View Full Version : Freezer Bag Lipton Sides
envirodiver
01-16-2008, 23:51
Ok, I give up. I've tried to freezer bag cook these things with the wide noodles and had no success. I've used the amount of water they call for and it makes soup. I've halfed the water and it has the right consistency but tastes half cooked. Can these be done with feezer bag and cozy? I've left them for as long as 23 min. in the cozy.
Nearly Normal
01-17-2008, 04:00
Follow the directions on the package.
gearfreak
01-17-2008, 07:45
Follow the directions on the package.
Where on the package did they make mention of a freezer bag and cozy?
bulldog49
01-17-2008, 08:18
Ok, I give up. I've tried to freezer bag cook these things with the wide noodles and had no success. I've used the amount of water they call for and it makes soup. I've halfed the water and it has the right consistency but tastes half cooked. Can these be done with feezer bag and cozy? I've left them for as long as 23 min. in the cozy.
I've had the same problems as you. Can't get those noodle mixes to cook using the freezer bag method.
The following is what I do / recommend for Lipton's/Knorr Sides:
1. use 1.5 cups of water to 1.75 cups of water
2. use a cozy that really holds the heat - I use one made of an old army CCF pad that works well
3. always put a good slug of olive oil in just before adding the hot water
4. always stir will after adding hot water
5. wait about 22 minutes for noodle dishes and about 30 minutes for rice dishes with the cozy closed up
Toolshed
01-17-2008, 08:50
Can't cook a Lipton Side Dish in a freezer bag???
Some of us have been doing it for more than a decade.....
If it is easier, forget the freezer bag. Place the Lipton Side Dishes pouch between 2 rocks or something else that will hold it in place, Rip the top off and Dump 1.5 cups of boiling water right into the Aluminized pouch and stir gently to get the powder out of the bottom cracks. Clip the top together for 8-12 minutes and then eat it.
If you are using older bags with a few pinholes, then dump it into a freezer bag. and follow the above.
If you are still having problems then give up and get off the trail cuz you 're either obviously a metrosexual who demands the finer things or you're a halfass.. :sun
Mrs Baggins
01-17-2008, 08:58
I'm sorry......have we all not heard of POTS????!!!!!! We cooked ours in a POT and ate from the POT. Kept them hot and cooked them exactly like the package SAYS to cook them! You won't carry a POT that has to be cleaned but you WILL carry multiple freezer bags that have to be disposed of????? And in case you haven't noticed, those bags are meant to be filled with a food, sealed up and then dunked into a POT of boiling water - - not to be used INSTEAD of a POT!
bulldog49
01-17-2008, 09:05
Can't cook a Lipton Side Dish in a freezer bag???
Some of us have been doing it for more than a decade.....
If it is easier, forget the freezer bag. Place the Lipton Side Dishes pouch between 2 rocks or something else that will hold it in place, Rip the top off and Dump 1.5 cups of boiling water right into the Aluminized pouch and stir gently to get the powder out of the bottom cracks. Clip the top together for 8-12 minutes and then eat it.
If you are using older bags with a few pinholes, then dump it into a freezer bag. and follow the above.
If you are still having problems then give up and get off the trail cuz you 're either obviously a metrosexual who demands the finer things or you're a halfass.. :sun
Maybe halfasses like yourself like eating half cooked food, (see the symmetry there) but using your method definitely wont fully cook the noodles.
I've had the same problems as you. Can't get those noodle mixes to cook using the freezer bag method.
Me too!!
I tried it but it usually came out half cooked. So, I gave it up. I thought that a cozy and freezer bags were just not worth the effort for my simple evening (or morning) meal. Plus I didnt want to haul around the used freezer bags after I ate out of them. At least for me, the simpler cooking and eating out of my small MSR kettle was much easier-and tastier:cool:
windigrrl
01-17-2008, 09:29
I heat up more water than I need, then measure out the amount I want for my noodles and put it in the bag. Mix it up and then put the bag back into the pot with what is left of the hot water. I might heat the water in the pot one more time while the noodles are cooking. they always seemed cooked to me. BTW always use freezer bags, they're stronger.
gearfreak
01-17-2008, 09:32
Me too!!
