Rehydrating (food)

“Those who dry their own, how do you rehydrate it? I have heard of people adding water at the begining of the day and that's fine, but how you you heat it up without dirtying a pan? I'm trying to keep it simple. Regular ziplocks can't handle being put in boiling water. Similarly, you can't pour boiling water into them. The best solution I have found out there is using my lexan cup to reconstitute it, or something like a Nalgene, tho you can't really eat out of a nalgene. Is there something like a lexan bowl with a seal tight top? How about a place to purchase bags that can have boiling water poured into them? Any suggestions?”

“Someone told me that Ziplock freezer bags would handle boiling water. This person said that they put their food in individual ziplocks before leaving home, then throw the whole bag in a cup and pour the boiling water into the opening...this way you save having to clean your cup afterward. The ziplock becomes the meal's trashbag. Sounds great, right?

I tried it. POS leaked. Double bag, maybe?”

“What is the matter rosey? You afraid of washing dishes? A little water and sand for the stick ons. What is the deal?”

“I use a tupperware bowl with a lid and just dump everything in ( food, boiling water, etc) and seal it up. you can eat or serve out of it. It's pretty light and not bad to clean because you don't cook in it and the food dosen't get all caked on.
This is all I carry:
1 qt alum. coffee pot (has foldable wire handles)
lexan cup
2 cup tupperware bowl w/lid
MSR pocket rocket
lighter

I never weighed it, but it all fits in the coffee pot”

“Right Kleetn. I figured as much. Plus I'm a little concerned the plastic would radiate some nasties (taste and any other polyethelene chemical crap) into the food due to the high temp of the water.

This looks like a potential

http://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=7144787&prmenbr=226

tho it doesn't say if it will handle boiling water or not, or if it is safe to use such with that type of plastic.

Bacpac, it's all about simplicity. Plus there's not always a water source and that makes clean-up a pain in the arse.”

“Tupperware is a good suggestion, Aero. Thanks and most likely I will try that. However, I'm still stuck on wanting to use a bag for the whole shabang, i.e. carry the food in it, dump in water, eat, toss it.”

“Ziplock freezer bags will work as long as the water is not fully boiling. Just as the little bubbles start to rise from the bottom of the pot is when you want to pour it in. I made a little pouch out of reflective material to put the ziplock in as it rehydrates also. Works like a charm.”

“My hiking partner used the bag method last time we were up and it was kind of a pain. the bag can get to be a mess and it's kind of hard to scoop out of. He made a meal out of a Mountain House stroganoff thing and we had the stuff all over before we were done. Even if you don't want to clean and reuse it, you're stuck with a gooey bag for the rest of the trip. Cleaning stuff is probably a good idea in bear country. With tupperware I just lick the bowl :>P”

“The bag didn't disintegrate or anything, it just didn't hold all the liquid. I think double bagging it might work, but then there probably is some chemical leakage from the Ziplocks. I coulda swore I only had one tongue before I tried that experiment! My wife likes it, though!”

“same here - used the ziplocs with boiling water before (especially with babysh*t burritos) And use my pot or cup as support. They are good if you have to mix something like refried beans.

When I have rice and beans - I add boiling water to my nalgene with the mix at lunch. I hate waiting for food to cook

Hey - I got yelled at for language!!!”

“BTW
when I was at Campmor last, they had all kinds of lexan containers.
Sorry I didnt look closer.”

“The "seal a meal" bags work good for this. I have the machine also and have sealed whole meals for the first night out and just dunked them in boiling water to heat them up. Then just eat out of the bag. I use them to hold all my dried food since they don't pass moisture like a regular bag and are tougher.”

“I store the food that I dehydrate in ziploc freezer baggies and then just add boiling water to the bag a few minutes before it's time to eat. It works great. Instead throwing away leftovers, I dehydrate them and bring them backpacking.”

“I have dehydrated leftovers also. I use the ziplock freezer bags and then dump in nearly boiling water ( supported by an aluminum pan).

Lately, I have tried to avoid clean-up and would rather mess with the ziplock.”

“I do this a lot.. so for me.. it's put the meat in some water first.. while I am still getting everything else ready.. by the time I have all my other stuff ready.. my meat is rehydrated.. sometimes I use a little boiling water.. which seems to hurry it up.. I have really not had any problems so far..”

“Those of you using ziplocks to rehydrate, have you noticed any taste alterations to your food from the plastic?”

“The Glad Stand-up Bags are supposed to be made to handle boiling water, but personally, I've used regular freezer bags a bunch w/o problems.”

“The mylar seal a meal bags are better than zip locks for storing dry food. The bags are designed to not pass moisture as readily as a regular plastic bag. The downside is they cost more and you need the machine to seal them. They are tough though. I can't tear one open when it's sealed right and need a knife to cut it.”

“No taste problems here with the plastic”

“I save, clean/bleach my Mountain House mylar bags and reuse them. It's worked well for me so far.”