Dining at Burning Man

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:47 am

*gets out a pen and paper and starts righting all the good info down*

Karma, are you just boiling the bags in a pot of water on your stove or do you use a turkey fryer setup? What do you do with the water then, save it for the next boiling session?

Thanks!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:22 am

It's amazing how many new "pouch foods" there are....Zatarain's makes several good Cajun rice things, for example. A lot of them are designed for the microwave, but a little black pouch on the roof of your car in Playaland can work wonders!

Karma · Post by **Karma** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:34 am

Martiansky,
I put the bags right into a pot of boiling water. The pot isnt that big, normal size that you would use to make a can of soup with for instance.
You can use a bigger one if you like depending on how many servings youre trying to make. You can put a whole box of Mac n Cheese in a single small bag. The potatos I seal up individually. To make more than two of those you'd need a bigger pot.

As for the water, you lose some to evap obviously while using it, but when done I just set it somewhere no one will bump into it and set the lid on for next use. No pot to clean and since the food stays in the bag till it hits your plate, the water stays clean too ! No problems. No washing.

I know I probably sound like an ad for those little machines, but I dont think I would be able to eat on the Playa the way I do w/out it.

Just in case I was mis-understood, I dont cook the meats in them, theyre just to keep the meats fresh till I throw em on the grill, though I do precook the chicken before sealing them by boiling em (gets rid of alot of the fat and cause theyre pre-cooked, they only need 10 minutes on the grill to heat em back up and add any sauce or spices.) Just put em in the fridge for a few hours first to cool em down before ya seal em.

Lots of veggies work great in them too. Couple years ago I put Broccoli with a couple cubes of Velveeta in them, boiled em on the Playa, cut the bag open and poured em on a plate.... Perfect.

You can test stuff out at home with diff foods to see what works.

Karma

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:37 am

Depending upon the distance and time you're travelling, if you can keep a cooler cool it saves space to pack leftovers, homemade soup or anything somewhat liquid and dense into ziplock freezer bags and lay them flat in the freezer so theyfreeze up nice and thin....Then you can line your cooler with them, like the flat plastic freezerpaks with antifreeze in 'em but more flavorful...
You can also buy vac-sealed containers of precooked chicken, hamburger, bacon (!) and other Delicious Animals. There are canned varieties too, but the chicken for one is unyummy to me. The canned roast beef from Venezuela is a personal favorite!
Maruschan cup 'o' noodles, Spicy Shrimp and Lime flavor. Yow!

the_iconoclast · Post by **the_iconoclast** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:04 am

This is such a great thread!!

I have been ammassing food in "backpacker mode" for a few weeks, but this thread has reminded me that there will be certain amenities nearby that I would not have on the trail... If I can get ice at center camp, then why not bring eggs? I also have a 12volt cooler warmer that I will be bringing. So many ideas!

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever used the "oven" that is available for gas camp stoves? It is a little black box you sit on the grill with an exteral temp gauge that can be used for baking. I have been looking at it and wondering. Also - has anybody ever used the espresso kit available for the gas stoves? Things certainly have changed since I last went "car camping". Backpacking has left me in the "pack as little and as light as possible mode".. I feel like a kid in a toy store when I walk through the camping stores now!!

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:28 am

Those 12v. warmer\coolers will only take it down to about 50°f. On the playa during the day. There will be a heat cool exchange with the paper. They are a pain in the ass. Mine will be in the yard sale this year. some other poor soul needs it more than I.

the_iconoclast · Post by **the_iconoclast** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:33 am

unjonharley wrote:Those 12v. warmer\coolers will only take it down to about 50°f. On the playa during the day. There will be a heat cool exchange with the paper.

Cool enough for a couple of six-packs then... :-p

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:59 am

the_iconoclast wrote:
unjonharley wrote:Those 12v. warmer\coolers will only take it down to about 50°f. On the playa during the day. There will be a heat cool exchange with the paper.
Cool enough for a couple of six-packs then... :-p

~
The power it takes is not worth it. My super cooler keeps ice to BM and back. The cooler\warmer can dim a good battery over a lunch time. I use block ice covered with party ice. Food stuff is kept in a plastic tub. The ice is my drinking water. Planing on a freezer\cooler this year.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:08 am

I was pleasantly surprised to find block ice more available as I got into the hot areas....It's available SOME places in Michigan, but not as commonly as in Nevada. I got a coupla chunks in Winnie to cool my groceries pre-playa, and then shuffled everything around and got fresh block from CampArctica on Tuesday. Never skipped a cold beat! One of those really, really big ziplock bags is handy to hold all of the stuff you want COLD, but not WET and COLD. (But I like my beer floating in icy water.)
A tip- It SOUNDS like a good idea on a hot day to dunk your head in the bucket of icy water that you bled from your cooler....In reality, it's Instant Headache. I was a numbskull in more ways than one after doing that!

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:20 am

Thread drift:
When my kids were little (perAC affordable). Mom and I would wring out a wet towel and lay in on the kids and our selfs. Works the same as a swamp cooler. Have been using this method at BM in the heat of the day. It's what I call chilling.

