bag-cooking-msg - 12/24/16

Using plastic bags to warm pre-cooked foods at SCA events. Vacuum food sealers.

NOTE: See also the files: caldron-cookg-msg, Camp-Cooking-art, canning-msg, cook-ovr-fire-msg, drying-foods-msg, no-fire-cook-msg, Preservng-CMA-art, cmp-ckng-bags-art.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 00:18:15 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Casbah! Feast, was Period Couscous References?

"Mark S. Harris" <stefan at texas.net> wrote:
>al-Sayyida Anahita al-Qurtubiyya bint 'abd al-Karim al-hakim al-Fassi said:
>  > I froze the chicken dish, the White Tharidah of al-Rashid, (about 14
>  > gallons worth in zip-closed plastic bags) to avoid "church picnic
>  > chicken syndrome". The Seven Vegetable Tagine was bagged and just
>  > refrigerated (about 9 gallons). Fabian made 600 meatballs from the
>  > Andalusian recipe i sent him, and froze them, per my request. The
>  > couscous was made on site.
>  >
>  > However, the food was re-heated courtesy of the gracious hostess of
>  > the feast, Eliska, and quite a few generous volunteers who manned the
>  > pots of hot water.
>
>You froze the food in regular, store bought plastic zip lock bags?
>Freezer bags or storage bags?

Yes, I just used regular storage bags. I filled them about half-way
(that is, i put about 1 gallon of cooked chicken in each two gallon
bag - easier to handle, as it left bag to grip - i was afraid they'd
burst if i filled them all the way, from the weight and strain).

I put the bags in the freezer and rotated them every 1/2 hour or so,
squishing them a bit to distribute the cold, until they got frosty.
Then i left them to freeze when i was sure they were cold through.

>And then you dropped the bags of food
>including the plastic into the boiling water to thaw and warm them
>up???

No, no, no! Would not be safe. We did immerse the bags in hot water,
though... Someone kept pots of water simmering on a propane stove.
Then periodically hot water was dipped out and added to the water in
some large containers we had - tempered with cold water out of the
spigot. I do not think the plastic the bags were made of would
withstand boiling.

Fabian says he wants to get double boilers for the next feast...

>Sounds very convenient and a lot cleaner than emptying the bags
>into pots and warming the food there, as my wife and I have been
>doing for several years at Gulf Wars.

Yes, it was convenient and we didn't have to wash out the pots.

>The bags don't melt? Or
>break open strewing the food into the boiling water? Hmmm.

As i said above, we did not immerse the bags in the boiling water in
the pots on the stove... I was afraid what you're afraid of would
happen (besides health risks from heated plastic).

After it was hot, the food was put into chafing dishes, the lower
part filled with hot water, and 2 sterno cans beneath each dish to
keep the food warm - when serving, the pans got refilled with hot
food fairly quickly, so the food didn't sit around for long.

Anahita


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 01:36:07 -0600
From: Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Casbah! Feast, was Period Couscous References?

This reminds me....many years ago, when Artemisia and Atenveldt were
still one kingdom, I attended an Estrella War, and was kindly hosted by
Duchy Tarragon.  They did a lot of this boiling-bag stuff, too, although
(IIRC) you've got to use the right bags--you can actually buy them, and
a gadget that seals them.
The thing I remember most clearly were the omelets (funny, considering
it's another thread going on right now!)....Apparently, at some point
before the war, the household would hold this omelet party, and they'd
pre-make all the omelets.  Into a single-serving bag would go X number
of eggs (sans shells, natch), a certain amount of cheese, seasonings,
etc. The bags were then frozen and transported.  On the given day, the
omelet bags were boiled, per instructions, and you just slit the bag,
and dumped out this little squarish omelet--a little non-standard
looking, but perfectly tasty, and very easy to prepare.
--Maire, who *should* be packing!

Patricia Collum wrote:
> My girl friend (and Mistress, and war autocrat) fed our household at
> Estrella war this way a couple of years ago. She called it "boiling-bag
> cooking" (I've seen this mundanely before). She had whole coolers filled
> with bags marked with the different days breakfast and dinner entrees in
> roughly 2-people servings.


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 00:51:40 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: david friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Casbah! Feast, was Period Couscous References?

>Yes, I just used regular storage bags. I filled them about half-way
>(that is, i put about 1 gallon of cooked chicken in each two gallon
>bag - easier to handle, as it left bag to grip - i was afraid they'd
>burst if i filled them all the way, from the weight and strain).
>
>I put the bags in the freezer and rotated them every 1/2 hour or so,
>squishing them a bit to distribute the cold, until they got frosty.
>Then i left them to freeze when i was sure they were cold through.
>
>>And then you dropped the bags of food
>>including the plastic into the boiling water to thaw and warm them
>>up???
>
>No, no, no! Would not be safe. We did immerse the bags in hot water,
>though... Someone kept pots of water simmering on a propane stove.
>Then periodically hot water was dipped out and added to the water in
>some large containers we had - tempered with cold water out of the
>spigot. I do not think the plastic the bags were made of would
>withstand boiling.

>Anahita

Sir Nathan in Calontir used to provide period food for the Calontiri
royalty at Pennsic by a version of this approach. I believe he used a
seal-a-meal or something similar, with bags that could be boiled. He
also used a high quality cooler. To cooler was paced with bags of
frozen food. For each meal, he pulled out the required bags and
dumped them, still sealed, in a pot of boiling water.
--
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/


From: "Michael Gunter" <countgunthar at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 11:29:15 -0500
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Freezing food

>You froze the food in regular, store bought plastic zip lock bags?
>Freezer bags or storage bags? And then you dropped the bags of food
>including the plastic into the boiling water to thaw and warm them
>up???

I've done this with most of my feasts. Pre-cook and bag them.
Then, at the feast site either boil-in-bag, microwave or defrost
and reheat. It depends on the dish and kitchen facilities
When cooking for 300+ it is nice to have as many conveniences
as possible. I also know ahead of time just how much food I have
and what things need to be changed before the last minute.

Of course it makes for some pretty late nights a few weeks before
the feast and you need some place to keep it frozen. ("Excuse me,
could we borrow your freezer? We have 50 gallons of Chicken
Bruet that needs a home.)

>The bags don't melt? Or
>break open strewing the food into the boiling water? Hmmm.

Get heavy duty freezer bags. And I sometimes double bag them
just to be safe.

>THLord Stefan li Rous

Gunthar


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 09:45:51 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Casbah! Feast, was Period Couscous References?

David/Cariadoc wrote:
>Sir Nathan in Calontir used to provide period food for the Calontiri
>royalty at Pennsic by a version of this approach. I believe he used a
>seal-a-meal or something similar, with bags that could be boiled. He
>also used a high quality cooler. The cooler was paced with bags of
>frozen food. For each meal, he pulled out the required bags and
>dumped them, still sealed, in a pot of boiling water.

