days so they could be layed one at a time until a sufficient number became available for incubation and hatching.
Until 50 years ago, eggs were commonly kept on grocery shelves unrefrigerated in rural towns. I've bought eggs on sale and kept them in a cool hallway for at least a month.
Weary
Jester2000
10-11-2007, 00:40
If you asked me this morning, I would have bet $1000 that eating mayonaise left at room temperature for a long time would make you sick.
Mayo used to be a bad idea, but the modern version is fine, and actually helps keep other things in good shape. I love mayo, almost as much as I like cheese.
If you ever want to see just how many things don't need to be refrigerated, spend some time in Ireland, where many people have a fridge that looks like the kind people have in dorms.
As for squeeze margarine, I have to say it's the only packaging I've ever seen where refrigeration isn't required -- it's only recommended.
I think I remember reading somewhere that modern mayo actually never goes bad. It may discolor and not taste good, but it is still safe to eat. Maybe not indefinately, but a very long time past the date on the container. Maybe I saw it on the history channel on one of their shows about how stuff is made or something.
Appalachian Tater
10-11-2007, 01:00
Hens evolved so that eggs remained fresh for at least a dozen days so they could be layed one at a time until a sufficient number became available for incubation and hatching.
Don't fertile eggs have to be kept warm almost from the time they are layed?
I lived on my boat for a while and found refrigeration takes up too much battery power to be worthwhile. Basically, I found refrigeration is highly overrated. The only things that wouldn't keep without refrigeration were milk, raw chicken, hamburger and pork. Stuff sold on the shelves of supermarkets doesn't need to be refrigerated, condiments, pickles, juice and the like. Things that lasted a while if just kept cool in the bilge were eggs, cheese, and butter, and whole cuts of beef (not hamburger meat) and lunch meet will keep for a few days.
shelterbuilder
10-11-2007, 06:54
Evaporative cooling also works well for foods that like to be cool, but not cold. There are countless variations on this theme, but basically, you wrap the food in a wet cloth and as the water evaporates, it tends to cool down whatever it wrapped inside. Just continue to keep the cloth wet. (In a permanent base camp, a large terra cotta pot could be used instead of cloth.) Because of the physics involved, this system tends to work better in places that have high temps and low humidity.
Toolshed
10-11-2007, 09:34
I read an article about 10-15 years ago about a study that showed that food left out that were coated with Mayonnaise did not spoil as quickly as uncoated foods. I remember very specifically the article mentioned chicken salad - It also mentioned something to the effect that a turkey sandwich with mayonnaise would not spoil as fast as one without. I always use mayonnaise on my sandwiches now!!! :D
Fiddleback
10-11-2007, 11:10
The bottom line is refrigeration merely slows down spoilage, IMO. Don't refrigerate your food and it will spoil sooner; refrigerate the food and it will last longer. But it's all just a matter of time. Food does not spoil immediately and many foods are safe to take on the trail especially when they start off cool/frozen or when they are sealed, either in the manufacturer's wrap or Nature's own.
Of course the other bottom line is that refrigeration has moved us further away from the enjoyment of truly 'fresh' food. Grocery stores and suppliers make a big deal of providing fresh food...often having meats and produce on the counter within a couple days of 'harvest.' Then we go home and keep it in the 'fridge for a week or two...:-?
Keep it out of the sun/heat, keep it covered and protected from flys and such, and be careful not to contaminate it with utensils, other food, 'dirt', etc., and food will last a long time. And if mold and bio slime do appear, cut if off the surface...like a good cheese or a nicely aged steak.:D
FYI, the last time our whipped butter sees refrigeration is at Safeway...it's never refrigerated at home. My grandparents stick butter was kept on the table, not in the 'fridge. My parents were different, however. But that's another story for another forum...:rolleyes:
FB
Upon further review of the facts, the above commentary is hereby retracted. Please excuse me while I go find my friend who told me otherwise and force feed them all my rancid butter...
Try clarified butter, doesn't need to be refridgerated.
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/131/Clarified-Butter
Don't fertile eggs have to be kept warm almost from the time they are layed?
