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Post by darthmusturd on Mar 13, 2022 12:26:44 GMT -8
You can try to disagree with me because "well, doesn't all rice really taste and feel the same when it's cooked?" NO, Uncle Ben's is the best in flavor and in texture. It's a subtle difference that really makes a meal special. Good lord, no. I'm Japanese. Rice is our culture. I think rice preference is mostly about what you grew up with. You're not going to find many Japanese people who'll voluntarily eat Uncle Ben's. I buy Minute Rice when making backpacking meals; never touch it otherwise. I didn't grow up on Uncle Ben's. I'm just a rice connoisseur. Been eating rice and beef gravy since I was knee high. Uncle Ben's is like the Yukon Gold potato of rice.
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Mar 13, 2022 14:14:38 GMT -8
I didn't grow up on Uncle Ben's. I'm just a rice connoisseur. Been eating rice and beef gravy since I was knee high. Uncle Ben's is like the Yukon Gold potato of rice. A "rice connoisseur", really? And you think Uncle Ben's is the "best"? What other varietals/types of rice are you familiar with?
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Post by darthmusturd on Mar 13, 2022 15:09:14 GMT -8
I didn't grow up on Uncle Ben's. I'm just a rice connoisseur. Been eating rice and beef gravy since I was knee high. Uncle Ben's is like the Yukon Gold potato of rice. A "rice connoisseur", really? And you think Uncle Ben's is the "best"? What other varietals/types of rice are you familiar with? I'm not a rice connoisseur. I was being facetious. I've just eaten a lot of rice in a lot of places from a lot of places. Uncle Bens is the best I've found yet.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 14, 2022 20:05:48 GMT -8
I am a brown rice person. At home, I just plan ahead for the 40-minutes of cooking. For use on the trail or on the road, I create my own "instant" rice by cooking and drying it. Takes 15-20 minutes in the freezer bag, so having good insulation is key. But while the texture of white rice is often very nice, I find the flavor lacking.
And no, we didn't have brown rice when I was growing up!
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Post by swimswithtrout on Mar 14, 2022 22:56:02 GMT -8
I will occasionally use instant rice for the carb portion of a meal, but I much prefer home dried,pre-cooked pasta, or home dried pre-cooked shredded "hash brown" potatoes.
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Post by darthmusturd on Mar 14, 2022 22:58:22 GMT -8
Sounds like I really need to get a dehydrator / freeze dryer.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Mar 15, 2022 4:18:16 GMT -8
Dehydrators are worth the cost. Freeze dryers not so much.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 15, 2022 6:21:46 GMT -8
Dehydrators are worth the cost. Freeze dryers not so much. A freeze-dryer wouldn’t pay for itself. But it would allow one to turn out home-cooked foods (i.e. nutritionally superior and probably tastier) that rehydrate easily. I can’t really justify the cost at this point, but it would likely have been worthwhile if I could have gotten one 20 years ago.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Mar 15, 2022 6:56:17 GMT -8
I being such a tech geek I looked at freeze dryers. Besides the up front cost, maintaining them is a big pain. For FD veggies I use these guys:
P.S. I think you have to use a freeze drier a LOT to make back the cost. Like commercially lot.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Mar 15, 2022 9:07:13 GMT -8
Karen's Naturals is where I go for veggies. I first saw them in my local health food grocery, then saw them online.
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Post by darthmusturd on Mar 15, 2022 10:01:08 GMT -8
I don't know anything about freeze dryers, but couldn't I just use a dehydrator and then freeze the food in the freezer? Or do freeze dryers use some really really really cold flash freeze that I can't achieve with a freezer?
After all, you can use an oven as a dehydrator in a pinch, though it's a good bit harder, why not this?
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Mar 15, 2022 10:07:41 GMT -8
Freeze dryers do a very rapid freeze then use a very high vacuum to make the water sublimate (ice directly to vapor). The quick freeze and the way it drys protects the cell walls of organics from being so beat up so the food isn't mushy when reconstituted.
The vacuum pumps are fussy and what need a lot of maintenance.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Mar 15, 2022 11:01:27 GMT -8
couldn't I just use a dehydrator and then freeze the food in the freezer? Yes, but not the same as a Freeze Dryer. If you vacuum seal the dehydrated food before placing it in the freezer, it will last much longer. I've successfully used items stored like this 2 years later.
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Post by darthmusturd on Mar 15, 2022 12:04:45 GMT -8
By the way, did any of y'all ever learn the straw rationing method? My favorite method by far of packing salt, pepper, even liquids.
You need a plastic straw, a lighter, and some pliers.
You take your plastic straw, and you melt the end of it, then you take the pliers and squeeze really hard for a few seconds. you put whatever you want in the other end, then leave a little air space and then seal the other end of it the same way. it takes a little bit of practice but is very easy to do. takes up very little space and is very clean
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Mar 15, 2022 12:13:31 GMT -8
I have the attachments for my vacuum sealer that allow me to vacuum seal mason jars. I take a #10 can of Mountain House FD and usually divide them in eight pint jars. Then I vacuum them and store them in the fridge. I have used them months later with no issues. Your results may vary (don't blame me if you get food poisoning)
When it is time to use them on the trail I put them into vacuum sealed bags cut with enough room to add whatever amount of boiling water they need when I eat them. I believe that in the vacuum bag they should still be good for weeks. The reason I go to this trouble is that it greatly reduces the cost, I get the size meal I want and there is less packaging on the trail as garbage.
If left in the can they are supposed to have more than a 25 year shelf life.
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