Putting Freeze Dried Meals in Ziplocs?

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I don't get the big deal about rehydrating in the bag. I just use the titanium pot I boiled the water in... It's also what I drink my coffee out of in the mornings. Give 'er a little rinse before bed, and that rolling boil will clean the rest out come morning!

 

[MountainTracker]

I don't get the big deal about rehydrating in the bag. I just use the titanium pot I boiled the water in... It's also what I drink my coffee out of in the mornings. Give 'er a little rinse before bed, and that rolling boil will clean the rest out come morning!

I think if water is in short supply or you can’t spare the fuel to boil and clean your pot, those would be issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I think if water is in short supply or you can’t spare the fuel to boil and clean your pot, those would be issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If the water is in short enough supply I can't make coffee, I'm hunting elsewhere! How the heck are you supposed to hunt effectively if you're chronically dehydrated anyways?

But in the spirit of water conservation, I generally drink the rinse water with all the leftovers of my meal before I go to bed. If I'm flush with clean water I'll splurge and scrub the pot with a drop of dishsoap.

 

[MountainTracker]

If the water is in short enough supply I can't make coffee, I'm hunting elsewhere! How the heck are you supposed to hunt effectively if you're chronically dehydrated anyways?

But in the spirit of water conservation, I generally drink the rinse water with all the leftovers of my meal before I go to bed. If I'm flush with clean water I'll splurge and scrub the pot with a drop of dishsoap.

I get it lots of people need coffee or some other water mix to get going (myself included water drink mix, no fuel needed). But since this thread is in the lightweight section I figure people don’t want to carry extra fuel to clean their pot. And since you asked why it was an issue, those were a couple I thought up from my own experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ScottP]

I just got back from a 10-day trip. I had a 60/40 split between homemade dehydrated meals and commercial freeze dry. I kept one mountain house in its original packaging for the first night and reused the one package as my bowl for the entire trip. I vac sealed all the rest of the meals and just emptied each one into the MH bag. I was around a ton of water so rinsing out my bowl 1x/day wasn't a big deal. I even used soap a couple times...

I started taking one MH bag on backpacking trips when I used to buy the bulk tins of MH and then just put servings in regular ziplock bags. I like the structure of the MH foil bag. However, I may go all 100% homemade and have eyed up the foil bags and DIY coozy.

 

[HighUintas]

I've been using the same backpackers pantry mylar bag to rehydrate all my Ziploc meals in for the last couple of my years. Still going strong and weighs.... 1/2oz? 1oz?

 

[Marbles]

Worked well for me using Ziploc brand quart freezer bags and water at a rolling boil. Try it at home once and see what you think. I just wrap mine in a jacket, or if it is cool enough that I'm wearing both my fleece and puffy, I stick it in my puffy pocket and get some extra warmth as the fleece provides adequate insulation to avoid burning myself. Of course, if you do something dumb and spill the bag contents you will be in for some bad burns putting it in your pocket.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I should have clarified a bit. I'm all for swapping from mylar to ziplocs. They pack way smaller. I just don't think the water waste to cook in your pot is that big if you plan that rinse water as part of your daily consumption.

 

[hsb]

I do this all the time. Just put the boiling water in a freezer quart zip lock, seal, and then I put it in my beanie to cook. Keeps it plenty warm enough to rehydrate the meal.

 

[tttoadman]

Check out “bowl bag”. Heavy bags that fold open to a flat bottom. I have a pile of them. Don’t know if they are around anymore or not.

 

[LongWayAround]

I did this for the first time over the last couple of weeks.

I would open four or five peak meals and dump them into quart ziplocks with the oxygen absorber discarded. I kept one of the peak mylar bags. When it was time for dinner, I put the ziplock in the mylar, dumped the water in, and zipped them both. It worked great and is something I will definitely do anytime I am backpacking in the future.

 

[TX_Diver]

Ate a handful from bags over the last few weeks and most had a slightly off flavor. Idk if it’s from the bag or just from not being in the original sealed package (in ziplock from 1-3 weeks prior to eating).

It does save some bulk but I’m not sold 100% yet. Will have to try with some other flavors just for testing.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Ate a handful from bags over the last few weeks and most had a slightly off flavor. Idk if it’s from the bag or just from not being in the original sealed package (in ziplock from 1-3 weeks prior to eating).

It does save some bulk but I’m not sold 100% yet. Will have to try with some other flavors just for testing.

I went all in on the idea and got a bag cozy and everything, ended up sending it back after mocking it up to test, and just rolling with the mylar. Maybe I'm just being a wussy, but it felt like it would be a major PITA to actually eat a meal out of a flimsy ziplock over the mylar bags. I shaved almost 2lbs with a new sleeping bag and UL stove kit, so I compromised.

 

[chindits]

I buy #10 cans of 4 or more different supper meals. I only eat dehydrated supper meals, I have other stuff for breakfast and lunch. When I open a can I’ll dump it into a gallon zip lock and store it in the fridge. I’ll have these in the fridge for a year or more just topping off the bag when I open the next can. I go out anytime of year so this isn’t just for hunting.

When I pack up my meals for a trip I put a night’s meal in a quart ziplock. 1 1/2 cups for me or 2 1/4 cups if I’m walking the wife.

I don’t cook in the bags. I’m boiling water in a pot so that’s where I dump the bag full of food. We eat out of the pot. I never really liked eating out of a bag and I reuse the ziplocks multiple times without washing them.