When I used to keep a few hens for home use, every once in a while one would hide away on me and after three of four weeks she would emerge with a dozen chicks, all the same age. which suggests to me that somehow she didn't start incubating them until she thought she had enough for a clutch of chickens.
Whether she kept them warm between egg one and egg 12, I can't really say. But I suspect not.
We also once had a pet duck, who didn't realize the value of males in the baby business. One day she disappeared. A year later we found her body still sitting on 22 then rotten eggs.
BTW, since we are talking about eggs. The only good poached egg comes from snatching the egg from under the hen within minutes of it being laid. Slid carefully into just boiling water it remains an almost perfect oval, whites and yoke in one compact unit. Like corn on the cob picked from a garden only after the cooking water is boiling, truly fresh eggs are never duplicated by the store bought versions.
Weary
lightning
10-11-2007, 15:11
we used to carry eggs on our summer trips.
they were rather warm and protected in the pack.
on day 33, they turned into pet hiking chickens.
now we have the best of both worlds. ;)
Appalachian Tater
10-11-2007, 18:57
When I used to keep a few hens for home use, every once in a while one would hide away on me and after three of four weeks she would emerge with a dozen chicks, all the same age. which suggests to me that somehow she didn't start incubating them until she thought she had enough for a clutch of chickens.
Whether she kept them warm between egg one and egg 12, I can't really say. But I suspect not.
We also once had a pet duck, who didn't realize the value of males in the baby business. One day she disappeared. A year later we found her body still sitting on 22 then rotten eggs.
BTW, since we are talking about eggs. The only good poached egg comes from snatching the egg from under the hen within minutes of it being laid. Slid carefully into just boiling water it remains an almost perfect oval, whites and yoke in one compact unit. Like corn on the cob picked from a garden only after the cooking water is boiling, truly fresh eggs are never duplicated by the store bought versions.
Weary
That's weird if they go into some kind of suspended animation until she starts brooding.
Wikipedia says this, for what that's worth:
At the end of the incubation period, which is an average of 21 days, the eggs (if fertilized) will hatch, and the broody hen will take care of her young. Since individual eggs do not all hatch at exactly the same time (the chicken can only lay one egg approximately every 25 hours), the hen will usually stay on the nest for about two days after the first egg hatches. During this time, the newly-hatched chicks live off the egg yolk they absorb just before hatching. The hen can sense the chicks peeping inside the eggs, and will gently cluck to stimulate them to break out of their shells.
I would trust Wikipedia more than this religious chicken life cycle website, which omits entirely the act of fertilization and just says a hen needs a husband to have fertile eggs. I would think that the fertilization is too important to merely allude to when discussing this topic, Jesus or no.
http://www.mwt.net/~hobbyfarm/chicken.htm
Rift Zone
10-17-2007, 02:02
Food spoilage exactly translates into biological contamination. How you handle your food will matter more than its temperature. I've had tubs of sour cream last me 5 days of 100deg heat. Cheese and butter fare equally well. Raw meats seem to come equipt with their own demise so no amount of "proper handling" will do them any good -i'll cook them as soon as practical. Mayo? Perhaps this is social conditioning talking but i dont trust the stuff... I'll stock up on the little packets of mayo when I can.
Appalachian Tater
10-17-2007, 02:28
Sour cream and yoghurt are already spoiled but can grow some funky mold.
nitewalker
10-17-2007, 05:33
this post isnt about the spoiling of food but it is about that eric estrada logo for appalacian tater.. i laugh my a$$ off everytime i see that finger pointing at me....too funny...................nitewalker
camojack
10-17-2007, 07:25
Mayo? Perhaps this is social conditioning talking but i dont trust the stuff... I'll stock up on the little packets of mayo when I can.
Exactly; I've gone that route before...I got the mayo packets at a fast food place. They'll keep forever...
Mayo is fine, it is just social conditioning. You can get Mayo in standard size tube-like packs nowadays, so you can just squirt and not worry about contamination.
minnesotasmith
10-17-2007, 09:19
1) Pints or quarts of MILK, frozen solid the night before. Wrap them in two (2) layers of plastic (ziploc or Wal-Mart shopping bags, either works), and they'll stay cold all day, even in the hottest weather.