Yes, Fabian is considering buying a Seal-A-Meal set up. The plastic
used for this can withstand both freezing and boiling and, i think,
microwaving, and the bags are heat sealed so they're less likely to
pop open. So this is safer in several ways than using zip-shut
plastic bags.

He has a household and is thinking how convenient this would be for
feeding the household at events - cook the food *well* ahead of time,
freeze it, and pull out and pop it in the cooler for an event, then
heat up the water and drop it in.

I think this is a good idea for camping events, although i'd *never*
do this for a feast... well, if various folks are cooking dishes
ahead of time, some things can withstand home freezing - which takes
longer than commercial, often forms ice crystals in the food which
can change the texture to mushy, and if the packets aren't properly
sealed the food gets freezer burn and tastes like the other stuff in
the freezer...

The meatballs were fine and the White Tharidah seemed not to suffer
from being frozen for 2 days. But some things just don't survive home
freezing without getting a weird texture.

Anahita


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 13:04:25 -0400
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: Gorgeous Muiredach <muiredach at bmee.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Freezing food

>I've done this with most of my feasts. Pre-cook and bag them.
>Then, at the feast site either boil-in-bag, microwave or defrost
>and reheat. It depends on the dish and kitchen facilities

Hate to be the one to raise attention to this again, but...

Ya got to be careful how you do it.  It works fine, and I've used that
technique before.  Just make sure that
a)your contents are defrosted before you re-warm them
and
b)you use actual boiling water, not just lukewarm water...

BTW, saranwrap and other wraps don't melt in boiling water, so just about
any ziplock bag should handle boiling water without flinching.  It's always
a good idea to *under* bag though.  If you fill the poor thing to the brim,
it'll just want to explode ;-)

Gorgeous Muiredach the Odd
Clan of Odds
Shire of Forthcastle, Meridies
mka Nicolas Steenhout


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 13:09:59 -0400
From: "Sandra Kisner" <sjk3 at admin.is.cornell.edu>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] boiling bags

>BTW, saranwrap and other wraps don't melt in boiling water, so just about
>any ziplock bag should handle boiling water without flinching.  It's always
>a good idea to *under* bag though.  If you fill the poor thing to the brim,
>it'll just want to explode ;-)

     It's been a long time since I tried boiling something in a bag, but I seem to recall that the problem was the bag touching the side of the pot, not the hot water, causing melting problems.  Is this the case in the experience of anybody else?

Sandra


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 12:33:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Freezing food

> BTW, saranwrap and other wraps don't melt in boiling water, so just about
> any ziplock bag should handle boiling water without flinching.  It's always
> a good idea to *under* bag though.  If you fill the poor thing to the brim,
> it'll just want to explode ;-)
>
> Gorgeous Muiredach the Odd

Actually, I've had otherwise brand new out-of-the-box Hefty freezer bags
die on me when the side seams came apart. I probably should have waited
until the stew had cooled a bit more, but it wasn't boiling. It was hot to
the touch but not so hot that I couldn't taste it without cooling. Once
there was more than a ladle's worth of stew in the bag, it split open.

Margaret the Perfectly Normal


From: Marilyn Traber <marilyn.traber.jsfm at statefarm.com>
To: "SCA-Cooks (E-mail)" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 12:37:47 -0500
Subject: [Sca-cooks] seal-a-meal

I have had a seal a meal off and on since teh original 'daisey' seal-a-meal
back in teh early 80s.

I currently have the one they were flogging on TV about 5 years ago.

I heartily recommend them. Mine hasn't gotten used in the last couple of
years, but when I worked for US Foodservices and tended to get either whole
uncut slabs of meat, or teh 40 count chicken breasts, and cases of veggies
it was amazingly useful.

Best [IIRC} 150$US investment.
margali


From: "Patricia Collum" <pjc2 at cox.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] boiling bags
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 11:07:17 -0700

>  It's been a long time since I tried boiling something in a bag, but I
> seem to recall that the problem was the bag touching the side of the pot,
> not the hot water, causing melting problems.  Is this the case in the
> experience of anybody else?
> 
> Sandra

We actually clothespinned the top of the bag to the side of the pot. This
kept the contents submerged better, and we could tell our serving by the
spot we had clothespinned it to. No melting problems, but we did 1) make
sure the water was boiling before the bags were added, 2) limit the number
of bags in at a time so they wouldn't cool the water too much. This led to a
bit of a line (like at the microwave at lunchtime at work) even with 2 large
soup pots of water going. Sometimes the bags would boil free of their
clothespins- look out, you're lunch is escaping!

Cecily


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 14:01:08 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <NJSasso at msplaw.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Freezing food

I completed my food safety certification this summer (and it was a
hoot), so I I want to add a few documentable cents' worth.  Please be
sure that you are handling the food properly according to food agencies'
guidelines to be sure you are serving safe food.  The general guideline
of thawing before cooking is safe, but not required according to the
June 2002 materials provided by Serv-Safe, the industry standard in
Restaurant Food Safety training.

According to the manual and the standards for the training, thawing of
a food product can be performed as a step in the cooking process, and
the previously cooked food needs to be brought up to 160F in order to be
ensured safe by their guidelines (I can provide chapters and verses if
requested).  You should bring the food through the 40F to 140F zone as
quickly as possible, and stir or agitate often.  Boil in bag will be a
challenge if large quantities are brought to heat at once . . . . gotta
ensure even heat distribution for safe reheating.

The key will be to follow safe freezing and storage techniques at the
front end to increase convenience and safety at the back end.  Cool you
food in flat containers, no more than 2 to 3 inches deep, depending on
food item.  If you were to put your food into the bag and then lat flat
to cool then freeze, you will have a much safer reheat on the back end.

Melting is but one issue for plastics. Remember that there is chemical
leeching that can occur before melting. This could lead to anything
from nothing at all to off flavors to your wonderful meal to adverse
physical reactions in diners sensitive to plastics or their degraded
by-products.  There are products on the market designed for reheating,
and often can be re-used for economy sake.  So, you get to make the
choice yourself (testing might be good here) as to what products you
wish to store and heat in.

fra niccolo difrancesco


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 12:08:23 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: david friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Freezing food

>I've done this with most of my feasts. Pre-cook and bag them.
>Then, at the feast site either boil-in-bag, microwave or defrost
>and reheat. It depends on the dish and kitchen facilities
>When cooking for 300+ it is nice to have as many conveniences
>as possible. I also know ahead of time just how much food I have
>and what things need to be changed before the last minute.

