View Full Version : Cooking in a food vacum bag
gunner76
01-06-2010, 15:59
Thinking about getting a food vacum bag system to put my premeasured grits and otameal ect in. My question is, has anyone "cooked" their food in these bags while on the trail by pouring boiling or near boiling water into the bag with the food ? I figured there is also the possiblility of of placing the bag with water into a pot of water and heating the food that way (possibility of the bag melting in pot ???).
Anybody tried this ?
I've thought about putting a bag in the pot too, but I'd only risk it if I had a way to prevent the bag from touching the side of the pot. If it doesn't touch the side, it should be okay.
LaurieAnn
01-06-2010, 18:16
No... but I have done meats and other foods in the sous vide style at home. Sous vide is basically a way of cooking where you vacuum seal the food and then immerse it in water that is a higher core temperature than the desired end temperature of the food, for an extended period of time. Not sure how well it would work well on the trail with boiling water. Why not do a backyard test and see what happens?
"... has anyone "cooked" their food in these bags while on the trail by pouring boiling or near boiling water into the bag with the food ?"
Yes, worked fine. I think I folded the open end a couple of times and used a paperclip to hold the bag closed while sitting in my quart ziplock bag sized cozy (and of course kept it very carefully upright for those 10 minutes of rehydrating).
I wouldn't be inclined to put a bag inside my pot, even if I used a pot big enough to make this credible. But hot water in a vacuum seal type bag was no problem for me the few time (10?) that I did this on the trail in 2008.
I do it all the time...no more dirty dishes to wash. Works great for me....all I do is boil the water and add it to contents of bag. I usually dont carry a pot big enough to boil a bag on the trail but I have done so at home many times. No problem.
LaurieAnn
01-06-2010, 18:57
lol - I just reread this... thread... my pregnant brain misunderstood the jist of what you were trying to do... oops
Food Vac bags are rated for submersion in gently boiling water. You can add hot water to the inside with no issues.
Wait....back to the first post? Why use expensive vacuum bags for inexpensive oatmeal and grits? It hardly seems worth the trouble for something that's so cheap and easy to pick up later. Especially for thru-hiking...you'll spend more on postage than the contents.
For my thru-hike, I'm thinking I may add protein powder, powdered milk, brown sugar and seasoning to individual ziplock bags that go in my resupply boxes. I'll buy oatmeal as I go along and add to a ziplock bag to make my meal.
gunner76
01-06-2010, 20:20
My thought was to premeasure the oatmeal (along with rasins for the oatmeal and bacon bits for the grits) and vacum seal each serving in its own bag to cut down on the volume the contents normally take up. Maybe its overkill but at least I now know its a option.
The raisins are moist and will make the oatmeal stale. Put all the raisins in one ziplock and add a portion when cooking. I do not know if the bacon bits would would have a negative effect.
The raisins are moist and will make the oatmeal stale. Put all the raisins in one ziplock and add a portion when cooking. I do not know if the bacon bits would would have a negative effect.
If shelf stable bacon carry separately. If the "bacon bits" that are rock hard, mix in ahead of time :)
I have used the vac type bags in the boiling water A LOT. Don't boil real hard, but even pre cooked bacon or bacon bits in their own bag can be heated in boiling water and then the water used for coffee or oat meal.
My wife wants bacon with every breakfast so the real bacon bits work very well when heated and ate with a spoon. Also high in calories to keep you going longer.
Thinking about getting a food vacum bag system to put my premeasured grits and otameal ect in. My question is, has anyone "cooked" their food in these bags while on the trail by pouring boiling or near boiling water into the bag with the food ? I figured there is also the possiblility of of placing the bag with water into a pot of water and heating the food that way (possibility of the bag melting in pot ???).
Anybody tried this ?
Tinny at minibulldesign has been doing a series on baking and has several video's on the subject. Might provide some insight on what you'd like to do. He appears to have no problem with bags melting either.
www.minibulldesign.com is his website, click on "My Adventures"
Also, I have a friend who has also cooked in a turkey bag inside a pot of boiling water with lots of success. Mainly items like mac & cheese. Last backpacking trip we did he cooked two meals (1 night trip). I think the hardest part was keeping the edges that were outside of the pot from melting from the stove heat.
-Stephen
GeneralLee10
01-07-2010, 10:09
I used them for oats,couscous, & grits just cut the top off and pour in your hot water. Make sure to give yourself enough bag left over so it will hold your water too. I have not put them in a pot yet so not sure about that. I do have and use Pan Liners ( http://www.pansaver.com/ ) that can withstand up to 400deg. Now I have used them in my pot to make muffins with no problem at all. Caution should be looked at if you use an alky stove with flames that roll up the side of you pot. Then you do not want any off the bag to hang over the edge of the pot. I am working with a new idea now to make muffins. I can make just one regular size muffin in my little 10oz ti cup and tea lite stove. Though it does take 1 ounce of fuel but it is done.
To help prevent the bag from burning just roll the edges in and put your lid on. Mite not want to twist the bag closed as this could make for a mess due to steem pressure build up in the bag.
I found that cooking in the bag worked great for simple things like you're talking about (oatmeal, grits, ect....) Meats and veggies, however, need much more time to re-hydrate. I used a little canister, and put my meat and veggies in with a little water in the morning....worked great!
GeneralLee10
01-07-2010, 10:34
Meats and veggies, however, need much more time to re-hydrate. I used a little canister, and put my meat and veggies in with a little water in the morning....worked great![/QUOTE]
I just use the bag I'm cooking in for that meal.
gunner76
01-10-2010, 14:09
Lots of great feed back and ideas
For veggies and meat to work in bag meals (See the concept of FBC!) you need everything the same size (ie..diced) and you need to cozy the meal. 15 minutes in a cozy and you have a hot ready to eat meal :) No presoaking needed.
Procras108r
01-11-2010, 00:25
I wonder, if the vacum bag is strong enough to survive inside the pot of boiling water, would it not be strong enough to use the vacum bag instead of a freezer bag?
"I wonder, if the vacum bag is strong enough to survive inside the pot of boiling water, would it not be strong enough to use the vacum bag instead of a freezer bag?"
Perhaps I don't understand the question, as I thought this has already been well-addressed. To be clear, I interpret your question as "can I put hot/near-boiling water into an opened vacuum bag and rehydrate my food and then eat it out of that bag?", to which my and other prior responses clearly said "yes". Again, since it doesn't have a ziplock closure you might want some way to hold the vacuum bag closed (and upright) while your food rehydrates, but no other issues that I'm aware of.
If I've misunderstood what you're asking, perhaps you could restate ...
Sure you can use Food Vac bags instead of freezer bags. That is something we have said all along. Why doesn't everyone? Price. The bags are much more expensive and not everyone has a sealer. Some like the convenience of a zipper. Once you cut open the seal you have an open bag.
Otherwise Food Vac bags work well. They are considerably heavier (mil rating) than freezer bags.