2) Quarts or half-gallons of orange juice. A/A, but due to the low pH of OJ, are safe to drink well into the second day, even after reaching room temperature.
I well remember veteran hiker Matthewski expressing good-natured envy at my having COLD milk with dinner at the first shelter north of the Blueberry Patch hostel in Hiawassee... :D Hey, I DID share it with him.
Flush2wice
10-17-2007, 09:26
Fertile eggs can be stored for 10 days before incubation. After that hatch rates go down. Ideal conditions to store eggs that you plan to incubate- 55-65 degrees at 70-80% humidity. So that means you can carry eggs in the shade of you pack for weeks. Egg shells have a protective coating so don't wash them and try not to handle them too much. I doubt coating them with Vaseline does any good.
If Lightning's story is true about hatching eggs in his pack after 33 days - it would have been a miracle. Incubation takes holding the eggs between 98 and 102 degrees for 21 days. They also require specific humidity and proper ventilation. They have to be rotated regularly and the fat end needs to be up after 12 days. Hens do this naturally.
(I have a flock so I've done some research)
We keep butter in the cupboard. I don't know how long it takes to spoil because it gets eaten. A hiker can easily go through a pound of butter in a week. It would take a lot longer than that to spoil. It's a whole lot better than Parkay squeeze stuff. The problem is keeping fresh butter from getting all over everything.
Mayo comes in hiker-friendly squeeze bottles but I'm not sure what I would put it on. Maybe with pouch tuna?
minnesotasmith
10-17-2007, 09:34
I always get it WITHOUT the "added Calcium". That raises pH, so it won't last as long without refrigeration. Second, I strongly suspect that's done primarily for OJ that's a bit past its prime, so IMO you'll likely get better-quality juice on the average if you pass up the "with Calcium!!!!" juice.
I make plenty of use of powdered milk while hiking, plus carry Calcium supplement pills, and try to drink a half gallon of (skim!) milk a day when in trail towns, so am not at all worried about losing out on the Calcium in the supplemented OJ.
Gray Blazer
10-17-2007, 09:38
this post isnt about the spoiling of food but it is about that eric estrada logo for appalacian tater.. i laugh my a$$ off everytime i see that finger pointing at me....too funny...................nitewalker
Is that Eric Estrada? I thought it was Tom Jones. It wigs me out.
minnesotasmith
10-17-2007, 11:13
I used to raise exotic finches (small birds) in my house, so this is first-hand experience from dozens of clutches involving hundreds of bird eggs.
Finches typically lay ONE egg a day until they're done, then begin brooding (sitting, keeping eggs warm to incubate them) in earnest. The most common # of eggs in a clutch was 4-5, but six was not rare, and one pair laid eight one time. Hatch rate for fertile eggs exceeded 75%.
Draw your own conclusions about how long eggs will stay fertile ("good") at room temperature.
Appalachian Tater
10-17-2007, 11:36
Well, since incubation periods range from less than two weeks to almost three months, depending on the species, I'm not sure what this is telling us.
And it is neither Erik Estrada nor Tom Jones. It is Francis Llwellyn Poncherello, aka "Ponch".
On my section this last summer, Some hikers came to the shelter and proceeded to pull out a nalgene with a couple of dozen eggs, sans shells, in it. He merely poured out as many yokes as he needed at that time and we all enjoyed fried egg sandwiches with cheese on english muffins. YUMMMM!! so you can carry fresh eggs on the trail without worrying about breakage, just break them open before hand and transport them in a nalgene. Of course, I would plan on eating them first day out.
Appalachian Tater
10-17-2007, 11:54
Eggs will keep for weeks in the shell but I would not carry shelled eggs for more than an hour unless they were frozen. That's a really good way to get Salmonella poisoning. Read #9 here (http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/EggSafety.htm).
