Thread: Boil in the bag.....

Inspired by a recent interview on radio NZ re how good the new army rat packs are in particular the kaweka boil in the bags ... I bought a couple..

I was disappointed ... Not with the flavour of the meal, but the size ... And the number of pieces of meat in the bag.

I got to thinking it would be pretty easy to make my own as I've got a vacuum packer.

The only question being how to make them so they don't go off ...

I was thinking boil them in a pot for 20 min like we do with our tomatoe preserves.

Anyone else out there tried this ?

Tim

No havent tryed it, vac pac would try and suck out any liquid?(havent tryed anything sloppy in mine yet) and my bags say not to heat the bag in hot water to thaw(im guessing because a seal may fail)

They pasteurise theirs along with a couple other things. I think the new sweet and sour one is foul the others are not to bad though.

Watch the salt level in the packs if you are planning on taking a couple of weeks in the bush . not good for the health

While I have NO experience with the new boil in bag meals , I do have a more than passing familiaty with freeze dry food , and I thought the same to start with , owesome ( miss spelled on purpose ) , ultra lite food , COOL ,
BUT after eating IT for 3 meals a day for 14 days straight , I can tell you , its not the holly grail .
You get sick of NOT having to chew food , and just using a SPOON , and it just runs thru you ( you know what I mean ) .
I think you are better having a mix of food , from fresh , cans & dry stuff .
Un salted meat not going to last long , but salami , bacon etc will , so will cheese to a degree , also cans you donot need to heat , like tuna or friut are good .
Bread s few days .
Now I know you think freeze dry is lite , and you have water every where , sometimes water is NOT every where , and even when its available , may take some time to get , we some times forget that , and then you are carrying water .


Later Chris

I've tried something sort of similar for dinner meals in the bush and yes the old Kaweka red wine and beef ones with the good potatoes were great - the new ones are small and not as good.

I make a meal, in this case it is slow-cooker Red curry chicken and kumara with rice (standard Alison Holst recipe, can provide if you want)

Personal taste aside, I freeze my meals in a slight curl so that I can cook them in the billy and the plastic doesn't hang outside the pot and burn
I carry them in inside a couple of shopping bags which sorts the condensation and have cooked them with the bag slider open just a touch - they work for me for the first couple of nights' food


The only proviso is that Pams slide bags are shite and the expensive Glad ones are the only ones that work so far

Would be interested to see what others come up with, lots of guys do this sort of thing with oats and porridge for a bush breakfast too

Yeah I have to admit I have been thinking of doing this as well ... Although in the vacuum packer ...

Nothing quite like your own hearty scoff when you come back after dark ...

Heavy to carry in is no problem, it's the heavy to carry out stuff that gets the side-eye

There are many opinions and methods for "boil in bag" or "freezer bag cooking" "out there." Here are a couple of links to two lists, so have a browse.

making frezer bag cooking - Google Search

making frezer bag cooking - Google Search

In the restaurant you would call it "sous vide" that is placing raw ingredients in a vac pak bag, sealing/vac packing it then cooking it in a water circulator or pot of water with a thermometer in it to check the temp. Worth a google but from memory all bacteria is killed over 85 so if something is 100% sealed with no oxygen and has been bought to a temp to kill all bacteria then it should be shelf stable at room temperature and then just re heated in hot water in the bag.


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Originally Posted by Mac

In the restaurant you would call it "sous vide" that is placing raw ingredients in a vac pak bag, sealing/vac packing it then cooking it in a water circulator or pot of water with a thermometer in it to check the temp. Worth a google but from memory all bacteria is killed over 85 so if something is 100% sealed with no oxygen and has been bought to a temp to kill all bacteria then it should be shelf stable at room temperature and then just re heated in hot water in the bag.


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That was my understanding too , so I might give that a crack in a hot water bath


Tim