Bushwalk Australia

I'm interested in the freezer-bag cooking concept.

Recognising that the range of dry ingredients in Australia is not necessarily as great as overseas, I'm interested in ideas for quick to pack and prepare recipe that use ingredients that are easy to find in most Australian big-chain supermarkets. I'm also happy to venture to more exotic grocers for much needed ingredients.

I want to avoid using a food dehydrator and I'm just looking for quick-simple ideas that don't require this fuss.

I'm keen to see ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I might try these out at home before taking them to the bush.

I'm also interested in this concept, tho haven't been too adventurous as of yet, currently only restricted to breakfasts.

For breakfasts my staple is porridge (instant Uncle Tobys Oats varieties, the brown sugar & cinnamon my current favourite);
1-2 satchets depending on how gruelling i'm expecting the trip to be; if I only use 1 satchet then I also have a breakfast / muesli bar.

Empty oats satchets into zip-loc (freezer) bag, snack size / sandwich size is usually big enough.
Add brown sugar.
Add powdered milk (or coconut milk powder if you can find it, usually in the asian section of the supermarket).
Add some dried fruit / nuts to flavour.
Carry individual serve honey squeeze pack (now available in most supermarkets).

Add boiling water, knead gently to mix all ingredients & let sit for a minute or two.
Drizzle honey over the top & mix in.
Be sure to use only a spoon & not a spork as this will puncture the zip-loc bag.

Enjoy & better still there is no morning washing up to do (except for the cup of tea / coffee which starts the day).
I don't usually get bored of this if the standard flavours of the oats are built upon - even on 7+ day trips.

Looking forward to other suggestions....

Cheers
Stu

Hi
We have done freezer bag cooking for a while now, here some thoughts
- As Stu already mentioned oats or muesli for breakfast are nice and easy ideas and there is no wash up.
- For dinner we dried our own food but I'm sure you could try the continental instant meals, we have tested this once but realised that after rehydrating they were more like a soup. I guess if we would have used a little less water than the suggested it would have worked out just fine.
The commercial trekking meals should work ok too, but they are rather expensive. At Coles we bought some instant rice meal from the asian food section once which was very good, but I forgot the name and haven't seen it recently.

- On our last trip we had some problems with zip lock bags developing holes after pooring in the hot water which is of course a bit of a problem.
- Even though you don't have to do any dishes and cooking is generally easy (just add hot water and wait) we have decided to cook and eat from the pot for the future, which imho tastes better.
We will continue however with dehydrating our meals.

Not sure if you know this site already.

samh

stubowling wrote:I'm also interested in this concept, tho haven't been too adventurous as of yet, currently only restricted to breakfasts.

For breakfasts my staple is porridge (instant Uncle Tobys Oats varieties, the brown sugar & cinnamon my current favourite);
1-2 satchets depending on how gruelling i'm expecting the trip to be; if I only use 1 satchet then I also have a breakfast / muesli bar.

Empty oats satchets into zip-loc (freezer) bag, snack size / sandwich size is usually big enough.
Add brown sugar.
Add powdered milk (or coconut milk powder if you can find it, usually in the asian section of the supermarket).
Add some dried fruit / nuts to flavour.
Carry individual serve honey squeeze pack (now available in most supermarkets).

Add boiling water, knead gently to mix all ingredients & let sit for a minute or two.
Drizzle honey over the top & mix in.
Be sure to use only a spoon & not a spork as this will puncture the zip-loc bag.

Enjoy & better still there is no morning washing up to do (except for the cup of tea / coffee which starts the day).
I don't usually get bored of this if the standard flavours of the oats are built upon - even on 7+ day trips.

Stu ... I think I will try your recipe. I also very much like the concept of no washing up other than the spoon and perhaps a rinse of a mug after a cup of coffee.

samh wrote:- On our last trip we had some problems with zip lock bags developing holes after pooring in the hot water which is of course a bit of a problem.
- Even though you don't have to do any dishes and cooking is generally easy (just add hot water and wait) we have decided to cook and eat from the pot for the future, which imho tastes better.
We will continue however with dehydrating our meals.

Not sure if you know this site already.

Was it a particular brand of bags that you had problems with or do you think it was just a bad batch?

I'm aware of the trail cooking site and keep an eye on it. The problem seems to be that many of the recipes seem to call for dry ingredients that just aren't available here. Do you using the trail cooking cozy setup? If not - what do you use to keep the bag insulated.

Trail Cooking posted this link today: Food plan for 8 day backpack. I think some of the ingredients could be difficult to find here but I guess the recipes could be adapted.

We had the problems with the coles brand bags. But also the GLAD ones leak sometimes. But especially the coles brand ones. One of them just ripped open completely. We just made a cozy from one of those sunshields you can buy for your windscreen.
On our last trip we had holes in the zip log bags on the first two days and then decided to eat from the pot that of course means doing dishes which can be annoying too, but well, can't have everything.
For me the only real advantage of freezer bag cooking is that you dont have to do any dishes.
I suggest you give it a try for a while and see how you manage.

There is some dried stuff you can buy easily like peas and corn, chillies and mushrooms can be found in the asian food section. You can use couscous, polenta and all sorts of asian noodles. Maybe you can also find some dried stuff in the health food section or in a health food store. Other ingresients which are easy to get but not dried are canned fish, bacon, salami and cheese (especially parmesan). Then there is also instant sauce or soup you can use and then you can add your own spices and herbs.
I don't know any recipes, my wife does all that

I will have a more careful look around the supermarket. I'll also see if I can find a large asian / indian grocer - I understand they can be good for dried ingredients.

