Rehydration Container

[Ben W.]

Hi group,
I've started dehydrating my own food and am looking for ideas on what I can use to rehydrate my meals.

I'd like to stay away from ZipLock to reduce waste. To compound things, my wife has a thing against plastic- similar to the hard plastic Zip Lock containers.

Ideally I'd like to boil water and add to mystery container and then use the same container to eat out of.

I'd like to not have to cook in my Ti pot because it would allow me to use some left over water for a hot drink.

I came across this container at REI but it is a bit too heavy- http://www.rei.com/product/797084

Any ideas?

[j lan]

I am a big fan of Imusa mugs – way cheap and way light, but aluminum:
https://www.end2endtrailsupply.com/Imusa_Mugs.html

[Ike Mouser]

how are you going to seperately package your meals, if not in ziplock bags? BTW they are reuseable.

[Bob Gross]

I boil water and pour it into my plastic mystery bowl to rehydrate dry food there. The mystery bowl is also my drinking and eating bowl, and it weighs a half-ounce with a volume of 15-16 ounces. I fashioned some Reflectix into a cozy for it.

Previously, it was a store package for dates.

If I am going on a long trip, I would take two so that I can eat and drink concurrently. Or, take two for redundancy (in case one leaks). Or, take two and use them together when in cold weather, sort of like a double-wall mug.

So, guys, go get a date!

–B.G.–

[Ben W.]

Issac, I'll be packing the food in ZipLock bags. I don't have anything against using and reusing them- its that my wife has a thing against using them to cook in.

Whether true or not I also think that reusing a bag that simply held dehydrated food is more sanitary than resusing a bag I cooked in and had in bag for 3+ days. I plan on storing food for 4-6 months at a time and don't want to deal with spoilage.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

If you want steel go hang out at an Asian grocery store. Way cheaper and lighter versions!

Ziploc and Glad items are US made, BPA free and recyclable…..

[Ben W.]

Bob- Thanks. This is pretty much what I do now. What I am trying to do is get away from plastic. I'm not sure what my wife has against the plastic- BPA, I don't know. I'll have to ask.

[Bob Gross]

I think that BPA is a plasticizer, which means that it is added to raw plastic to make it softer. There are many types of hard plastic that don't have any.

–B.G.–

[Ben W.]

Sarah- Thanks for the tip. Im not partial to steel b/c of the weight and I think that it may be difficult to hold onto when eating.

Glad to know that Ziploc and Glad don't have BPA. I'll have to pass it along to the misses.

I personally have used and enjoyed the screwtop ziploc containers. Just wondering what else folks maybe using.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

BPA is a hardener – it is what made polycarbonate not break….soft plastics don't need it. But yes, most now don't have it – though it is still used in canned food linings.

[Mary D]

Actually, rehydrating in a plastic freezer bag is not at all the same as cooking in a plastic bag (which is not recommended except for special boil-in-bags). For freezer-bag rehydration, you bring the water in your pot to a boil, pour it into a freezer bag and put the bag inside a cozy or similar to keep it warm for the 15-20 minutes it takes the food to rehydrate. By the time you turn off the stove, grab the pot and actually start pouring the water into the dehydrated food, the water has lost at least 10* of temperature from its original boiling point (which depends on your altitude). The hot water going into the freezer bag wouldn't be any hotter than the temperature of blanched vegetables put into your freezer bag before chilling and freezing, which is the normal process for freezing veggies at home for which freezer bags were designed.

By using this method I don't have to wash any dishes (big plus for me, your mileage may vary). The used freezer bag becomes my garbage/trash container for the next 24 hours, so it isn't wasted either. I have a medical condition that requires extra wipes/pads/medication for my nether regions, so the used quart freezer bag is just fine to pack out the waste from that in addition to what other trash I might generate.

[Ben W.]

Thanks guys. I didn't intend to rehash any bag/ chemical concerns. I was just wondering what other containers folks were using.

The containers at the link below are similar to what I was thinking would be ideal- maybe ti or steel with a plastic or silicon covering on the outside for insulation. They are a little too small and probably to heavy but kind of what I was thinking about.

http://www.thinkbabybottles.com/BPAFree_Feeding_Set.htm

Thanks again

[Greg Mihalik]

Ben,
If plastics are out, that leaves metal. Stainless, Aluminum, or Titanium. If Weight is a priority that means Ti. A Snow Peak Bowl is 1.6 ounces for 20 fl. oz. It would be easy to make a reflectix cozy and lid. (if plastic is OK on the outside)

[Bob Gross]

Roger could ship Ben some blue gum wood, and Ben can carve a rehydration bowl out of it. :-)

–B.G.–

[Greg Mihalik]

rant starts…

Just to be a bit cynical—

Where does Think Baby Bottles get their Stainless?
China?

Is it tested for cadmium and the other heavy metals that seem to creep into their manufacturing processes?

Looking at the Think site, I believe it IS excellent marketing, with all references recursively pointing back to their PR literature.

…end rant

[Mark McLauchlin]

You could try the AGG caddy sack, they are great, I have one.

http://www.antigravitygear.com/proddetail.php?prod=AGCDSK&cat=129

These days I am simply using a ziploc or similar, but the above did serve its purpose.

Cheers
Mark

[Donna C]

Ben-
I use wax paper bags now to store my dehydrated food, then keep all that in a larger baggie. My mystery bowl is a used soup container that you can nuke in a microwave.(Healthy Choice). I remove the metal ring around the lip and because it already has insulation around it, no problem retaining heat. It fits directly into my MSR pot. The mystery pot weighs 1.2 oz.
Not sure if you can get away from using plastic, but this is food grade.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Ben,
If you buy baby products buy US made ones. At least they are more honest about what they use when manufacturing….

[Ben W.]

Greg- I think that is what I will end up doing. I'll track done a 20oz bowl and make a cozy and lid.

[Ben W.]

Donna- thats a great idea!

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