Do Boil in the Bag meals still exist?
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Do Boil in the Bag meals still exist?
There used to be a product called Magic Pantry that had a line of entrees that you simply tossed the bag into boiling water to heat before eating. I loved those. Unfortunately they are long gone = out of business.
Around here freeze dried foods are VERY expensive.
Does anyone make a boil in the bag meal anymore?
Cheers
Around here freeze dried foods are VERY expensive.
Does anyone make a boil in the bag meal anymore?
Cheers
Last edited by Homebrew01; 01-08-22 at 08:46 AM. Reason: Typo
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Hmmm...
Mountain House Freeze Dried. But, like you said, not cheap.
I think I saw a 5 gallon bucket of freeze dried entree for sale as an "emergency prepper" meal.
https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Sur.../dp/B0029BE7AW
Not particularly cheap, but it might take a little while to munch through it.
Cup of Noodles?
https://www.riteaid.com/shop/nissin-...hicken-2-25-oz
Military MREs?
Mountain House Freeze Dried. But, like you said, not cheap.
I think I saw a 5 gallon bucket of freeze dried entree for sale as an "emergency prepper" meal.
https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Sur.../dp/B0029BE7AW
Not particularly cheap, but it might take a little while to munch through it.
Cup of Noodles?
https://www.riteaid.com/shop/nissin-...hicken-2-25-oz
Military MREs?
Last edited by CliffordK; 11-10-19 at 12:14 AM.
#3
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there be various noodle/sauce packets you can buy, then add a can o'tuna or some dehydrated meat or tofu.
simple enough to make your own, many websites with directions can be googled.
get yourself some boil bags and be creative....
https://www.packitgourmet.com/Cook-in-Bag.html
simple enough to make your own, many websites with directions can be googled.
get yourself some boil bags and be creative....
https://www.packitgourmet.com/Cook-in-Bag.html
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I think many of them still exist in the bottom of the camping junk box in everyone's garages.
But seriously... I recall seeing some only a few years ago. At the Winco grocery store, no less. I guess preppers want them? I think a lot of serious high speed backpackers now are taking their food in the form of things that don't need cooking
But seriously... I recall seeing some only a few years ago. At the Winco grocery store, no less. I guess preppers want them? I think a lot of serious high speed backpackers now are taking their food in the form of things that don't need cooking
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Weight still has to be a priority for backpacking, but the government is very anti fire, which leaves one with a stove & fuel. So, perhaps advantages of cold meals.
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There used to be a product called Magic Pantry that had a line of entrees that you simply tossed the bag into boiling water to heat before eating. I loved those. Unfortunately they are long gone = out of business.
Around here freeze dried foods are VERY expensive.
Does anyone male a boil in the bag meal anymore?
Cheers
Around here freeze dried foods are VERY expensive.
Does anyone male a boil in the bag meal anymore?
Cheers
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#7
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Just me, but...
I never found taking much food from home to be a good strategy unless packing for long trips away from restock points. Avoiding carrying food weight is pretty desirable IMO so buying as close to daily as possible is the way to go. So you really just need to pick and choose what is available from the stores when and where you are.
Packing lots of food for longer time away from restock points means lighter food. So I tend to take dried stuff, some foil packed stuff, and some other foods, mostly grocery store items (not much if any freeze dried most of which I hate). I have worked out what works for me over the years and for going off road away from stores i do as i would for backpacking.
FWIW there are a few freeze dried items that I really like. Freeze dried peas are one. They are really light and since fresh veggies can be hard to come by on some tours I sometimes break my own rules and take a bag of them with enough to last a while. Honeyville.com is a great source for dried and freeze dried products (not those nasty freeze dried meals). Most of what they sell is in great big cans with a super long shelf life. Most of it is good enough to eat even at home. The refried beans, oats, peas, mushrooms, and a few others are worth having for at home. I really love the refried beans and use them at home all the time. It is easy to make one serving at a time.