I like the idea of using a sunshield. I'll try out some recipes at home.

The freezer bags I have used with success are Multix brand.
corvus

I was surfing the JetBoil website and found some recipes. Plenty to find there for ideas (although many cannot really be adapted for FBC).

I like this one for simplicity ( http://www.jetboil.com/recipes?page=3 ) :

Cluck Cluck Couscous

Couscous is made of pre-cooked semolina wheat and rehydrates almost instantly, making it one of the very best bases for lightweight eating. You can find it in the bulk food or imported foods section of the supermarket.

2 cups water
chicken bouillon cube
1 cup couscous
4 oz. can chicken

Add water and bouillon cube to the cooking cup. Bring to a boil. Add couscous and turn off burner. Cover and wait about five minutes for couscous to absorb water. Add chicken and mix it into the couscous.

and this one ( http://www.jetboil.com/recipes?page=5 ):

Rice and Chicken

Instant rice is an excellent starch base because of its low weight and quick cooking time. Chicken is a natural complement, but packaged turkey, chipped beef, and fish work well, too. Experiment with variations on this theme:

1 cup water
1 cup instant rice
2 tablespoons onion flakes
1 can boned chicken
1/2 teaspoon sage
chicken bouillon cube
(dry mushrooms)

Pour water and bouillon cube in cooking cup. Stir to dissolve cube. Turn on heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Turn down to low simmer once boiling and let cook for five minutes.

I miss having powdered tomato paste being available in Australia. It was an excellent and often used ingredient in my hiking kitchen.

Have you considered using sachets of tomato paste as an alternative?

flatfoot wrote:Have you considered using sachets of tomato paste as an alternative?

Yes, I use them now, however they are several times as heavy and sometimes I like to use only a little as a thickener which would leave the sachet open.

enduro wrote:I miss having powdered tomato paste being available in Australia. It was an excellent and often used ingredient in my hiking kitchen.

I agree and I now make a close substitute by Dehydrating toms minus skins and seeds to a brittle consistency then pulse it in the blender,bit of mucking about but hey I am a retiree and have the time
corvus

corvus wrote:

enduro wrote:I miss having powdered tomato paste being available in Australia. It was an excellent and often used ingredient in my hiking kitchen.

I agree and I now make a close substitute by Dehydrating toms minus skins and seeds to a brittle consistency then pulse it in the blender,bit of mucking about but hey I am a retiree and have the time
corvus

Good post.

I have an oven and a coffee grinder which I rarely use for coffee but does get used for everything from chilli, curry spices to Adzuki beans for a skin cleanser.

Since I will be drying food soon, I'll give the evaporating tomatoes a go.

enduro wrote:

flatfoot wrote:Have you considered using sachets of tomato paste as an alternative?

Yes, I use them now, however they are several times as heavy and sometimes I like to use only a little as a thickener which would leave the sachet open.

Have you considered buying tomato powder online?

http://www.mfcd.net/depot/PROD/tom.asp
http://www.gourmetshopper.com.au/shop/product.php?productid=317
http://www.aussievitamin.com/tomato-powder.html

Not at those prices or the products to much "health foody style" but good post .
corvus

Hi Everyone (my first public post, though I have been scanning this site for a couple of years now ... some of us are just a bit slow - or chicken?).

Anyway regarding the tomato powder, I have bought dehydrated tomato from 'Nanna's Pantry" here in Queensland. It has already been blended to a fairly fine state, but could easily be blended more in the coffee grinder to make it a powder. Nanna's Pantry is also a good place for LOTS of other useful ingredients and yummy treats and is not over priced in the main.
If any of you have any Vegetarian recipes (dinner) suited to FBC, I'd love to see them!

Cheers,

ABG

Hi guys (and gals !). I use the Hercules brand freezer bag ; used them for years, ; and have had no splits whatsoever. I think it's important to use proper freezer bags as they are of a thicker plastic and stronger. I made a cosy of reflectix and some bright red polarfleece and the system works fine. Yes, spoons only here. My only gripe is that I have`a dirty freezer bag to pack out and either wash out or chuck away when I get home. A good idea I've found is to use a plastic food grade sandwich or food storage box with a lid to rehydrate my meals in. I plonk my dehyds in, add the required hot water, stir, close up and allow it to rehydrate while I have a cup of soup or tea. To keep it warm I wrap it in my jacket, hat or similar. About 15 - 20 mins seems about right. I usually use couscous for my carb as it rehydrates readily and has a protein kick. Breakfasts are oats usually; I mix oats, brown sugar, milk powder and some sultanas and bag it up. I ate my own dehyds on the Overland track and saved a bundle. I also got the meals I liked and the portions I wanted. I love my curries and other spicy meals and I make a big batch and dehydrate what I want. The Fowlers Vacola dehydrator was some of the best money I ever spent. I hope this helps. Regards, CV.

Use baking bags - not freezer or zip locks which are not made for heating or hot foods and have a low melting point. Baking bags are made from heat-proof plastic and don't leach chemicals.
There are lots of cook-in-the-bag recipes on the net, just Google it. I like cook in the bag scrambled eggs, cereal, and two minute noodles with bacon bits or cheese sauce.