Can I Eat This? Camping with frozen foods idea + Food Safety
May 26, 2022 10:14 AM Subscribe
Going on a 2 day camping trip with a large group this weekend. I have a food safety question
I am accompanying a group of 10-12 on a 2 night camping trip in a state park. We have 2 cars with 4 people plus 8 bike riders, and it's about a 1.5 mile hike into the campsite.
We plan to cook hot meals over the campfire for a couple nights and we are thinking bean burritos on night 1 and some kind of foil packs with pre-cooked sausage & vegitables on night 2.
Our initial packing list contained canned beans, but I had an idea about bringing some beans cooked over the stove and then frozen, so they would essentially leave the city as ice blocks in plastic containers, packed with iced coffee concentrate and drinking water as iceblocks. Idea is they would stay partially frozen for at least a day and a half and then warm up easy.
Is this GENIUS or DANGEROUS, food safety-wise?
Plan is for mostly soft coolers, like ones you've seen at trader joes, and then a smaller soft cooler, although i do have a hard plastic one available if metafilter told me that would be better.
if i froze all the (vegan prep) beans that i plan on taking now, it would be about 6-8 plastic 16 oz containers like you get delivery soup in. Maybe half of the frozen stuff would be consumed the first night, warmed up over camping stoves. 3-4 of the frozen blocks (and heck, maybe some frozen cold brew and drinking water as ice blocks now that i am thinking about it) would remain to help keep the sausage and whatnot cold for night 2, foil dinners.
Thoughts? I love the idea of cooking my ice blocks, but do not want to give all these bicycle riders the runs.
I am accompanying a group of 10-12 on a 2 night camping trip in a state park. We have 2 cars with 4 people plus 8 bike riders, and it's about a 1.5 mile hike into the campsite.
We plan to cook hot meals over the campfire for a couple nights and we are thinking bean burritos on night 1 and some kind of foil packs with pre-cooked sausage & vegitables on night 2.
Our initial packing list contained canned beans, but I had an idea about bringing some beans cooked over the stove and then frozen, so they would essentially leave the city as ice blocks in plastic containers, packed with iced coffee concentrate and drinking water as iceblocks. Idea is they would stay partially frozen for at least a day and a half and then warm up easy.
Is this GENIUS or DANGEROUS, food safety-wise?
Plan is for mostly soft coolers, like ones you've seen at trader joes, and then a smaller soft cooler, although i do have a hard plastic one available if metafilter told me that would be better.
if i froze all the (vegan prep) beans that i plan on taking now, it would be about 6-8 plastic 16 oz containers like you get delivery soup in. Maybe half of the frozen stuff would be consumed the first night, warmed up over camping stoves. 3-4 of the frozen blocks (and heck, maybe some frozen cold brew and drinking water as ice blocks now that i am thinking about it) would remain to help keep the sausage and whatnot cold for night 2, foil dinners.
Thoughts? I love the idea of cooking my ice blocks, but do not want to give all these bicycle riders the runs.
Seems fine, though canned beans would be easier (and free up room in the coolers for other things).
posted by coffeecat at 10:35 AM on May 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by coffeecat at 10:35 AM on May 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
We do this literally every time we go camping for most of our dinner meals. We do have some additional ice in the cooler, and we've got a higher-end cooler that keeps ice solid longer than the cheapest coolers.
In fact, I just made a double batch of pasta sauce on Tuesday, froze it, and the flat-ish silicone bags of it will go into our cooler tomorrow for the 3-day camping trip we have planned. Usually by Saturday evening the pasta sauce is fully melted, and we've even used it on the Sunday or Monday after. You can strategize by putting frozen items you want to use later in the trip at the bottom.
We also do this with other food items. We buy hotdogs and bacon from Costco and just put the fully frozen packs of each in the freezer and then in the cooler when we're ready to start the trip. The bacon usually isn't fully thawed by Saturday morning, but you can usually get a slice or two; Saturday evening and afterward, everything is thawed enough and cooler is still very cool.
Warning: some foods work better than others because freezing really ruins the texture. We got too excited with the idea and froze this dish (or one very similar), including the noodles. The noodles and greens turned into a gross texture. Of course I should've known that would happen and it would be easy to make the dish up to the point of adding noodles and kale, freeze it, and then just add those items at the campsite, and it'd probably be great.
posted by msbrauer at 10:36 AM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
In fact, I just made a double batch of pasta sauce on Tuesday, froze it, and the flat-ish silicone bags of it will go into our cooler tomorrow for the 3-day camping trip we have planned. Usually by Saturday evening the pasta sauce is fully melted, and we've even used it on the Sunday or Monday after. You can strategize by putting frozen items you want to use later in the trip at the bottom.
We also do this with other food items. We buy hotdogs and bacon from Costco and just put the fully frozen packs of each in the freezer and then in the cooler when we're ready to start the trip. The bacon usually isn't fully thawed by Saturday morning, but you can usually get a slice or two; Saturday evening and afterward, everything is thawed enough and cooler is still very cool.
Warning: some foods work better than others because freezing really ruins the texture. We got too excited with the idea and froze this dish (or one very similar), including the noodles. The noodles and greens turned into a gross texture. Of course I should've known that would happen and it would be easy to make the dish up to the point of adding noodles and kale, freeze it, and then just add those items at the campsite, and it'd probably be great.
posted by msbrauer at 10:36 AM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Anything that has been cooked and refrozen should be kept in a hard sided cooler, to avoid microbial growth in case it thaws faster than you expected. The act of cooking and then cooling to freezer temp, if not done quickly enough, can lead to microbial growth that will be amplified by thawing unexpectedly.
posted by sacrifix at 10:40 AM on May 26, 2022
posted by sacrifix at 10:40 AM on May 26, 2022
The problem with Tupperware is, that while the food might be sterile, the Tupperware you’re putting it in is not, because you can’t sterilize it with heat.