On another note I had some freeze dried meals that some European hikers left behind, that I grabbed out of the hiker box on a hike in the Sierras. While I generally hate freeze dried meals these were surprisingly good. They were a European brand that I had never heard of and they were delicious. I have never seen them available in the US. It may be that I was just super hungry, but usually my appetite is off a little and I am more fussy if anything when under the physical stress of a hard hike.
I never found taking much food from home to be a good strategy unless packing for long trips away from restock points. Avoiding carrying food weight is pretty desirable IMO so buying as close to daily as possible is the way to go. So you really just need to pick and choose what is available from the stores when and where you are.
Packing lots of food for longer time away from restock points means lighter food. So I tend to take dried stuff, some foil packed stuff, and some other foods, mostly grocery store items (not much if any freeze dried most of which I hate). I have worked out what works for me over the years and for going off road away from stores i do as i would for backpacking.
FWIW there are a few freeze dried items that I really like. Freeze dried peas are one. They are really light and since fresh veggies can be hard to come by on some tours I sometimes break my own rules and take a bag of them with enough to last a while. Honeyville.com is a great source for dried and freeze dried products (not those nasty freeze dried meals). Most of what they sell is in great big cans with a super long shelf life. Most of it is good enough to eat even at home. The refried beans, oats, peas, mushrooms, and a few others are worth having for at home. I really love the refried beans and use them at home all the time. It is easy to make one serving at a time.
On another note I had some freeze dried meals that some European hikers left behind, that I grabbed out of the hiker box on a hike in the Sierras. While I generally hate freeze dried meals these were surprisingly good. They were a European brand that I had never heard of and they were delicious. I have never seen them available in the US. It may be that I was just super hungry, but usually my appetite is off a little and I am more fussy if anything when under the physical stress of a hard hike.
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I only remember having a couple boil in the pouch meals a couple times, I think that was in the 70s. We were winter camping in Northern Michigan UP, only 8 or 9 hours of sunlight every day, thus we wanted something that was extremely convenient so we brought a couple of them. Heavy but simple was our thinking. I think one pouch punctured while we were boiling it which really messed up that meal and also meant that the water we used to boil it was not going to fill our water bottles later. And they also needed a lot of stove fuel to boil up that much water when our water source was snow. Never tried one again, have no desire to do so.
Someone above mentioned freeze dried foods in bulk. Mountain House freeze dried meals are also sold in large number 10 cans. (Don't ask me why the can is called number 10, I have no clue.) For trips where I am going to be away from grocery stores for a couple of weeks, I have bought a can of Mountain House Breakfast Skillet and bagged up 10 individual solo breakfasts at home from one can.
https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Hous...dp/B003Z45XVE/
I often will also mix one packet of Better Oats brand Instant Steel Cut Oatmeal with the breakfast skillet, add 10 oz of boiling water and wait for it to re-hydrate in my mug for about 8 to 10 minutes. A number 10 can is not cheap, but on a per serving basis it is much cheaper to buy a can at Amazon than small envelopes off the rack in camping stores.
I have not had a freeze dried supper in probably a decade, but if there was a flavor you liked you could also buy it in cans. Instead I just buy grocery store foods for suppers.
I used two of those cans this year, one for my Canadian Maritimes bike tour and one for a couple weeks of backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail. The Mountain House cans that are unopenned have a shelf life of many years. I have a couple cans in storage waiting for future trips.
One serving of teh Breakfast Skillet also mixed in with one packet of oatmeal in the photo below, plus of course the obligatory mug of coffee waiting to be consumed.
Someone above mentioned freeze dried foods in bulk. Mountain House freeze dried meals are also sold in large number 10 cans. (Don't ask me why the can is called number 10, I have no clue.) For trips where I am going to be away from grocery stores for a couple of weeks, I have bought a can of Mountain House Breakfast Skillet and bagged up 10 individual solo breakfasts at home from one can.
https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Hous...dp/B003Z45XVE/
I often will also mix one packet of Better Oats brand Instant Steel Cut Oatmeal with the breakfast skillet, add 10 oz of boiling water and wait for it to re-hydrate in my mug for about 8 to 10 minutes. A number 10 can is not cheap, but on a per serving basis it is much cheaper to buy a can at Amazon than small envelopes off the rack in camping stores.