I tried it but it usually came out half cooked. So, I gave it up. I thought that a cozy and freezer bags were just not worth the effort for my simple evening (or morning) meal. Plus I didnt want to haul around the used freezer bags after I ate out of them. At least for me, the simpler cooking and eating out of my small MSR kettle was much easier-and tastier:cool:
Agreed! Personally, I'd rather carry an extra fuel canister at +/- 6 oz. and have the flexibility to cook as well as boil water. :D
Thoughtful Owl
01-17-2008, 09:45
Can't cook a Lipton Side Dish in a freezer bag???
Some of us have been doing it for more than a decade.....
If you are still having problems then give up and get off the trail cuz you 're either obviously a metrosexual who demands the finer things or you're a halfass.. :sun
Wow, glad I didn't ask the question! LOL
Agreed! Personally, I'd rather carry an extra fuel canister at +/- 6 oz. and have the flexibility to cook as well as boil water. :D
That is one way. Having an alcohol stove that simmers so as not to have to lug around freezer bags and cozy was one of the reasons I decided to go back to my trusty 'ole trangia. The minuscule amount of alcohol it consumed simmering seemed, for me at least, to 'underweigh' the need for the freezer bag stuff already mentioned. Plus I kind of enjoy lounging around and 'cooking' my mixture of whatever.
envirodiver
01-17-2008, 12:05
Can't cook a Lipton Side Dish in a freezer bag???
Some of us have been doing it for more than a decade.....
f you are still having problems then give up and get off the trail cuz you 're either obviously a metrosexual who demands the finer things or you're a halfass.. :sun
Who died and made you the judge of who is what and what is right? What made you feel that you had to respond to this post at all. I asked if folks had a solution to a problem that I was experiencing. Some were kind enough to offer suggestions...then there were the jackasses like yourself that just want to criticise and be a jerk. I could care less what you think about me cause you're obviously someone that I don't care to be around anyway.
Go take a hike...alone.
saimyoji
01-17-2008, 12:31
I've cooked them on the trail and had no problems. Of course, I was so hungry I don't think I'd have noticed if they weren't perfectly cooked.
I'm sorry......have we all not heard of POTS????!!!!!! We cooked ours in a POT and ate from the POT. Kept them hot and cooked them exactly like the package SAYS to cook them! You won't carry a POT that has to be cleaned but you WILL carry multiple freezer bags that have to be disposed of????? And in case you haven't noticed, those bags are meant to be filled with a food, sealed up and then dunked into a POT of boiling water - - not to be used INSTEAD of a POT!
Huh? Freezer bags are freezer bags. If you are talking about simmering bags of food in water you are thinking of items like Food Vac and Seal A Meal Bags. This is not the same thing.
As for Lipton side dishes, sure I know people who do it. It works for them. Do I do it? No. For a fraction of the cost I can make my own version with a 1/4 of the sodium ;)
As for carrying multiple bags out, well, unless you pack all your food in cloth or paper bags pot cookers do this as well. Nearly everyone I have ever seen cooking in the backcountry uses bags to carry food in. Some of us also happen to eat out of them as well. Dual purpose in a sense.
Can't cook a Lipton Side Dish in a freezer bag???
Some of us have been doing it for more than a decade.....
If it is easier, forget the freezer bag. Place the Lipton Side Dishes pouch between 2 rocks or something else that will hold it in place, Rip the top off and Dump 1.5 cups of boiling water right into the Aluminized pouch and stir gently to get the powder out of the bottom cracks. Clip the top together for 8-12 minutes and then eat it.
If you are using older bags with a few pinholes, then dump it into a freezer bag. and follow the above.
If you are still having problems then give up and get off the trail cuz you 're either obviously a metrosexual who demands the finer things or you're a halfass.. :sunDude, what's up with the attack when the man just asked a question? No need to get nasty about it. Just answer his question and move on. Name calling and putting someone down just because they do something different than you is just plain wrong. Get a grip man.
envirodiver
01-17-2008, 12:44
........
