Freezer Bag Issues

[Roger Cocchi]

I know this post should probably be in the Food, Hydration, and Nutrition forum, but I wanted to make sure that I reached a larger part of the BPL community.

So here’s my issue…

When I do freezer bag cook I use a quart size Ziploc freezer bag and once the water is added, I stash it in a homemade reflex cozy to let things rehydrate.  When the meal is ready to eat I always have problems juggling the bag, since unlike a prepackaged Mountain House meal that comes with an expandable bottom making it easy to stand up on its one, the freezer bag does not lend itself to doing the same.  I would love to set the opened freezer bag in the empty pot that I just used to boil the water, but unfortunately my MSR Titan Kettle is too wide to allow the bag to be rolled down over the outside edges of the pot.  If I could do this without ripping the bag open down its side(s), which has happened, this would keep the bag from sliding down into the pot while also keeping the opening wide and easy to eat out of.

Does anybody have any suggestions on what I could do to make freezer bag eating an easier experience without struggling with the flimsy, no expandable bottom freezer bag?

[terry a thompson]

Roger,

If you make another cozy with a flat bottom a little smaller in the vertical dimension then your bag. it will stand on its own and you will be able to fold the open bag over the lip of the cozy and eat directly from the bag inside the cozy.

That works for me. Hope that helps

[Gary Dunckel]

A 1-quart Ziploc freezer bag fits nicely inside a Jetboil Sol cup (the 1-pint Ziploc does as well). You will offset part of the weight of the JB cup by leaving your usual cozy at home, as the JB cup/cozy will act as one (and it has a handle!).

[Valerie E]

I do the same as Terry (and it works very well), but another choice would be to buy the Ziploc Slider freezer bags, which stand up by themselves.  A teeny bit heavier than the “regular” Ziplocs, but only you can determine if it’s worth it…

[Cayenne Redmonk]

I use the inverse process of most.  Instead of dumping hot water from a stable metal pot into a flimsy plastic bag that is prone to leak,  I dump the food from the unstable plastic bag into a solid pot of hot water.

[Roger Cocchi]

Terry, do you have any photos of the cozy shape that you described which you could share?  Thanks for your help and thanks to everyone else for your input.

[J R]

The Caldera Cone Keg-F system comes with a caddy that both protects the beer can pot from being crushed and acts as two separate bowls or as separate bowl and mug that are a perfect shape for holding a quart freezer bag with top of bag folded over top edge of the bowl.

Or, you could simply make a new reflectix cozy that is a “pouch” style but has a pleat in the bottom, that will allow the bottom to flare out when you have a freezer bag in it and it will stand on its own. This will still pack down flat or roll up, whereas a flat bottom cozy is harder to pack.

[Kenneth Keating]

You could use  Packit Gourmet Cook-in-Bags.  They’re rigid when hot, plus easy to clean and reusable.  The disadvantage is they’re pricey.

K

[Nick Gatel]

The ZipLock Microwave bags stand up on their own.

Only problem is they’re expensive. Now that I’m retired and on a fixed income I’ve gone back to freezer bags. I put them in this cozy to “cook” and then eat out of it while still in the cozy.

I’ve done hundreds of meals in freezer bags and never had a problem.

[David Thomas]

Stitch a pouch in the front of your shirt.  Slip the whole assembly (ziplock + cozy) in there.  You could hike another mile each day as you eat.  Kind of like this:

[David Thomas]

I was scrolling through this thread from the bottom and my eye fixated on this:

And I knew it was Nick’s post.

[Richard Scruggs]

I use a Backpacker’s Pantry Pack Bowl that I cut down to the two-quart mark on the bowl (the bowl has a three-quart capacity before cutting it down).

Weight of my cut-down Pack Bowl is .88 ounces. Weight before cutting it down was 1.13 ounces.  So I saved a quarter ounce by cutting the Pack Bowl down while leaving plenty of room for this —

I put a one-quart freezer bag containing dehydrated food into a cozy pouch, add boiling water to the food, then set the cozy pouch with the freezer bag of food & boiling water into the cut-down Pack Bowl. The Bowl has a pleated bottom, allowing it to stand upright while the food rehydrates.  The Pack Bowl also adds structural support (and a heat barrier) to the cozy pouch w/freezer bag of hot food as you spoon food from the bag.

Here’s a pic of the Pack Bowl:

The Bowl folds flat when not in use. I read somewhere you can fold it a couple times more to as small as 3″ x 3″ — I don’t do that ‘cuz it’s already easy to pack away once flattened.

Might have served the above purpose of managing a cozy containing a freezer bag of hot rehydrating food without having to juggle it all, and also saved a bit more weight, if I had cut the Pack Bowl down to the one-quart mark — but that would have mitigated some of the “bonuses noted down below.

Bonuses:

(1)  The Bowl has markings on the side for using it as a measuring cup.

(2)  I also use the Bowl as a wash bowl.

(3)  It makes a good water bucket once modified to add a handle (punch a hole in each of the top two corners & attach cord).

(4)  Also might work OK for scooping water from a shallow source.

Here’s a link to the Pack Bowl at Backpacker’s Pantry’s website:

http://www.backpackerspantry.com/products/outback-oven/pack-bowl-4-pack.html

[Matthew / BPL]

Roger, I understand exactly what you are talking about. I switched to a Toaks 550 mug setup this year and one of the benefits is that the diameter is small enough to fold over the pot without tearing the corners. I believe the pot is about 95mm in diameter.

I assume you are using a pouch-style cozy. Perhaps you should use a cylindrical pot-style cozy instead but make the cozy smaller than the pot… Again, 95mm seems to work well for my freezer bags so that might be a good exterior dimension to start with.

[tom lakner]

Roger,

I’ve been saving plastic, resealable cereal bags for the past few years now. As in granola. Many other products come in these type of bags also.Works great for freezer bag cooking.

TomL

 

[Ed Biermann]

Roger take a look at these cozies that just showed up in Gear Deals.

[JP]

Nm, already mentioned.

[Author]

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