I have not had a freeze dried supper in probably a decade, but if there was a flavor you liked you could also buy it in cans. Instead I just buy grocery store foods for suppers.
I used two of those cans this year, one for my Canadian Maritimes bike tour and one for a couple weeks of backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail. The Mountain House cans that are unopenned have a shelf life of many years. I have a couple cans in storage waiting for future trips.
One serving of teh Breakfast Skillet also mixed in with one packet of oatmeal in the photo below, plus of course the obligatory mug of coffee waiting to be consumed.
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Or, spend a bit more time cooking up a meal?
I probably offended all of the Vegans out there.
I probably offended all of the Vegans out there.
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Just me, but...
I never found taking much food from home to be a good strategy unless packing for long trips away from restock points. Avoiding carrying food weight is pretty desirable IMO so buying as close to daily as possible is the way to go. So you really just need to pick and choose what is available from the stores when and where you are.
On another note I had some freeze dried meals that some European hikers left behind, that I grabbed out of the hiker box on a hike in the Sierras. While I generally hate freeze dried meals these were surprisingly good. They were a European brand that I had never heard of and they were delicious. I have never seen them available in the US. It may be that I was just super hungry, but usually my appetite is off a little and I am more fussy if anything when under the physical stress of a hard hike.
I never found taking much food from home to be a good strategy unless packing for long trips away from restock points. Avoiding carrying food weight is pretty desirable IMO so buying as close to daily as possible is the way to go. So you really just need to pick and choose what is available from the stores when and where you are.
On another note I had some freeze dried meals that some European hikers left behind, that I grabbed out of the hiker box on a hike in the Sierras. While I generally hate freeze dried meals these were surprisingly good. They were a European brand that I had never heard of and they were delicious. I have never seen them available in the US. It may be that I was just super hungry, but usually my appetite is off a little and I am more fussy if anything when under the physical stress of a hard hike.
And we ended up eating some sort of European brand of camping food at one place in Europe too because the campground was near a Decathlon Sporting Goods store, but other food places had closed for the day for some reason. We picked these things up and were pleasantly surprised ... or very hungry.
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#12
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I'm with you.
And we ended up eating some sort of European brand of camping food at one place in Europe too because the campground was near a Decathlon Sporting Goods store, but other food places had closed for the day for some reason. We picked these things up and were pleasantly surprised ... or very hungry.
And we ended up eating some sort of European brand of camping food at one place in Europe too because the campground was near a Decathlon Sporting Goods store, but other food places had closed for the day for some reason. We picked these things up and were pleasantly surprised ... or very hungry.
I'd actually reconsider using freeze dried meals when backpacking if I could buy meals like the pasta bolognese I got out of the hiker box at Red's Meadow in the Sierras. I will never buy Mountain House meals unless they were are better that the ones I have had in the past. They were simply awful.
The price is high, but I might consider freeze dried, if good, for the ease of quick packing and easy planning when away from resupply long enough. In any case I don't see much reason to consider them for on road touring unless you were touring somewhere that there are no stores for quite long stretches at a time. They would make planning a week or two of backpacking a lot easier though.
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Not for me, thanks. I'd rather just open a can of something, if it comes to that. 😉
This type of thing "should" have been a warning sign, when I was briefly married, way back in the '80s. The ex introduced me to boil-in-the-bag broccoli & cheese sauce, among others. We stayed married for "almost" a full year. 🙄😁😉
This type of thing "should" have been a warning sign, when I was briefly married, way back in the '80s. The ex introduced me to boil-in-the-bag broccoli & cheese sauce, among others. We stayed married for "almost" a full year. 🙄😁😉
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We have Chestnut Hill branded foods here, in the Family Dollar stores. Their Spam knockoff didn't wow me, but they have canned roast beef & gravy, pork & gravy, and the inescapable canned chicken breast, that are all pretty decent. 👍
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#15
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FREEZER BAG COOKING
As a staple that I relied on while hiking the AT was a carb rich meal like this... Start with a bag of Knorrs rice or noodles side dish, they cost about $1.00 each, rip it open dump it in a zip lock FREEZER bag (add freeze dried bulk meats if wanted) squish out air, zip it up and pack them away. When ready add 10-12 oz boiling water, stir it up, let sit in a cozy which is basically a tin foil and bubble wrap and duck tape pouch that will work just fine, there are commercially made pouches available, supplement with pouch meat if wanted. Best part comes now, just EAT and clean spoon then properly dispose of just a bag. Later on eat a Snickers before bed and move on in the AM.
