Preparing Knorr pasta sides

[Mr. Jowee]

How does one go about preparing Knorr sides with an alcohol stove? Doesn't seem like the bag would hold up, and the directions call for 7 minutes of boiling. Also, the directions call for 1/2 cup of milk. What's the alternative? Just more water, or dehydrated milk?

[Slo-go'en]

I put them in my titanium pot with 2 cups of water and boil. I don't bother with the milk or milk substitute, but I suppose the Cheddar broccoli pasta side I typically eat with tuna would be a bit creamer with milk.

The only problem I have is with it boiling over if I space out and don't pay attention. That and the fact I'm getting really sick of Cheddar broccoli pasta.

[mattjv89]

Yeah I've never tried to make one in the bag and I also doubt it would hold up. 7 minutes of boiling takes a lot of fuel for any stove so I use a pot cozy, basically an insulator for your pot made out of reflective material. Just boil water, pour ingredients into pot, then put it in the pot cozy and let it sit for about twice as long as the directions say to boil for. Saves a ton of fuel and works great. If you Google the term pot cozy there are numerous DIY tutorials as well as companies selling them premade.

Regarding the milk question you've figured out the options that I know of, either dehydrated milk or a little more water. It's not an exact thing, or if it is I haven't figured it out yet, but I tend to have the best results adding a little less water than the milk amount it calls for. I also go a little heavy on the oil when preparing a dairy recipe to add some fat the milk would provide. Overall I find that while preparing any of them without milk makes a passable meal, it has a certain funky taste/texture I'm not a fan of and for that reason I tend to avoid the dishes that require milk.

[MuddyWaters]

They really dont work that well with freezer bag cooking IMO.


Minute rice and ramen noodles are pre-cooked and come out better. but you have to make your own meals , often using lipton dry soup mixes.

Use powdered milk for milk. If you want butter, bring ghee.

[Connie]

Knorr sides work better with a stove that will simmer well.

Zelph has not complex alcohol stoves that simmer well and simmer rings to add to alcohol stoves that simmer well, and, continue a long time on very little alcohol fuel.

Soto OD-1R is a canister stove that simmers well. I use mine with GSI Hallulite Minimus cookware.

JetBoil MiniMo simmers well.

Natures First Full Cream Milk Powder, for example, from Packit Gourmet has the creaminess needed.

If not, use a cozy and leave it in 10 minutes or more.

[Coffee]

No need to simmer a Knorrs side. Instead simulate simmering by bringing water to a boil, adding the Knorrs to the pot, bring it to a boil again. Take it off the stove and put it into a pot cozy for 10 minutes (mine is made from a windshield reflector). If still a bit hard after ten minutes reboil again and put in cozy for another ten minutes. Works better with Knorrs rice but also with thinner pastas. Use less water than on the package. For directions calling for two cups of water, I use 1.5 max. My method works better with a jetboil or other canister stove than it would with alcohol since I sometimes like to reboil and put in cozy a second time. But it saves lots of fuel by not simmering.

[Coffee]

Sorry I missed that the OP specifically mentioned an alcohol stove. Not trying to convert anyone to canister, just outlining my method. It would work with alcohol for the rice sides which don't require a reboil usually. Fwiw.

[RED-DOG]

the way i do it is i bring 2 cups of water to a boil by using an Alcohol stove, pour pasta side into an Zip-Lock " Freezer " bag, then add the additives such as dyhydrated vegis, summer sausage etc, pour in the boiling water then place zip-lock bag in a cozy which i have made specifically for Zip-Lock bags then let sit for around 10 minutes, comes out absolutly great, i use the same method with cannister stoves. I never had an issue with the food being under cooked, and i subsitute the milk with water, but i do subsitute the butter with olive oil.

or i use a Mountain House Meal bag, just simply buy a mountain house meal at a resupply then eat the meal then just reuse the bag much like I would a Zip-Lock bag except i don't put the MHM in a cozy.

