FBC Cook Times list

[iliketacos]

A FBC basic cook times chart:

The following is for not-already-dehydrated foods.

Macaroni: 4 oz. 1 3/4 cup water 30-40 minutes.

Angel Hair: ? oz. ? water ? minutes

Ramen: 1 package 1 1/2 cup water 10 minutes

Anyone feel free to add. Thanks

[iliketacos]

I FBC the liptons yesterday, I need to tweak the cook time and the amount of water added but here goes:

1 Package Lipton w/ 1/16 cup of powdered milk+2 cups of boiling water at 11 minutes in the cozy. It tasted fine but left about a cup or more of soup.

I'm going to FBC the angel hair tonight. I worked out the couscous times but i think they need to be tweaked a bit. I'm a bit new at this so please, if your so inclined, post if you have some FBC times for store bought items-non dehydrated items. Is there is a thread for this already started let me know if you would. Thanks.

[sarbar]

Couscous:
1 person: 1/3 cup couscous to 1/2 cup water
2 persons: 3/4 cup couscous to 1 cup water
Add your boiling water, stir well, and let sit for 5-10 minutes in a cozy.

[TJ aka Teej]

A FBC basic cook times chart:

Macaroni: 4 oz. 1 3/4 cup water 30-40 minutes.

Ramen: 1 package 1 1/2 cup water 10 minutes

I'm a bit slow, so help me please - what makes this system a good idea?
I can be eating macncheese or ramen inside of 5 minutes after lighting my stove, so why wait a half hour while your food sits in a pot cozy? Is it just clean-up? What am I missing?

[iliketacos]

A FBC basic cook times chart:

The following is for not-already-dehydrated foods, it is for store bought items off the shelf using a 1 quart Ziploc freezer bag.

Macaroni and cheese: 1 box Mac and Cheese 7.7 oz., a healthy pinch of dehydrated milk, 3 cup water, 20 minutes(iliketacos).

I bought the really cheap mac and cheese, with the powdered cheese. The result after 24 minutes of bag time was that about 30% of the mac had gotten really mushy, which means i need to probably cut down on the bag time. I also added a pinch of salt when i added the water. I emptied the bag at 24-minutes while leaving a little water for the cheese mix and powdered milk . I added the powdered cheese and dehydrated milk which when mixed in the bag made for a decent meal which I'm in the middle of eating right now. Wow, not bad, especially when you have all that cheese trapped in the bag-yum.

Angel Hair: TBD

Spaghetti(thin spaghetti): TBD

Spaghetti(thick spaghetti): TBD

Ramen: 1 package ramen, 1 1/2 cup water, 10 minutes

Couscous: 3/4 cup couscous, 1 cup water, 5 to 10-minutes. (sarbar)

Thanks sarbar, this has to be the easiest thing to cook, when I made this a few weeks ago I also threw a bunch of spices in the bag, and I did not need to drain any water.

Liptons Pasta side: 4.4 ounce pack, 2 cups water, 1/16 cup of dehydrated milk, 11-minutes. (iliketacos)

I did not strain water from the bag when ready I just dumped the mix right in. Times may vary a little with product type, I still need to work on this as there was a lot of water left in the bag which was very soupy and not that bad.

For some odd reason I've started eating better since my FBC journey started. Anyone feel free to add. Thanks

[iliketacos]

TJ:

FBC allows me to continue my slacker bachelor lifestyle, and I am facinated by FBC as it creates less work all the way around for me. I will probably do some cooking in my pot, but I assume it will be mostly FBC. I assume that there are some pros and cons to FBC but I havent found anything wrong with it yet. If you think there is a downside, please let me know. The only thing I can see is that there could be some toxicity to the bags and the hot/boiling water. But, I've checked the specs for Ziploc and it does not appear that the bag reaches the temps necessary for the bag to degrade to a level which would create problems-I think the bag breaks down to a toxic state at something like 1,000 degrees F.

TJ:What mac and cheese do you have that you can eat it within 5-minutes of lighting your stove and cooking it in your pot?

[sarbar]

I'll add that if your willing to precook pasta and dry it you can say:
5-10 minutes in a bag, covered with water.

