Gear & Tools:
Disclaimer:
While no one I know has had any bad occurrences on the trail using freezer bags (ie. leakers, blowouts, etc) there is a small chance of it occurring. So make sure you pay attention, set the freezer bag in front of you as you pour the water, be careful when pouring the boiling water and don't do it in your lap.
Use common sense in cooking in the outdoors, just like you would at home. All sports run injury risks, and cooking has a multitude of chances of hurting yourself (hot stoves, water, knives, etc).
We as authors, do not take any responsibility for the use of of any materials or methods described on this website, or in our books, nor of any products mentioned in them.
A good example of having the stove safely away, and of two bags sitting securely waiting for hot water.
A canister or alcohol stove. Good brands of canister stoves are MSR, Primus, Coleman, Snowpeak and JetBoil. We carry the White Box Alcohol stove.
A windscreen for your stove made of a turkey pan, stove liner pan or heavy duty foil folded 3 times. This will increase fuel efficiency. Most companies that make alcohol stoves include them.
A Lexan® long handled spoon to eat with. Sporks can be used very carefully if eating pasta dishes. Be careful though with poking the bags. The Foon® by GSI® is a spork that works well, it has a bigger spoon area than most, and it's tines are not as sharp.
A Lexan® mug/cup with measuring markers on it (Lexan is clear so you can use it as a measuring cup/drinking cup). Or a lightweight Titanium mug. Both work well for measuring water, and are light, yet hold up to abuse.
A box of good quality freezer bags. My personal favorites are the Glad® bags that are a greenish blue color and Ziploc® brand. I do recommend bringing 1 or 2 extra bags in your food bag, double bagging dried pasta as it can have sharp ends.
A black sharpie to write on your bags. Mark what your meal is, and how much water to add.
How to do FBC:
When getting ready to “cook” your meal, bring your water to a boil. Pour the water into your cup, measure, then add it to your freezer bag. This way you avoid painful burns, adding too much water, or touching your freezer bag with a burning hot piece of metal-and having the small potential of melting the bag.
Stir with a long handled metal, Lexan® or plastic spoon. After you have mixed it well, zip up the bag tightly and wrap in a fleece hat, jacket or cozy made for the purpose. Then let sit for 5-15 minutes, make yourself a drink, stir real well, and eat. I usually put my freezer bag into my cozy before I add the water (since I often use a dedicated cozy), this works well as I don't have to hold the bag upright while I add the water. For information on Cozies, and full product information, please see the Cozy Page.
Skidsteer has made an excellent video on FBC cooking:
A Note On Squeezing/Kneading Bags:
If you squeeze or knead your bags to mix up the food, be very careful- be sure you have pushed out all the air before you do this. The steam from the hot liquid can cause a build up and your kneading could cause the bag to pop open. Personally, I don't knead the bags.
The "How Do I Eat Out Of The Bag?" question:
This can take a little practice, but after your food is ready, roll the top 1/3 of the bag down (imagine you are cuffing socks). This will make your bag into its own bowl. If eating soup or chowders, be careful.
The "How Do I Feed 2 People?" Question:
Many of the recipes are listed as feeding two people, which might make one wonder, how do you feed 2 our of 1 bag? My answer to this has to been to bring two bags with me - an extra bag (usually recycled from having held dry food before). After the meal is ready, I do the final stirring, then divide the meal between the two bags.
Not Into Freezer Bags, But You Want To Do The Recipes?
Adding the dry ingredients into your boiling water, in your pan. Stir well, pull off the heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes in a cozy made for your pan.
Insulated mugs that can take hot water.
Gladware®, Rubbermaid Take-A-Longs®, or Rubbermaid® food containers that have a lid. If it is dishwasher safe, you can use it. These can be put in soft sided cozies.
Roasting bags and slow cooker liner bags, found in the plastic bag section.
Food Vac bags, they are rated to be submerged in boiling water for extended periods, are some of the strongest bags on the market.
Fozzil Dishes
Orikaso Dishes
Concerns over using plastics?
Nalgene® Has quite a bit of information on polycarbonate items. Due to the current amount of emails and forum postings on Lexan® and other polycarbonate material items:
Periodically, we are asked "Is it safe to use bags?". I was recently asked this question twice in this week, once by email and once in person at a recent talk I did at the Seattle Mountaineers. My answer to that is this:
"My personal opinion is yes, it is." This is my view, not anyone else's though. I also drink out of polycarbonate water bottles, and use aluminum pans to boil water in, and I don't worry about that either.
