TIP 1
Pouches are your friend
Oxygen is not your friend out on the trail because oxygen makes food start to go bad . Stamp noted that manufacturers flush bags of potato chips with nitrogen before sealing to help the snacks inside stay more shelf-stable . That ’ s why having pouches that you can deflate around the food and using dehydrated food can be a big help . WITH POUCHES , YOU CAN EVACUATE THE OXYGEN FROM THE PACKAGE . Gauthier noted that this helps tremendously with packing due to the smaller footprint . But Stamp added that it also helps foods stay safe from oxygen to reduce the chance of food poisoning .
One typical example of a food problem Stamp gave is when people stop and buy deli meat on the way out of town to go camping .
“ You get deli turkey sliced and you put it in the bag . And even if you put it in a Ziploc and wrap it in aluminum foil and put it in your cooler ,
HOW LONG DOES SLICED DELI TURKEY LAST ?” Stamp asked the crowd . “ A lot of people will say five days , or maybe a week . It ’ s three . It ’ s really just three days .”
That ’ s why dehydrated foods also can be really valuable because you ’ re taking the water out , which lengthens the preservation cycle . IF YOU ’ RE IN A PINCH AND YOUR TURKEY IS GETTING OLD , THOUGH , YOU COULD ALWAYS FRY IT , which is a cooking method created during early pandemics to help cook food when waterborne illnesses prevented people from cooking in water .
By frying the deli turkey , for example , you are removing the water and , as long as you get the turkey above 140 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 3 minutes , you ’ ll take out the harmful bacteria , as well .
22 GOING FURTHER TOGETHER