What we have tended to do is a partial pre-cook. One of our favorite
soups, for example, is A Pottage from Meat (Platina). It's basically
a meat broth thickened with bread crumbs and eggs. We do everything
prior to the thickening, freeze it, then for the feast thaw, heat and
thicken.
--
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/


From: "Barbara G. Dodge" <awench1 at cox.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 21:54:00 -0400
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re:  Boil in Bag

If you have a large kettle with a pasta insert, this would solve the problem
of the bags touching the sides of the kettle and make for easier retrieval.

>     It's been a long time since I tried boiling something in a bag, but I
> seem to recall that the problem was the bag touching the side of the pot,
> not the hot water, causing melting problems.  Is this the case in the
> experience of anybody else?

Sandra


From: "Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re:  Boil in Bag
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 22:06:51 -0400

This is the first I'd seen of this thread or difficulty.

The only reason you should have that sort of difficulty with a boil in bag
is if you don't use a pot to boil the water in that's big enough. The boil
in bag should be free to move about, rather than being jammed in place- not
only does that allow more even heating of the contents, but the  nature of
water as a calorie absorbant prevents hot spots on the side of the pot.

Phlip


From: "Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Boil in Bag
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 14:11:17 -0400

> So where does one find bags for boiling...other than the seal a meal type.
I have looked in every grocery store I have been to and cant find anyting.
Lots of other bags, but none for boiling. I think they would be very
convenient for leftovers...but Im not sure I want to go out and buy the seal
a meal gadget.<

I've always used the seal-a-meal bags, with or without the gadget. The
gadget is more convenient, of course, but if you leave the bags oversized,
you can seal them using an iron on a towel. I won't presume to tell you
which setting- it's been my experience that different irons tend to vary in
their actual heat, but it's usually one of the hotter settings- DON'T use
steam.

I found mine to be well worth the money. You might find one cheap at a yard
sale. Haven't used Margali's yet- she has one of the new-fangled type which
puts a vacuum seal in them, but I always found that removing as much air
space as you conveniently could and wiping the inside of the top of the bag
worked just fine. Keep in mind, though, that if you don't use the proper
equipment, you'll likely need an assistant.

Phlip


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:09:43 -0400
From: "Terri Morgan" <online2much at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment a success
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

It works very well for STC and for omelettes (pack them raw, boil to  cook).
I've cook for Crusades that way each time I've gone - serve on a half-loaf
of round bread and no worries about the clean-up. (Site rules about grey
water and trash there are fairly strict.)

Hrothny


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:12:40 -0600
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <dailleurs at liripipe.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment a success
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,	"Elaine
	Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>

yay for seal a meals!
for Estrella this year, we did seal a meals for pretty much the whole  
week. stews, barley, veg, etc (period recipes of course ;)) were all cooked at home and sealed, then frozen.

worked like a charm!! one hint...if they're frozen, you dont need as much ice. also, seal in several bags rather than one giant one for easier thawing, quicker heating up and you can more easily adjust for numbers of diners.

its not as much fun as cooking over a fire, etc but given that we  
wanted to fit in plenty of shopping, classes, fighting and equestrian fun, it worked well :)

--Anne-Marie


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:14:48 -0400
From: Guenievre de Monmarch? <guenievre at erminespot.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment a success
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> I wouldn't have tried any kind of pie or easily squishable item because
> it does squeeze it a bit. I wonder how they did the "pot pie" item.  
> The cobbler I can see.

If your foodsealer has a "seal immediately" feature (I think they all do,
just by hitting the seal button you use to make the bags during the cycle),
it works fine for pies as long as they have a fairly stiff crust - I've done
meat pies and open quiches with the only ill effect being a slight
"patterning" on the surface of the item from the texture inside the  
bags...

Guenievre


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:31:03 -0600
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <dailleurs at liripipe.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment a success
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org, "Georgia Foster"
	<jo_foster81 at hotmail.com>

heck, you can even do an approximation of herbolade in a boiling bag  
(that's the eggy cheesy herby thing in le Menagier and Forme of Curye.

recipe:
Herbolade:
One Herbolace Or Two of Eggs (Menagier a Paris )
Take of dittany two leaves only, and of rue less than the half or naught, for know that it is strong and bitter; of smallage, tansey, mint, and sage, of each some four leaves or less, for each is strong; marjoram a little more, fennel more, parsley more still, but of porray, beets, violet leaves, spinach, lettuces and clary, as much of the one as of the others, until you have two large
handfuls.  Pick them over and wash them in cold water, then dry them  
of all the water, and bray two heads of ginger, then put your
herbs into the mortar two or three times and bray them with the ginger. And  then have sixteen eggs well beaten together, yolks and whites, and bray and mix them in the mortar with the things above said, then divide it in two and make two thick omelettes, which you shall fry as followeth.
First you shall heat your frying pan very well with oil, butter or  
such other fat as you will, and
when it is very hot all over and especially towards the handle,  
mingle and spread your eggs over
the pan and turn them often over and over with a flat palette, then  
cast good grated cheese on the
top, and know that it is so done, because if you grate cheese with  
the herbs and eggs, when you
come to fry your omelette, the cheese at the bottom will stick to the  
pan, and thus it befals with
an egg omelette if you mix the eggs with the cheese.  Wherefore you  
should first put the eggs in
the pan, and put the cheese on the top, and then cover the edges with  
eggs, and otherwise it will
cling to the pan.  And when your herbs be cooked in the pan, cut your  
herbolace into a round or square and eat it not too hot nor too cold.

Erbolat (Forme of Curye )
Take persel, myntes, saverey and sauge, tansey, verveyn, clarry,  
rewe, ditayn, fenel, southrenwode;
hewe hem and grince hem slale. Medle hem up with aryen. Do buttur in  
a trap, and do the fars therto, and bake it and messe forth.

Our version:
1 lb bag irradiated, mixed interesting salad greens (spinach, arugula, etc)
minced fresh parsley, sage, savory, marjoram, a touch of mint, fennel, or whatever fresh herbs you can find. About one handfuls worth when its all in a pile (go easy on the mint).
1 small slice fresh ginger
2 T butter or olive oil
16 eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded cheese
optional modern addition: a bit of minced garlic or onion

In a large bowl, pound the ginger till the juice gets out. Fish out the stringy bits if desired.  Add the greens  and herbs and pound until slightly wilted.  Melt the butter in a large deep pot with the garlic if you wished it. Add the greens, then the beaten eggs. Stir till blended. When the eggs are about set, add the cheese. Don’t stir, but cover and let cook until the cheese is melted.
Serves 8.

BOILING BAG VERSION:
sautee the greens in a bit of olive oil or butter with the ginger  
(minced). let cool.
beat the eggs
put into boiling bags, about 2-3 eggs worth, plus some greens, plus  
some grated cheese. squish out the air and seal.

not advisable to freeze, but to cook, just toss the bags into boiling  
water. squish once ina  while to make sure its cooked.

enjoy! :)

--Anne-Marie


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:39:01 -0500
From: Colin MacNachtan <dcm at mccr.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment a success
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Wednesday 21 March 2007 2:07 pm, Michael Gunter wrote:
> I wouldn't have tried any kind of pie or easily squishable item
> because it does squeeze it a bit. I wonder how they did the
> "pot pie" item. The cobbler I can see.

