Bakepacker

[wildman]

The bakepacker has been in my camping gear for a year or so, now. It does what the advertising (below) says it does.   It is an aluminum grid placed in the bottom of a pot that uses steam to cook meals, but uses plastic baking bags to keep the moisture from the food. Cook in the bag, serve from the bag, throw the bag away.  I admit that I  hate cleanup duty. 

The posts on pressure cookers got me thinking that maybe cooking with the bakepacker could be even faster with a pressure cooker, even tho the bakepacker works in any pot.  So, I bid on a little 2 1/2 quart Mirro PC on ebay and won it.  I have the bakepacker ultralight which should fit it just fine. I'm almost always singlehanding, so the smaller size should work for me.  When the Mirro arrives, I'll try some of the bakepacker recipes in the PC (check out all the ways they list to bake bread/bisquits)  and let you know.   

Link to bakepacker info:
http://www.bakepacker.com/bak.html

Link to bakepacker recipes:
http://www.bakepacker.com/recipes.html#Dinner%20Biscuit

I know -- I should have tried it out before posting, but, it would also be good to hear from others who have tried it.   

Paul

[Lynx]

Interesting, I like the concept, sort of like a double boiler or a flame tamer for water. I really do not like cleaning the pans (i do eat from them, no dishs) but the cost of the bags in the long run may add up.

For short cruises where you can freeze food in bags, it looks GREAT!

[wildman]

Well, the PC arrived today and I tried it out.  The first experiment was Martha White cornbread mix (just add water) on the bakepacker in the PC.  I put the PC on the open flame of my backyard propane BBQ.

I broke the rules and didn't try out the PC first, so, when the steam vented around the handles (i.e., no pressure), I just gave it the regular bakepacker time as with no PC (15 minutes).  Turned out great!   I tightened up the screws holding the handle, tested the PC for pressure, and was ready for another go.

The second dish was the Dutch  Treat:
1 C Pancake mix
2 tsp. Powdered sugar (or 1/4 C marshmallows)
1/2 C Water
1/3 C Chocolate chips
1/4 C Peanut butter (creamy)

Measure all ingredients except peanut butter into bag. Mix thoroughly by squeezing bag (batter will be lumpy). Place bag onto BakePacker spreading to cover as much of the grid as possible. Loosely fold down top of bag. Place BakePacker into pot, checking water level (1 "). Cover pot and bring to a boil. Adjust heat to medium boil. Boil/bake 18-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for about 3 minutes. Transfer to plate as shown (BASIC STEPS: 10). Let cool for a bit. Now "frost" with the peanut butter. Serve immediately.  Serves 4

I cut the cooking time to 12 minutes and it turned out well.  I used the marshmallows instead of powdered sugar and skipped the P-butter entirely and served it with icecream.   Yum!