Freezer bag cooking vs. cooking in a pot
For a long thru hike, which method do you prefer and why?
Thanks.
When I cook I prefer the Freezer bag method because I don't need to clean up my pot afterwards. I love hiking, but despise camp chores and want to do the bare minimum in camp. And if I'm not adding food to my pot and only using it to boil water, I can use a smaller (eg. lighter) pot in the first place. I will note that I only boil water for one meal a day and nothing else. Freezer Bag cooking is essentially the same as buying mountain house meals which come in a bag to pour your water in, only much cheaper.
Do some research on the problem with heating plastics as it relates to human health. I am fully aware this response won’t be popular, so I won’t say more.
Excellent point and I think too many people ignore this as it doesn't have "an instant effect" on them that they notice. This is why I use a sous vide bag that is designed to not "spill" nasties into your food when boiled. I don't boil them but I do pour boiling water into them. Are they safe? I don't really know for sure. But I do believe they are safer than a ziploc type bag, especially when hot water is added.Originally Posted by FreeGoldRush
https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
You are absolutely right. That is why I do not use plastic containers in a microwave oven even when it says: "microwave safe". People should be thankful to you for the information.
This. A thousand times, This. I will not cook in a plastic bag, period. Freezer bags are not designed to be heated. If you want to eat the plasticizers that leach out of them, that's your business. I won't.
Cleaning a cooking pot.
Pot cooking all the way because I can simmer freeze dried stuff to get more thourough hydration, I hate crunchy/partially hydrated food when I'm looking for a hearty, warm meal. Also I would rather deal with cleaning my pots than packing out freezer bags with remains in them- and cleaning the bags is about the same effort as cleaning pots.
I have been considering this as well. But as someone pointed out, you would need a larger pot. What size pot do you use?
I haven't had a problem with freeze dried foods getting rehydrated unless I try to rush it. Dehydrated foods are the hardest to rehydrate.
https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
Bags. I buy some stuff at the grocery store, pre-assemble the bags before leaving town, portioning them to size based on how far along in the hike I am and if the hiker hunger has kicked in.
Like Crossup said, yeah, some of the dried veg I mix in to make it vaguely healthy, like peas, or green beans are a bit too crisp. Noodles specifically I avoid, as they don't cook properly in the freezer bag and they're pretty much nutritionally vacant anyway.
I do occasionally get jealous when I see someone with a big old pot of something simmering away for 20 minutes. I just find the bags to be more convenient to clean, and my packed out waste is minimal based on how I prep in town.
Try both methods, see what you prefer, there's not a clear advantage to either method as both have their pros and cons.
I like using the pot, easy enough to clean, nice to eat out of, and using bags I feel like I leave a lot behind which weights down my trash bag which means more waste.
There's some additional logistics involved in using freezer bags. Are you going to prepackage meals and mail-drop them, or just carry bags and use them with what you buy along the way? Also not all foods come out as good as regular pot cooking in my (limited) experience. The advantage with a pot is that if the rice is still a bit crunchy or the pasta too "al dente" you can just add some heat and cook it a little longer. Once the FBC bag starts cooling off, it isn't going to get much better. FBC is more convenient from a clean-up standpoint especially with meals that have sticky or cheese type sauces. For a short hike where I carry all my food from the start, it's a toss up in my mind. For a longer hike, I think I'd just opt to "clean" the pot, usually by boiling water for a hot drink after the main course.
Then there's cooking / rehydration time of the meal to be considered, which can be an issue at higher altitudes. On the AT not a problem. On the CDT, CT, PCT it could be.
Ultimately, it's more about personal choice. Either method will feed you.
Freezer Bag cooking hasn't worked out well for me, food doesn't taste as good, texture is off, just not as appetizing a result as cooking at least in my hands. Even instant mashed potatoes and stuffing don't work as well in a bag as compared to a pot. I wish I liked FB cooking because it is so simple and I have tried it plenty but I eat one hot meal a day and I want it to be good. Maybe I am just too picky.
If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.
Like FBC because it leaves my pot clean, allowing pot storage in my pack overnight. Am aware that bears can still smell fool, but feel like it lessens the chance of unwanted visitors.
Yet, eating directly out of a bag is a turnoff. A meal consumed directly out of the pot with a cozy under it is psychologically more satisfying
I cook and dehydrate all my own food - freezer bag all the way!
pot - less trash, less to find in town, simple easy done.
I've been doing FBC before it had a name. If I'm going to cook it is the only way I go. The paranoid crowd will come out of the woodwork though, i.e. post #3.
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
What follows might be considered thread creep …
I’m troubled by my wastage of plastic for my hiking food. I use a pot and stove. I like fiddling with cooking. I don’t like eating from plastic bags.
Another reason for me not liking eating from plastic bags is that cleaning the bags afterwards seems much more hassle for me than swilling a bit of hot water around my pot, scraping it with my spoon, and drinking it. More fluids! I can’t tolerate carrying messy wet plastics bags home.
I make most of my food from stuff I dehydrate combined with stuff I buy mostly from ethnic markets. Each meal gets packed in labelled plastic bags. Each meal may well have several component baggies such as when constituents can’t be mixed ahead of time. The result is that I bring home a plastic bag from breakfast, three bags from the snacks that I nibble on during the day (jerky, dried fruit, candy, etc), and then often two or three bags from supper. Add to that wrappers, etc, and that’s an unsustainable amount of plastic for me. I wash and reuse as many bags as I can, but …
I’m struggling with how to use fewer plastic bags. I’m experimenting with carrying major supplies in bulk containers, using a pantry approach. I dip into various packages to combine this amount of carbs with that selection of flavour with another amount of protein. Several larger packages of carbs, several small packages of flavour, several packages of protein. More reusable containers.
In summary, it seems that freezer bag cooking produces waste. My old method of pre-bagging also produces waste. Do you see a difference?
How do you reduce overall waste?
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Cook in the pot. I don't mind cooking and cleaning the pot. I do mind the dirty bags I throw away because now I have to wash a bag out. I reuse my ziplocks. Four, five, six times, until they wear out. That's how I reduce my plastic bag use. Freezer bag cooking is wasteful.
^^^ pretty much how I roll, too. Not much to clean in the pot - I eat it all. Use bulk products when I can so even the baggie use is minimized.
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