I simply can't do freezer bag cooking. I must be sensitive to the plastic, cause I can taste it in my food. YUCK! I do use an alcohol stove. I add the noodles to the water, in my pot, then bring it to a boil. I leave it till I run out of fuel, then put the whole pot, with lid, in my cozy that I made just for that pot. Works every time. Rice dishes take a little longer than noodle dishes.
SlowLightTrek
01-17-2008, 12:47
I've cooked them on the trail and had no problems. Of course, I was so hungry I don't think I'd have noticed if they weren't perfectly cooked.
I'm the same way. Actually I started liking pasty noodles.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
01-17-2008, 12:49
Knock off the dispersions about people's character and sexuality based on freezer bag cooking - go hiking instead.
I, too, have found the boiling water plus cozy method less than satisfactory for Lipton meals with wide noodles. I prefer a pot for flexibility in what I cook. I'm hauling a pot around anyway for coffee (don't even tell me that's not necessary - a dino without coffee is dangerous - two dinos without coffee could require calling out the national guard).
While I understand that some really hate to clean pots while hiking, this just doesn't bother me
homebrew
01-17-2008, 13:02
:sunThese were my food staples on the trail. Light weight and just add water.
Just follow the directions on the package-but what I did is only hold the boil for about 1-2 mniutes (save fuel) and then put the lid on my pot and let it sit for 10 minutes while I took care of other around camp things. Remove the lid , add some hot suace and eat. The noodles always came out done. the other thing I did was add a 3 oz. salmon pack for extra protien and omega's. mmmmm-good.
take-a-knee
01-17-2008, 13:04
I just made a cozy for my MSR 0.85 Ti pot from 1/4in Oware sleeping pad foam (evazote?). I tested it at home the other day, 16oz of boiling water in the pot, placed inside the cozy and covered with a dish towel (use your watch cap on the trail), the water was HOT to the touch two hours later (inside my kitchen, it'll be less on the trail of course) I'll bet this would cook just about anything short of beans. You are scavenging a lot more BTU's with a pot cozy than with the FB method, without burning any more precious fuel.
SlowLightTrek
01-17-2008, 13:17
I think maybe the key with the noodles is to bring the water to a boil. Pour in the noodles, which cools the water off so if you can bring the temp back up to 212 they will come out semi normal. This is just a theory.
bulldog49
01-17-2008, 14:05
I think maybe the key with the noodles is to bring the water to a boil. Pour in the noodles, which cools the water off so if you can bring the temp back up to 212 they will come out semi normal. This is just a theory.
I think you're on to something there, SLT. I'm going to try that.
dessertrat
01-17-2008, 14:09
When you're half blind with hunger, half cooked noodles taste pretty good. . . that being said, I second the motion that you actually cook them in a pot and eat them out of a pot. That way you can simmer them, and add stuff, and etc.
envirodiver
01-17-2008, 14:49
When you're half blind with hunger, half cooked noodles taste pretty good. . . that being said, I second the motion that you actually cook them in a pot and eat them out of a pot. That way you can simmer them, and add stuff, and etc.
That may be the answer to cooking this particular item. I sure do like the ease and no clean-up of freezer bag cooking though. It's nice when you are making dry camps and saves a bit of water.
I have done them in a bag, bag in a cozy, and they are not the same as couple minute boil, then poured into the bag.
Pasty is the best I have come up with.
Appalachian Tater
01-17-2008, 19:42
Stuffing works well with hot water poured into the bag it comes in. Doesn't even need to be boiling.
Nightwalker
01-17-2008, 20:00
Ok, I give up. I've tried to freezer bag cook these things with the wide noodles and had no success. I've used the amount of water they call for and it makes soup. I've halfed the water and it has the right consistency but tastes half cooked. Can these be done with feezer bag and cozy? I've left them for as long as 23 min. in the cozy.
Cut the water by 2 ounces and leave in the cozy for 15 minutes while you set up camp. Works for me every time.
Cook in your pot. Boil water for coffee. Scrape inside of pot with spoon. Drink scrapings with water. What's the big deal about freezer bag cooking? It doesn't work too well for me, either.
Save a plastic tree. Eat out of your pot! Don't be a fad weenie.
I think maybe the key with the noodles is to bring the water to a boil. Pour in the noodles, which cools the water off so if you can bring the temp back up to 212 they will come out semi normal. This is just a theory.
