Vacuum-pac meal ideas

Simon said · Post by **Simon said** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 9:46 am

I just picked up a vacuum pac sealer for foods. It's a great way to seal up food for the burn. Someone suggested to scramble up a bunch of eggs before you leave and seal it up. Once on the playa, simply drop the bag into boiling water and after 2 minutes....scrambled eggs !

Anyone want to share other cooking tips/ideas?

Icepack · Post by **Icepack** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 1:46 pm

Hmm.. I think I remember a discussion like this before, but can't remember when or where it was.

Yes, we love our vacuum sealer too! We used it last year to vacuum seal some clothes so they would stay playa-free until after we left Burning Man. We stopped at a hotel in Winnemucca and showered, showered, showered and then put on playa-free clothing. It was great! Vacuum sealing your socks, one pair at a time, is good too. Fresh feet are happy feet after all.

Food ideas... sounds like you are talking about freezing or refrigerating them so lots of things you can do. Spaghetti & meatballs, chicken/rice soup, mac & cheese, Pad Thai, frozen vegetables, chicken nuggets...

You can use them for meat too if you have consistant refrigeration. We buy the big packs of family sized meats and split them up into 1-2 person servings and freeze them.

Have fun experimenting!

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:25 pm

Chili
Spaghetti/pasta
Stews
Cooked meat (no fish)

All work pretty well in my experience.

jbelson · Post by **jbelson** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:42 am

The egg idea sounds pretty nasty in my book (I think it's the boiling aspect). But it's a good idea to chop up some lettuce for salads and vacume pack a salad portion for your meals. Doesn't have to be huge, but the prep time on the playa is non and it should keep it fresh for a while.

You can make taco meat, seal it and freeze it. That should boil up good.

I also like to buy meat, marinate it for a day, vacume seal it and freeze it.

I think it will help your breads to stay fresher longer, just portion it out for 1 bag of bread a day.

But it is perfect if you plan and portion your meals ahead of time. Really cuts down on prep and thinking on the playa.

JB

Mithra · Post by **Mithra** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 4:44 pm

Stupid Questions....

So, I'm thinking about doing this so I don't have to cook much on the playa. Making a bunch of meals or meal components and freezing them all. the quesion is, does vac packing non meat type food extend it's shelf life? Does it have to stay cold or frozen?

I don't really want to keep a couple of weeks worth of stuff cold the whole time.

thanks,
Mithra

ness · Post by **ness** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 5:09 pm

my wife and I do this a lot for our float trips. heres a few Ideas, throw your steaks on the grill at home just sear each side and get a little smoke on them then cool ,vac and freeze they will cook all the way when you put your bag in boiling water, we do this with shrimp,and chicken also, cooked rice or pasta works great too

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:10 pm

does vac packing non meat type food extend it's shelf life? Does it have to stay cold or frozen?

You'd still have to keep it cold. We're only talking a few weeks (2 weeks to prepare, plus 1 week on-playa) so shelf life probably isn't an issue. The advantage to vac packing is it's guaranteed not to leak in the cooler and you can toss it in boiling water to reheat. No fuss, no muss.

One caution - test everything out ahead of time. If you don't plan to bring dry ice, test things out by freezing then put them in the fridge for 5 days, then heat and eat. I've found that some things work well going straight from frozen to heated but not so well after sitting thawed for a few days.

missmann · Post by **missmann** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 9:39 am

Vacuum Pacs help to extend the shelf life of food a bit, but you still have to worry about food safety issues... Fresh stuff you want to keep below 40*F or over 140*F and frozen stuff keep under -18*C (sorry my head isn't doing conversion today)... the temperatures between 40*F and 140*F are a danger zone- they will support negative changes to your foods quality. The other thing with vacuum packing is that you have to be careful with some things that have a lot of moisture, coz it can change the flavour and texture of your food, example is meat takes on a mild plasticy taste.
Things that would be good to vacuum pac would be curries, lasagne, chili, stew, etc. but they have to be stored properly.
Also make sure your machine can handle liquid items, coz not evey vacuum packer can and you can totally mess things up.