rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,706
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Post by rebeccad on Apr 24, 2024 17:47:07 GMT -8
Trail pizza: I have done it. Easiest is with pitas, which fit nicely in the pan. I put sauce, other toppings (rehydrated fungus and peppers usually for us; pepperoni for the kids), and cheese on. A little water in the bottom of the pot. By the time it evaporates and the pita starts to burn the cheese is at least sorta melted. I don’t bother now that I’m just feeding me. Too much work
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Apr 24, 2024 18:07:14 GMT -8
Thinking about maybe a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil would make a good light temporary lid for one of my smaller trail fry pans.
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,960
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Post by Westy on Apr 25, 2024 17:18:01 GMT -8
Think I still have an aluminum spoon with permanently caked on MH lasagna cheese on it after 10 years of attempted cleaning. May have thrown out the spoon but it never recovered. Likewise, MH Lasagna has been scratched from my menu for decades.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Apr 25, 2024 17:18:37 GMT -8
MRE Entrees - Real Food, compact, Real Food, warm out or cold, Real Food, Great in desert. The desert caveat makes sense for MRE's. If you're carrying all your water anyway it can be in food form in addition to liquid. Also some people have been calling a lot of this food dehydrated. Most of it is actually freeze dried. I can dehydrate food at home. Not the same. If I had a freeze drier ($$$) at home I would likely just make my own meals to my size and taste then seal them up with my vacuum sealer.
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,960
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Post by Westy on Apr 26, 2024 2:44:03 GMT -8
ErnieW Thanks for improving my understanding of dehydrated vs. freeze dried! Meanwhile, I had deleted post as I was going full speed ahead with TMI to the max!
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Apr 26, 2024 5:20:44 GMT -8
ErnieW Thanks for improving my understanding of dehydrated vs. freeze dried! Meanwhile, I had deleted post as I was going full speed ahead with TMI to the max! I hope that didn't come across as rude. Since I don't have a freeze dryer at home I do order FD food online. I have bee getting FD fruits and vegies from: www.northbaytrading.com/If you want to add crunchy fruit to your trail mix try some of their FD fruit. I use their FD strawberries on the family's cereal. Also their FD spinach and kale is good to have around. I find it to be tastier than frozen for a shelf stable veg. A one pound bag is a big and lasts a while. I get their FD potatoes and use it in homemade trail meals. That all said I don't get out on the trail as often as I like so just buying pre-made meals is easier for me right now. But as trail nights increase they start to get too pricey and homemade starts to make sense.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Apr 26, 2024 6:16:47 GMT -8
I wish every meal could be prepared by just boiling a bit of water...cooking is so overrated. But I'm a software engineer, so in general I work very hard to avoid doing work. Anyways...I would really love to get a freeze-drier.
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sarbar
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After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
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Post by sarbar on Apr 26, 2024 12:28:43 GMT -8
If I had a freeze drier ($$$) at home I would likely just make my own meals to my size and taste then seal them up with my vacuum sealer I have a freeze-dryer. It's a huge investment...but are you all eating fd cheesecake on the trail? I think not, but I am. Lol.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Apr 27, 2024 8:39:16 GMT -8
I have a freeze-dryer. It's a huge investment...but are you all eating fd cheesecake on the trail? I think not, but I am. Lol. Have you ever freeze dried hot peppers? I don't have an extensive farm like you do but some years my hot pepper crop is overwhelming. I dehydrate a lot then. I also learned to make fermented hot sauces. If I pasteurize them they are frig shelf stable for a couple of years. Gets me through the lean years. Also how are garden fresh tomatoes to FD?
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
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Post by sarbar on Apr 27, 2024 12:17:30 GMT -8
Have you ever freeze dried hot peppers? I don't have an extensive farm like you do but some years my hot pepper crop is overwhelming. I dehydrate a lot then. I also learned to make fermented hot sauces. If I pasteurize them they are frig shelf stable for a couple of years. Gets me through the lean years. Also how are garden fresh tomatoes to FD? Tomatoes RULE freeze-dried. I love doing cherry ones cut in half. They taste so amazing. I freeze-dry peppers, both sweet bells and hotties. I grow them in 5 gallon buckets between my tomato plants, then bring them into the greenhouse in Sepetember, to finish. As I pick, I process them and then freeze them on a tray. Then into freezer bags. Once I have 5 trays worth (I run a Large size machine), I run the FD. You start off with frozen produce anyway, so this allows me to harvest as it ripens with no worries of it spoiling while I wait for more to ripen. I also freeze-dry salsa that I make. And so yes, you can freeze-dry hot sauces as well!
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
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Post by sarbar on Apr 27, 2024 12:19:49 GMT -8
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Post by va3pinner on Apr 27, 2024 13:09:41 GMT -8
Welcome dustin . From your description you'll fit right in. A lot of members are, let's say, mature gear heads. Welcome aboard! I'm in Virginia. I've been called a gear head, but by no means am I mature. Just ask my wife of 43 years. Just a couple weeks ago, I was setting up a new tent in the back yard. She came out to say something, saw the tent, shook her head and just went back inside......
I also do some cooking on trail. MSR 1.3L non stick pot is my latest trail kitchen device. It really is non stick!! (ceramic coated not teflon). soups, stews, a hamburger patty, even tried making pancakes in it. Worked. Need a better spatula though. I also have a Svea 123 I purchased in 1973. I still bring it sometimes. Mostly to scare the heck out of those that have never seen the priming process.
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Post by va3pinner on Apr 27, 2024 13:18:08 GMT -8
I've been poking around the internet looking for a wide aluminum pot with a skillet lid, but not coming up with much that isn't sized for a group, heavy or expensive. Ideas? A 2 Liter size would work. GSI Pinnacle is still sold. It's a wider, shallower pot with a metal frypan lid. OH BOY!!! I GET TO CAUSE MY FIRST REAL THREAD DRIFT SINCE RETURNING!!! Sarbar - have you looked a this? Just got one and have been playing around with it at home, using my camp stove. Really IS non stick.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Apr 27, 2024 16:40:56 GMT -8
Am I reading your numbers correct? If I cook dried noodles then dry them either way they lose 3 oz over the start weight of a pound? (%18 reduction) Is all that starch that goes into the cooking water? Any idea if you can just cold soak wide noodles out of the bag then add them into a hot FD meal? I have heard people do this with Ramen.
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Post by trinity on Apr 27, 2024 17:09:19 GMT -8
va3pinner , that's a nice looking pot, at a pretty reasonable weight.
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