That's why I add my noodles to the water first, then bring to a boil. Works for me.
Grumpy Ol' Pops
01-17-2008, 22:36
I use these Lipton/Knorr sides both at home and on the trail, and all I do is put the proper, i.e., the quantity as in the instructions, amount of water, about a teaspoon of Butter Buds, and one-third cup of powdered milk into my pot. The cooking time is reduced by as much as half this way. I assemble all the dry ingredients into the individual Lipton bags at home before hitting the trail, being sure I reseal the foil pack tightly. The idea of adding tuna, shrimp, crabmeat, chicken, etc., from a foil pack after cooking the pasta adds a little more excitement to one of the dullest meals.
The cozy isn't needed this way, and you eat the meal right out of the pot. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom as much as possible while eating to get as much out of the pot prior to cleaning.
I realize this has nothing to do with plastic bags, but I have a thing about plastics and plasticizers when heat is applied to them. Yes, I have a pot to clean when cooking, but many years ago I learned that it can be done easily with a handful of dirt or sand rubbed briskly around the dirty surfaces of the pot and then a small amount of water to rinse the pot. This also saves disposal of all that non-biodegradable plastic!
envirodiver
01-17-2008, 23:04
Cook in your pot. Boil water for coffee. Scrape inside of pot with spoon. Drink scrapings with water. What's the big deal about freezer bag cooking? It doesn't work too well for me, either.
Save a plastic tree. Eat out of your pot! Don't be a fad weenie.
Freezer bag cooking saves about 8 min. or more of fuel per meal. It works very well for everything I've tried except these Lipton sides.
Not a fad, just a better idea. Not for you, fine don't do it. Boil your water for coffee in your cookpot, with the leavings of your meal. I could care less, just not for me.
I'd rather boil enough water for tea and my meal, pour the hot water into the bag and put in cozy, sip my tea (w/ clean water) while it cooks.
Skidsteer
01-17-2008, 23:11
Freezer bag cooking saves about 8 min. or more of fuel per meal. It works very well for everything I've tried except these Lipton sides.
Not a fad, just a better idea. Not for you, fine don't do it. Boil your water for coffee in your cookpot, with the leavings of your meal. I could care less, just not for me.
I'd rather boil enough water for tea and my meal, pour the hot water into the bag and put in cozy, sip my tea (w/ clean water) while it cooks.
Spend your time on the coozy. Therein lies the secret to FBC.
Lipton's are easy.
Yes, indeed...the cozy can make the difference. Enviro.....do they have Jo Ann's fabric shops out East? Or any large fabric chain. Go look for Insul Bright material. It is what I use in my cozies. The fabric works about the best I have found over the years.
And as for being a fad: I didn't invent FBC cooking by any means. People have been doing it as long as there have been bags and easy to cook food around. All I did was create hundreds of recipes and spread the gospel ;) And yes, there is something nice about having a hot cup of herbal tea with no floaters of mac & cheese in it :D
Nearly Normal
01-18-2008, 06:40
Where on the package did they make mention of a freezer bag and cozy?
Exactly.
For my cozy, I went to the dollar store and bought one of those silver covers for your windshield, the ones that keep the sun out. Works fantastic. that and duct tape will get you a good meal. It's starting to get a bit ragged after three years, but still works like a charm.
hmmm, you are suppose to be on the road :D
For my cozy, I went to the dollar store and bought one of those silver covers for your windshield, the ones that keep the sun out. Works fantastic. that and duct tape will get you a good meal. It's starting to get a bit ragged after three years, but still works like a charm.
I did the same thing but for a round pot put flat one in first then the long one cover pot with the other i also use a wool hat with draw string.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/th_potcozy.jpg (http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/oops62/stoves%202/potcozy.jpg)
Strategic
01-18-2008, 11:20
Yes, indeed...the cozy can make the difference. Enviro.....do they have Jo Ann's fabric shops out East? Or any large fabric chain. Go look for Insul Bright material. It is what I use in my cozies. The fabric works about the best I have found over the years.
