Cooking using freezer bags???

[Starchild]

How are freezer bags used for cooking? I assumed it's something like the boil in bag stuff one gets at the supermarket, but better to ask then assume, so how do you use them and what do you make with them?

Thanks

[Cro-Mag]

Yes, the concept is much like the boil in the bag options, but much less money and it allows you to be creative with your entrees.

Here is a great website with info on FBC:
http://www.trailcooking.com/trail-cooking-101/freezer-bag-cooking-101

I am attempting a NOBO thru-hike in 2013 and plan on using this method. I recommend testing recipes out before hand. I have made some unsavory meals by adding too much water or seasoning, which is something I would like to avoid while on the trail.


I am also thinking of reusing the bags, but I am worried about them becoming weak after their first use. Has anyone tried this? Is it a waste of effort?

Thanks!

[Karma13]

I experimented with some freezer bag cooking at home. I used a regular bowl to support the bag.

I still ended up with... I don't know, seep-through or condensation, inside the bowl. I ended up having to rinse the bowl anyway. If I have to rinse the bowl after every meal anyway, I decided not to carry the extra weight of the freezer bags.

I'm not planning on doing any mail drops, though. If somebody's doing mail drops, that would be a whole different kettle of fish, as it were.

[Whack-a-mole]

Ya'll are making this a lot harder than it is. Put your pasta or whatever it is you are cooking in a quart size freezer bag. Put in the amount of boiling water that the directions called for. Set it aside for 15 minutes, and then eat it out of the bag. Of course there may be some more to it depending on what you are eating....drain the excess water, add these other ingredients etc. When you are done, put the bag in your gallon size zip-loc trash bag and you are done. I pack all of my meals into their bags before I leave the house. There is NO extra weight from the bags. Actually there is less weight because you are taking stuff out of the box that they usually come in. To try to use mail drops for freezer bags is silly. Every town you go to will have a grocery store that will have freezer bags. On a thru, a lot of times you will be going into town with someone you know. Split a box of bags with a couple friends to keep from carrying too much. If you want to see freezer bag cooking in action, we are leaving Sunday doing Newfound Gap to NOC. I won't wash a pot the whole way, and I will have very nice enjoyable meals.

[Odd Man Out]

When people say "freezer bags" are we talking about one with a zip lock top? These come in two weights. Is the heavier freezer bag weight preferred over the lighter storage bag weight?

[Drybones]

If you're using a jetboil, heat your water and pour into the freezer bag with the food and place the bag back in the jetboil pot to hydrate. When it's ready to eat fold the freezer bag edges over the pot top and eat from the pot,not as messy as eating holdin a bag. I have a large huggie for my 24 oz beer can pot I use in the same manner, makes it much easier to handle.

[jakedatc]

Using a reflective Cozy will reduce your cooking time and help keep it warm while you eat it. easy to make out of a windshield sun cover. just make a pouch a bit larger than the quart size freezer bag and make one side a bit taller to use as the flap.

[Don H]

When people say "freezer bags" are we talking about one with a zip lock top? These come in two weights. Is the heavier freezer bag weight preferred over the lighter storage bag weight?

Freezer bags, storage bags won't hold up.

Also don't use the amount of water sited in the directions, use about one third less.

Stuff to cook in FBs:
Knorrs rice or pasta sides
Couscous
Stove Top stuffing
Tortillini

[Rocket Jones]

Use a brand-name freezer ziplock bag, cheapies will be more apt to leak. Quart size work great for dinners. I've reused them at times, but only a second use.

Carry a small container of instant mashed potatoes to add to your meal if you add too much water.

[T-Rx]

Ya'll are making this a lot harder than it is. Put your pasta or whatever it is you are cooking in a quart size freezer bag. Put in the amount of boiling water that the directions called for. Set it aside for 15 minutes, and then eat it out of the bag. Of course there may be some more to it depending on what you are eating....drain the excess water, add these other ingredients etc. When you are done, put the bag in your gallon size zip-loc trash bag and you are done. I pack all of my meals into their bags before I leave the house. There is NO extra weight from the bags. Actually there is less weight because you are taking stuff out of the box that they usually come in. To try to use mail drops for freezer bags is silly. Every town you go to will have a grocery store that will have freezer bags. On a thru, a lot of times you will be going into town with someone you know. Split a box of bags with a couple friends to keep from carrying too much. If you want to see freezer bag cooking in action, we are leaving Sunday doing Newfound Gap to NOC. I won't wash a pot the whole way, and I will have very nice enjoyable meals.

