dehydrated meals and using bowls.

[cmeier117]

For you guys making your own meals and just bringing a big bag of dehydrated whatever. Are you eating it out a bowl of some sort? If you are, are you worrying about cleaning them at all? Do you take a paper towl and wipe it out? Do you lick it clean and give it a quick rinse with water? Just trying to figure out how nasty a bowl could be after using it for a week and wondering what you guys are doing to keep it clean? I know some guys use freezer grade quart bags and get the water just before boiling and eat of the bag, but I am not sure if I want to risk eating plastic with my food?

 

[Daniel_M]

No different than eating out of a bowl at hone for 7 days. If water is not a issue, the MSR scraper/brush has done me fine.

Not usually an issue when the dogs join us, they clean the dishes.

 

[gobbler1662]

Leave the bowl at home and reconstitute the meal in an empty mountain house bag. I've used the same bag for an entire season just washing it out each time.saves some ounces

 

[Becca]

Granted we are still primarily eating mountain house, but we have definetely still used a single snowpeak titanium mug (per person) for weeks on end without washing them or our sporks. Oatmeal, instant potatoes, refried beans, soup mix, coffee/tea/mixed beverages etc. all in the same cup over the course of a trip. I do make an effort to scrape out the big chunks with my spoon when I finish eating out of it, and if you eat first and then finish with whatever beverage you are having that helps too. Very rarely I will give them a rinse if waters abundant, but that's about the extent of it.

Amazing how high my tolerance is for not washing things when I am in the field. Too bad I don't think I could stand the same standards at home, it would sure cut down on the time I waste washing dishes and clothes

 

[colonel00]

For my homemade meals or when I buy MH in bulk and portion my own, I either reuse a MH bag or just bring along some quart sized freezer ziplocks. They hold up to the heat and do a pretty good job. Moreover, I will put a whole meal or days food in the ziplock with a piece of paper in the zipper. Then pack up several meals and vacusuck them in a larger bag. Then you have several days worth of food ready to go with minimal air bubbles to take up space. The paper in the zipper keeps them from sealing during the vacuuming

Edit: I should add that one downside is the ziplock bags don't stand up on their own all that well but I manage. I seem to remember someone mentioning that they now sell ziplocks with the stand up bottom so that might be an option in the future.

 

[Becca]

Becca is a woman after my own heart. Luke should be so proud hahaha. Nice Becca. My wife thinks she needs to disinfect everything. I call her OCD. =)

Haha, thanks...I think some of it has to do with working in a hospital. I am in contact with some pretty gross stuff on a daily basis, and spend a great deal of time washing my hands and disinfecting people and surfaces My hospital clothes go into the washing machine the second I get home, and I don't touch anything or anyone until they are. Anything I encounter in the backcountry seems tame by comparison to what I encounter at work, so I figure eating out of the same bowl and wearing the same clothes for the duration of a trip builds immunity

 

[cmeier117]

Good to know guys. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't gross for not really "washing" my bowl if resort to this method. I just hate packing those mountain house bags in and out.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

My Jet boil only gets warshed after a trip. Coffee rinses previous night's dinner. Lunch rinses breakfast and dinner rinses lunch. Mountain House Lasagna - now that SOB had cheese on my long titanium spoon for EVER. It infuriated me enough to not buy it again.

 

[Becca]

My Jet boil only gets warshed after a trip. Coffee rinses previous night's dinner. Lunch rinses breakfast and dinner rinses lunch. Mountain House Lasagna - now that SOB had cheese on my long titanium spoon for EVER. It infuriated me enough to not buy it again.

But it's delicious!! We have discussed the fact that you could likely patch a raft with that cheese Post meal scraping of the spork (before the cheese sets up like concrete!!) is mandatory with that one for sure. Small rocks or moss work well...

 

[bowinhand]

I use the gallon size freezer bags and rehydrate the meal then place the bag into the cup I boil water in, blouse the top over the cup and eat that way I don't have to wash the cup and just lick the spoon clean.

 

[rodney482]

Takes a sand blaster to get MH lasagna cheese off a spork.

 

[Ironman]

Lasagna is my favorite.

I have thought about people using zip lock freezer bags as well. If I did start dehydrating all of my own meals, I still would want a Mountain House bag, purely for the heat convecting Mylar interior. IIRC, they sell Mylar bags empty.

 

[muleman]

Here is a link to some vacuum pack bags with zipper and they stand up. I am ordering some of these to try.

https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/emergency_supplies/mylar_food_storage_bags.htm

 

[muleman]

Going to get the bags at the very bottom of the page.

 

[Ironman]

Now those are cool, Muleman. Pour in boiling water, zip, stick inside beanie and wait. I like those.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I always rinse my cup with boiling water after I eat out of it. Doesn't take much water at all and I like it clean. In WA water is hardly ever a problem though.

 

[colonel00]

Here is a link to some vacuum pack bags with zipper and they stand up. I am ordering some of these to try.

https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/emergency_supplies/mylar_food_storage_bags.htm

Looks interesting. Please post a review if they work out.

 

[muleman]

Looks interesting. Please post a review if they work out.

Sure thing.

 

[cmeier117]

I love packing them in and out. Cmeier you figured out how to stuff them yet? I can show ya if you need. I have 3 days meals put in a medium pullout within their individual bags. It took some backwoods ingenuity but I got it done.

I fold them in halves or I roll em. then tape em. They actually pack down fairly small. Saves you the weight of the bowl. I keep a trashbag with me to pack them out. Works great.

I folded last year. I just took enough food for a 14 day hunt and I was only gone 7. I will try taping them. I may use the vacuum pouch ones this year.

 

[littlebuf]

I use a freezer bag and my wool beanie. makes a great easy to dispose of bowl