And as for being a fad: I didn't invent FBC cooking by any means. People have been doing it as long as there have been bags and easy to cook food around. All I did was create hundreds of recipes and spread the gospel ;) And yes, there is something nice about having a hot cup of herbal tea with no floaters of mac & cheese in it :D
I'm with both you and Enviro on that one Sarbar, and I was a reluctant convert to FBC. I'm a serious cook at home and it took a while to get over the urge to simmer and tinker with food on the trail while it's cooking. I also have health problems that mean I must be careful of disease, so the whole washing pots thing is dubious for me at best, whereas FBC is not (though that is, of course, a reason most people don't have.) Still, I'm no fan of floaters either, in any place they don't belong.:D
I'd looked at the InsulBright stuff for cozies, but wasn't sure about either r-value or durability. I've actually been using something recently that works pretty well though, Reflectix insulation sheet. It's at most large home improvement stores (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) in rolls, which can be a bit pricey since you only need a small amount, but I used the rest for pipe insulation around the house. It's basically heavy-duty bubble wrap with aluminized surface sheets, flexible and very durable, with an r-value of about 6 for a single layer. I made a two-layer pouch cozy very much like yours (and the bags themselves), including the bellows bottom so it folds flat but stands on it's own, taped up with high-temp aluminized tape. Weighs almost nothing and has a very high r-value. Definitely my current favorite for this application.
One other quick suggestion, Enviro, on what's not working for you; try excluding as much air as possible before you close the cozy over the bag. I don't just mean the bag, either (though that's very important) but the Cozy too. Large pockets of air help to create cooling effects that can cut back thermal efficiency and might be causing some of your problem. Just a thought.
SlowLightTrek
01-18-2008, 11:56
The idea of using sand/dirt to clean your pot actually works pretty well. I tried it once with great success. Then I started thinking that perhaps someone took a leak on the sand I just used to clean my pot. I tried using a small piece of scrubby pad. It worked pretty good too but the scrubby was always greasy and nasty and perhaps making my pot dirtyer than before I started cleaning it. So I came up with the idea of using a piece of stick to scrape the sides of my pot. Usually half-way biodegraded ones work the best because they will form to the curvature of your pot.
take-a-knee
01-18-2008, 12:10
The idea of using sand/dirt to clean your pot actually works pretty well. I tried it once with great success. Then I started thinking that perhaps someone took a leak on the sand I just used to clean my pot. I tried using a small piece of scrubby pad. It worked pretty good too but the scrubby was always greasy and nasty and perhaps making my pot dirtyer than before I started cleaning it. So I came up with the idea of using a piece of stick to scrape the sides of my pot. Usually half-way biodegraded ones work the best because they will form to the curvature of your pot.
A mesh citrus fruit bag like they sell oranges and grapefruits in makes the best scrubbie, it doesn't hold crud, it can be sanitized by boiling, and it weighs about nothing. You can also make a carry bag from one for your cook kit.
I'd looked at the InsulBright stuff for cozies, but wasn't sure about either r-value or durability. I've actually been using something recently that works pretty well though, Reflectix insulation sheet. It's at most large home improvement stores (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) in rolls, which can be a bit pricey since you only need a small amount, but I used the rest for pipe insulation around the house. It's basically heavy-duty bubble wrap with aluminized surface sheets, flexible and very durable, with an r-value of about 6 for a single layer. I made a two-layer pouch cozy very much like yours (and the bags themselves), including the bellows bottom so it folds flat but stands on it's own, taped up with high-temp aluminized tape. Weighs almost nothing and has a very high r-value. Definitely my current favorite for this application.
It is a lot more durable than it appears to be :) (Though the Reflec is good stuff). Some of the reasonss I like Insul Bright is that it is flexible, packable and washable - it is also breathable. It is made in the US as well. From testing I have done it works on par with the Reflec. material for holding heat in.
I am making a tent liner out of it currently for my winter camping. That will be its biggest test!
A mesh citrus fruit bag like they sell oranges and grapefruits in makes the best scrubbie, it doesn't hold crud, it can be sanitized by boiling, and it weighs about nothing. You can also make a carry bag from one for your cook kit.
This works great!
NICKTHEGREEK
01-18-2008, 16:50
Can't cook a Lipton Side Dish in a freezer bag???