Hydrogen peroxide or bleach would help, but I’m not convinced it would be enough.
I think it would be better to use an all stainless steel box or cans for the beans.
posted by jamjam at 11:21 AM on May 26, 2022
Hydrogen peroxide or bleach would help, but I’m not convinced it would be enough.
I think it would be better to use an all stainless steel box or cans for the beans.
posted by jamjam at 11:21 AM on May 26, 2022
Rigid coolers are wildly more effective at keeping things frozen than softsided coolers. I wouldn't use a soft sided cooler for any food item that wasn't shelf stable unless I planned to use the food item the same day.
posted by Mitheral at 12:02 PM on May 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Mitheral at 12:02 PM on May 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
The main thing is to keep your cooler cold. I freeze water bottles and use them in the cooler; larger bottles stay cold a little longer. I prefer less risk and hassle and would use canned beans, as less risk, less hassle, but your thinking is on track. Put a blanket, pillows, sleeping bag, etc., on top of and around the cooler for extra insulation when not sleeping.
posted by theora55 at 12:04 PM on May 26, 2022
posted by theora55 at 12:04 PM on May 26, 2022
Best answer: Is this GENIUS or DANGEROUS, food safety-wise?
You'll be fine. Camping is how you learn that a lot of food safety rules aren't that important.
posted by Rash at 12:06 PM on May 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
You'll be fine. Camping is how you learn that a lot of food safety rules aren't that important.
posted by Rash at 12:06 PM on May 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
Best answer: I do this all the time, and honestly any modern cooler (don't use a 20yo cooler except for parties/drinks) is fine for unfrozen items for 2 days if well-stocked with frozen items. Generally I do not freeze beans, because I dislike the texture of frozen beans, I would just keep them ice-adjacentish in the cooler. For a bean type substance I put them in a zip-top bag IN a hard container (tupperware etc) so there's no chance of leaks or of being crushed. The zip-top bag then gets used for gunky or wet trash.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:06 PM on May 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Lyn Never at 12:06 PM on May 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
+1 have car camped with a soft sided cooler with frozen water bottles, and it will thaw faster than you think. Definitely a good hard sided cooler, my friend has a mono price yeti knockoff that’s really good. I would still plan to eat the sausages the first night and have ample frozen water bottles for insulation as well. Can you put a cooler of frozen stuff out in your house for a couple days as a test?
posted by momus_window at 12:07 PM on May 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by momus_window at 12:07 PM on May 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I think you need to up your cooler game a little. Regular* soft coolers are great for road trips and picnics but for actual multi day camping trips I would recommend getting a couple hard sided ones. Otherwise, yes! Frozen stuff is great for camping and I too use this hack with all kinds of things.
*However, soft Yeti or Yeti clone coolers are a whole different ball game than ordinary soft coolers with the price point to match.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:31 PM on May 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
*However, soft Yeti or Yeti clone coolers are a whole different ball game than ordinary soft coolers with the price point to match.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:31 PM on May 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
When we car camped, I would freeze as much as possible and then eat/drink it as it defrosted. So half our water would be frozen (the other half I would fill a collapsible carrier cube at the site), all the meat, bread, whatever. With a 3-day, hardsided cooler we usually had something still frozen at the end.
posted by fiercekitten at 12:56 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by fiercekitten at 12:56 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
A hard plastic cooler can also be pre-cooled (fill a couple of bottles of water and freeze, then place in your cooler for 24 hours, swap out for icepacks and frozen things when you pack for camping).
posted by plonkee at 1:26 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by plonkee at 1:26 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You'll be fine. Before we got a camping fridge, we used to do this all the time. I agree that canned beans would be easier, but freezing everything you can (including drinking water) will easily keep frozen then cold for a weekend camping trip. You didn't mention the temperature where you're going, but obviously, keeping the cooler as cool as possible is critical if the weather is hot.
posted by dg at 1:42 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 1:42 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Totally fine. Unless you are in a very hot climate or leaving things in direct sunlight for hours, a soft-sided cooler full of frozen things will likely still have partly frozen things in it 1.5 days later.
posted by ssg at 2:52 PM on May 26, 2022
posted by ssg at 2:52 PM on May 26, 2022
Soft coolers like you see at Trader Joes are for keeping your ice cream from melting on the way home, or at most keeping your lunch cool. They will not keep your food cool for two days.
There are lots of different hard sided coolers out there, lots of different ways to manage them, and of course the ambient temperature also makes a difference. Carrying a cooler 1.5 miles with enough food for 12 people is going to be very difficult.
You can get freeze dried beans that will cook very quickly, or if you want them entirely precooked there are many sealed cooked beans in plastic bags (Tasty Bite is a popular brand). You don't have to have cans.
posted by yohko at 4:52 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are lots of different hard sided coolers out there, lots of different ways to manage them, and of course the ambient temperature also makes a difference. Carrying a cooler 1.5 miles with enough food for 12 people is going to be very difficult.
You can get freeze dried beans that will cook very quickly, or if you want them entirely precooked there are many sealed cooked beans in plastic bags (Tasty Bite is a popular brand). You don't have to have cans.
posted by yohko at 4:52 PM on May 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by LizardBreath at 10:28 AM on May 26, 2022