Influencer I
Was curious if anyone has done this for long trips to minimize food spoilage? If so, what kind of meals did you do?
Vacuum sealed meals
- Thread starter darjo242
- Start date
Advocate III
I think I have posted about it before, but we have done soups and stews on a couple of trips, which worked well. For the month preceding the trip my wife will make some of our favorite soups and stews, but will make double the normal. Th excess is split into individual portions into ziplock freezer bags, and frozen flat. Once frozen she takes the ziplock off, puts the frozen food into the vacuum bag and seals it with the machine.
Then, at camp we pull out the pouch, drop it into our sea to summit collapsible pot with water, and throw it on the stove until the soup is hot. Pull the bag out, pour it into the bowl and enjoy. Because they're packed individually, we don't have to eat the same thing as one another. The only clean-up is the bowl and spoon, which can be washed using the left over hot water, from boiling the soup pouches.
It works well for longer trips with just a cooler, since the frozen meals help keep the cooler cold too. In theory you could do the same for some other meals. Pasta based stuff would be good I would think, but even meat dishes like BBQ chicken breast and the like would probably work..
Then, at camp we pull out the pouch, drop it into our sea to summit collapsible pot with water, and throw it on the stove until the soup is hot. Pull the bag out, pour it into the bowl and enjoy. Because they're packed individually, we don't have to eat the same thing as one another. The only clean-up is the bowl and spoon, which can be washed using the left over hot water, from boiling the soup pouches.
It works well for longer trips with just a cooler, since the frozen meals help keep the cooler cold too. In theory you could do the same for some other meals. Pasta based stuff would be good I would think, but even meat dishes like BBQ chicken breast and the like would probably work..
Influencer I
Yeah, going to be spending a week primitive camping in UT and trying to come up with meal options that will save space and hold well and not not have to worry about spoilage. My mom used to make meals like this for my dad and I when we'd go on hunting trips, but I can only remember breakfast items and strews. I like breakfast for dinner and all, but would like a little more variety
You can take pretty much anything that you can freeze first if there is liquid in the recipe- just freeze in square containers (Rubbermaid etc) and then vacuum pack. I usually make a big pan of lasagna the week before we head out. I put leftovers into fridge to harden then next day I cut squares large enuf to feed 2. I vacuum Pk the parcels then freeze. When camping I let the pack defrost and slice into 1” thick slices and fry ‘Em up in my cast iron pan (flip them once). Yes the slices do start falling apart sometimes but who cares...still tastes great! Of course the other option is to reheat as per Chili’s method
Advocate III
Another idea: When I do more traditional remote camping, not vehicle based, I stick with foods that don't require refrigeration and mostly only need water for cooking. Shelf stable stuff that you can just mix and match. For example, I may make a Knorr Rice side then cut up some spam or beef sticks or some type of shelf stable protein and mix it in. I will also bring along a baggie of dehydrated mixed vegetables (like this) and add them into some of the soups and other sides, for more flavor. Here's a pic I just took of some of the foods I take on those type of trips. I keep these in my man cave where all of my personal camping gear is kept. This is just a small sample of what I have on hand currently. If you look on the aisle with the sides like these, you'll get more ideas too. Some of the sides call for oil, but are fine without. That said, I do bring along some extra virgin olive oil, either in a metal liquor flask, or re-purposed Mio water enhancer bottles, depending on the duration of the trip.
Other than the spam cans (spam singles in the pouch are better, like the smoked salmon above), this stuff is really light too. For backpacking, I would go one step further and break down the sides packages into the thinner Ziploc (non-freezer), to save some weight. You can put two or three pouches worth into one bag, then just pour out the amount you want at camp.
If you intend to do stuff like this, I would recommend trying stuff out at home first, tweaking 'recipies' and preferably cooking them using the pots and gear you will on the trail. You want to make sure you: a. like it, and b. have what you need to cook it.
Also, google backpacking meal ideas.. Lots of great info out there and it's directly translatable to overlanding.
Other than the spam cans (spam singles in the pouch are better, like the smoked salmon above), this stuff is really light too. For backpacking, I would go one step further and break down the sides packages into the thinner Ziploc (non-freezer), to save some weight. You can put two or three pouches worth into one bag, then just pour out the amount you want at camp.
If you intend to do stuff like this, I would recommend trying stuff out at home first, tweaking 'recipies' and preferably cooking them using the pots and gear you will on the trail. You want to make sure you: a. like it, and b. have what you need to cook it.
Also, google backpacking meal ideas.. Lots of great info out there and it's directly translatable to overlanding.
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I've done it with lasagna and other pasta as well works pretty good as long as you have a way to keep it cool. Also dried fruits work well in small vacuum sealed bags. We've done about any kind of leftover food and put in it the cooler frozen and just warm it in water when time to eat. It makes a lot less prep work while camping/traveling and easy cleanup.
Influencer I
Advocate III
Hi! My wife and I use a food dehydrator, you can dehydrate just about anything! Fruits, vegetables, ground beef, chicken, etc. All you need to do is boil water and re-hydrate your food. I also use the recommendation Chili recommends. For dehydrating ideas check youtube.
Absolutely awesome idea. The lightbulb in my head just went off. Makes perfect sense. Thanks again for your thoughts !
Advocate III
We have the Foodsaver Gamesaver Delux, but it doesn't look like they sell it anymore (I bought it in 2015):
And no, I didn't pay $1k! lol. Not sure what that is about. It was $110 when I bought it.
We've been happy with it, but honestly aren't really heavy users. My wife typically uses it about once a month when she buys bulk meats, especially hamburger, so she can split it down into 1lb portions and freeze what won't be used immediately. Then, occasionally, for trips as described above. I think I bought the canning attachments too, but we haven't used it.
And no, I didn't pay $1k! lol. Not sure what that is about. It was $110 when I bought it.
We've been happy with it, but honestly aren't really heavy users. My wife typically uses it about once a month when she buys bulk meats, especially hamburger, so she can split it down into 1lb portions and freeze what won't be used immediately. Then, occasionally, for trips as described above. I think I bought the canning attachments too, but we haven't used it.