Some of us have been doing it for more than a decade.....
If it is easier, forget the freezer bag. Place the Lipton Side Dishes pouch between 2 rocks or something else that will hold it in place, Rip the top off and Dump 1.5 cups of boiling water right into the Aluminized pouch and stir gently to get the powder out of the bottom cracks. Clip the top together for 8-12 minutes and then eat it.
If you are using older bags with a few pinholes, then dump it into a freezer bag. and follow the above.
If you are still having problems then give up and get off the trail cuz you 're either obviously a metrosexual who demands the finer things or you're a halfass.. :sun
Seems just the opposite to me, you don't have to have a hugely refined outlook on food to want to eat something just a bit more refined than lipton sides cooked in a plastic bag. :D Regardless, enjoy!
I tried the boiling water right into the Lipton bag approach once. It works in warm weather. It may release the "chemicals added to packaging to preserve freshness", though. That, and waste, are my major disagreements to using freezer bags. They offer convenience, that's about all - until you poke a hole in the corner of one trying to get at the still-dehydrated contents. The approach I use now is to add the meal to my pot just as the water boils, boil it a couple of minutes, then take the pot off the stove and put it into my POT cosy (cozy, coozy, whatever). Since I filter my water before cooking it, I don't have to boil it for some disproportionately long time, and since I usually only go out on weekend section hikes, I don't feel the need to thoroughly clean my pot and cup until I get home. Saves bags and time (not to mention frustration of leaky bags). I don't like the thought of eating leached out chemicals. Until I see scientific evidence to the contrary, I'll still suspect that you eat plastic compounds released by heat by using the boil-in-a-freezer bag method.
envirodiver
01-18-2008, 22:21
I tried the boiling water right into the Lipton bag approach once. It works in warm weather. It may release the "chemicals added to packaging to preserve freshness", though. That, and waste, are my major disagreements to using freezer bags. They offer convenience, that's about all - until you poke a hole in the corner of one trying to get at the still-dehydrated contents. The approach I use now is to add the meal to my pot just as the water boils, boil it a couple of minutes, then take the pot off the stove and put it into my POT cosy (cozy, coozy, whatever). Since I filter my water before cooking it, I don't have to boil it for some disproportionately long time, and since I usually only go out on weekend section hikes, I don't feel the need to thoroughly clean my pot and cup until I get home. Saves bags and time (not to mention frustration of leaky bags). I don't like the thought of eating leached out chemicals. Until I see scientific evidence to the contrary, I'll still suspect that you eat plastic compounds released by heat by using the boil-in-a-freezer bag method.
First you don't have to boil water a disproportionately long time to disinfect it. Most in the know agree that temps around 170 degrees kill everything so just bringing it to a boil does the job and if you boil for several min. you're all good. Yet you're willing to take a chance on bacterial problems by not properly cleaning your POT. Seems odd to me.
Regarding the waste/trash of the freezer bags, What do you carry the food out in? If you carry it in original packaging that is waste, if you put it in a ziplock , what's the difference in cooking in it. Regarding plastic compounds...I'll take my chances on that suspicion vs. knowledge of bacterial problems with food waste in a pot. The chemicals included to preserve freshness are still there if you pour it into a pot.
Last, don't use a fork when freezer bag cooking, use a spoon. Forks are sharp, spoons are not. Most people would figure that part out on their own.
First you don't have to boil water a disproportionately long time to disinfect it. Most in the know agree that temps around 170 degrees kill everything so just bringing it to a boil does the job and if you boil for several min. you're all good. Yet you're willing to take a chance on bacterial problems by not properly cleaning your POT. Seems odd to me.
But what if you wipe out your pot of any food particles with your spoon and whatever else? (fingers, maybe?) Then, when you heat up your pot next time would it not kill all the bacterial nasties?
:-?
envirodiver
01-18-2008, 23:37
Perhaps, but with respect to solids, it would probably have to be long enough to penetrate the solid with a kill temperature. So yes I would think it it probably would.
Monks the world over have been licking out their soup bowls and spoons for centuries, and I haven't heard of any epidemics so far.
take-a-knee
01-18-2008, 23:41
Monks the world over have been licking out their soup bowls and spoons for centuries, and I haven't heard of any epidemics so far.
