Outdoor cooking — it's in the bag
But camping offers a different challenge: What to eat in the wild, where there are no drive-through windows or microwave ovens.
Often outdoor cooking involves toting heavy stuff, such as Dutch ovens, canned food and coolers, not to mention a lot of prep and cooking time.
Cleanup can be a hassle without a sink or running water.
But there's an easy option that's also inexpensive, called "freezer-bag cooking," according to Sara Oldroyd of Salt Lake County's Utah State University Extension.
At home, combine dry ingredients in a plastic zip-top freezer bag. At your destination, you only have to pour some hot water in the bag and let it sit awhile to "cook."
Reopen the bag and you've got a meal, such as Fruit & Nut Couscous, Bacon & Potato Chowder or Ramen Pad Thai. Dinner is served right out of the bag, so there are no pots, pans or mixing bowls to clean.
If you're hiking, freezer-bag meals are easier to transport than cans of chili or stew, and they are usually cheaper than the special backpacking food products. They also are handy to store in 72-hour emergency kits, Oldroyd said.
"You're really just using basic ingredients, so people can just use up the dried goods that they have at home," Oldroyd said. "People can make their individual meal bag and customize it with things they like. If you don't like almonds, you can add dried fruit or something else to your own bag."
If the recipe calls for a protein, such as chicken or tuna, you can bring the type that's packaged in a shelf-stable foil pouch, and add it at cooking time.
Oldroyd said she's found it easy to get kids involved in the freezer-bag cooking process. "Dutch ovens aren't really kid-friendly, they're so heavy," she said. "These are easy for kids to do. And it's fast, so when they're hungry, it will be ready 15 minutes later."
Some people have questions about chemicals in the plastic bags that might leach into the food. Oldroyd said she checked the Ziploc Web site, which states that the brand's freezer bags don't contain BPA (Bisphenol A), a chemical that may be linked to growth of a certain category of prostate cancer cells. The Glad Web site also has a similar statement.
The key is to make sure you use a bag specified for freezer use. "Regular sandwich bags can't withstand higher and lower temperatures," Oldroyd said.
Recent comments
Thank you for writing about this innovative technique! I think it...
Mrs. | June 28, 2008 at 5:16 p.m.
Loved the article and good ideas for something simple. Children...
Anonymous | June 26, 2008 at 4:38 p.m.
Sounds like a great thing for Scout troops, especially when they...
Eagle Scout | June 25, 2008 at 7:32 p.m.
