I ran across   (You need to Login or Register and assume it's similar to how most of us pack food for trips.

While I pack or repackage things like freeze dried food and lay stuff out like that to check and recheck quantities, etc. I use way less packaging. Rather than thick, hard solid vacuum bagging, I just use baggies for individual, one/two person meals ... shake to consolidate shapes, roll or fold the baggie and tape it shut (resisting the urge to lick the end). There is less to find room for, burn and/or pack out with less packaging. Air is not your friend but I even poke pinholes in those instant oatmeal bags. Most everything is in a bag, in a bag, in a bag/box/canester... some sort of water resistant container anyway IMO.

In any case, I thought it a worthwhile video to recommend checking out. Pay no attention to that roll-down jelly tube. Those things have evil waiting at both ends!  :-[ :D

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In any case, I thought it a worthwhile video to recommend checking out. Pay no attention to that roll-down jelly tube. Those things have evil waiting at both ends!

;D First year backpacking, I packed a whole jar of PB, and 1 of Jelly in those damn things. Most of it ended up smeared all over the food bag :-[
IF you need your P&B fix, I'd just bring the small plastic jars and save yourself the misery ;)

Gotta have PB! And the little plastic jars the PB comes in works fine, without re-packaging it. And I get real maple sugar to re-hydrate for syrup.

Otherwise, this video is a lot like what I do.

Tim

Shoud have added this. Each bag I prepare has a "recipe" in it. The recipe contains what is in the bag and how to assemble the parts. Rice is pretty easy for folks to recognize, but pancake flour and instant potatoes might be confused.

Folks on this site encouraged and coached me on preparing my own dried meals. Cuts both salt and sugar. Well worth the effort in my book.

Tim

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Each bag I prepare has a "recipe" in it.

I do the same. Afterward the cardboard/paper recipe does double duty as a fire starter in dry conditions  ;)

Solotripper:

Fie on you! I only start fires with wet wood! ;)

Tim

Wow.  Do they do anything besides eat?  

I thought I packed heavy on food.  These guys are close to double what I'd bring for an 8-day trip.

Pretty similar packing style, though.  More ziplocs, less vacuum seal bags.

Snow_Dog wrote on Nov 11^th, 2009 at 1:10am:

Pretty similar packing style, though.  More ziplocs, less vacuum seal bags.

... and of course, if you are going to write your recipe ON the ziploc bag (rather than use the cardboard "insert"), make sure you use permanent marker.

BTW:  Its helpful to write on the bag BEFORE you fill it!

dd

Ancient_Angler wrote on Nov 10^th, 2009 at 9:42pm:

Solotripper: Fie on you! I only start fires with wet wood! ;) Tim

That's because being my "senior", you much more CRUSTY than I  ;D
Using wet wood for fires may SEEM like a rookie thing, but when you can actually get a decent fire going, it's a Senior skill moment ;)

That was a lot of food wasn't it. Was there any fish breading?

I've noticed I need a lot less food in August than I would in May. Was there a date or time of year mentioned?

thanks for the link.  I've always used outfitter food, but was already considering doing my own for 2010, so this is helpful.

There was fish mix - marked "pancake batter for fish".
-Tom

For most of the 20+ years I've been making the trip, we do not fry fish. We sprinkle a modest amount of lemon pepper on fillets, then grill the fillets over the fire, holding the fish in a backyard hamburger grill. Saves on oil, saves of batter mix. And makes, in my opinion, better fish.