Why? Freezer bags are food grade plastic. While using them for eating out of is not a claimed use on the bag's box, it works, and falls under the stated uses.
There are a number of emails that are constantly sent around the internet these days, claiming that Lexan® water bottles, plastic bags, plastic containers, Saran® wrap, etc are cancer causing time bombs - which of course contain often a tiny bit of truth and a lot of hot air.
If you would like to read excellent researches on plastics and safety, we have listed a number of links:
Cooking For Engineers
Snopes:Lexan
John Hopkins
Second Snopes Article
Also visit Plastics Mythbusters for more information.
For more information, visit Ziploc's website, and go to the FAQ page. As you can see, all Ziploc® brand items are Dioxin free. Ziploc® freezer bags state on their box that they are microwavable safe. Microwave temperatures can easily exceed the heat of the water you will use for your dinner on the trail. One use though for the bags that is not recommended is boiling the bags. One of the more popular emails floating around concerns the "Zip loc Omelette" where you boil eggs in a bag for 12-15 minutes, in a pan of water. It works quite well, but the boiling water can weaken the bag, or if the bag touches the hot pan, it can melt. Some confusion can occur with this, until the person asking the question realizes that to do "FBC" cooking you are not boiling food in the bag, but rather, adding hot water to the bag!
Freezer bags are made of 100% polyethylene. Most bags are 3 mil thick. As with any question, it does come down to your own personal feelings.
Are freezer bags recyclable?
Yes, they are! Both Glad® and Ziploc®'s are fine to recycle if your area takes #2 and #3 plastics. Rinse them out though!
Return To Top.
While no one I know has had any bad occurrences on the trail using freezer bags (ie. leakers, blowouts, etc) there is a small chance of it occurring. So make sure you pay attention, set the freezer bag in front of you as you pour the water, be careful when pouring the boiling water and don't do it in your lap.
Use common sense in cooking in the outdoors, just like you would at home. All sports run injury risks, and cooking has a multitude of chances of hurting yourself (hot stoves, water, knives, etc).
We as authors, do not take any responsibility for the use of of any materials or methods described on this website, or in our books, nor of any products mentioned in them.
A good example of having the stove safely away, and of two bags sitting securely waiting for hot water.
Gear & Tools:
Eating well doesn’t
mean you need to carry a big kitchen with you on the trail. You
needn’t carry heavy pans, multiple pans, a lot of fuel, and have to do
cleanup after your meals. You can eat great, have a nice variety of
foods, and be done eating before dark. There are a few items and
techniques that will go a long way to achieving edible nirvana….or as
close as we can get to it.
Tools needed:
A canister or alcohol stove. Good brands of canister stoves are MSR, Primus, Coleman, Snowpeak and JetBoil. We carry the White Box Alcohol stove.
A windscreen for your stove made of a turkey pan, stove liner pan or heavy duty foil folded 3 times. This will increase fuel efficiency. Most companies that make alcohol stoves include them.
A Lexan® long handled spoon to eat with. Sporks can be used very carefully if eating pasta dishes. Be careful though with poking the bags. The Foon® by GSI® is a spork that works well, it has a bigger spoon area than most, and it's tines are not as sharp.
A Lexan® mug/cup with measuring markers on it (Lexan is clear so you can use it as a measuring cup/drinking cup). Or a lightweight Titanium mug. Both work well for measuring water, and are light, yet hold up to abuse.
A box of good quality freezer bags. My personal favorites are the Glad® bags that are a greenish blue color and Ziploc® brand. I do recommend bringing 1 or 2 extra bags in your food bag, double bagging dried pasta as it can have sharp ends.
A black sharpie to write on your bags. Mark what your meal is, and how much water to add.
How to do FBC:
When getting ready to “cook” your meal, bring your water to a boil. Pour the water into your cup, measure, then add it to your freezer bag. This way you avoid painful burns, adding too much water, or touching your freezer bag with a burning hot piece of metal-and having the small potential of melting the bag.
Stir with a long handled metal, Lexan® or plastic spoon. After you have mixed it well, zip up the bag tightly and wrap in a fleece hat, jacket or cozy made for the purpose. Then let sit for 5-15 minutes, make yourself a drink, stir real well, and eat. I usually put my freezer bag into my cozy before I add the water (since I often use a dedicated cozy), this works well as I don't have to hold the bag upright while I add the water. For information on Cozies, and full product information, please see the Cozy Page.