Just because you saw somebody jump off a bridge, would you jump off a bridge? ;)
On my section this last summer, Some hikers came to the shelter and proceeded to pull out a nalgene with a couple of dozen eggs, sans shells, in it. He merely poured out as many yokes as he needed at that time and we all enjoyed fried egg sandwiches with cheese on english muffins. YUMMMM!! so you can carry fresh eggs on the trail without worrying about breakage, just break them open before hand and transport them in a nalgene. Of course, I would plan on eating them first day out.
What??? No canadian bacon?? Egads!! :eek:
What??? No canadian bacon?? Egads!! :eek:
YES they had the canadian bacon too!!! IT was GREAT!!
Eggs will keep for weeks in the shell but I would not carry shelled eggs for more than an hour unless they were frozen. That's a really good way to get Salmonella poisoning. Read #9 here (http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/EggSafety.htm).
Just because you saw somebody jump off a bridge, would you jump off a bridge? ;)
Salmonella, as with all bacteria infections,comes from undercooking food. As long as everything is cooked through ie: no runny yokes, you'll be fine.
YES they had the canadian bacon too!!! IT was GREAT!!
Well, that's a relief. How about pancakes and sausage for the second breakfast? Our meals kind of go downhill after the second day, but there is always plenty of good dry food available without having to go too plain.
Fahrenheit
10-17-2007, 18:11
Other stuff that I've carried includes hard-boild eggs, cheeses of all sorts, including cream cheese, lasagna (I carried around 9 pounds outta Janet's once and started at Springer once with a piece twice the size of a Frisbee. The newbies thought I was insane).
If I recall, I had a piece of that lasagna on Springer along with a beer that you also carried up. Definately one of the best meals I've had on the trail.
Odd Man Out
10-18-2007, 12:21
When I was in high school, I was over at a friend's house where my friend's mom was making us sandwiches for lunch. She asked what we wanted on the sandwich. I asked for butter and my friend asked for mayo. She got the butter out of the fridge and commented on how hard it was to spread the butter. I said that at our house we always kept the butter in a dish on the table so it is easy to spread.
She was horrified. "Everyone knows butter will spoil at room temperature", she said. I assured her that we always keep butter at room temperature with no problem.
She then proceeded to get the half-empty mayo jar out of the cupboard.
I was horrified. "Everyone knows mayo will spoil at room temperature", I said. She assured her she always keeps mayo at room temperature with no problem.
I pondered this event for six years until (while in grad school) I had my own apartment for the first time. I then bought a jar a mayo and used it intermittently for six months, always keeping it in the cupboard.
I lived
Fiddleback
10-19-2007, 09:32
Exactly; I've gone that route before...I got the mayo packets at a fast food place. They'll keep forever...
To be more precise, the mayo will keep 'forever' if the packet remains air tight. I was organizing and doing inventory on my fast food packets of 'stuff' collected over the past few seasons and found two or three mayo packets swollen to the point they looked like they were going to pop. Would I eat those? Uh-uhh. Now I'm left with the concern, "Have the other's leaked and not swollen yet?" I'm starting over with my collection of mayo packets.;)
Keep your food clean (no cross contamination from utensils, cutting boards or dirty hands), keep it protected from bugs, and minimize its exposure to air...and it will last a surprisingly long time. Keeping it cool/out of the sun also will slow down the process of spoiling. Refrigeration does all of those things...similarly, it slows down, but does not stop, spoilage.
FB
Every food item has a shelf life - even those sealed in "air-tight" containers. Over time, air does get into "air-tight" containers including foil pouches.
Appalachian Tater
10-19-2007, 20:28
Refrigeration retards the growth of many organisms and extends the life of even stuff like mayo and ketchup and eggs that don't require it. I keep packs of mayo and ketchup in the fridge. If one went bad I would toss all of the ones I got at the same time unless there was a visible breach of the packaging. If a jar of mayo is just a little odd smelling around the inside of the jar I chuck it. A $2 jar of mayo isn't worth getting food poisoning, even if it's the 24 hour kind.
Something else to think about is that if you take ten packs of mayo and one is bad and you make a big bowl of potato salad and it sits out cooling for an hour before you stick it in the fridge, you now have a giant bowl of contaminated food instead of one pack of contaminated mayo. Same thing for a big bowl of raw eggs if one is bad.