+1 on this and a great explanation of FBC Whack a mole. I do all of my trail cooking by this method and I never have to wash a pot. I made a cozy from reflectix and simply place the freezer bag inside the cozy, add water, let it sit for 15 - 20 minutes and you are ready to eat. And cleanup is so easy.

[Hikes in Rain]

Freezer bags, storage bags won't hold up.

Also don't use the amount of water sited in the directions, use about one third less.

Stuff to cook in FBs:
Knorrs rice or pasta sides
Couscous
Stove Top stuffing
Tortillini

Also any home dehydrated meal, or commercial ones like you can get at Hawk Vittles, which I heartily recommend.

[RodentWhisperer]

Heavier freezer bags are the way to go, IMO-- they insulate better than thin bags, with minimal weight penalties.

BTW, I'm one of the dehydrate-it-at-home-and-steep-it-in-the-bag crowd. Good taste, good nutrition, minimal cleanup.


When people say "freezer bags" are we talking about one with a zip lock top? These come in two weights. Is the heavier freezer bag weight preferred over the lighter storage bag weight?

[magic_game03]

Ziplocks work great. There are some upsides and a few down sides. Karma13 makes 3 good points; you should experiment at home, bags hold in the vapor so unlike cooking in a pot nothing vaporizes off, and third, though some meals are ok as a soup, many meals suck if they have too much water left over in them. Wack-a-mole makes another good point- it often takes longer because you have to let it sit an extra 15-20 minutes after you have added the water (boil time + sit time can often equal 30 minutes or so: a long time to wait ). Of course ramen noodles cook up quick so they may only take a few minutes. Don H has a ratio that is about right (1/3 less water). Rocket jones is right, brand names do work better but off-brands will still work if you are in a pinch or on a budget. Somebody also mentioned that they are only good for a few uses each, I agree. Food will start to work its way into the lock and above and start to make a mess or not lock properly, it’s pretty much unavoidable. When you let your food sit and cook in it’s own heat, and the lock fails, you get food all over your gear and that sucks!

My little upside note: if you cook in a ziplock, one benefit is that you can cook up a hot drink while your food cooks. If you like hot tea but your cook pot only has enough volume to cook up the water for one meal, do that and add it to a ziplock. Then cook up some more water for tea or coco (or if your thru hiking and you want two meals ‘cause you deserve it and you found some trail magic, another meal, in the shelter) . If you only have room for the one meal than you have to eat all of it before you start the second boil.

Great for breakfast eggs or if you want hot coffee with your breakfast, too. eggs almost always stick to your cook pot and require a hard scrubbing. Powder or raw eggs are the hardest thing to make on the trail IMO, harder than trail pizza. I recommend !/2 water and hot-hot-hot water for powder eggs.

[Starchild]

Great for breakfast eggs or if you want hot coffee with your breakfast, too. eggs almost always stick to your cook pot and require a hard scrubbing. Powder or raw eggs are the hardest thing to make on the trail IMO, harder than trail pizza. I recommend !/2 water and hot-hot-hot water for powder eggs.

This one I am real interested in, raw egg cooking suggestions besides hard boiled. Does the freezer bag work for them? If so how, do you just break the eggs into the bags and place the bags in boiling water?

[RodentWhisperer]

This one I am real interested in, raw egg cooking suggestions besides hard boiled. Does the freezer bag work for them? If so how, do you just break the eggs into the bags and place the bags in boiling water?

My guess is you'd end up with poached eggs.:-?

[HikerMom58]

This question may be on another thread similar to this but I couldn't find the answer so I'll ask it here- Is anyone worried about chemicals being released from the plastic bag due to the hot boiling water? I wouldn't worry about using the bag in a pot for for easy clean up purposes but actually "cooking" in the bag makes me nervous.