[iliketacos]

Thanks sabar, I'm trying to not do any mail drops accept for maybe some new boots/shoes or bounce boxes for the essentials, which I think takes away my ability to dehydrate any food before hand. It's interesting that I always wondered about the old Italian women in my neighborhood who would put a pot of water on to boil when they got home, now I know. I'm going to try the Kraft mac and cheese tomorrow and see if it holds up better then the grocery store chain brand-which wasn't that bad to be honest.

[sarbar]

I have always wondered about some boxed mac and cheeses-the pasta has that par-cooked and dried look (kinds of irregular looking). If so, it would mean that the pasta only needs boiling water and a good sit. Might be worth trying.

[digger51]

I use Kraft mac and cheese all the time when hiking and it never takes more than 10 minutes for it to completely cook in my freezer bag and cozy. A full box and about 8 oz water and it is ready by the time I get the rest of the meal ready.

[iliketacos]

digger, thanks for the cook times. I'm gonna give the Kraft a try tomorrow, I do wonder-and sabar may have hinted at this-if the cheaper mac is pre-cooked a bit as it looked partially dehydrated in the box.

I just did the:

Angel Hair Pasta: 6 oz. Prince Angel Hair (approx. half a 12 oz.box), 2 cups water, at 5 minutes cozy. (iliketacos)

I also tried something different from my previous pasta FBC and that is I flushed the bag after draining with 1 cup of water. It is recommended to rinse pasta when doing cold pasta dishes. The pasta was still plenty hot after I flushed it. The flushing I think removed some of the starch which allows the pasta to be a bit more digestible, and I think it slowed the cooking that still occurs in the pasta after the water is drained, this I think also prevented the mushy pasta effect at the bottom of the bag. Also, I did not add salt when I added the water which I think creates more heat, but that may be reaching a bit.

I was thinking with a bit of a smile as I looked at my powdered sauce mixes and such when trying to determine what to add to the pasta and figured hey go with the Pasta con Aglio e Olio (Pasta with garlic and oil), a poor mans pasta sauce/gravy. I added a healthy amount of olive oil-about a 1/4 cup and a nice helping of carlic powder with an amount of parmesan cheese that I'm too embarrassed to admit here, triple yum with about 800 calories easy.

[sweetpeastu]

I take those little microwavable easy mac things made by Kraft. I don't pack or use the plastic cub it comes in however. I dump the contents into a little zip locky for storage and cook it up in my stove. It takes just a few min after heating boiling ur water (which doens't take any time at all with those Whisperlites). Ramen would cook as quickly too.

[sweetpeastu]

i would think that freezer bag cooking would come in handy if a) your pot is too small to cook something in b) you're low on fuel--all the fuel u'd use it what it takes to boil water or c) you're cooking something that otherwise would take way too long on a stove (once again conserving fuel)? That said, what else can u freezer bag cook. I need food ideas. lol.

[sweetpeastu]

oh and if anyone knows how to cook french bread toast on the trail pppppleeeasssse let me know. That would taste damn good in the mornin along with my pre-cooked bacon...maybe some powdered eggs. Oh im hungry now!

[iliketacos]

Digger51,

Thanks for the comment on the mac and cheese, I used 2 cups of water which worked pretty well when I added the dehydrated milk and powdered cheese mix. The bag time was spot on.

Macaroni and cheese: 1 box Mac and Cheese 7.7 oz., a healthy pinch of dehydrated milk, 2 cup water, 10 minutes.

[iliketacos]

I'll update the times at some point, I have a few more to do. Anyone feel free to add any times. Thanks.

[Ron "So Big" B]

Just fired up my Kelly Kettle boiler and tried a couple of meals.

Zatarains Red Beans and Rice

poured contents of 8 oz box into a quart freezer bag and placed inside a 34 oz insulated mug from Walmart, added just over 2 cups of boiling water and snapped the lid tight for 30 minutes. What a great meal, the mug kept everything piping hot and rehydrated perfectly.

Same results with New Orleans style Long Grain and Wild Rice dinner.

Now I need to find a small and tasty package of sausage to add which I can carry on the trail.

I think this FB idea is the way for me to go providing tow hots per day and little fuss or mess. Get to tent site and fire the Kettle, add water to meal and then set up tent etc. while meal is simmering.