As one of the members of the camp in question, I can answer that.  We froze
everything before we vacuum-sealed it.  All the food was actually taken
frozen in a cooler with dry ice in it.

Our menu for the week included:

The mentioned chicken cordon bleu pie (chicken, ham, blue cheese)
Green bean quiche
Broccoli casserole
Steak and mushroom pie
Sausage/cheese pie
This year none of the "pies" had an actual bottom pie crust.  The crust was
deemed not necessary.  Some had crust toppings, others had biscuit or bread
crumb toppings.

Chili - frozen in blocks, then vacuum-sealed and boiled.  To serve, clip the
bag to the side of a big empty pot and scoop out with a ladle.  No serving
dish required.

Girl Scout omelets - raw eggs and omelet fixings in a bag, frozen and sealed,
then boiled on site.  They came out much better than expected.

Colin
Bryn Gwlad
Ansteorra


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:09:45 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< I was just given a seal-a-meal as a gift.  Do others have other good,
tested ideas for Pennsic foods? (Thank you to Gunthar for those he already
posted!)
-Ardenia  > > > > > >

Nearly all of the stewy, brown glop sort of recipes from early British and
other cookbooks will work great.  We found that when we did this for Gulf
Wars about 5 years ago, it was wise to thaw completely as possible before
immersing in water.  I will also step out and say that our best results were
with things that were laid flat and frozen no more than about 1" thick.  Any
starch and sauce/stew/ragout sort of thing will do great.  For pastas and
rice and such, ever so slightly undercook to avoid gumminess.  We did do
some very thin chicken pies from Menagier . . . you need the instant seal
feature to avoid chicken pancakes.  If you use a solid sort of form, you can
do pies pretty nicely . . . think springform pan, only a little shorter.

Anything that you would marinade and grill will hold up well.  Also, if you
want to do SOME cooking, you can precook parts of the dish and assemble or
cook on site.  It will save lots of preparation time and dishes anyway.
Then throw it all into the pot for the stew or whatever the dish.

niccolo difrancesco
(proponent and owner of a FoodSaver by Tilia . . . bags are reuseable if not
boiled)


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 21:09:52 -0500
From: "Ysabeau" <lady.ysabeau at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking ideas
To: <grizly at mindspring.com>,	"'Cooks within the SCA'"
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

The meal I prepared in a seal-a-meal was Al-Madiri Beef - basically a beef,
onion, and leek curry-type stew based on a period recipe that was redacted
by a friend of mine and then redacted again by me, Many Jewels Rice -  again,
a redaction by a friend that I again redacted, and Strawberries in Snow-
from a website. It all worked really well. It all traveled well and was
still frozen after three days in a cooler.

The rice was a saffron rice with dried apricots, dried cherries, slivered
almonds and toasted pistachios tossed in along with some sesame oil. It
makes for a very pretty presentation with the fruit and nuts looking like
jewels amid the "gold" rice. I was worried the rice would turn into a big
gummy glob but it fluffed up nicely after it was brought back to slightly
above room temperature.

I wimped out on the strawberries in snow and used ice cream instead of the
whipped cream...primarily because the store at the corner had ice cream and
not whipped cream. The kids in the camp definitely liked the ice  
cream even if they couldn't have the strawberries in wine. I did not freeze the
strawberries in the spiced red wine but I think I'll do that next time. I
don't think the hour or so they had to marinate was enough for the flavors
to really blend. The strawberries were really big and (surprisingly) still
half frozen. Has anyone tried to freeze something like that with wine? Will
the wine freeze or just get slushy?

Ysabeau


Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 21:19:33 -0700
From: "Sue Clemenger" <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment a success
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Seal-a-meal "omelets" are wonderful, too.  Just plop the raw eggs (sans
shells), seasonings, cheese, meat, whatever into the bags.  One serving/bag.
Meat should be pre-cooked.  Freeze till needed.  Boil until egg is cooked
through.  Works *beautifully* when doing omelets for a large encampment.

--Maire


Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:38:37 -0700
From: "K C Francis" <katiracook at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Camp cooking experiment a success
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

I have a VERY old seal-a-meal with no 'suck' option.  No problem, I just
carefully (and it is quite easy) press until the sauce is just below the
seal area and then press down the seal bar.  I always use it for stew like
dishes.  Beef burgandy or tarragon chicken with onions and mushrooms.  Thick
soups are great too.

My old household used this method to great advantage back in the mid 80's.
These days with my busy schedule at events and being a court junkie, my best
reason is that I can cook for one and heat and eat my one meal in just a few
minutes.   And then use the hot water for washing the bowl & spoon.
Cooking from scratch, which I loved to do, was to hard to fit in around
evening court.

I am always on the lookout for 'boil-n-the-bag' products for the same
reason, but they are few and far between these days.  One freezer brand used
to have great thick soups.  Now it is all microwave.  Wish they would make
the packaging boilable too.

Katira


Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:14:41 -0500
From: Vitaliano Vincenzi <vitaliano at shanelambert.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] seal-a-meal clones
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Hint: Almost ALL seal-a-meal clones will use the Generic bags available
at Target, Kohl's and if you have them, Farm & Fleet stores. We have the
Black & Decker "Fresh guard" model but never buy the Black & Decker bags
because, 1) we can't find them, and 2) they are too expensive when we
can find them.

Don't believe the hype on the side that says "only use our bags" or
whatever text is there. They are just trying to put more green in their
pocket. Keep that green for yourself and find generic bags - they work
just as well. :)

Anne-Marie Rousseau wrote:
> On picking a seal a mealer gadget...
>
> One of my primary concerns was availability of the bags. I ended up going
> with the one that sealed, sucked ;) and that was about it, but whose bags I
> could get a my local Fred Meyers (a PacNW based chain that isn't going to go
> anywhere :)) as well as CostCo.
>
> I actually had a "real" seal a meal but couldn't find the bags except
> online. One may be able to use different bags on them, but I wanted  
> to be sure.
>
> --AM
-- 
Lord Vitaliano Vincenzi
aka Shane Lambert


Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2007 07:21:09 -0700
From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <dailleurs at liripipe.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Greetings from the Incipient Shire of
	Tymberhavene	inAnTir
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Hello from Anne-Marie (also in Antir :))

One of my favorite "foods that if you serve it to a modern person they'll go
"oo! Breakfast!" even if our medieval counterparts may not have eaten it as
such" (happy, Bear? ;)) is herbolade. There are several versions in the
medieval corpus...off the top of my head I think of the one from le menagier
but I'm pretty sure there's another one in one of the English sources (both
are medieval western European)

Its kinda a baked frittata thingie, with eggs, herbs and cheese.

