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Bacon in the boat

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What can you get away without refrigeration? I've read of people (Seeker?) taking bacon with them and no cooler... maybe?

Is there a specific cured bacon that can survive this without killing you? I've looked a little but I haven't found a definite answer.

Eggs would good as well. Any idea on what you can get away with there?

I'm getting sick of Hawk Vittles and Mountain House to the point where it's making me want to come back to civilization sooner.
 
If you can find a local butcher that smokes his own meat, you can get slabs of bacon that will last for a long time. On the trips with the students, we get huge slabs that are triple cold smoked and then vacuum-packed. If the weather is not hot, they will last for a week or two. Regular store bought bacon will only last for a day or two in hot weather. Surprisingly, eggs will last for a long time in the shells without refrigerator. If you can get fresh eggs that haven't been refrigerated yet, they will last for a real long time. So don't scrimp, with cold smoked bacon and eggs, you will be good for a week. Nothing better than bacon and eggs and coffee on a beautiful morning.

One of my favourites is a fire toasted raisin cinnamon bagel with cream cheese and bacon. yummmmm



The bacon in the pic is the best food in the world.
 
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I think I've heard of the cold smoked bacon - I didn't know the name but I was pretty sure there was an old timey way for it to last without refrigeration. We can get fresh eggs no problem... and I bet there is a butcher in town who will have that bacon.

Last week trip we did I lost 6 lbs. If I can take fresh bacon and eggs I'm likely to gain 6 but I'm OK with that.

I think certain trips warrant a 30 liter barrel for food alone. A man can only go so long on dried noodles...

Thanks for the tips!
 
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Rancid fat can do really nasty things to one's GI system. Be very careful.
You can dehydrate all kinds of foods. There's no need to buy them prepackaged. You want spaghetti and meatballs? No problem. Burritos? Check. Mushroom risotto with prosciutto biscuits? A piece o' cake.
Just don't try making tofu jerky.
 
Hi Bird, As Memaquay says, eggs are no problem and an egg isn't bashful telling you when he's gone bad.
Bacon on the other hand has some secondary problems: what are you going to do with the rendered out fat? And it's all to easy to wind up wearing some that has dripped in the process of eating it. Well pish posh, you say? It goes with the rugged outdoors persona?
Just remember that famous outdoor survey, conducted among 427 eastern black bears, where 978 voted frothing at the mouth approval of bacon in all forms. (for those readers with a mathematical bent it's best to remember that bears like Democrats are enthusiastic voters)

Perhaps using those pre-cooked bacon crumbles might be a workable alternative. I might suggest that the only reason Mem hasn't been eaten so far is the bears know he belongs to Irene and no bear would willingly get crosswise with her.
Also being completely inundated with teen-age noise most times probably acts as a deterrent as well.

I've had good luck using OvaEasy dehydrated whole eggs. They work great in cooking and scrambled up taste to me just like the real thing (without the shells)
They come in a packet the equivalent of 12 eggs and weight 128 grams. No refrigeration needed.

Best Wishes, OM
 
Yes I've always been careful about the bears. And I have the IBS... so I'll likely be running the ports if I get a bad piece of bacon!

I don't usually stay at the same site twice, so I guess I could say my morning bacon fat is the next guys problem LOL... I usually have to contend with others leftovers in the fire pit.

What do others do? Let it harden and carry it out? That's not a huge problem. Could always dump it down the thunderbox. I doubt a bear would go there after it, although he might surprise you during your morning constitutional if he's sniffing around for it. But then again, that'll be the next guys problem :rolleyes:
 
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We cook over open fires. When the cooking is done the bacon fat goes directly into the fire and is burned up. Just stand back when you do it, because it will really light things up. If you are tripping in areas where bears see humans as food stamp providers, a different approach might be applicable. We travel in areas where very few people go, and after the bacon is devoured, we move on to the next place.
 
the traditional thing is to mop the bacon down with vinegar every few days...haven't tried it tho...not sure that the modern microwave bacon might not be easier these days...
 
I think I'm going to just take a bit and cook it over the fire. I don't want to mess with cooking on an alky stove.

And I've also planned on buying a dehydrator, but it's not going to happen this year.

If you don't hear back from me next week, I got in a fight with a bear over the bacon and lost...
 
In Rochester, check with Swan's German butcher over on Parsells. I get all my smoked (and fresh) sausage there. They do bacon, hams, everything. One word of warning, it is addictive.

Also, using evaporation, one can have a "cooler" in camp. Spring boxes or desert bags can act as a refrigerator of sorts.
 
