Carrying nut butters and oils safely and efficiently

[Geoff Caplan]

An obvious point, but when I’m carrying anything oily I double-bag it and carry it with the containers upright at the bottom corner of the kangaroo pocket of my pack – well away from everything else. So if the container were to leak for any reason, it wouldn’t cause any damage to my gear.

I’ve had good luck with pharma-grade containers bought from my local chemist. They are made from quality food-grade plastic with reliable seals – you need the ordinary screw-tops, not the child-resistant ones. My local guy carries both bottles and jars. Used these up to about 2500 meters with no leakage.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Roger…in the US most food comes in plastic. Seriously.

[HkNewman]

Good observation on the soda bottles.  They sell miniature size soda bottles in the US (believe it or not), so really thinking about it.

Just have to get the taste of 4-6 soda pops.  Maybe cut with hard liquor?   Swish around a little extra liquor for that alcohol disinfectant effect..

[Pamhikes]

@geoffcaplan
If your worried about plastics.  Re-use travel/airline liquor bottles for your oil.

I also use a small layer of Saran Wrap over the opening before screwing on my lids to help prevent spillage. Just throwing out some options

[Geoff Caplan]

Hi Pam

Maybe you got the wrong guy? Because I never said I was worried about food-grade plastics…

I was actually recommending pharma-grade plastic containers because they are cheap, safe, well-made and easy to find. Any pharmacist will have a selection and I’ve found they’re happy enough to sell them.

Like most guys I never use cosmetics so don’t have old containers lying around.

[Michael B]

I didn’t think OP was worried about plastics, which was why I posted the options I did. I have actually used the exact product or something similar for years (both the silicone bottles and reusable pouches) – I am unsure of the environmental impact differences between buying a large bulk good (or even “regular sized” PB jars) and transferring them to reusable pouches if it is a feasible option (seems not for Roger’s SDTs), vs. buying single-serving packages. What I am sure about is the number of options and price – single use packets more often than not have a MUCH higher specific cost than buying bulk ($.75/oz for PB single-serves? GTFO!!!) and transferring to reusable pouches (I even reuse ziplocs when it makes sense), and there is far more options for ingredients when buying larger quantities. Those, to me, are more important priorities, since as has been suggested, plastics are typically used whether buying bulk (I know some people go to the trouble to eliminate this, but it is not reasonable for a lot of items and for many people’s situations) or buying singe-serving packs.

As for the idea that “wasting plastic via singe-serving packs is less impactful than driving your car to the trailhead” – yawn. That is a very poor argument for buying singe-servings – it is a better argument to compare the comparative waste level between single-serve vs bulk+transfer if that is a metric that you choose to prioritize . I suspect the waste is about the same if we all went to the effort to systematically categorize the waste by type (some plastics actually can be and are recycled, while some cannot or are not being recycled, practically) and weight (weight of plastic waste in bulk containers + reusable pouches vs weight of single-serve). I am happy to assume people (at least in this community!) are going to do what they think is best for themselves/family/dependents & the environment/others they are not directly responsible for (in that order, and I think that is appropriate) as their situation allows. Best practice not to assume people here are just lazy or don’t care about their environmental impact. We are all trying to do the best with what we have.

[Link .]

Chris R, the best I have found is  Once Again Organic Creamy Peanut Butter – 1.15oz Squeeze Packs and Once Again Organic Almond Butter they are just nuts with nothing added, but they are more expensive on amazon than my local store

[HkNewman]

We’d use Nalgenes filled with peanut butter in one and boysenberry jam in the other for a PBJ bagel everyday on a weeklong trip.  Roll of bagels, a knife.. Sometimes the boysenberry got loose in the clear Opsak foodbags a bit – talk about psychedelic, man!

Another thing is single use plastics may be lighter, but then that may be more about tactile marketing than anything else.  If a diner picks up a nut butter or jelly single serve it should feel light relative to its size.  If it feels too bulky many diners may put it down due to psychologically feeling it may be fattening (which it is).   The typical hiker may not care as much, but the problem then becomes squeezing into the food bag … as it pops.  How many lightwt containers will eventually equal a better container weight-wise as well?

Getting back to my boysenberry “artwork”, imagine inadvertently squeezing lightwt containers of that stuff?  One bonus is hiking faster as every bear in 50 miles will give chase like the police chasing a perp in one of the old Cops shows.

Now apply that to olive oil which has a way of escaping even lids ratcheted on with a death grip.

[Michael B]

We’d use Nalgenes filled with peanut butter in one and boysenberry jam in the other for a PBJ bagel everyday on a weeklong trip.

Do you use a standard 32oz Nalgene? I’d not think I’d be able to get through that much unless that was all I was eating. That is 4.5oz of PB and Jelly each per day. Seems like a lot, maybe it’s not though. I think if I was using that much, then one of these would be a good option.

https://nalgene.com/product/32oz-nalgene-cantene/

[Josh J]

@rcaffin,

Were I live live never seen PB in glass or much of anything in glass including milk.

Almost everything is in recyclable plastics.

I get your point but for every good there is an evil and they way humans work it takes decades to learn and change,  especially when society is fast and cheap.  Why do you think appliances ect are made to last only so long?  Can’t stay in business and make a profit if they last forever……and to make them that way costs more than anyone is willing to pay anymore….. just saying

[Roger Caffin]

Why do you think appliances ect are made to last only so long? Can’t stay in business and make a profit if they last forever
I am not talking about ‘for ever’. But some of the kitchen stuff we were given when we got married >50 years ago is still going strong and in regular use. It is only the modern stuff which dies in a few years.

