Food....Please educate/ inform me.....

[Bowlin]

I'm now starting to do more wild/ stealth camping so am wanting to 'refine' some gear choices. I'm already looking at a smaller pack size hammock but after Friday night's outing the next 'group' of kit to be looked at it cooking gear and food.

I quickly realised that on a Winter stealth camp boil-in-the bag meals should be the way to go (no cleaning of pots in the dark, no need for a stove that simmers, eat out of the packet etc. etc.)

So, the first question I'd like you opinion(s) on is what pot do you use if you bitb?

My lightweight 750ml titanium job isn't big enough, my Mors pot is but it is larger than I want to take, my 10cm Zebra is too small as is my Mucket......I then dug out a piece of kit I haven't used in years, the humble Army mess tin set. MRE pouches as well as LWWF (look what we've found) meals fit nicely and it only requires about 2-3cm of water to cover the pouches as they are lying flat. The only 'unknown' for me is they would be fine on a small fire, but if the wild/ stealth site isn't 'safe' for a fire and we have to use alcohol stoves I wonder if the specific heat distribution from an alcohol stove would make the process tortuous? Any one got a clue? Anyone tried this?

If I go with the mess tins then none of my windshields are 'long' enough to surround the mess tins either so that's yet another windshield to make....

So there's a started for 10 disucssion.....What/ how do my fellow Forum Members use/ adjust their cooking gear on short wild/ stealth trips?

Then on to the bonus question...Rice.....Now I've only ever used Uncle Ben's in a pot with added water. Now keeping to my bitb format I know that the Unvle Ben's bitb rice has holes in the bag which would contaminate the water in the pot and render it useless for making tea/ coffee etc. So, what bintb rice comes in pouches which are food safe and don't have holes in?

Any recommendations/ suggestions/ tips gratefully received.

Cheers
Steve

[craige]

Boil in the bag doesn't appeal to me, especially not for multi-day trips where food is heavier than your gear. If it already has water in it then it's too heavy
I usually do fbc (freezer bag cooking) or ready made dehydrated meals. Pour boiling water in the bag, stick it in a cosy and leave it for 10 mins or until you're ready to eat it. For this style of cooking a 750ml mug is plenty, you could easily get away with a 500ml mug if you don't want coffee/hot chocolate/cup a soup on occasion because the most water you'll usually need is 400ml.
My current kit is a alpkit 650 pot, foil lid, a myog cosy for my freezer bags a sea to summit alphalight lh spoon and either myog alcohol stove and ti windscreen or a brs 300t gas stove, plus a stuff sack for the lot. 153g for alcohol setup, slightly less for gas.


I've not worked out how to do rice yet, it needs to boil for a while to cook but couscous, that tiny rice shaped pasta that I can't remember what it's called and instant noodles are all pretty quick and easy to do without proper cooking.

[Sunndog]

Cous cous is great stuff. I use plain cous cous with powdered milk and sweetner for breakfast (like porridge but a lot less stodgy) and ainsly harriet (sp) packets with added jerky as a main meal
Rice you can pre-cook and then dehydrate

Pot wise i use a msr titan kettle and/or a toaks 550ml pot with lid....i like both when its cold but can easily just have the 550ml when its warmer and i don't want so many brews

[Bowlin]

hhmmm I too wouldn't use boil in the bag for multi day trips but as stated it's more for wild camping (usually single night jobs).

I've never considered dehydrated stuff because of what I perceive to be a lack of variety/ taste (so some suggestions of quality tasty stuff could change my mind). I have also been assuming that you'd have to put the dehydrated food into the pot of water (and therefore have to wash up the pot). So your idea of freezer bag cooking is excellent.

What freezer bags do you use? (I'm guessing that they are robust ones that don't melt or leech plastic?) Many thanks Craige, you could have set me onto my ideal path as I already have the 750ml pot. All I need is to try out some dehydrated food I guess to see if it tastes as bad as I imagine!!!