One Herbolace Or Two of Eggs (Menagier de Paris, p. 274)

Take of dittany two leaves only, and of rue less than the half or naught,
for know that it is strong and bitter; of smallage, tansey, mint, and sage,
of each some four leaves or less, for each is strong; marjoram a little
more, fennel more, parsley more still, but of porray, beets, violet leaves,
spinach, lettuces and clary, as much of the one as of the others, until you
have two large handfuls.  Pick them over and wash them in cold water, then
dry them of all the water, and bray two heads of ginger, then put your
herbs into the mortar two or three times and bray them with the ginger. And
then have sixteen eggs well beaten together, yolks and whites, and bray
and mix them in the mortar with the things abovesaid, then divide it in two
and make two thick omelettes, which you shall fry as followeth.  First you
shall heat your frying pan very well with oil, butter or such other fat as
you will, and when it is very hot all over and especially towards the
handle, mingle and spread your eggs over the pan and turn them often over
and over with a flat palette, then cast good grated cheese on the top, and
know that it is so done, because if you grate cheese with the herbs and
eggs, when you come to fry your omelette, the cheese at the bottom will
stick to the pan, and thus it befals with an egg omelette if you mix the
eggs with the cheese.  Wherefore you should first put the eggs in the pan,
and put the cheese on the top, and then cover the edges with eggs, and
otherwise it will cling to the pan.  And when your herbs be cooked in the
pan, cut your herbolace into a round or square and eat it not too hot nor
too cold.

My version (adapted for cooking over a campstove/cookfire and easy quick
prep) (all rights reserved, no publication without permission please):

Take a couple handfuls of herb salad greens (and/or bagged baby spinach) and
mince finely with a bit of fresh ginger. Mix with six eggs and beat until
blended.

Heat some olive oil in a large pan that has a lid (my cast iron dutch oven
works great for this). Dump in egg/herby goo. When set, you can flip it (or
if you're like me and forget, it will work just fine without flipping ;)).
Sprinkle grated cheese on top, replace the lid and remove from the heat. The
residual heat from the cast iron pot will melt the cheese nicely.

I've also been known to do a pseudo version of this in boiling
bags....sautee my greens etc in a bit of olive oil. Beat the eggs with the
grated cheese and seal all in a boiling bag. (don't do more than six eggs
per bag for ease of cooking through). Like the boyscout omelets :))

Hope this helps! This recipe is a big hit with people who "don't like
medieval food".

--Anne-Marie


Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:51:37 -0700
From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <dailleurs at liripipe.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,
	"'SCA-Cooks maillist SCA-Cooks'" <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>

Hi from Anne-Marie :)

then Stefan asks me:
Anyone have some good suggestions for medieval recipes that adapt
well to this technique? I'd like to add more such suggestions to the
bag-cooking-msg  file in the Florlegium. And someday when I get one
of the vacuum-sealer machines...

to whit I reply:
what recipes DON'T work with boiling bags? :). Any sort of stew thing works.
Herbolades work. Sauces work. Braised greens. Benes. Frumenty. Funges.
Basically any dish that you would have boiled, or simmered into a glop, so
pretty much most of the English and French medieval corpus ;).

I've even done roast pork with sauce by making the sauce ahead of time,
roasting the pork at home, slicing the pork and packaging WITH the sauce
and reheating on site.

Again, I vastly prefer to cook in a period manner, but when modern site
rules dictate, I have come up with this work around :)

--Anne-Marie


Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:42:25 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

-----Original Message-----
to whit I reply:
<<<SNIP>>>
I've even done roast pork with sauce by making the sauce ahead of time,
roasting the pork at home, sliceing the pork and packaging WITH the  
sauce and reheating on site. > > > > > >

You can even do roasted chicken if you flatten it out before sealing it.
You loose the crispy skin, but it works.  Lamb chops same thing, but you
don't have to flatten much.  Game hens would do as well.  You would be
absolutely amazed what you can manage with a little creativity and a  firm
grasp of fundamentals of boil in bag reheating.  We even did the lombard
chicken from Menagier!  Done flat enough, and thoroughly thawed before
cooking, you can heat them through in about 15 to 18 minutes at a high
simmer.  Remember that water, like an oven, has variable heat levels ;o)

niccolo difrancesco
(only done b-n-b camping once, and it was a general success)


Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:30:17 -0500
From: "Michael Gunter" <countgunthar at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

> what recipes DON'T work with boiling bags? :). Any sort of stew thing works.
> Herbolades work. Sauces work. Braised greens. Benes. Frumenty. Funges.
> Basically any dish that you would have boiled, or simmered into a  
> glop, so pretty much most of the English and French medieval corpus ;).

As has been pointed out, you can do more than just gloppy dishes. One
of my camp favorites is breakfast burritos. Just make the burritos ahead of
time, wrap and seal. Then drop in boiling water to reheat.
Noodles do fine in seal-a-meals. The first time I sealed spaghetti noodles
I thought they had been squashed to mush. But when they were heated
and poured into a bowl they were fine.

Grilled meats do fine. Steaks and chops do great.
Remember, no water gets into the bag. Just heat penetrates so it is like
a microwave. I've even put in frozen microwave items (like Beef Stroganoff)
and then just used the boiling bag and it worked fine.

Seal-A-Meals are also great for raw foods that you want to marinate.
The vaccuum seal helps the marinade penetrate deeply. Just unseal and
grill.

So pretty much any period dish works well when sealed. Just prepare at
home and boil on site. Pour into your serving dish and have a proper  
dinner with no grey water, no dirty pots and very little cleanup.

> I've even done roast pork with sauce by making the sauce ahead of time,
> roasting the pork at home, slicing the pork and packaging WITH the  
> sauce and reheating on site.

Yeah. That works fine.
Also, fresh stuff is great. Salads, sliced vegetables (even things like tomato
or avacado) cheeses, raw meats or fish, etc....the sealing prevents oxidation
and cross contamination. It also prevents water from melting ice to get in
or meat juices from getting out.

The frozen flat bags also help keep the chill in a cooler.

> Again, I vastly prefer to cook in a period manner, but when modern  
> site rules dictate, I have come up with this work around :)

My main reason for using the Seal-A-Meal is convenience. I'm almost always
busy at events or Wars but I'm also quite often the main camp cook along
with Elizabeth. I just flat don't have TIME to go and prepare a nice dinner
for even two people after fighting all day, sitting in Circle, attending
Commanders' meetings, working A&S or whatever. So, I can come in, take a shower, get changed and boil some water for a nice hot meal before going to Court or
whatever else calls.