Tim

Ancient_Angler wrote on Nov 13^th, 2009 at 4:28pm:

For most of the 20+ years I've been making the trip, we do not fry fish. We sprinkle a modest amount of lemon pepper on fillets, then grill the fillets over the fire, holding the fish in a backyard hamburger grill. Saves on oil, saves of batter mix. And makes, in my opinion, better fish. Tim

I've thought of that before, but balked as I thought less oily fish like walleye might stick to grill? Are you using the non-stick kind you see around? I prefer my fish grilled rather than fried when possible.
 Nothing against the batter fried folks, but I think the choice of batter can either enhance the fish, or ruin it? At least that's been my experience.
 My late Dad used to fry fish at his VFW hall for years on Friday night.
People would come from miles away past closer VFW's for his post's batter fried cod. He told me that they all got the same frozen cod, but used different batters. His post used a recipe someone had brought back from a fly-in fish camp Up-North somewhere. The "secret"  was beer that you let go flat and room temperature before mixing with dry ingredients. Made the lightest/crispiest crust. The cod might of been less than fresh, but the batter made it taste like it came right off the boat ;D

No, I've never taken one of the stick-resistant grills. I'm thinking I'll take a can of spray for the grill next year, though I would add some to the weight I'm eliminating by not taking batter mix. But sticking has not been all that great a problem. There's some sticking, no doubt, but we scrape the fish off with a spatula and don't lose very much. Lake trout are oily enough that sticking does not seem to be much trouble. And cook slow... it's a secret that no body knows.

In one of the Gourmet magazine cookbooks there is a recipe for beer braised bass which I made many years ago (think I'll go look it up) which we liked a great deal. But not so well I'm willing to lug beer intot he bush.  

Tim

Ancient_Angler wrote on Nov 13^th, 2009 at 4:28pm:

For most of the 20+ years I've been making the trip, we do not fry fish. We sprinkle a modest amount of lemon pepper on fillets, then grill the fillets over the fire, holding the fish in a backyard hamburger grill. Saves on oil, saves of batter mix. And makes, in my opinion, better fish. Tim

On a long trip, we tired of conventional fried fish, so this year I made sweet and sour fish fried in tempura batter, served over rice.  It was a huge hit.  And easy to make.

prouboy

Fish Pizza, Fish burritos, fish stew/stew, thai noodle fish, Poached Laker, fish spag., cream cheese herb scrabbled eggs w/ laker, and on rare :-? occasion pan fried.

Sorry marlin, but somewhere in there, I'd need some Mac 'n Sleeze, with a package of tuna and some peas thrown in.  I need a break!

prouboy

Tuna is a break from fish?

I go the opposite way.  I've never, ever brought tuna on a canoe trip.  Some smoked ham or salami diced in mac and cheese is a welcome break from fish for me.

I love tuna! Yumm! Tuna melt, Cheezy noodles and tuna, bago tuna, tuna on the grill, tuna and noodles(without the cheese), tuna on crackers, raw tuna (wasabi), MMMMMM

What about spam Snowdog?

Spam is in my inbox every day.  That's part of what I'm trying to escape up there.  :D

Tuna's good...it just doesn't belong in my food pack.  Gotta leave the stores stocked with it for prouboy.

Topic....One of the things that has always frustrated me in my packing is holy bags... Dried sweet potato and carrot always do a number on the vacuum bags/food saver film.  Any pointers?

I have had success on this a couple of ways.  

You can put them in a ziploc first, but don't seal it up.  That gives you an extra layer of padding against the sharp points.  

Lately, I have had success by skipping the ziploc layer and just not vacuuming quite as much air out before sealing.  I let the vacuum part of the process run just until the stuff compacts down fairly good but before it starts putting a lot of pressure on the bag.  Then I switch it over to the seal function.  You get 80-90% as much compression as usual but just enough "give" in the bag so that the pointy edges aren't straining against the plastic.

or you can just pulverize everything into a fine powder!... ;D

Yep one could ;D

S-D  -- Hmmmmm, is tunafish really a break from fish?  Ah, jeez, I feel a bit like Homer Simpson, Doh!

But I still like tuna with mac and sleeze.  My buddy and I had gorged on the stuff last year after a brutal long, wet, cold day of tough portages and big water.  Sitting under the tarp, slurping hot mac and sleeze with tuna and peas,  as the rain pounded around us.... It just doesn't get any better than that.

prouboy

ProudBoy

The expert on whether Tuna is a fish is, of course, Jessica Simpson, not Homer.  I can't recall if Jesica ever decided if Chicken of the Sea was a chicken or a fish.