And of the two sewing machines I am using for MYOG: one is also well over 50 years old, while the other, a black Singer, must be close to >80 years old. Both function very well.

Cheers
Dinosaur

[HkNewman]

…Do you use a standard 32oz Nalgene

No it was maybe 8 oz. jar (straight side).  Not seeing them on the REI website anymore.

 

[Michael B]

And of the two sewing machines I am using for MYOG: one is also well over 50 years old, while the other, a black Singer, must be close to >80 years old. Both function very well.

I look forward to my 70’s era Bernina lasting until I don’t like sewing anymore.

 

No it was maybe 8 oz. jar (straight side).

Ok, that makes so much more sense! Similar to the Nalgene airline travel bottles, I assume.

[Josh J]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>50yrs in appliances is forever,  and depending on the kitchen stuff that’s forever as well.</p>
If they made things the same quality today as they did 50yrs ago not many would buy it because of the price,  that’s my point,  society and industry as a general has transitioned to disposable for right or wrong and time will tell how it affects us humans.

In my neck if the woods winters are shorter by an average of 10days, warmer by an average of 10deg and less than a foot of snow on average compared to just 30 years ago…… yeah I’m not sure how much humans have played in the change but I know we have and its sad!

[SIMULACRA]

Basically what Philip said but in these. Comes in different sizes

[SIMULACRA]

Looks like Michael B beat me on those. slipped past me

[AK Granola]

A few years back I bought a bunch of the small packets on minimus but found that all of the olive oil packets leaked, just oozed. What a mess. Some of the other things were useful, like hot sauces, jams, coffee sticks. Honey was a mess too, just slowly oozing out. Those packets aren’t very sturdy to be jostled around in a pack. For peanut butter I do use the single serving Jif packs; I hate the plastic waste, but haven’t found anything better for short trips. The ideal would be a half size jar for a longer trip; they don’t make them quite small enough for the quantity I would actually eat. If I were sharing food it might work. I like the Justin’s packets and they’re sturdy but gadzooks they’re expensive! Over a dollar for a tiny tablespoon? Nutella comes in just the right size jar for backpacking! Huzzah! Might forgot peanut butter altogether.

Currently planning a bigger trip for summer. It will be fun to pack the food, but I also know that I won’t eat a lot of it, and it won’t taste as good as I would like it to. That’s ok, it’s part of the weight loss plan!

[Geoff Caplan]

Roger –

I’ve just finished renovating a lovely 1930s Singer 201. Having dug around in the internals, it’s a miracle of high quality engineering without any hint of compromise. That’s why it had the reputation for being the best sewing machine in the world in its day. Rolls Royce used it for their interiors because the stitch quality was unmatched.

Nowadays the 201 offers insane value for anyone doing fine work. It really is a joy to use.

But, and it’s a big but, in 1947 it cost at least a month’s wages for a low-paid woman in the US. That would be around $4,000 by today’s average monthly wage.

They were so expensive that Singer had to invent the idea of hire-purchase so people could afford them. The idea was that women could pay for them out of their earnings when they took in sewing work at home.

When the Japanese started flooding the market with much inferior but still perfectly serviceable machines at a fraction of the price, the market for the top-end Singers collapsed. People preferred affordable working tools to heirloom quality…

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Geoff

It is easy to criticise the original cost, but one has to keep the whole thing in perspective. Pre-Singer, all sewing had to be done by hand, which was expensive and slow. Introduce the Singer 201 (in a generic sense) and a tailor could now do the same job at half the cost. I suggest that it is a little unfair to expect that this wonderful invention would be immediately available to everyone at dirt-cheap prices. The world does not work that way.

So once the advantages of the sewing machine became apparent, then the market moved to broaden the affordability. But I would not say the market for industrial-quality machines ever collapsed. The 201 still has a very good resale value on ebay and elsewhere. And I am keeping mine.

Cheers

[Daniel Oxnard]

I use old disposed plastic liquor bottles for oil. Fireball Cinnamon Whisky is popular around Kentucky, and there are always empty bottles on the street. I wash with soapy water, then fill with whatever oil I am taking. I picked one up on campus, and a student looked disgusted when I told him what I was going to do with it. So I asked him if he ever ate at a restaurant and used a glass, or silverware or plate that hundreds of people had used before him.

I usually use the 50 ml airplane bottles, and for a longer trip the 375 ml bottles.

For Asiatic dishes I add a few drops of sesame oil to my base oil.

My local stores have peter pan sugary fluff peanut butter in squeezy bags.

You can refill them but its a bit of a pain. To refill heat up nut butter a bit, and add some ghee or coconut oil, and put in a pastry bag, then squeeze into PB bag.

 

[Brad W]

Trying to reduce single use plastics so I use a small nalgene bottle or https://www.rei.com/product/696007/coghlans-squeeze-tubes-package-of-2  have a full size and one cut down for 1-3 day trips. Easy to use, clean and pack.

[Axel J]

Peanut butter Pretzel nuggets The peanut butter is baked into the pretzel with tasty results.

[Author]

Posts