I suspect epidemics among monks would be rather limited.
envirodiver
01-18-2008, 23:43
Monks the world over have been licking out their soup bowls and spoons for centuries, and I haven't heard of any epidemics so far.
Well I stand corrected then
Monks the world over have been licking out their soup bowls and spoons for centuries, and I haven't heard of any epidemics so far.
Ya sure? Food poisoning was pretty common back in the day for ANY group. The Monks might have escaped it if they didn't eat meat and ate solo. Worst case is the sharing of utensils and cooking pots (which they would have done most likely). Everyone's drool getting mixed together causing a bacteria soup. Yum!
(And why do people get "hikers quickstep" on the trail sometimes? From sharing food. It is the combined practice of bad personal hygiene of not washing hands and utensils going in and out.)
I don't share food on the trail that I have cooked and am eating unless it is my kid, then he gets the bag and it is all his. Communal gorp? I think not. I don't want any fecal dipping going on in my chocolate chips.
And while this is off topic...I might bring this subject up: I have become a bit OCD in the past 2 1/2 years. I had horrid oral health and my husband payed for all my mouth work. I now have no decay in my mouth at all. (This involved losing 3 of my molars as well). I get my teeth cleaned every 3 months. I know my mouth is in great shape now. My next 3 years are braces and implants as well, so I have to avoid anymore decay.
When I had my son 10 years ago every Dr. lectured me "Don't EVER share food with your kid if you have eaten off the spoon" due to my decay. And I didn't. Hence he has no cavities at 10. I rarely shared food with anyone due to my decay. I knew I had gross oral health.
But now? With my white teeth and great oral health I pretty much gag over the thought of dipping into someone else's food. Unless I get first bite. Yes, it is OCD....but I don't want all their nasty decay in my clean mouth. Yes, I have issues: I won't even share food with my husband unless he hasn't eaten from it and he has good oral health.
On the other hand this also keeps me from getting crud from others as well as their nasty mouth bacteria.
Sarah" The OCD Hiker"
astrogirl
01-19-2008, 19:44
Yes, indeed...the cozy can make the difference. Enviro.....do they have Jo Ann's fabric shops out East? Or any large fabric chain. Go look for Insul Bright material. It is what I use in my cozies. The fabric works about the best I have found over the years.
Do you use only the insul bright, or do you cover the outside with something?
that white fuzzy stuff is going to look hideous after one long weekend! Well, it will for me anyway.
Do you use only the insul bright, or do you cover the outside with something?
that white fuzzy stuff is going to look hideous after one long weekend! Well, it will for me anyway.
Yes, the cozies have two layers - the inside is the Insul Bright, the outside is whatever fabric is chosen.
For the most part though I haven't noticed a lot of pilling even with washing them numerous times. What happens more is the outer layer of the material puffs off, think of like kitty hair. Not bad, but it does happen periodically.
Critterman
01-19-2008, 21:58
Monks the world over have been licking out their soup bowls and spoons for centuries, and I haven't heard of any epidemics so far.
have you borrowed a spoon from a monk lately?:eek:
have you borrowed a spoon from a monk lately?:eek:
Nope. You don't find a lot of monks on the trail. Besides, they lick their own spoons, not mine. If you want to check out this practice, go visit a Zen retreat centre that follows the traditional meals, like Tassajara. There are Catholic monks who do the same, but I don't have any addresses.
astrogirl
01-19-2008, 22:47
What I meant is that I will spill on it at some point, and I also use a wood burning stove, so I tend to get soot here and there.
I'll pick a dark fabric. :)
What I meant is that I will spill on it at some point, and I also use a wood burning stove, so I tend to get soot here and there.
I'll pick a dark fabric. :)
Gotcha! It does wash up nice though :) I don't dry it in the dryer though, air dry and it is dry in under an hour.
Btw, my original cozy design had 3 layers with the Insul Bright inside. I treated it as 2 layers (like with quilting, where the batting is attached to one layer of outer fabric on the edges.) This kept the cozy with no white interior and was also a bit warmer - but alas, heavier.