Camping Meals: Why Some Fail

Posted by Camp Trainer on Feb 10, 2009 in Featured, Recipes • No comments • 767 views

You haven’t cooked the meat long enough.
Half-cooked reconstituted meat spoils the whole stew. Except in very warm weather, cook-in-the-bag foods just don’t get enough done. It’s best to place the cooking bag in a covered pot of near boiling water for 10 minutes. Add about 10% more water to the cooking bag than the directions call for.

You burned the pasta!
This is easy to do on a one-burner trail stove, especially if you plop the contents of all food packets into the boiling water simultaneously. If you stove’s turned high, you may burn the meal quicker than you say “Turn the heat down!”

Insufficient Water
Remember you can always boil out too much water, but there’s not much you can do with a stew that’s so thick it’s burned and glued to the bottom.

Not enough spices
Don’t underestimate the value of spices when preparing freeze-dried foods. Most quick-cook products are unacceptably bland unless they’re well spiced. The suggested “all-spice” works wonders on everything from spaghetti to shrimp Creole.

Spoilage
Dehydrated foods come packed in plastic and have a shelf lifeof about 1 year. This is because plastic is not a complete water barrier. Freeze-dried foods come packaged in aluminium foil, which is an absolute vapor barrier. Consequently these products have an unlimited shelf life.

This should tell you something about end-of-season food sales. Don’t buy dehydrated foods in September if you plan to use them the following July. Your autumn bargain may turn out to be summer indigestion.

It’s important to realize that many products contain both freeze-dried and dehydrated components (for example, spaghetti with freeze-dried meatballs).

While the foil-wrapped meatballs won’t spoil, the plastic wrapped spaghetti and spices might. Only foods that are completely sealed in foil are immune to spoilage. Unfortunately, you almost never see these products offered at sale prices.

Introduction of bacteria and/or water vapor during repackaging
Don’t handle dried foods or expose them to air any longer than necessary when you repackage them. This will reduce the chance of bacteria and water vapor getting into the food.

Tip: Slice meat and cheese with a knife that’s been dipped in boiling water for a full minute. This will reduce a transfer of bacteria into the food.