[BRamsey]

I ditto Red-dog. I made a cozy out of Reflectix, and use the zip lock freezer bags. Sometimes you need to let it rehydrate for longer than 10 minutes, but it usually comes out fine. Regular oatmeal for breakfast also works well with this method (not the instant stuff).

[Coffee]

I've tried the zip lock method as well and it does work but I dislike carrying the used zip locks. I guess one has to weigh dirty zip locks against the convenience of not having to clean the pot.

[peakbagger]

The ingredients in the various Knorrs meals make a big difference. Noodles like to simmer for awhile but the rice based versions just need one hit of boiling water and then some sitting time in a cozy or some other insulation. When I was sectioning, I kept an eye out for the rice versions

[yerbyray]

I use the freezer Bag method too.
I use a product called Butter Sprinkles (seems to me to be dehydrated butter) and add that as well as a pack or two of coffee creamer and maybe a pack of Olive Oil from Subway along with the Knox to give the buttery and creamy goodness that a hot meal should offer.
No sense in eating like you are in a Russian Gulag while enjoying the great outdoors.

[Hikes in Rain]

I do much the same, except I start with the food (and NIDO if it calls for milk) in the cold water and let it soak a few minutes before consigning it to the heat. I've used a cat can stove, which will bring everything to a boil in five minutes or so, then let it boil, stirring frequently, until flame-out a few minutes later. Let it sit a few minutes to thicken.

[burger]

Coffee's method works just fine for an alcohol stove. Hopefully you have a windscreen plus you're using a wide pot to minimize heat loss.

Boil 2 cups of water. As soon as it's boiling, dump in the Knorr's. If your stove has enough capacity, you should be able to get an other couple of minutes of boil time. As soon as the stove goes out, transfer your pot to a cozy. Wait 5-10 minutes (don't be tempted to open the lid to check on it--that just let's heat out). Eat and enjoy.

[Busky2]

Well I like to add Knorrs to the water first then apply the heat bringing them both to a boil using only 1 oz of alcohol in my super cat stove. When the fuel is gone I cozy the pot till I eat it. YMMV, HYOH,

[CarlZ993]

I use the pot cozy method as well. Typically, I'll add a Ramen noodle block as well as some sort of meat (chicken, bacon, spam, etc). I'll boil about 3C of water, stir in the ingredients (breaking up the ramen block beforehand) & wait 15 min. If I have extra powdered milk, I'll stir it in as well. I'll finish off with some olive oil & some nut mix (cashews, almonds, & sunflower seeds ground up) for taste & calories. A very filling meal.

[wormer]

I put the boiling water 3/4 of the way up in the Knorrs bag and stir. I let the bag sit upright and use a medium binder paper clamp to seal the top. I give it one additional stir when I open it and enjoy.

[juma]

The ingredients in the various Knorrs meals make a big difference. Noodles like to simmer for awhile but the rice based versions just need one hit of boiling water and then some sitting time in a cozy or some other insulation. When I was sectioning, I kept an eye out for the rice versions

ditto- the pasta versions always came out ready to disintegrate and the rice was always just right. the beans and rice version is my fav. also old el paso dehydrated pinto and black beans with a shot of garlic texas pete are heaven on a cold evening.

[gbolt]

I use the Mountain House meal for 3 Knorr side meals. 1st Night eat the Mountain House and save the cookbag. The next night (two nights, 3 nights) I pour the water and Knorr side meal into the MH bag to cook the 7 minutes it calls for. Most meals, I let it sit closer to ten minutes to allow it to finish cooking, thicken, and cool down. Never have noticed a problem with this method and thought a lot of people use the MH Bag in this manner. I don't like a dirty cup so I never eat out of it. Just use it to boil the water. I had planned on using Raman noodles to get to a five night meal plan for a thru hike. Just hard to practice working full time. The most I can escape is overnighters to a two night 3 day trip. Love to hear more from those doing week long section hikes and through hikes.

[lemon b]

Just the thought of Knorr Sides or PopTarts turns my stomach.