Jester2000
10-19-2007, 21:04
Mayo comes in hiker-friendly squeeze bottles but I'm not sure what I would put it on.
Everything, baby, everything. And then throw some cheese on top.
AT-HITMAN2005
10-21-2007, 15:05
squeeze butter/margarine is wonderful for mac and cheese.
minnesotasmith
10-22-2007, 04:42
squeeze butter/margarine is wonderful for mac and cheese.
SatFat is worse than useless. Carry olive oil instead.
Phoenix Rising
10-22-2007, 05:35
Try clarified butter, doesn't need to be refridgerated.
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/131/Clarified-Butter
Beeman-
I’m glad to see you brought this up… but unlike your link, according to Ayurveda, Ghee (India’s version of clarified butter) is completely safe to keep at room temperature (has been centuries). I even know a number of people here in Phoenix who keep it out of the fridge with no a/c in the summer (yes there are some who don’t ever use a/c even when it’s 115 or hotter) and have never had a problem with it. To make it: use unsalted butter, melt it on low heat, until golden and making no noise while boiling, take it off the heat and strain the liquid into a jar. It will smell and taste sweet and can be added to anything or even eaten straight from the spoon.
Phoenix Rising
they do make 8oz milk packets (like juice boxes) that don't need refrigeration untill after opened.
another option is soymilk (also available in handy 8oz packets)
http://www.silksoymilk.com/Products/SilkSoymilkShelfStable.aspx
i'm a big fan of the chocolate soymilk.
one supplier of shelf stable milk
http://www.organicvalley.coop/newsroom/article.html?cat=1&id=419
Appalachian Tater
11-01-2007, 14:40
You can get shelf-stable milk and juice "bricks" at any decent-sized grocery store. It even comes in six-packs with little tiny sharp straws, they market it for kids.
Be careful with those straws, get a kid to show you how to use it the first time so you don't stab your hand.
You can get shelf-stable milk and juice "bricks" at any decent-sized grocery store. It even comes in six-packs with little tiny sharp straws, they market it for kids.
Be careful with those straws, get a kid to show you how to use it the first time so you don't stab your hand.
lol
i was a kid once and remember quite well how to handle the little straws.
I used these little handy packs the last time I hit the trail in my potbaked corn bread, and my omelet.
Appalachian Tater
11-01-2007, 18:17
lol
i was a kid once and remember quite well how to handle the little straws.
I used these little handy packs the last time I hit the trail in my potbaked corn bread, and my omelet.
Well, they didn't have those things when I was a kid. That little foil spot looks like it would easily catch the point of the straw but it doesn't, let me assure you, and that straw is a lot sharper and stiffer than it looks and it hurts. I'm surprised they allow kids to play with those things.
Have you considered powdered milk so you don't have to carry the liquid weight? If you don't dilute it fully and are cooking with it instead of drinking it plain, it's not so bad.
Those juice box things are adult proof. Makes quite a mess when you smush the box.
From the Scientific American Cyclopedia of Formulas copyright 1910 by Nunn & Co., Inc.
http://www.alpharubicon.com/primitive/eggstoragereport.htm
The best method:
Coated with Vaseline and kept in lime water: all good.
Ed Garvey, in his The New Appalachian Trail (1997), stated "I can't leave the subject of eggs without passing on a method of keeping eggs fresh for incredible lengths of time without refrigeration. Here's how: immerse a fresh egg in boiling water for just five seconds--not five minutes but five seconds. It will then keep for weeks without refrigeration.
Do they make SPAM in a tube?
Do they make SPAM in a tube?
Haven't seen SPAM in a tube, but in individual foil packs. http://www.spam.com/eatspam/varieties.aspx
shelterbuilder
11-02-2007, 13:04
Haven't seen SPAM in a tube, but in individual foil packs. http://www.spam.com/eatspam/varieties.aspx
Yeah, across the aisle from the tuna, crab, and salmon in a foil pouch at Wally World.