Re-using Mountain House Packaging

Carol Crooker (BPL staff) uses Platypus 2+ Liter with the top cut off.

I have used the Mountainhouse foil package to eat out of. I liked the low weight and low bulk, but it was a little bit of a pain to clean as stuff gets into the folds on the bottom. I havnt used it much though but it seems to be more durable than the Aloksaks. It would be awsome if you could cook in it -using it like a pot? I only use it in conjunction with a heinie pot as its easier to just eat out of my Snowpeak 600.

– just tried to boil water in the Mountain House foil packet w/ a tealight stove, and it quickly started to melt – so it does not work!

I don't re-use my MH packaging — as stated above, I think cleaning it after each use is too troublesome… esp. trying to get at the inside edges and corners. I also doubt one could reduce much weight or trash, as multiple bags of some kind would still be needed to pack each dinner separately, right?

The one thing I do is to snip off and round off the packaging all around. With four or five packages, doing so really helps to compact down the load.

I don't need to pack each dinner separately. I usually eat the same thing for dinner. This allows me to pack it all in one freezer bag and measure out a portion for each meal.

So, I guess I should state that I am looking for a lightweight, compact, and durable container to reconstitute my food in.

The so called "disposable" ones (that you can machine wash! And last forever…) The Glad Take A Longs are great to use. They can handle hot water, have a lid, and can be put into a cozy. And rinse clean well.

Interesting. Link / photo please?

Ben, here you go!
http://glad.com/containers/gladware_containers.php

Ziploc's site is a flash site, but if you look at the Snap & Seal containers.
For Ford I have used the sandwich sized square in the past. The cup works well also. These containers are durable and light. Btw, ever seen an AGG alchy stove kit? The stove comes in a Ziploc container with a cozy built around it. He sells the containers with a cozy for the 3 cup also. http://antigravitygear.com/products.php?cat=13

I've been using those to take lunch to work. Much easier/cheaper than taking sandwich bags everyday since these are reusable.
They stain a little when you reheat tomato sauce in them but there isn't any odor so I'm not that worried about it. Really light too, I could weigh them tonight if anyone is interested.

Adam

A weight would be helpful. Thanks Adam.

I have started using Glad Steam Lock Bags which are made for microwave steaming, they are much stiffer than ziplocks and hold their shape with boiling water in them.
http://www.glad.com.au/gladProducts/foodDetails.asp?pId=21

Ask and you shall receive…
Empty container, about sandwich-size (6"x6" ID)- 28g
Lid for container- 16g
Total weight lid and container- 44g

Adam

The thing about all those plastics is that they (currently) contain Bisphenol A (BPA). Heating them or abrading them in any way causes them to release BPA into your food.

BPA is one of those chemicals like Teflon that is on its' way to being banned (teflon is already banned and is being phased out) from food service applications but that the manufacturers' lobbyists are very careful to keep quiet.

Don't read about BPA if you ever want to eat from modern plastics again. (Lexan is a particularly bad offender.)

Here's some starting info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

Not to start a plastics war (please, not a plastics war!) but most of the Lexan stuff has been disproved.
Snopes and John Hopkins have a number of in depth articles on plastics being used for eating out of/prep of food/being washed/etc.

And to put it bluntly: these days, when backpacking, plastic is most likely what you will be using unless you eat out of a pan. Your choices? Carry food in paper or wax paper bags. Use pot, but carry soap. Otherwise…..well, I don't have an issue with using plastics on my trips. 1-4 weekends a month, and 1 or 2 long trips a year. That isn't much…..considering how many people slurp out of plastic cups daily with drinks.

In Canada, we’ve progressed to a stage where manufacturers are only going to be allowed to *continue* using BPA if they prove that it isn’t getting into humans. It’s one of 200 chemicals that are on a Federal “toxic most-wanted” list.

The only articles I could find on Snopes talked about DEHA and other carcinogenic *plasticizers*. These do not “reactivate” when heated and are of no danger to human health in the finished product.

BPA, however, is a (currently) legal and approved substance that’s widely used in food packaging and other industries. However, just because it’s currently legal for sale doesn’t make it safe. Consider Tobacco, Thalidomide, and more recently Teflon: these are products that only stayed/stay legal because of intense and very high-dollar industry lobbying. Many recent peer-reviewed studies have found BPA to behave like estrogen and also to be a carcinogen, and Europe and Canada have both declared it to be toxic and dangerous to human health.

Snopes doesn’t seem to address the presence or effects of BPA, but then again BPA probably isn’t an urban legend. Just because it’s considered safe and legal by the FDA doesn’t make it safe: American milk, for instance, is illegal in Europe and Canada because of what’s in it, and yet they let 300MM Americans drink it. :( Chalk it up to the billionnaire lobbyists, if you like.

As for the practical fact that we’re all exposed to BPA all the time, (for now,) it’s true. But as I posted, heating and abrading plastics will release more BPA into your food. Life’s a risk; everything’s a risk. But some people choose not to cook in or eat out of plastic until manufacturers switch to a BPA alternative.

Ever wonder why Nalgene still makes the old-style non-lexan bottles that leave a taste in the water and taste like soap after you wash them? The BPA in Lexan.

EDIT: PS I don’t mean to spread FUD; here’s the article that originally opened my eyes.

I rarely use nalgene material(PC) bottles because of their high weight/volume ratio, but I continue to research the subject of hazardous BPH. Like many other ingested materials in our modern world, most people agree it is hazardous, but so far I can not find any scientific evidence I am exceeding RDAs. Europe's EFSA set it at 0.05mg/kg which for me is about 3.5mg PER DAY*; a grain of rice sized chunk. Since my bottles are not getting lighter each time I occasionally use them; they must not be leaching a significant mass of material.

Just in case, safe alternatives are MultiLayerFilms such as Platypus or NalgeneCanteen, or HDPE bottles such as this one (most of mine are this old-school type) They are 30% lighter than PC, and can also tolerate boiling water..

*
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press_room/press_release/pr_bpa.html

Ben, I also looked up this link:
http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/product/category.jhtml?cat=HPCat100067
That is for teh ones that Rubbermaid makes!

Has anyone seen the new individually wrapped Foster Farms Chicken Breasts?
The zipp bags they come in are nearly impossible to open without really stretching the bag out of wack. You want to see some gripping teeth, these are awesome.
With a little stronger plastic on the bag, this would make a relic of a zipp-lock bag.

Ziplock makes the containers with screw-on lids too.

http://www.ziploc.com/

Just click on the twist-n-lock icon.