COZY PLAN
As a staple that I relied on while hiking the AT was a carb rich meal like this... Start with a bag of Knorrs rice or noodles side dish, they cost about $1.00 each, rip it open dump it in a zip lock FREEZER bag (add freeze dried bulk meats if wanted) squish out air, zip it up and pack them away. When ready add 10-12 oz boiling water, stir it up, let sit in a cozy which is basically a tin foil and bubble wrap and duck tape pouch that will work just fine, there are commercially made pouches available, supplement with pouch meat if wanted. Best part comes now, just EAT and clean spoon then properly dispose of just a bag. Later on eat a Snickers before bed and move on in the AM.
COZY PLAN
#16
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Keep plastic away from hot food!
Boil in the Plastic bag out of business?
Because boiling water makes plastic leach into your food.
The plastic lodges in you brain, and reduces your level of brain power.
Boil in the Plastic bag out of business?
Because boiling water makes plastic leach into your food.
The plastic lodges in you brain, and reduces your level of brain power.
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These are pretty good. Heat in boiling water for 5 minutes.
https://www.costco.com/organic-tasty...100502845.html
I've tried a similar Chipotle bowl meal and a curry dish. There's also some rice ones and a rice/quinoa mix out there.
https://www.costco.com/organic-tasty...100502845.html
I've tried a similar Chipotle bowl meal and a curry dish. There's also some rice ones and a rice/quinoa mix out there.
Last edited by mtnbud; 11-10-19 at 11:35 AM.
#18
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However, for most other touring where I passed grocery stores or restaurants along the way, there is no need to carry much extra food - and I'll bias towards no-cook foods and buy along the way. In the lower-48 of US, I can't think of many places on paved roads where you aren't within are day of a small store or place to get something to eat.
Prior to leaving, I did experiment with MREs as well. They tend to be heavier and if you use the chemical warmers - you might have difficulty bringing them on a plane.
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So- how much is getting into our brains at any given time, and is it ALL plastic or only specific types?
#20
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ZiplocŪ brand Bags and Containers are BPA free.
SC Johnson's ZiplocŪ brand Bags and Containers are BPA free. Thier products are extensively evaluated for toxicity and safety and comply with applicable quality and safety regulations. ... Many reports of this study note that this chemical is commonly found in plastic food storage containers.
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https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/b...ns/pasta-meals
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/b...ce-grains/rice
Pick one that is easy to prepare and that you like ... let's say this chicken rice for example.
Grab a canned chicken like this perhaps.
You can carry a couple of those on the bicycle and not overload yourself with food weight. Then at some point during the day, stop in at a grocery and pick up a carrot, some broccoli and cauliflower.
Pop it all into one pot ... and dinner is served!
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#23
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Machka, thanks for this chicken breast in a tin, did not know you could get this here in OZ.
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Yep ... two different brands found at Woollies.
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#25
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I bought a bucket of Mountain House prior to setting off from Prudhoe Bay. It is 240 miles of almost entirely gravel from there to Coldfoot Roadhouse and another 240+ miles from there to Fairbanks. I brought seven days of food with me in mixture of freeze-dried and generally dried/no-cook foods.
On the other hand... If I am somewhere that the pickings are slim, I can get by on a really limited and stupid diet for a while (and have done so). If I had to I could go 10 days on mostly tortillas, peanut butter, and jelly or some other equally limited/stupid diet and might prefer it to Mountain House.