Skidsteer has made an excellent video on FBC cooking:
A Note On Squeezing/Kneading Bags:
If you squeeze or knead your bags to mix up the food, be very careful- be sure you have pushed out all the air before you do this. The steam from the hot liquid can cause a build up and your kneading could cause the bag to pop open. Personally, I don't knead the bags.
The "How Do I Eat Out Of The Bag?" question:
This can take a little practice, but after your food is ready, roll the top 1/3 of the bag down (imagine you are cuffing socks). This will make your bag into its own bowl. If eating soup or chowders, be careful.
The "How Do I Feed 2 People?" Question:
Many of the recipes are listed as feeding two people, which might make one wonder, how do you feed 2 our of 1 bag? My answer to this has to been to bring two bags with me - an extra bag (usually recycled from having held dry food before). After the meal is ready, I do the final stirring, then divide the meal between the two bags.
Not Into Freezer Bags, But You Want To Do The Recipes?
Adding the dry ingredients into your boiling water, in your pan. Stir well, pull off the heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes in a cozy made for your pan.
Insulated mugs that can take hot water.
Gladware®, Rubbermaid Take-A-Longs®, or Rubbermaid® food containers that have a lid. If it is dishwasher safe, you can use it. These can be put in soft sided cozies.
Roasting bags and slow cooker liner bags, found in the plastic bag section.
Food Vac bags, they are rated to be submerged in boiling water for extended periods, are some of the strongest bags on the market.
Fozzil Dishes
Orikaso Dishes
Concerns over using plastics?
Nalgene® Has quite a bit of information on polycarbonate items. Due to the current amount of emails and forum postings on Lexan® and other polycarbonate material items:
Periodically, we are asked "Is it safe to use bags?". I was recently asked this question twice in this week, once by email and once in person at a recent talk I did at the Seattle Mountaineers. My answer to that is this:
"My personal opinion is yes, it is." This is my view, not anyone else's though. I also drink out of polycarbonate water bottles, and use aluminum pans to boil water in, and I don't worry about that either.
Why? Freezer bags are food grade plastic. While using them for eating out of is not a claimed use on the bag's box, it works, and falls under the stated uses.
There are a number of emails that are constantly sent around the internet these days, claiming that Lexan® water bottles, plastic bags, plastic containers, Saran® wrap, etc are cancer causing time bombs - which of course contain often a tiny bit of truth and a lot of hot air.
If you would like to read excellent researches on plastics and safety, we have listed a number of links:
Cooking For Engineers
Snopes:Lexan
John Hopkins
Second Snopes Article
Also visit Plastics Mythbusters for more information.
For more information, visit Ziploc's website, and go to the FAQ page. As you can see, all Ziploc® brand items are Dioxin free. Ziploc® freezer bags state on their box that they are microwavable safe. Microwave temperatures can easily exceed the heat of the water you will use for your dinner on the trail. One use though for the bags that is not recommended is boiling the bags. One of the more popular emails floating around concerns the "Zip loc Omelette" where you boil eggs in a bag for 12-15 minutes, in a pan of water. It works quite well, but the boiling water can weaken the bag, or if the bag touches the hot pan, it can melt. Some confusion can occur with this, until the person asking the question realizes that to do "FBC" cooking you are not boiling food in the bag, but rather, adding hot water to the bag!
Freezer bags are made of 100% polyethylene. Most bags are 3 mil thick. As with any question, it does come down to your own personal feelings.
Are freezer bags recyclable?
Yes, they are! Both Glad® and Ziploc®'s are fine to recycle if your area takes #2 and #3 plastics. Rinse them out though!
Return To Top.
Dehydrating 101:
For indepth information on buying a food dehydrator, prepping foods, and drying please see: Dehydrating 101.
The articles and pictorials will help you gain confidence in drying your own foods, and to expand the dishes you can prepare on the trail!
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The articles and pictorials will help you gain confidence in drying your own foods, and to expand the dishes you can prepare on the trail!
Return To Top.
Protecting Your Food
If you are visiting the outdoors, it is your responsibility to make sure that animals do not get fed. Please read our section on Protecting Your Food!
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Individual Packets Of Condiments
Please visit our resource page on where to find individual packets of condiments. These days it is almost unlimited what you can find in small packets, that are perfect for outdoor use.
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