As far as buying food for a camping trip.  Everything I need can be found at Cub Food.  Some food has to be repacked in zip lock bags, but otherwise Cub has everything I need.

Westwood

marlin55388 wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 4:45pm:

Topic....One of the things that has always frustrated me in my packing is holy bags... Dried sweet potato and carrot always do a number on the vacuum bags/food saver film.  Any pointers?

Vacuum bagging can indeed turn some things to dust. The only food I bother vacuum bagging anymore is steak. Any repackaged food goes in the smallest, lightest baggies possible and they get folded and taped shut w/ painter's tape. Noodle corners (and their ilk) will tend to poke out but it's no big deal. That bag is in another bag inside a rather water resistant box.

I once liked freeze-dried packaging since it was bullet-proof. Then I realized how much space going overboard like that with packaging wasted.

I do vacuum bag a knit hat for trips I don't expect to need it. It saves space and keeps it dry in my not very water-resistant day pack.

Tuna would be a break from fresh, freshwater fish IMO. I keep a pouch at the bottom of the pack just in case. I'm still looking for sliced Spam in a foil pouch as it's something I might actually use. Dooooooo-oh-oh-hhhhh, fried Spam.

db wrote on Feb 26^th, 2010 at 6:15am:

[quote author=marlin55388 link=1257542806/20#20 date=1267029938] I'm still looking for sliced Spam in a foil pouch as it's something I might actually use. Dooooooo-oh-oh-hhhhh, fried Spam.

Pick n Save

marlin55388 wrote on Feb 24^th, 2010 at 4:45pm:

Topic....One of the things that has always frustrated me in my packing is holy bags... Dried sweet potato and carrot always do a number on the vacuum bags/food saver film.  Any pointers?

I usually vacuum pack an entire meal at a time, and place foil meat pack, powdered sauce mixes, or drink mixes on the sides, then pour in the sharp cornered noodles, veggies, etc.  Also experimented with similar suggestions above, and since the puncturing pasta/veggies really don't gain much by vacuum sealing, I found they were just as easily transported in double zip-lock freezer bags.  Could also use wax paper or a paper towel inside to lessen the chance of puncture.

I won't take spaghetti noodles on a trip anymore, and usually stick with elbow macaroni or shells for pasta.  Rice works well, and we usually have at least 2 meals with wild rice.  Takes a while to cook, but if you're good at cooking over a fire, it's pretty easy and will vacuum pack down pretty easily.

I've found the best thing to prevent wholes in packaging is packing tape. I don't vacum seal, I just use ziplocks, but when I have poky stuff like spagetti noodles I gubber on the packing tape and it holds up to pretty much anything. The only time I ever had any problems was last Memorial weekend on a trip up the Vermillion River. I took a larger group of no experience kids and ended up (it's a long story) going backward over a 3 or 4 foot drop with me and a kid who had never been in a canoe before that day. We stayed upright over the drop but the kid freaked in the whitewater below. We went over and everything went for a float ride. The foodpack was floating for a good half hour before we got another canoe over the portage to go get it and while I tended to the kid (he got a little banged up but was ok). Anyway, even after floating down the river the only problem we had was that water somehow got into the noodles and instead of noodles we ate a giant chunk of pasta for supper that night. Never did find the stove.

:o

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On a long trip, we tired of conventional fried fish, so this year I made sweet and sour fish fried in tempura batter, served over rice.  It was a huge hit.  And easy to make. prouboy

Would love to get that recipe, sounds good!

Drewfus -- the recipe is on this website.  Go to the homepage, look for recipes, and there it is.  

My only change: now, instead of cubing the walleye first, I dip a fillet in the batter, fry it, then cut it up into pieces.  

My first try was tasty, but messy -- think of a pile of cubed fish meat, dumped in a thin batter, then scooped out to fry.  Not pretty.    

But either way, my guys loved it.  The sweet sauce (easy to find in plastic bottles in most grocery stores) makes the meal.  

prouboy

Thanks! I should have looked there.....  ::)     And quote properly lol