Keeping eggs on the playa

[DiAliShea]

Hi everyone,

A long-time lurker here on eplaya, I finally have a question that I need help on. I went in 2011 and let me just say my food planning sucked. I took a non-cooler based menu and it contained too many carbs and not enough protein. When my sister joined me in Thurs, she brought with her a half a dozen eggs and a pound of hamburger. After 3 eggs and 3/4 lbs of burger, I finally started to feel better.

So I'm totally revamping my food for this year, and I would love to bring eggs. When my sister brought them, she only expected them to last one day. I would like mine to last as long as possible (the full 8 days if I can). This year I'll be having a 3 cooler system. A smaller dry ice chest for some frozen meals, a large ice chest for thawing the frozen stuff and keeping whatever needs to be cold but not frozen, and a small drink cooler. I was thinking the eggs would do just fine in the large ice chest, but will they last the entire week?

Also, will purchasing farm fresh eggs work better (and taste better!) since they are more fresh than eggs at the grocery store? Also, I've never used the EggBeaters, but hear that idea kicked around a lot, opinions?

[FIGJAM]

Your plan sounds fine.

I hard boil a dozen and have a couple with tobasco in the mornings for breakfast.

[DrewDubious]

Eggs actually do not require refrigeration to stay fresh. keeping them in a cooler and out of direct heat will be just fine.

[lemur]

i was actually researchin this today..

and thinking of changing my menu as of previous years..


i eat lotsa hamburger at home, but had never brought it to the playa.

eggs too.

as most of us know eggs can go unrefridgerated,. though, its not really a good way to keep them long.

ive never stored eggs in a cooler, as the only ive had to deal with on the playa were in the form of dozens of eggs that were stored in camp refridges

from what ive read i feel pretty confident that even if my cooler climbs above the 'foodsafe' zone that my eggs will be good enough to last me the 11 days i will be out there...

i'll get some hamburger to go with my hopefully succesful playa food plan for this year.. maybe 2 pounds, leave the first pound in my cooler and use it up in the first few days, allowing the other to sit in a camp freezer, or maybe a pals RV freezer to be taken out a few days later.

i imagine by thursday or so, as usual, i may be back to eating canned stuff but at least i will have gotten through the hard part!



(in other news: the food thing on the playa is probably the thing that stresses me out the most.. bleh! im a picky eater and its just a bit of a pain to keep the stuff i like to eat fresh for over a week in a cooler)

[DrewDubious]

you can seal the eggs with a food grade mineral oil and they will last for like 6 months

[tahiti_treat]

We brought eggbeaters last year and they worked out great. Kept fine in the cooler all week, carton was compact for easy storage, no worries about breakage, the "Southwest" flavour was perfect for breakfast burritos.

[msj2u]

I usually bring 3 dozen in a cooler, never had a problem the whole week.

MSJ

[Krokodyle]

Eggs actually do not require refrigeration to stay fresh. keeping them in a cooler and out of direct heat will be just fine.

Agreed. Just keep them on the cool side and they'll be fine for the week. I've never used eggbeaters but many people swear by them.

[AntiM]

If you enjoy hard boiled eggs, that's a good option. If you're bringing raw and boiled, dye the cooked ones. Eggbeaters are actually egg whites with some vitamins added (which are lost when the yok is removed), so they're fine.

Have you considered pre-cooking the hamburger? Safer and less clean up. I'm pre-baking and sealing teriyaki chicken.

[lemur]

if they are anything like me the pre-cooking would have to be done in a hotel room or on the playa itself..

which is an option, but still a bit annoying.

[lemur]

y'all people driving in, or on the westcoast bringing precooked food from home dont know how much of a luxury that is ;-P

[GreyCoyote]

Farm fresh eggs will keep very well on the playa. Keep them cool. Hot eggs will spoil rapidly. Cool farm fresh eggs will keep a long time if they are kept clean and dry. The same is not so true for store bought eggs. These eggs may be older, already subjected to temperature extremes, and have much thinner shells. The yokes will be thin and runny and can actually be damaged inside the shell without any external evidence. All of these properties work against longevity.

On the subject of getting some meat protein into the diet, look at the packets of precooked hamburger. These need no refrigeration. Also good (YUMMY to me after a week in the sun) are kippered filets and sardines. And of course, there is Spam for those of us whose cadiologists have kids in college.

[lemur]

tell us more about these 'packages of precooked hamburger'

ive never heard of/seen such a thing.


is it a specialty store thing?

can i find it without schelping myself around a buncha places in reno ?

...i.e. is it at just about any grocery store? if so, what section of the store do they usually have em

On the subject of getting some meat protein into the diet, look at the packets of precooked hamburger. These need no refrigeration. Also good (YUMMY to me after a week in the sun) are kippered filets and sardines. A

[GreyCoyote]

You can get them at WonkyMartus, right next to the vienna sausages and canned ham. Really pretty good stuff for camping. Comes in a foil pouch. A little pricy but not too bad.

it is co-located with the pouches of tuna, with various flavorings, on that same shelf.

[lemur]

i will have to see if i can find them here at home, bring some with me on the plane.

thanks.


i see, also, now looking that freeze-dried ground beef is a thing that can be purchased.. though that stuff is very damned pricy.

[DrewDubious]

Just a side note, consuming meat protein will force your body temp up in order to digest it. Things like grain proteins are much easier for your body to digest.

[GreyCoyote]

Just a side note, consuming meat protein will force your body temp up in order to digest it. Things like grain proteins are much easier for your body to digest.