Yes, preparing a meal in a period fashion is wonderful. But you usually have
to dedicate a couple of hours to doing it. I just never have that luxury.

Um....have I mentioned that I LOVE my Seal-A-Meal?

> --Anne-Marie

Gunthar


Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:41:19 -0700
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> what recipes DON'T work with boiling bags? :). Any sort of stew thing works.
> Herbolades work. Sauces work. Braised greens. Benes. Frumenty. Funges.
> Basically any dish that you would have boiled, or simmered into a glop, 

What completely failed in seal-bags was hand-held pies.  I tried to bag
up Cornish pasties for war once and the vacuum-suck process broke up the
crusts severely.  Next time, I go with conventional zipper bags and
store them on crushed ice, gently.

Selene


Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:33:53 -0400
From: Gueni?vre de Monmarch? <guenievre at erminespot.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Most sealers have a no-suction or even partial-suction option for sealing -
I learned the same lesson on pies, but still like the *seal* of putting pies
in the sealer bags anyway. But then I have notoriously bad luck on zipper
bags...		

Gueni?vre


Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:39:09 -0500
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <dailleurs at liripipe.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,	Susan Fox
	<selene at earthlink.net>

for things in a crust, I found that wrapping them loosely in tin  
foil, and THEN putting them in
ziplocks helped keep the crust from getting soggy, plus the extra  
packaging that was slightly stiff meant they didnt get as smooshed!

of course the best way to transport tarts and such is in the muffin  
pans (we sometimes do our handheld pies in texas muffin tins)

--AM

> What completely failed in seal-bags was hand-held pies.  I tried to bag
> up Cornish pasties for war once and the vacuum-suck process broke up the
> crusts severely.  Next time, I go with conventional zipper bags and
> store them on crushed ice, gently.
>
> Selene


Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:44:49 -0700
From: "SCABeathog" <scabeathog at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

To bag pasties (and other similar fragile items), I freeze them a bit first,
to firm them up.  I then can  _carefully_ proceed with the vacuum-suck
process.  Works great for me!  I have BAD, bad luck with conventional  
zipper bags.

Beathog


Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:44:10 +0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Boil-in bag meals question
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

> Helen Schultz wrote:
<<<<snip>>>>

>   By the way, I did have a leg of lamb that I brought out to Pennsic
> this year (with bone), that I thought would stay frozen much longer than it
> did.  But, it was purchased from Sam's Club in one of those seal-a-meal
> type bags, and even though it had been thawed out for nearly a week (kept
> on ice, though), it tasted wonderful.  It would have been better if
> marinated, though... so might have to work on that for next year. 

One very efficent way I have used to marinate these "already sealed" things
is to inject the marinade right through the wrapping into the meat, just on
the top surface but at but at different depths, then just set in foil or a
shallow pan to catch any dripping and plop back in the cooler overnight or
all day.

Olwen


Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:50:48 -0400
From: "Anne Murphy" <afmmurphy at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medieval boil-in bag meals
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Frumenty is good for camp cooking even without a boil in bag. I use
the slight cheat that I use bulgar wheat, which has been parboiled,
rather than regular cracked wheat. (Bulgar is also usually easier for
me to find.) I use the packaged almond milk (won't work for many
recipes, as it doesn't thicken properly, but does for this.) You just
need to bring it all to a boil, simmer a couple of minutes, and then
cover set it aside while you cook the rest of the meal - not using up
propane or a valuable burner.

AEllin


Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:52:27 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Boil-in bag meals question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

One of the questions to ask yourself is where and when and how often  
will it be used. SCA only? Home preservation? Buying in bulk?
A lot of hunters use them to preserve game. It's also often not
the cost of the machine but the cost of the bags and how easy it is
to get the bags. Can they be purchased locally? Must they be mail- 
ordered with an additional s/h cost?

Johnnae


Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:23:16 -0400
From: "Saint Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] seal a meal questions
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Yes, you can try regular bags in a Seal a Meal. They're not as sturdy
as the ones they sell for the machines, but they're certainly sturdy
enough for you to test your machine with ;-)

Look yours over- make sure that the sealing lip is clean and free of
debris, and test it. If it works fine on a regular plastic bag, then
go ahead and buy some of the bags designed for your type of machine.

I had one that I had used for years- loved it, but, like you said, put
it up when I couldn't find bags for it, and it got vanished in one of
my moves. I do remember reading the instructions, though, and them
mentioning that it could be used on regular bags, although they
weren't as sturdy as the bags for the machine.

On 9/4/07, Kathleen A Roberts <karobert at unm.edu> wrote:
> cleaning the garage yesterday, we came upon a dazey
> seal-a-meal that was given to us (used) several years ago
> when the previous owner said that he could not find bags
> for it easily enough.
>
> nowadays, bags can be found almost everywhere in varying
> styles.  does anyone know...
>
> how to tell if it is working without buying the bags?
> could i test drive it on a regular plastic sandwich or
> ziplock bag without gumming up the works?
>
> do you have to use the brand bags with the brand sealer?
>
> how important is the vacumm feature?  i think this is just
> a straight sealer.
>
> if this is easy enough to test out, and works, i may be
> starting a few choruses of 'pennies from heaven' for next
> estrella!
>
> cailte


Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:16:58 -0700
From: "K C Francis" <katiracook at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] seal a meal questions
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

My old machine requires me to press out the air by hand and I find it just
fine for my needs as I only seal saucy things for onsite boiling.  If I
wanted to seal meats and other chunky things, and avoid freezer burn, I'd
get a new machine.  I also have a little hand device that lets me reseal
potato chip bags, etc.  Very handy!

Katira


Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 17:41:43 -0400
From: "Terri Morgan" <online2much at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] seal a meal questions
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I travelled to the "Pro Bass Sporting goods store" in our area (looking for
a camp cot) and was surprised to find that there were both electric-plug and
battery operated food sealers in the camping section. After thought, I
realised how handy those would be for hunters and fishers. So if you are
looking for a "Bubba won't break it" model, I'd check the store local to
you.

Hrothny


Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:09:15 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Vacuum food savers

On Nov 3, 2009, at 3:20 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< I've heard that these keep frozen food from getting freezer burn  
since the machine removes most of the air from the bag before  
sealing it. But is there some advantage to using these bags and/or  
this machine for marinating and curing of meat over say, just a zip  
lock bag? Or is this a matter of wanting to both marinate the meat  
and freeze it, and the ease of simply doing that in the same bag? >>>

It appears that the marinade or cure penetrates the food faster and  
more completely in the almost-vacuum. Basically air is pulled out of  
the food and replaced by liquid. In the case of a dry curing rub with  
a lot of salt and/or sugar in it, it pulls moisture out of the food,  
creates a brine, which then surrounds and penetrates the food.