[Starchild]

My guess is you'd end up with poached eggs.:-?

I guess I'm going to have to try it, stand by...

Results:
It worked fine. Came out as poached eggs as suggested, though not the standard shape of them. There was a layer of egg that stuck to the bag but most of the egg came out with very little effort. The stuck eggs can be scrapped off the bag or the bag considered single use.

For this I used the jetboil, got the water up to boiling then turned it off and let it soak. After maybe 10 min I reheated it to boiling and turned it off again.

So fresh eggs are on the menu

[jakedatc]

Where did my post go? i answered HikerMom's question about the plastic and quoted ziploc's FAQ page.. ***?

[jakedatc]

oh.. other thread... woops.. how do we have 2 exact threads going on :P eevvvvveryone wants their own question i guess

[Farr Away]

I guess I'm going to have to try it, stand by...

Results:
It worked fine. Came out as poached eggs as suggested, though not the standard shape of them. There was a layer of egg that stuck to the bag but most of the egg came out with very little effort. The stuck eggs can be scrapped off the bag or the bag considered single use.

For this I used the jetboil, got the water up to boiling then turned it off and let it soak. After maybe 10 min I reheated it to boiling and turned it off again.

So fresh eggs are on the menu

You can also do an omelet in a freezer bag. Break the eggs in the bag; add omelet fixings (dried onions, spices, bacon bits, cheese); put in boiling water a few minutes; pull it out and squish it around to get the uncooked egg to the outside; put it back in the boiling water; repeat until cooked.

Note: Heavy gloves are very handy for this.

I've done this once on the trail. It was impressive but also kind of a pain. I probably won't do it again any time soon.

-FA

[HikerMom58]

oh.. other thread... woops.. how do we have 2 exact threads going on :P eevvvvveryone wants their own question i guess

Got it... other thread :)

[Turk6177]

I just finished the GA section and used the freezer bag method. I used the same bags i separated my food into to cook in; oatmeal in the am and usually some kind if pasta or potato at night. I made a thermal bag out of the same kind of material you get at the grocery store to keep your food warm or cold (similar to window sun shade material). After my meal was ready I would either put the bag in my pot or bowl (I used the GSI Soloist cook set) or just eat it out of the bag. I used my thermal bag as a dry seat to sit on a log, rock, etc. Don't underestimate the value of a dry seat. I never had to wash one pot the whole week and I ate like a king. I just licked my spoon clean and wiped it with a bandanna. Next time I boiled water to eat, I would dip the spoon in it to sanitize it. I have a photo of my food and the way I separated it by meal. It was pretty efficient. Happy hiking. Www.trailjournals.com/turk

[zelph]

A few years ago I did an experiment during the winter months. I put a package of Ramen noodles in a ziploc, added 2 cups of boiling water and then put that into a brown paper lunch bag. I then put it ouside on the deck for 10 min. Outside temps were below freezing. After 10 min. I brought it back in the house, opened it up and the noodles were well rehydrated and the water temperature was at 180 degrees. For me, that temperature is way too hot to start eating without having to blow on it to cool it down. I created a thread in this forum at the time to share the results. Just a small air space between the ziploc and the paper bag wall was enough to protect it while rehydrating. Recycle your next used tyvek mailer into a cozy.

[HermesUL]

Someone asked the question here about the difference between freezer bags and regular ziploc bags.

I've used regular ziplocs for about 18 meals this summer and have had no issue. I've yet to hear a satisfactory reason why regular ziplocs won't work, so I'm going to stick with them.

[lonehiker]

Someone asked the question here about the difference between freezer bags and regular ziploc bags.

I've used regular ziplocs for about 18 meals this summer and have had no issue. I've yet to hear a satisfactory reason why regular ziplocs won't work, so I'm going to stick with them.


To further elaborate on this topic, I actually use those flimsy storage/bread bags. They are much cheaper and after "cooking" with them for 200+ meals I have only had 1 leak and that was probably from my spoon scraping the bottom.