Russ,

That's the exact place I was going to check. I recall you mentioning them before.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Bacon. Is there another word that conjures up the same foodie memories?
Did I ever tell you about the time I was smitten by smoked and cured goodness?
My wife M, our first baby and I were living in a Quebec farmhouse down a quiet little valley. We were sharing the rambling old house with another young couple and their first baby boy, but due to their unhappy circumstances we rarely saw much of them. They pretty much stayed away and only he (Steve) would drop in for changes of clothes or to tinker with his car. We were all young and hippyish. M and I had joined a food Co-op to meet new people, save on our meagre $$ and explore a vegetarian lifestyle. Our monthly meetings with the other members in our region were fun. We'd watch NFB films (https://www.nfb.ca), share stories and divide bulk food orders. I was sprouting mung beans and making lentil soup. Good stuff. Aside from the need to keep the bedroom window cracked open, even on -40C January nights, everything was going great, or so I thought. Until Steve dropped in late one evening.
A swirling winter gale pushed him in through the summer kitchen, and into our warm cozy home. A fresh batch of whole wheat bread was baking in the oven and I had a bowl of beans soaking under a tea towel on the countertop. Steve announced "Um. I have a box of something we should take a look at. It's in the trunk of my car. I'll be right back." Moments later we were staring at a large oblong cardboard box on the kitchen table. It was quite heavy, and had no label or markings to suggest what was inside. Steve explained he'd been driving along a backroad following a delivery truck, when the truck hit a bump, the back door slid open and a box fell out onto the road. It fell off a truck. You have to remember that I was young and gullible. But I was also intrigued. What could be in it? Steve, M and I held our breathe and opened the box. Even though frozen solid, the contents released an intoxicating aroma of pure maple cured heaven. CRASH went Brad as he fell off the groovy hippy vegetarian wagon, and TOK made the sound of his hollow head as he hit the flagstone floor of reality. I fell, and fell hard, but only in the figurative sense. The reality was that I'm a happy carnivore; I eat what I love, and love what I eat. We three stood still, while greedy grins crept across our faces. Steve had been trying a vegetarian lifestyle like myself, but we both swore off that bowel scouring farting lifestyle, at least until this box was eaten. M was never convinced of a non-meat diet. I was convinced she'd always had a secret cache of pork chops and stewing beef hidden in that kitchen somewhere, and keeping it all to herself. Whatever.
There was one problem though. How do we selectively thaw pieces from this huge frozen collection? After an hour of desperate work we managed to free a slab of bacon and a big rack of ribs. I broke three hacksaw blades trying to surgically separate the ribs. My axe was futile against the concrete bacon. "Oh FFS, we're gonna hafta eat the whole thang." M had the oven warmed and the cast iron frying pan ready to go. She was way ahead of us.
I don't remember how long that mystery box lasted us that winter, but I don't think I ever had a bowl of beans soaking on the counter after that night. We tried to pace ourselves, and to make the lost meat order last, but all good things come to an end...eventually. Steve and his family drifted off and out of our lives. As for my own young family, we eventually bid adieu to our lovely old farmhouse, and moved on to other adventures...our happy family adventures continue. As for bacon being a part of our lives...From time to time I find myself driving behind a butcher delivery truck. I always slow down, keeping a safe and respectable distance...and wait for a bump in the road.
 
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ps Please never put food scraps or bacon grease down thunder boxes. Late night thunder box visits are miserable enough without wildlife encounters complicating things. Eat, incinerate, or pack out your leftovers. Bacon yields a lot of savoury smelling grease, so I know it can be hard to deal with. That's the reason we no longer take it. We do miss it though. The pre-cooked sounds an interesting idea.
 
ps Please never put food scraps or bacon grease down thunder boxes. Late night thunder box visits are miserable enough without wildlife encounters complicating things. Eat, incinerate, or pack out your leftovers. Bacon yields a lot of savoury smelling grease, so I know it can be hard to deal with. That's the reason we no longer take it. We do miss it though. The pre-cooked sounds an interesting idea.

The same holds true for disposing of it in a fire, at least in the Boundary Waters. The smoke can leave greasy, highly aromatic residue on the fire grate, which of course acts like a magnet in the middle of a bunch of ursine iron filings.
 
I take eggs for about 3 days in warm weather and longer in cooler weather. Bacon for 2-3 days. Sometimes bacon and eggs is supper if I need to cook it. I also take potatoes and carrots as well as an onion or two. You only live once. The dehydrated stuff is for later in the trip.

I have used the cans of bacon...they are good. We used to heat them up by placing them on top of the lantern. I have not seen them in years. Mostly I take the better bacon from the butcher as opposed to the store packaged bacon. It seems to last longer. I get my eggs at the hardware store, they are pretty much right out of the chicken and last forever. I will sometimes cook all of the remaining bacon and store it in a tub until the evening or next morning if I think it is getting to be close to going bad on me.

Bacon grease. Well, after I use it to wipe down my rifle with, I usually pour it into the lake. Yupp heresy. But better that than in the firepit. I then dip the pan in the lake and set it on the stove so I have warm water to wash dises with. Once again, down on the rocks at the water. I try not to have any leftovers, which is usually not an issue as we only eat twice a day.

Now, I have been warned off of bacon by some guy that calls himself a doctor.I cheat a little but the bacon is mostly for others ( read : Karin).

Christy
 
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