trail pizza

[perrymk]

I got to thinking about the vacuum packed boiled egg and how the army has been working on an MRE pizza for years (possible available next year).

So has anyone tried to vacuum pack a slice of pizza? How long would it keep? I know it has been done to prevent freezer burn but I'm thinking of storing in a bear canister and those usually don't have a freezing mechanism built in.

As my wheels were spinning I thought maybe just vacuum pack a flat bread, like pita or focaccia. Can flat breads be vacuum packed? What kind of room temperature shelf life would that have? Dehydrated tomato powder and cheese are already available and look like they would be easy enough to rehydrate.

Maybe I'm overthinking and should just stick to easy tried and true things like mashed potatoes and couscous and leave the pizza for trips to town.

Thanks for any thoughts

[Sarcasm the elf]

My first thought would be to use Naan bread. I buy it often and use it to make "pizzas" in my oven's broiler when I I need to make something in a hurry. Naan os quite pliable and I think it would stand up to a food bag better than most breads.

[Greenlight]

Tinfoil. Tortilla. Olive oil. Pizza sauce leather (make in dehydrator on a fruit leather sheet). String cheese. Pepperoni. All of these will keep in your pack. You'd have to make it over a fire. Oil the bottom of the tinfoil where you're going to put the tortilla. Oil the tortilla on both sides. Reconstitute the pizza sauce leather and apply to the tortilla. Add string cheese and pepperoni. Tent the top of the tinfoil so that you're cooking with convection and conduction. Repeat as necessary. Enjoy.

I got to thinking about the vacuum packed boiled egg and how the army has been working on an MRE pizza for years (possible available next year).

So has anyone tried to vacuum pack a slice of pizza? How long would it keep? I know it has been done to prevent freezer burn but I'm thinking of storing in a bear canister and those usually don't have a freezing mechanism built in.

As my wheels were spinning I thought maybe just vacuum pack a flat bread, like pita or focaccia. Can flat breads be vacuum packed? What kind of room temperature shelf life would that have? Dehydrated tomato powder and cheese are already available and look like they would be easy enough to rehydrate.

Maybe I'm overthinking and should just stick to easy tried and true things like mashed potatoes and couscous and leave the pizza for trips to town.

Thanks for any thoughts

[WingedMonkey]

I use to get Kontos "pocket-less" pita at Sam's Club. Can't find it local any more.

Made great pizza base and lasted as long as ever needed it to.

[zelph]

Tinfoil. Tortilla. Olive oil. Ragu leather. String cheese. Pepperoni. All of these will keep in your pack. You'd have to make it over a fire. Oil the bottom of the tinfoil where you're going to put the tortilla. Oil the tortilla on both sides. Reconstitute the Ragu leather and apply to the tortilla. Add string cheese and pepperoni. Tent the top of the tinfoil so that you're cooking with convection and conduction. Repeat as necessary. Enjoy.

I think that is so doable.........thank you!!!! :-)

[Bronk]

I use the lid to my pot to make grilled cheese sandwiches...but you can also fill the grilled sandwich with sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni.

[saltysack]

My first thought would be to use Naan bread. I buy it often and use it to make "pizzas" in my oven's broiler when I I need to make something in a hurry. Naan os quite pliable and I think it would stand up to a food bag better than most breads.

Yep me too..heavier than tortilla but way more substantial.

[saltysack]

Tinfoil. Tortilla. Olive oil. Ragu leather. String cheese. Pepperoni. All of these will keep in your pack. You'd have to make it over a fire. Oil the bottom of the tinfoil where you're going to put the tortilla. Oil the tortilla on both sides. Reconstitute the Ragu leather and apply to the tortilla. Add string cheese and pepperoni. Tent the top of the tinfoil so that you're cooking with convection and conduction. Repeat as necessary. Enjoy.

What is Ragu leather?

[Greenlight]

What is Ragu leather?

Ragu is spaghetti sauce...so I should have said pizza sauce leather, but same concept either way. You spread pizza sauce (or spaghetti sauce) on the fruit leather sheets in your dehydrator, roll them up and stuff them in a zip lock baggie. I stumbled upon the idea when researching freezer bag cooking. A lot of hikers carry tortillas anyway. With some string cheese and pepperoni, the only real challenge was getting sauce into your pack without a big heavy glass bottle. Problem solved.

[saltysack]

Ragu is spaghetti sauce...so I should have said pizza sauce leather, but same concept either way. You spread pizza sauce (or spaghetti sauce) on the fruit leather sheets in your dehydrator, roll them up and stuff them in a zip lock baggie. I stumbled upon the idea when researching freezer bag cooking. A lot of hikers carry tortillas anyway. With some string cheese and pepperoni, the only real challenge was getting sauce into your pack without a big heavy glass bottle. Problem solved.