I did NOT rise to the top of the food chain to eat "grain-based protein".

I know. We are all doing it wrong.

[DrewDubious]

Just a side note, consuming meat protein will force your body temp up in order to digest it. Things like grain proteins are much easier for your body to digest.

I did NOT rise to the top of the food chain to eat "grain-based protein".

I know. We are all doing it wrong.

Naw, just sayin. No judgement from this guy

[FIGJAM]

Mini tostadas.

1 can roast beef with gravy.

1 can refried beans.

1 small can green chillies.

Easy cheese.

Herdez canned salsa.

Bag of plan tortilla chips.

Put all the cans in the sun for 1 hour.

Open all the cans and dump the stuff in a sealable container and stir till mixed. (there may not be leftovers)

Scoop some on a chip and add a little cheese.

These are fantastic and a batch will feed 4 or 5 people.

Big protien boost!

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid= ... roast+beef

[lemur]

i am totally going to the store right now to seek out this CRUMBLED BEEF stuff.

its 'in stock' at my local wallboard mart.

if its good.. im gonna stock up on it and enjoy yummie tacos and other stuffs at the burn.

oh yeah.

thanks yo!


they also sell crumbled breakfast sausage too!

[lemur]

success!!

yer awesome greycoyote.. it was right where ya said itd be





tacos tacos and .... pasta and maybe even some other creations are now possible without needing to use cooler space!

they sell this stuff on the website named after a big river.. as well as wallboard mart. and probably many other places.

reasonable price of about $2.45 each package (which is surely much more than raw beef.. but.. ya pay for convenience/peace of mind)

[Savannah]

I didn't know cooked hamburger was available that way either, Lemur! Thanks, GreyCoyote!

$2.45 a package is comparable with vaccuum-sealed salmon, by the way. It's expensive for hamburger, but not expensive for cooked animal protein in general.

[RemingtonRand]

This is purely antectotal, but I'll share anyhow. I worked in an egg processing plant during college. Nightmarish work. My job was to sort thru the eggs and remove the bad eggs (black rot). The boxes of eggs I worked on had sat in hot trucks for months. In the Iowa summer. Nasty! However, about 99% of the eggs were ok, at least good enough for the processing plant. The other 1%? The stuff nightmares are made of.

I was told that eggs can stay unrefrigerated for months.

Now, would I let my eggs sit in my car, on the dashboard all week? Nothankyouverymuch. But it does lead me to believe that uncracked eggs in a cooler will be just fine.

My personal plan is to bring some peeled hard boiled eggs from Costco (so convenient!) and keep them sealed up in my cooler. Brekkie with my coffee. Very happy camper, I hope.

I should add that this is my first burn, and I really don't know what I don't know.

[Asquared]

i am sooooo curious to know the ingredients list of that pack of beef *shudder*

-figjam, i am making that (minus the meat and with real cheese)! yum!

-yes to hard boiled eggs too, i had not thought of that.

why is everyone scared of cheese? i mean, i get that it's hot, but surely if packed right, you can make cheese last a couple of days?

[lemur]

Beef, Water, Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Beef Extract, Caramel Color

[GreyCoyote]

Velveeta is your friend. Comes in mini-loafs now and it will survive anything. Once opened its good for a couple of days. Just slice off the dry part and discard. But then again, it might be a stretch to call this stuff "cheese". Makes a mean macaroni dish however.

[lemur]

ive brought cheese out there tons of times.

BUT.. i opt for the cheese that i would never eat at home: the kraft yellow american deli cheese stuff (not the kind in the plastic individual wrappers.. but that holds up fine too)


survives in a cooler for 10-12 days A-OK.

[msj2u]

I crack a dozen eggs and put in a cleaned out milk container before leaving. I shove it down between the ice and once there, I shake it up good and make french toast once morning for breakfast. Never had a problem.

Burning man is one place I actually enjoy cooking!! Guess cooking for one at home vs cooking for others is the reason.

MSJ

[DiAliShea]

Thanks everyone!

That puts my mind at ease, though I think I'll splurge for farm fresh. I live in a rural area so finding them is super easy.

I don't think I'll be bringing raw hamburger, maybe, but it'll be eaten the first night. My dry ice cooler is going to be mainly precooked meals, chicken quorma from my favorite Afghan place, really meaty ziti, beef stew, etc.

I'm sure harder cheeses would also do just fine out there. A good Parmesan or Vasterbotten cheese would be dreamy.

Has any one taken avocados or bananas out there? How do they fare?

[Sic Pup]

why is everyone scared of cheese? i mean, i get that it's hot, but surely if packed right, you can make cheese last a couple of days?

I got schooled my first year by asking the head of the cheese department at my local Italian market if there was any chance there might be a cheese that could survive a few days camping in the desert.

He gave me that crooked eyebrow, "I'll have what you're having look" and asked me how I thought cheese fared in 5000 BC? I could have sworn he muttered the words "fucking Frigidaire?" but I might be mistaken on that. He said simply cut away any parts that were undesirable and that hard cheese would do better than soft (with an implied "stupid" tacked on.

But then we got to talking about his survival trips in the Pacific Northwest and he liked me better for the feigned interest.

I don't particularly like the selection at TJ's, so in case Savemart doesn't have the goods I'm going to look up and store the address of a good cheese purveyor in Reno. I'm shooting for an extra sharp provolone (Bud's favorite),a parmesan and maybe a Swiss-Gruyere type thing, I may even give a blue/Roquefort a shot.