Mac and cheese

[Alexander S]

I’d like to bring some Mac and cheese with me but hate the thought of the boil time / fuel use involved.

Does anyone know of a quicker non freeze dried option?

[Paul S.]

It works for me to just boil the water and pour in the Mac and remove from heat, with either a freezer bag or straight in the pot. No more fuel used than prepping a freeze dried meal.

[chris smead]

Is there a trick to that? I tried it at home and had crunchy noodles.  Do you rehydrate it for a long time?  Why is my text all in bold…oh…bold button.  Got it.  My bad.

 

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Soak the noodle in water for about an hour first.  They will get soft and reduce your cooking time by a lot.

 

[Paul S.]

I used Annie’s and Trader Joe’s brand, I think the noodles are already dehydrated.  A cozy is key, noodles were a bit al dente, takes a it longer in the top/bag than your stove top.

[Matthew / BPL]

“Microwave” Mac and cheese noodles rehydrate quickly. I’ve used TJs and Annie’s with zero fuss in freezer bags. I mean the dry stuff with powder. Not the nasty stuff with plastic cheese.

Mthe microwave variety never calls for butter or milk either. I like 1.5 packets in a ziplock with some FD veggies and then you can cut up some salami into it. Olive oil is a good way to add a couple hundred calories to the game too.

[jimmyjam]

Like Jon said, pre-soak a little while with a just enough water to wet them. Then add boiling water and put in your cozzie for about 10 to 15 minutes. I like to add bacon bits and olive oil to mine. yummy!!!

[George F]

Instead of just adding the boiling water  try bringing the noodles to a boil and then putting it in a cozy. Also, some of the kids shapes cook quicker.

[Lori P]

I cook pasta (and rice) at home, then dehydrate it. PRESTO, pasta that rehydrates in about 10-13 minutes with boiling water added and placed in a cozy. I use Nido and a little butter powder with the cheese sauce packet, and mix in the bottom of the bowl/cup to proper sauciness, drain the pasta while it’s still in the freezer bag, add to the sauce – perfect.

[Jennifer Mitol]

use ramen as the noodle then the cheese powder from Pack it gourmet.  best trail mac n cheese I’ve ever had, and cooks in less than 5 mins.

[Richard May]

Ramen with oven dehydrated spaghetti sauce! Yumm.

[Jennifer Mitol]

i’ve been using the ramen as pasta for all sorts of awesome dinners.  I dehydrate my own spaghetti sauce and add the freeze dried ground beef from Pack it gourmet – with some parm it’s fantastic.

I also add some tuna and some dried peas or corn or something to the mac n cheese to add some protein.

I also made an awesome thai peanut noodle with the ramen – turned into my favorite dish on the CT this summer

 

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Precook the pasta, cut it short by 2-3 minutes, drain, rinse and dehydrate. You can do this in your oven even. Then…..

http://www.trailcooking.com/dry-mixes-seasonings/cheddar-cheese-sauce-mix/

[Dean F.]

Yes, as has been said, to make ‘instant’ dehydrated pasta you have to cook the pasta at home then dehydrate it. There are tricks to using uncooked pasta, like pre-soaking, but they are all clumsy or fiddly, or just plain unaesthetic.

Mary Jane’s Farm instant mac and cheese is pretty good, if you want an off-the-shelf solution. I also particularly like her vegetarian chili mac.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Well, If you want to go light weight and gourmet, you can always make Cavatelli.  Fresh pasta that is formed by hand.  Bring the semolina flour and a little olive and you are good to go.  Because it is fresh, the cooking time is very short.  Bon Appetit

 

 

[Cody Hallenbeck]

I also did a little experimentation with Barilla’s Pronto Pasta line earlier this year and found that it did indeed cook better with less water and simmer time than traditional pasta. I managed to get acceptable pasta in a freezer bag wrapped in my quilt. I’d suspect that the macaroni elbows would cook very well.

That said I’ve cooked a lot of boxed mac and cheese on the trail, and maybe I’m not that picky, but I’ve found it pretty easy to cook. If trying to minimize fuel use I’ll perhaps let it soak a little first, then let it come to a boil, insulate the pot, wait a while, and usually I don’t need to simmer the pasta.

[Gary Dunckel]

I’m with Cody–the Barilla Pronto Pasta is my new favorite. I’m not sure what’s different about it, whether it might be “cooked-then-dehydrated,” or just what. The directions say to put the pasta in the pot, cover it with unheated water, and bring it to a simmer, then cook for ~ 10 minutes. I find that pre-soaking the pasta for 1/2 hour shortens the simmer time and saves fuel. I like the rotini, as it fits in a spoon better than the spaghetti or linguini. The elbows could perhaps be even better and maybe quicker.

For sauces, I like Knorr’s Parma Rosa, 4-cheese, or Alfredo powders. 2 Tbs of one of those + 1 Tbs of Nido or Milkman, and maybe 1 Tbs of butter powder, makes a pretty good sauce. It doesn’t hurt to toss in 1/4 C. of parmesan cheese and some FD chicken and peas, or even some olive oil to boost calories and flavor.

This past week I’ve been scheming a way to convert a cat food can and carbon felt into a decent alcohol simmer stove, using titanium foil simmer rings to turn the heat (and fuel usage) down. Using 3/4 oz. of SLX, I can bring the pasta to a boil in 9-10 minutes. I then place a ti disk “donut” with the center hole 1/3 the area of that of the main ti disk. This reduces the flame intensity and gives me another 10 minutes of a gentle simmer–perfect for the Barilla pasta dinner.

The same results can be obtained using a canister stove with a good simmer function. In that case I fire up the stove until I reach a boil, then shut the stove off and let the pasta absorb hot water. Then I fire the stove back up, warm the water again, and shut it off. Several repeats of the simmer cycle usually does the job. It might take 10 grams of canister fuel to complete the stove work, but I can afford that on short trips. I like the Jetboil MiniMo burner for this, due to it’s amazing simmer control. But man, is it a heavy sucker at 4.6 oz.!

[Jerry Adams]

“Why is my text all in bold…oh…bold button.  Got it.  My bad.”

Oh, wow!  You can bold text.  also italicize.  also cross out.  I wonder what block quote does?

how about a bulleted list:

• first
• second

or a numbered list:

1. first
2. second

sorry, Peabody level #8

 

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