MissNev · Post by **MissNev** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:46 am

My solution for keeping eggs fresh and eliminates the cooler water ripping apart the carton: I have a mini Tupperware dry storage container. It's box shaped with a lid that has a pop-top type spout (I hope I'm describing this ok). It easily holds 18 eggs, cracked without shells. The container is a great shape and does not take up much room in the cooler. When I want to use the eggs, I just squeeze them out one at a time through the little hole in the top and then reseal it. Other containers work pretty well, but they don't distribute one egg at a time. There is no carton or shells to dispose of.

Homemade beef jerky is always a big hit out there.

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 11:41 am

Beef jerky! How could I forget to mention beef jerky. Beef jerky is my friend! And I'm happy even with the store variety. You don't really get beef jerky easily in Finland (unless you make your own, of course), and definitely not in all the flavours and things that you could find it in California! We are almost convinced it is not possible to have too much beef jerky with us on the playa. It's got protein, it's got salts, it's yummy and you can eat it at anytime. I think that if I could take only two items of food to the playa, I'd choose beef jerky and orange juice.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 11:44 am

How cold do things need to be to keep them fresh and edible?
When you make things and then seal them in bags, do they need to stay frozen solid?

I'm not a camper....yet!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:02 pm

Depending on what foodstuffs you freeze, most things'll be okay until they're nearly fully thawed. No raw meat! With frozen fruit you'll know when it's past good. I'm usually an eat-as-you-go kinda guy, and don't stay up late writing up the menu for each day....but if you set aside certain things for later in the week, you can super-insulate them in the coldest part of your cooler or even keep a secondary (or tertiary!) cooler "for later". I keep a separate cooler just for beverages, since I'm into that one A LOT and like to keep water AND ice in there. The foodstuff cooler is about dry cold, and lives in the deep shade under a blanket.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:08 am

Janka wrote:You don't really get beef jerky easily in Finland (unless you make your own, of course), and definitely not in all the flavours and things that you could find it in California!

Okay, Janka, ignorant ugly american question here. Caribu Jerky?

Post by **AntiM** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:45 am

Teriyaki Turkey Jerky! Yum!

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:09 am

No caribus in Finland, and, sadly, rarely jerky of the American kind made of any animal. We do have beef like any other country, so if one wanted to make one's own, I suppose it would be possible... and maybe you can get jerky from certain well-stocked or special stores. But I would like to be able to buy that stuff for snacks from the closest grocery store or gas station, like in California.

(Whine, whine. Next time I come down I'm going to buy it and bring it home. Lots of it. Also granola bars of the more grunchy kind. Unfortunately I don't think it is possible to import an entire American breakfast reastaurant with staff and all.)

We have cold-smoked reindeer and beef and whatnot, but it's not the same stuff. It's very, very good, but not the same.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:54 pm

Janka wrote:No caribus in Finland, and, sadly, rarely jerky of the American kind made of any animal....

That's sad... one of my favorite treats is venison jerky. Could prolly do the same with Reindeer and be just as good. Something about the 'gamey-ness" of the venison really does it (for me at least!)...

Got a question - found these cardboard box packs (like the U.P. Milk) of Chili at the store last night... they're pretty tasty, but was wondering if anyone has tried them out at the playa to see how well they hold up? Seems like a much better idea than the cans, and beats giving myself ptomaine poisonong from having my homemade stuff thaw out too soon...

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:56 pm

Someone was raving about those boxes in the past few months. Try searchin on chili, I suppose. Now if only there was something else besides chili. Chili isn't fishfood.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 1:03 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:. Chili isn't fishfood.

~
It is if your fishing on real choppy water.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 1:19 pm

Not for this fish!

ThePikey · Post by **ThePikey** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:18 pm

Feeding chili to fish *makes* the water choppy....

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:33 am

ThePikey wrote:Feeding chili to fish *makes* the water choppy....

HAHAHAHA!!!!

Anyone use those small propane gas grills you can buy for around $15 for making steaks and kabobs and such?

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:48 am

Martiansky wrote:
ThePikey wrote:Feeding chili to fish *makes* the water choppy....
HAHAHAHA!!!!

Anyone use those small propane gas grills you can buy for around $15 for making steaks and kabobs and such?

~
Is that Walleyed Pikey¿
~
I would think a baby Weber should do the best. The wind likes to take your heat away. The Webers all have a lid the keep the heat.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:56 am

unjonharley wrote:
theCryptofishist wrote:. Chili isn't fishfood.

~
It is if your fishing on real choppy water.

Too right, Old Chum!

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:26 am

I went to the grocery store yesterday and found Chili in small boxes, heat and eat. Probably would work to set them in the sun for a while and they'd warm right up. OOH, chili dogs..YUM! Found some chilidog flavored mustard too....wonder why it was so cheap? Could be gross tasting.

I also found out that my Dad has a food sealer machine I can borrow from him! WOOHOO!

Fathippo · Post by **Fathippo** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:45 pm

Well pn the playa I like to go old school with cans of Chef-boy-R-d!!..It tastes like crap year around but it works in the desert!!..Yum..T

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:19 am

Ooooh- I LIKE the chilidog idea! Have to make a novel dog-roaster.....

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:37 am

You guys sure know how to get your salt intake. I do mostly rice and beans and other trail foods. still can't go a week without my chile~Mac.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:52 am

Update: Chili-dog tasting mustard is ok, gives you the flavor but the downside is no extra filling(chili-beans).