A couple of general food safety questions...

[aces-n-eights]

I'm planning a couple of hunting trips and am starting to think about the food we will take.  My thought is to vac seal and freeze regular meals, keep them in a cooler with ice-filled milk jugs and reheat in the field.  The hunting trips will be 7-14 days long.

For example:
a hamburger patty and a scoop of mashed potatoes
two slices of pizza
hash browns, scrambled eggs and some sausage
salmon and rice
ham and cheese sandwich
smoked brisket and potato slices
various veggies

All foods will be fully cooked before vac sealing.

So my questions...

Should i cool the food in the frig before i vac seal?
How long will the food be good after it thaws?  (Hunts are in fall and spring, so should be fairly cool temps here in Alaska  ;D )
How should i reheat in the field?  I seem to recall that boiling vac bags (Foodsaver) in water is not a good idea - any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

wayne

[Wildcat]

Have not tried to freeze some of the meal combinations that you mentioned, but I see no reason why you could not. I would keep it frozen until the day before or the day of consumption. Re-heating vac sealed items in hot water is fine - just keep it below the boil point.  I reheat most of my small portion vac sealed pulled pork and brisket this way.  The only problem I have ever had is that the seal will break if the water boils for very long.  Even then if it is taken out of the water early enough there is no problem.

[sodak]

What I do is put a slight freeze on foods like this and then vacuum seal to avoid sucking juices up during the vacuum process.  Otherwise, sounds like a plan as long as the food stays frozen/chilled.

[aces-n-eights]

Thanks for the comments, guys!

[Kummok]

Is weight an issue As & 8s??  E.G. fly-in camp?? If so, I stick w/ Mountain House, sliced deli meats/cheese, So Beach bars, etc....anything that's light, quick to prepare, and can be made w/ water in one utensil and eaten w/ spork. I know of a camp where the guys spend weeks prepping and hauling camp/food in via ATV and they live/eat like Kings but I'm one that goes to get game and save the good food for home.....strictly after body fuel in my camp! ;)

[aces-n-eights]

Good suggestions, Kummok.  One hunt is a fly-in and i'm sure we will go fairly light.  The other we'll be able to go in with heavier gear.

I agree with you that i don't want to spend a lot of time or effort in camp to cook meals - that's why i want to prep meals in advance and heat them in boiling water or just add boiling water.  I'm there to blast something and fill the freezer! 

My guess is that we will take a lot of Mountain House meals on both trips, but i just wanted to be sure i wasn't going to kill us if i prepped some meals ahead of time  ;D