Adamantius


Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 07:19:42 -0700
From: Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Vacuum food savers

When these machines pull the air out the force opens the meat or
whatever up so the marinade penetrates better/faster. If you want to
see this in action put a peep or a marshmallow in one of the
containers (not a bag) seal it and pull the air out. You'll see the
peep expand. When you break the seal the peep returns to normal.


Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 08:17:06 -0700
From: Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Vacuum food savers

Thank you. I guess there is an advantage of using this machine for
marinating. Do you have to worry about the marinating liquid being sucked
into the vacuum machine? Or do you use only a dry cure?

If I'm using a wet cure I'll often use one of the containers they sell
(there is one that says it's for marinating) because it doesn't let the
liquid get sucked into the machine..  But if there isn't too much liquid you
can use a bag.  My husband has recently been into sous vide cooking.  He
uses the bags and it hasn't been a big problem as long as there isn't a lot
of liquid in the bag.

If liquid does get sucked out you just have to clean the machine well (where
the top of the bag goes) - messy but not terminal.

Shoshanna


Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 14:38:12 -0600
From: Harry Billings <humble_archer at hotmail.com>
To: sca cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] vacum food saver

When using the bags to freeze corn [off the cob] found that it worked best if you bagged it, froze it and then sealed it. Otherwise the bags did not seal right YMMV.

plachoya 
Ansteorra


From: Charlene Charette <charlene281 at gmail.com>
Date: February 3, 2010 3:35:09 AM CST
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Feeding yourselves with out living in a kitchen at war

On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 2:14 AM, Stefan li Rous
<StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
<<< Baroness Claire posted a good article on using plastic bags to freeze and
cook food in which is especially useful for a camp where most of the group
is involved in other activities.

I'm not sure if she is specifically talking about using the commercial
boil-in bags and vacuum sealers or not. I've been told that you can use
regular plastic bags for this, although I'd not tried it. >>>

Only bags specifically rated for boiling should be used. Regular bags
may 1) melt or 2) leach bad things into your food.

--Perronnelle


From: "Eule" <eule at ecpi.com>
Date: February 3, 2010 11:29:44 AM CST
To: "'Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.'" <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Ansteorra] Boil In Bags not Necessarily Safe

Stefan mentioned:
"I'm not sure if she is specifically talking about using the commercial
boil-in bags and vacuum sealers or not. I've been told that you can  
use regular plastic bags for this, although I'd not tried it."

To which Eule offers:
I have heard, from several sources, that you should not use regular
plastic bags and should only use those intended for boiling.  The
different plastics break down in different was and can be release nasty
chemical bits.

Here's the link to one article I found.
http://camping.about.com/od/campingrecipes/a/ziplocbaggies.htm

Eule/Steve


From: SoldierGrrrl <soldier.grrrl at gmail.com>
Date: February 3, 2010 11:44:55 AM CST
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Boil In Bags not Necessarily Safe

After doing some searching, I've found some that do appear to be safe
for boiling.

http://www.sorbentsystems.com/boilablebags.html

http://www.kleerpak.com/Stock-Vacuum-Bags-Vacuum-Pouches.htm

I hope this helps with some of the food prep for GW and Estrella.

Helene Dalassene
Incipient Stronghold of Hellsgate


From: alpage1225 at sbcglobal.net
Date: February 3, 2010 12:05:02 PM CST
To: " Inc.Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA" <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Boil In Bags not Necessarily Safe

The Seal-A-Meal and similar bags for vacuum seal systems are safe for boiling -- Gunthar and I use them all the time for feasts and camping.  Glad also makes a boil-in-bag for those without a vacuum seal option.  However, most other plastic bags for storing and freezing are not safe as they can melt or deteriorate during the boiling process, resulting in inedible food and a big mess to clean up.
 
Countess Elizabeth Seale


Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 15:29:17 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pomegranates was Making verjus

<<< Did the vacuum sealer crush the seeds, or did you stop it before the vacuum
was complete? >>>

Actually, with mine, you don't have to do the vacuum thing at all...you can
simply seal the bag...keeps out any new air but doesn't squish the
contents.

Kiri


Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 15:31:06 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pennsic queries....

We haven't really
done the cooking-bag thing yet...unfortunately I had to add some ingredients
to the stew I made the last time I did this.  The only thing you have to be
careful about is that, with soups and stews, not to use the vacuum as you
will suck out juice as well as air...and it makes a HUGE mess!

Kiri


Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 13:38:06 -0600
From: Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pennsic queries....

food saver sells containers where you can suck out the air - OR, you can
freeze the bags open and upright and after they're frozen THEN seal them.

On Thu, Jul 1, 2010 at 1:31 PM, Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com> wrote:
<<< The only thing you have to be careful about is that, with soups and stews, not to use the vacuum as you will suck out juice as well as air...and it makes a HUGE mess!

Kiri >>>


From: Michael Gunter <dookgunthar at hotmail.com>
Date: August 18, 2010 11:44:20 PM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] camp meals

<<< If anyone is interested in first hand experiences on this, please let me know. My household has been using this method for food at Pennsic for a decade or more. It makes meals ever so much easier. We have good period foods, like bruets, or pompes in sauces etc, with minimal cooking time on-site and minimal cleanup. Due to field conditions, we've settled on using one of two grains to serve under the wet food, either couscous or rice.

Haraldr >>>

If anyone attended the Central Region 12th Night I did a couple of years ago at the Fisheries Dept, I did a good 80% of the feast in Seal-A-Meals since kitchen facilities were very limited. We had several Turkey Fryers out back to heat the large bags of pre-cooked food and then just served it out. 

Now I do almost all my War camp cooking ahead of time so there is very little mess when eating in camp.

Gunthar 			  		 


From: Haraldr Bassi <ansteorra at haraldr.drakkar.org>
Date: August 27, 2010 2:34:22 PM CDT
To: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
Cc: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>

On 2010/Aug/19 00:47, Stefan li Rous wrote:
On Aug 18, 2010, at 9:08 PM, Haraldr Bassi wrote:
<<< If anyone is interested in first hand experiences on this, please let me know. My household has been using this method for food at Pennsic for a decade or more. It makes meals ever so much easier. We have good period foods, like bruets, or pompes in sauces etc, with minimal cooking time on-site and minimal cleanup. Due to field conditions, we've settled on using one of two grains to serve under the wet food, either couscous or rice.>>>

<< What is a "pompes"? >>

Meatballs.

<< Did you pre-cook the rice and add it to the bag with the rest of the food and then boil them together at camp? Or did you use the boil-in-bag rice packaged in the little bags with the holes in them and boil them separate from the other bags and then put them on the eating plates separately? >>

Rice is always a par-boil for ease of cleanup in the field. They generally don't have a decent enough whole grain brown rice in the boil bags. We use our boil cauldron to heat our shower & wash water so it never gets washed until the end of war. Rice is cooked in a dedicated pot.