Many Thanks

Steve

[craige]

Check out basecampfood.com they've got a pretty fantastic selection of dehydrated meals. Most of the dehydrated stuff I've tried is actually pretty good. Mountain house isn't great ime.
Nah, just pour the water in the bag, give it a stir and leave it for a few mins to rehydrate.
I use the ziplock brand bags, they've been fine so far but I do fear leaks with broken up noodles potentially poking holes. Pour n store bags are ideal, wider with a gusseted bottom.
With a dehydrator the sky is the limit but is a lot more work and initial cost (savings in the long run). My main meal for overnighters is two packets of chicken noodles and a chicken cup a soup in the bag with some chopped up chorizo tossed in.
You can get big bags of dehydrated veg online quite cheap and powdered sauces in the supermarket. Added to couscous is really easy and tasty, plus only 5 mins 'til it's cooked.

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

I totally agree with Craige on the cooking setup. Gas for long trips, alcohol for shorter, though it's really just preference.

I'd personally avoid boil in the bag stuff as it's usually as bad as the freeze dried IMO. Cheaper mind.

For one night trips I'd splash a bit more using decent dried sausage, eggs, mash and stuff like that rather than the Freeze-Dried pack. They taste OK but unless you need the convenience or weight saving I'd just skip them.

I'm really rather partial to mama handi rice red Thai too low in protein for multiple days but tastes great

[GadgetUK437]

Whilst we're on the subject of cozy cooking (rehydrating in something insulated).
I'm thinking of going over from my current pot cozy,

to a cozy pouch I can just put a bagged meal in (the pour and store bags are a genius idea, thanks).
I was kinda thinking I could get clever and make a cozy pouch that did quadruple duty.
See, at the moment I have a pad that does triple duty (back pad in rucsack/sitpad/insulation in footbox of quilt).
Soooo, I thought I could add to its usefulness by making it work as a food cozy too!
I've been told 3mm CCF pad is more thermally efficient than the Reflectix I'm using now anyway.
I have a Lidl windshield cover that is foil covered, but is only 2mm; gluing it double layer with PVA shouldn't be an issue tho'.
I'll report back.

[GadgetUK437]

And, any suggestions on making rice work?
Is there a quick-cook rice option out there?

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

And, any suggestions on making rice work?
Is there a quick-cook rice option out there?

Yup, it'd called instant rice/minute rice. I've always used mama brand, really good.

[GadgetUK437]

no cleaning of pots

I do believe there's a Shug video for all occasions,

[GadgetUK437]

This might be a bit relevant here too,

[craige]

Scott, got a link to that rice? All I got was rice noodles. The American minute rice is on amazon for £4 something delivered. I'll probably give that a bash at some point.

Gadget, I don't do fbc on car camping trips but for backpacking or quick overnights it's much more convenient. Shug doesn't do the same mileage as me and has a lot of time in camp with benches, fire pits and water at a convenient distance. Plus better weather, that makes a big difference.

[Bowlin]

Scott, got a link to that rice?

+1 on that please.

[Meadows]

I sometimes use LWWF pouches for overnights but not really for longer trips.they just fit in my 600ml mug, upside down to avoid air bubbles glugging from the gusseted bottom and in a 900ml pot folded in half. The water then used for a brew so a bit of washing up.
Dehydrated ready made meals are great if you can find one that you like but will cost about a fiver each.
Couscous, noodles etc are okay but better if supplemented with dried sausage and and the like. There are lots of dried foods that come in a packet that you can pour water into and stick it in a cozy for 5 mins - Ainsley Harriot flavoured cos cous, mug shots, instant mash etc

[Bowlin]

I've been told 3mm CCF pad is more thermally efficient than the Reflectix I'm using now anyway

I'm currently using reflectix and also don't think it is very efficient, so if you are cutting up a CCF mat and have enough spare for me to make a pouch I'd gladly pay halves and postage etc.

Cheers
Steve