Best way to repackage Freeze dried meals/Cook in backcountry

[Tick]

I've heard of others doing this as well and I like the idea. You just use 1 mylar bag to eat out of the whole time? The food from the previous meal just stays in the bag and gets crusty until the next meal?

The previous day residue doesn't get crusty in a sealed bag. Not enough leftover in the bag to hardly notice. I guess you could rinse with an ounce of water or wipe out if worried about it. I've used the same bag for more than a week with no issue.

 

[grfox92]

I feel like it's more trouble than it's worth, but the UL guys do it as suggested in earlier post. I have used my beanie and puffy as a coozie before. You can open the top, squeeze the air out and seal with the ziplock top to make them pack better which is all I do now.

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Last year I dehydrated my own meals and used quart freezer bags.

I also tried using my puffy as insulation to help keep everything hot. What wound up happening was my puffy stunk like chicken and rice, so strong that my hunting partner could smell it.

I was planning on sleeping in it that night, but had to get out of the tent and go tuck it into the crotch of the tree we had our food hanging in.

We had the guy pictured below come through earlier that day, and I didn't feel like smelling like chicken and rice while sleeping over night.

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[WeiserBucks]

Get a little food coozie, weighs almost nothing and food is piping hot once you're ready to eat.

 

[dirtshooter]

I'm sure you could make a foil bubble coozy out of some kind of plumbing insulation if you wanted to

 

[BBob]

I'm sure you could make a foil bubble coozy out of some kind of plumbing insulation if you wanted to

Lots of people do that by tapping together an envelope/bag out of reflective bubble insulation.

I’ve had the quart freezer bags occasionally leak so I started to carry a single Mylar bag and slide the meal in the quart bag into it before adding hot water. Saves from making a mess in my insulation pouch.

 

[LongWayAround]

I've heard of others doing this as well and I like the idea. You just use 1 mylar bag to eat out of the whole time? The food from the previous meal just stays in the bag and gets crusty until the next meal?

No. You repackage out of mylar into a ziplock freezer bag. You keep one mylar bag. Each days ziplock goes into the mylar to rehydrate.

 

[ahawk116]

I repackage them to save space like many of you guys in freezer quart ziplocks. Never had a problem putting boiling water in them.

 

[cornfedkiller]

No. You repackage out of mylar into a ziplock freezer bag. You keep one mylar bag. Each days ziplock goes into the mylar to rehydrate.

So you are eating the food out of the ziplock, just using the mylar as insulation?

I was under the assumption that guys were using the mylar so that they weren't eating out of a ziplock.. and it seems there are guys that do that as well?

 

[mtnbiker208]

Don't over think it, it is freeze dried. After you have eaten enough of them, they are just not that good. With that said, i will be eating a bunch more this fall.

 

[grfox92]

So you are eating the food out of the ziplock, just using the mylar as insulation?

I was under the assumption that guys were using the mylar so that they weren't eating out of a ziplock.. and it seems there are guys that do that as well?

You can pour boiling water directly into the Freezer Ziploc bags. Its my least favorite thing to do as I do my best to avoid plastics in my day to day life but a necessity in the back country i guess.

Yes, they are repackaging the freeze dried into quart size ziplocks and then pouring the water into the ziplock and stuffing that into the mylar bag for insulation and will also I guess keep the mylar bag clean so you aren't eating old food.

I use Walmart store brand zipper Freezer bags. They are significant better quality than zip loc brand. I use the ones that act like a zipper with the blue handle for zipping, not the traditional push with your fingers ones.

I also use those quart zipper bags as stuff sacks for organization with my gear in my pack, Cook kit, first aid, shit kit, headlamp, batteries, charging cables ect. ect. I carry extra in case one fails, they dont weigh anything and will typically last a full season.

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[LongWayAround]

So you are eating the food out of the ziplock, just using the mylar as insulation?

I was under the assumption that guys were using the mylar so that they weren't eating out of a ziplock.. and it seems there are guys that do that as well?

Correct on just using the mylar to insulate.

Not sure about the others.

 

[Dlaurino]

I tried it for lunch the other day to test out a new Peak meal I bought. Put the meal into a quart freezer bag, which is how I would pack it. Then put the quart bag into the foil Peak bag before I poured the water in. Sturdier that way and easier to hold hot. Then when I was done I just pulled the Ziploc out of the Peak foil bag and tossed it. That way you could carry one foil bag and keep it clean and reuse it the whole time.

Don't over think it, it is freeze dried. After you have eaten enough of them, they are just not that good. With that said, i will be eating a bunch more this fall.

Just need something with a bunch of calories and won’t jack up my stomach

 

[grfox92]

Just need something with a bunch of calories and won’t jack up my stomach

Ive been eyeing singe serve olive oil packets on Amazon, think ketchup packets. They are 120 calories and 14g of fat. I bet you could add 2 of them to a full meal.

Also, nuts and seeds. A 1/4 cup of any nut is around 200 calories, might be the best bag for your buck weight wise for calories. Bring half a cup of honey roasted nuts for dessert.

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[Poser]

One tip I learned on here for reducing the bulk of the retail packaging is to puncture a pin hole near the top of the meal bag, compress the air out and put tape over the hole. Do this immediately before your trip, not weeks or months out since you are introducing some air into the bag.

 

[spike camp]

May have been mentioned, but vacuum seal bags work the best, in my opinion.
The tall and skinny ones…8” wide I’d guess.
Cut them a little long, about 12” in length.
You can boil in them safely.
Cuts down on a huge amount of space, weight and trash on the way out.

 

[TaperPin]

The only downside to zip locks is if your food stays packed in them for long they will pick up a plastic smell from the bags. A week or two is fine, a month not so much. I used to get excited and pack food too far in advance.

 

[Poser]

Did I see on here recently that someone was rehydrating in a titanium pot wrapped in a cozy to avoid heat and plastic?

 

[grfox92]

Did I see on here recently that someone was rehydrating in a titanium pot wrapped in a cozy to avoid heat and plastic?

Yea I've been looking at silicone Zip locks and something else in general to avoid using plastic. They make a silicon gallon ziploc, I just dont want to deal with cleaning it every night. Some type of cookie for your cook cup like tou mentioned woukd be slick.

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[MountainTracker]

I put them in quart ziplock bags, and any other spices or more veggies. I also break them down bc I can’t eat 2 servings at a time, way too much. I write down how much water and what the meal is on the bag. To re heat I place the ziplock into a hyperlite reheating bag. Do all of this saves garbage, weight and total space in my bag.

I’ll usually take a gallon and add all my food, and mix drinks for one day into it. When I’m ready to go out from camp I just grab one of the gallons and go.


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[WeiserBucks]

I write down how much water and what the meal is on the bag.

I do the exact same thing.