Thx....I've carried pizza sauce in a 5 hour energy bottle but is heavier as not dehydrated....no issues for few days.

[cneill13]

I take a small tube of tomato paste with me when I go hiking. I also carry along a few small blocks of cheese, usually cheddar and a pepper jack. They have lasted me up to 10 days with no problems. I also like to bring along dehydrated mushrooms.

If I want to make a trail pizza this is my recipe:

Mix tomato paste with small amount of water to make sauce. Add seasonings to sauce (oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic, dehydrated onions, and a touch of salt)

Cut shavings off cheese blocks

Take one tortilla and layer with sauce, cheese and rehydrated mushrooms. Top with another tortilla.

I then add a little olive oil to the small fry pan (6 oz. ti Evernew) and make a pizza quesadilla.

You can also make regular quesadillas by omitting the tomato sauce.

They rock on the trail, I promise. You can use the small packets of picante sauce from Taco Bell to make it ever better.

Carl

[Greenlight]

The quesadilla concept is particularly ingenious. I don't carry a frying pan, but there are plenty of mods that would work. This would rock as a baked burrito, too.

I take a small tube of tomato paste with me when I go hiking. I also carry along a few small blocks of cheese, usually cheddar and a pepper jack. They have lasted me up to 10 days with no problems. I also like to bring along dehydrated mushrooms.

If I want to make a trail pizza this is my recipe:

Mix tomato paste with small amount of water to make sauce. Add seasonings to sauce (oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic, dehydrated onions, and a touch of salt)

Cut shavings off cheese blocks

Take one tortilla and layer with sauce, cheese and rehydrated mushrooms. Top with another tortilla.

I then add a little olive oil to the small fry pan (6 oz. ti Evernew) and make a pizza quesadilla.

You can also make regular quesadillas by omitting the tomato sauce.

They rock on the trail, I promise. You can use the small packets of picante sauce from Taco Bell to make it ever better.

Carl

[cneill13]

< I don't carry a frying pan, but there are plenty of mods that would work. This would rock as a baked burrito, too.>

If I want to make a burrito, I don't use a pan but wrap the finished burrito in a sheet of aluminum foil twisting each end of the foil to form a handle. A bit like eating a corn on the cob. And then I can either hold the foil-covered burrito over my stove flame and slowly rotate it to heat it up. Or even better, throw it over the fire coals and it gets toasty real quick.

There is really no end to the variety of things you can think of to put in a quesadilla or burrito.

Your campmates will be very jealous, I promise you that.

Carl

[Ktaadn]

Why aren't you just putting leftover pizza in a zip-loc bag? Why are you worried about the vacuum pack?

[Venchka]

What is Ragu leather?

Ragu sauce dehydrated in the same manor as making fruit leather out of blueberries, etc.

Wayne

[saltysack]

Ragu sauce dehydrated in the same manor as making fruit leather out of blueberries, etc.

Wayne

Got it thx..

[perrymk]

Why aren't you just putting leftover pizza in a zip-loc bag? Why are you worried about the vacuum pack?

I'm working with the assumption that vacuum packing might keep longer. Hence the reference to MRE pizzas and the question, How long would it keep?

Now that I've had a few days to think about it, I think I may be overthinking. While I appreciate the recipes, I am a keep-it-simple-boil-and-wait kind of guy, especially when hiking. I've also gone sans stove. If the MRE pizza becomes available I may try it, otherwise I think pizza may be a post-hike town food for me.

[BonBon]

I often packed pizza out of town on my hike. I would buy a whole pizza, eat half, and pack out half. (got the idea from a hiker named Ghostwalker who did this regularly) It stays good for a couple of days. What is GREAT though is wrapping it in foil and heating it back up on the fire. That is the best pizza you will ever eat.

[saltysack]

I often packed pizza out of town on my hike. I would buy a whole pizza, eat half, and pack out half. (got the idea from a hiker named Ghostwalker who did this regularly) It stays good for a couple of days. What is GREAT though is wrapping it in foil and heating it back up on the fire. That is the best pizza you will ever eat.

Great...not sure why I've never tried..I assume if it's just veggies, cheese, pepperonis, tomatoes sauce and bread...should be fine for a few days.....

[Dochartaigh]

You can also get tomato sauce pre-packed in plastic pouches inside Boboli brand pizza crusts. Pricey since you're mainly paying for the pizza crusts I don't use, but I buy those for the tomato sauce when I'm making pizza pan biscuits while hiking (which are frigging delicious!).