We've taken to using a similar method for our breakfasts making eggs. I understand that we've recently identified an Andalusian recipe titled "Eggs in a Jar", which uses a disposable glass bottle to cook eggs. Our method uses disposable freezer zipper seal bags, which is a wee bit less expensive and doesn't leave shards of glass in camp.

<< Could you please send me a copy of this Andalusian recipe and perhaps your redaction or post it here? Surprisingly, I don't remember ever discussing this recipe on the SCA-Cooks list, although I seem to remember some mention of cooking eggs in a plastic bag. Is this a regular plastic zip lock bag or one of the boil-in bags which tend to me made of different materials? >>

It's in the Wusla manuscript and translated on page 162 of Medieval Arab Cookery, by Maxime Rodinson, A.J. Arberry & Charles Perry.

{begin quote from Medieval Arab Cookery}
"Further reading reveals some curiosities, such as recipes for 'an omelette in a bottle' in the Wusla and the recipe for 'mock brain' in the Syrian additions to the text. The translation of these recipes follows:

  Sixth (omelette recipe): Omelette in a bottle. Take the eggs and other ingredients (necessary for omelette-making), put them into glass bottles and close the bottles tightly. Throw into boiling water and allow to boil until the omelettes are cooked. Then break the glass carefully and the omelette will remain in the shape of a bottle. Fry in olive and sesame oil. This omelette is used in the Tashāhīr.2

{mock brains snipped}

2) Chapter VIII, #42: A, f.86r.; B,pp. 149-50; C, ff. 74v.-75r. D, f. 88v. Tashāhīr is the name of a type of dish which is mentioned several times in the Wușla without actually being defined at any point. I have no further information on this word which does not appear in our dictionaries."
{end quote}

Our camp's interpretation uses quart freezer bags. The storage bags are not heavy enough to withstand the vigor of a boiling pot nor even the vigor mixing the omelette in the bag before cooking. I usually eat mine from the bag supported by my bowl simply so I don't have another dish to deal with at war.

Thanks,
Haraldr

Thanks, Stefan

I'd be happy to expound on either or both if there is interest.

Haraldr

Stefan -------- THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra


Date: Sun, 13 May 2012 00:30:07 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Sous Vide was Thermomix is the "flying car"

<<< What is a "sous vide"?

Stefan >>>

It is a method of cooking vacuum sealed food in a hot water bath.  The idea 
is to apply lower heat for longer periods.  It produces precise temperature 
control for the food.  SousVide is a brand name for the device controlling 
the water bath.

Bear


From the FB "Better SCA Camping" group
Robin Caputo 
6/22/15
As I'm writing up advice for a friend of ours who is running her own camp for the first time this year, I realized that there is a piece of equipment I use for Pennsic every year, but which I rarely mention on the forums. It's a vacuum sealer (aka Seal-a-Meal). All of the food I prep for Pennsic at home that will end up in a cooler gets vacuum sealed. This includes meat, cheese, chili, soups, sticks of butter...

It saves SO MUCH work at War, because I never have to open a cooler, see that something has thawed and leaked, and now I need to empty EVERYTHING OUT, wash and bleach the cooler, and try and figure out what got contaminated.

I've bought or have been gifted about 12 vacuum sealers over the years... and this refurbished basic model last just as long and is as useful (and easier to use) than the Cuisinart high-end models.

One tip I will give everyone who wants to use their vacuum sealer more... how to vacuum seal liquid-heavy items easily....

1. Take your liquid-rich item and cool it until it can be easily and safely poured into a cheap ziploc bag (store brand, storage-style. NOT one with a zipper tab). Get out some of the air, zip it shut, and put it into a Vacuum seal bag you have half-made (only sealed one side).
2. Put this into the freezer so it lays flat, and arrange it so that the inner bag doesn't come out of the outer bag. 
3. Freeze Overnight.
4. Take the package out if the freezer, open in inner zipper so that any trapped air can get sucked out, and complete the vacuum sealing process.

All the air is eliminated, you don't waste expensive bag material trying to vacuum seal cubes (which you do if you pre-freeze liquids in tupperware and then seal it), and the packages stay flat and stackable. 

If you're REALLY into being super-efficient (or, as my friends like to abbreviate that... OCD)... hot-glue together a 2" tall luan frame that is 1/4" smaller than the inside width of your favorite cooler, and put the double-bag in that. So, when the bag freezes, it freezes into the perfect size to stack into your cooler.
6/23/15

Mariana Garcia 
Make sure that all the air is out or it will explode in the water...lol

Robin Caputo 
No... not really. Small air bubbles won't expand enough to burst the heavy-duty plastic film used for vacuum sealing... especially since water contracts as it melts, giving you more room in the bag, and plastic becomes more flexible as it heats.

Ananda Stevens 
Can you freeze stuff in these bags, or do you have to put it into a freezer bag?

Alicia Van De Kop 
You can totally freeze stuff in those bags. I've frozen soups and stews in seal a meal bags, tossed them in the cooler, and (at the event) tossed them into a pot of boiling water. Presto! Dinner!

Robin Caputo 
Oh, absolutely!! You can 100% freeze directly into the bags. The only issue with freezing liquid-heavy things directly into the bags in a low-tech model is that if the liquid gets sucked into the "sealing strip area", it won't seal properly, you get all sorts of liquid in the drip tray, and it makes a mess. Using the double-bag method, you can even freeze stock without any fuss, muss, or mess. If you use a forming frame, you can also make neat rectangles out of any bag.

High-tech models have a "liquid - low vacuum" setting to avoid this problem... but this method works for the bargain-basement, cheapest model.

For regular meat, I just toss it into the bottom of the bag, suck the air out, seal it, and squish it into whatever shape I want.

Gunnarr Inn Hviti 
Not trying to derail the cooking theme here, but those vacuum bags are also great for sealing spare socks, underwear, etc for emergencies. Tent fails and everything gets soaked, including you? Bust out the bag marked 'Still Dry' and change into dry clothes. I use ours for this in our backpacking and cycling gear, for those things that absolutely need to be dry when I want them.

Silena Preston 
6/24/15
We use this method in our camp as well. We actually premake everything and portion it out in individual servings and then freeze those and just drop it in hot water for 5-10 mins (depending the density of the contents) and then pour it into plates and serve. It's amazingly easy and no one has to slave over a stove and people can eat when they want.

Sheryl Logan 
Great idea I do family style but for wars when everyone is running around like crazy this would be so much better

Ellen Johnson 
6/27/15
for sealing bags, rule #1 is to not use water any hotter than a simmer. I will cook and seal/freeze soups, stews, sauces, bacon (yes, fry bacon, seal it, freeze it, and at the event just put in simmering water for a few minutes--you get crispy bacon without having to deal with getting rid of the grease or worrying about a small tipping a hot grease container over).

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