Zero hassle camp food

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Some people love to cook while camping, but not me. When I go, I'm more into doing other stuff like fishing, hiking, biking, etc. I love good food while camping, but hate the hassle and clean up. I bought a vacuum sealer and it saved the day!

I cook the meals at home, vac-pack them and then put them in the freezer. When it's time to go camping, just throw them in the cooler along with some ice. At camp, boil water in a turkey roaster (across both burners) and then put the pouch in the water until the food is hot. Eat the meal, toss the pouch & plates then get back to relaxing.

This works for anything you can freeze and re-heat. You can even do it with casseroles & all kinds of leftovers.

Works for me. Maybe you will like it too.

[chaffmj]

I have a buddy that does the same thing for us when we are fishing for salmon up in Door county. Works great and gives us more time for fishing and drinking.

[zachp]

I hear ya, we're going to the bwca next weekend for 4 days. It's going to be 4 couples and the main controversy is how much food to bring and who's going to bring it. One couple wants to bring steaks, and all sorts of veggies and what not and do 2 large meals daily...I stay out of the arguments and I told them they can do what they want, my coolers will have enough food for a few days and enough beer for a week, and maybe i can get enough fish for a few fish fries..I'm pretty sure we'll all live and make it out of there alive without $400 worth of food. The whole point of camping is enjoying good times with friends and family.

[irvingdog]

For the BWCA, it's all about freezer bag cooking.

What's that?

Google it....

[nofishfisherman]

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my coolers will have enough food for a few days

and enough beer for a week

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The whole point of camping is roughing it with ma'nature for a few days.

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Does anyone else see the conflict here?

Don't get me wrong I love beer as much as the next guy but if you want to rough it for a few days then leave the beer cans at home. I have heard of people bringing beer with them into the BWCA, now thats CRAZY, who needs to carry an extra 10 pounds of weight for something that will only dehydrate you more?

[Powerstroke]

You can bring enough beer for a week for your 4 day trip but its better be in plastic bottles. Can's and glass are illegal in the BWCA. 10lbs......not even close. If you're gonna bring say, 2 cases of beer, on ice, in a cooler....thats like 50lbs right there, maybe more. My entire setup, gear and food only weighs around 80lbs. and thats between 2 people.

I know everyone enjoys the BWCA in their own way, but coolers?!? Not roughing it. Sounds like a weekend with the boys at the cabin.

[nofishfisherman]

When I made my guess of 10 lbs I was justing thinking what the weight of a 12 pack might be without ice or cooler.

The hardest thing that I bring is a few packs of Tang and a water purifier.

[zachp]

Yeah that wasn't a good way of putting it...I meant that we don't need a ton of food and stuff of that sort and spend all day cooking. We're only going a few miles in and staying at a camp site, like I said it's going to be 4 couples enjoying a weekend...If we were going to be doing a 20+ mile hiking and canoeing trip I wouldn't bring the beer. And yes the beer will be in plastic bottles, the camp site will be cleaner when we leave than it was when we got there. I'll fix the post.

[nofishfisherman]

Pull up camping is a little different. Packing light isn't all that crucial. But I still tend to leave the beer at home. Just one less thing to deal with.

[Powerstroke]

I don't think you need to fix your post.

It just sounded like 2 different things. I suppose anytime you're sleeping on the ground it can be considered roughing it. I don't mind bringing the beer. Everyone is allowed to bring their luxerys. My wife refuses to carry my fishing gear in the BWCA cause she says I bring too much. If I was traveling in only a couple miles for a base camp type of trip I wouldn't mind having a few brewskis.

[DigitalFisherman]

The vacuum sealer has drastically changed the way that I cook while camping. As a backpacker and BWCA traveler, I used to go strictly freeze dried primarily because they are so easy to prepare and make no mess. Now I do the same thing with home cooked meals. My trips are typically only 3 or 4 days so I will vacuum seal and freeze 4 individual size meals and eat home cooking every night; most of the time I eat right out of the bag and only have to dirty a fork. As I get older I don’t push as hard as I used to and now tend to spend a little more time camping and less time hiking and paddling so I have added a small, collapsible tripod grill to my camp kitchen; its small enough to fit inside a Duluth Pack or strap to a backpack but large enough to grill a couple man sized steaks (marinated, vacuum sealed and frozen).

One of the last times I was in the BW, I was with an “ultralight” backpacker who razzed me non stop about having to carry a thirty pound pack instead of a twenty pound pack; on our fourth and final evening I prepared fresh caught walleye, grilled beef tenderloin, and fresh sautéed asparagus. After the meal, he poured himself a bourbon, saluted me with his titanium spork and thanked me for opening his eyes to the wonderful world of fresh camp cuisine.

[DigitalFisherman]

…As for the liquid refreshment, to each his own. I’ve schlepped in beer many times and on each occasion it was thoroughly enjoyed. These days I find that gin and tang is a lot easier on the back.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

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The vacuum sealer has drastically changed the way that I cook while camping.

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Right on!