[pct-l] Resupply package - freshness

[Ellen Shopes]

Along the line of fatty foods spoiling quicker, my tentative plan is to 
dehydrate some of my meals that I will ship without the meat in them.  I can 
have sent from the company, or include the can in my box, any commercially 
dried meats.  I kept some of these products on my shelves at home for months 
without problems.
Ellen
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve McAllister" <brooklynkayak at gmail.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 5:26 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Resupply package - freshness


What I've found:

1) Fat goes bad much quicker than carbs or protein. When dehydrating
dishes, exclude all fat from the recipes and add the fat when you
prepare the meal. The ever popular home dehydrated pasta sauce will
last much longer if you keep it as lean as possible until you prepare
it on the trail.

2) Seal all bags that you suspect will need a long shelf life with
some form of desiccant to keep the moisture out.

3) Nuts go bad faster than you think, especially in the heat. Ever had
your gorp go bad:-( Pick up nuts on your town stops instead of storing
them. Freezing or refigeration extends storage time of course.

4) The moisture content of dried fruit determines how long it will
store. Over-dried fruit will last longer but will not be so tasty
unless reconstituted.



On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 5:55 PM, Paul Mitchell <bluebrain at bluebrain.ca> 
wrote:
> I'm also wondering about freshness of ingredients in boxes that may be
> sitting for six months before use. I've used JustTomatoes products before,
> for example, and after enough time, moisture, etc they lose their charm.
> I'm wondering if we make any trail mixes that include breakfast cereals,
> etc, if we should expect them to not be fresh & crispy after a few months 
> in
> bags in the box.
>
>
>
> Any tips on what does, doesn't work?
>
>
>
> P178
>
>
>
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> Pct-l mailing list
> Pct-l at backcountry.net
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>



-- 
... when your feeling blue, and you've lost all your dreams, there's
nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
   -- Tom Waits

http://kayakbrooklyn.blogspot.com
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