Post by refrigerator on Jul 31, 2005 9:25:19 GMT -5
Other than winter camping, you can eat fresh meat the first night out on the trail by freezing the food and wrapping it in newspaper (24 1/2 inches by 22 inches). The leftover newspaper is then used as a firestarter. Curious as to how long I could keep meat fresh, I did a series of lengthy experiments. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that meat be kept refrigerated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, so I froze equal bags of water, inserted a temperature probe with a remote readout, wrapped the frozen water, and recorded how long it took to bring the water up to 40 degrees with a room temerature of 70 degrees. The results:
250 grams of frozen water (almost 10 ounces) in a pint ziplock freezer bag:
0 newspaper sheets 6 hours
2 newspaper sheets 10 hours
4 newspaper sheets 12 hours
6 newspaper sheets 15 hours
8 newspaper sheets 16 hours
10 newspaper sheets 18 hours
500 grams of frozen water in a pint ziplock freezer bag:
0 sheets of newspapers 10 hours
2 sheets of newspapers 16 hours
4 sheets of newspapers 16 hours
6 sheets of newspapers 20 hours
8 sheets of newspapers 22 hours
10 sheets of newspapers 24 hours
From these results, one can see you have to be very careful about wrapping the frozen object so that the newspaper surrounds the frozen object evenly. Place one half pound of frozen meat or egg beaters in a ziplock bag, then wrap the bagged meat in 5 sheets of newspaper. Then bag this in a thin plastic bag, the kind from the grocery store, and wrap in another 5 sheets of newspapers, then bag it in a final thin plastic bag. Freeze the whole package solid, and transport it to the trailhead in a cooler with ice. This 10 total sheets of newspaper and several plastic bags will keep the food cool enough to avoid spoiling and should be fresh enough to eat up to the first night, and up to the second night if temperatures are cooler than 70 degrees. I can also see that if the outside temperature remains significantly and consistently below 70 degrees, you might safely bring frozen food for the second night dinner. In normal summertime temperatures of 70 degrees or higher, trying to safely bring frozen meat for the second night's dinner cannot be safely done within U.S.D.A. guidelines. If you follow this plan, either do not consume the previously frozen food unless ice crystals are present when you open up the packaging, or package a thermometer in with the meat. Throw the meat away if the temperature climbs above refrigerator level
250 grams of frozen water (almost 10 ounces) in a pint ziplock freezer bag:
0 newspaper sheets 6 hours
2 newspaper sheets 10 hours
4 newspaper sheets 12 hours
6 newspaper sheets 15 hours
8 newspaper sheets 16 hours
10 newspaper sheets 18 hours
500 grams of frozen water in a pint ziplock freezer bag:
0 sheets of newspapers 10 hours
2 sheets of newspapers 16 hours
4 sheets of newspapers 16 hours
6 sheets of newspapers 20 hours
8 sheets of newspapers 22 hours
10 sheets of newspapers 24 hours
From these results, one can see you have to be very careful about wrapping the frozen object so that the newspaper surrounds the frozen object evenly. Place one half pound of frozen meat or egg beaters in a ziplock bag, then wrap the bagged meat in 5 sheets of newspaper. Then bag this in a thin plastic bag, the kind from the grocery store, and wrap in another 5 sheets of newspapers, then bag it in a final thin plastic bag. Freeze the whole package solid, and transport it to the trailhead in a cooler with ice. This 10 total sheets of newspaper and several plastic bags will keep the food cool enough to avoid spoiling and should be fresh enough to eat up to the first night, and up to the second night if temperatures are cooler than 70 degrees. I can also see that if the outside temperature remains significantly and consistently below 70 degrees, you might safely bring frozen food for the second night dinner. In normal summertime temperatures of 70 degrees or higher, trying to safely bring frozen meat for the second night's dinner cannot be safely done within U.S.D.A. guidelines. If you follow this plan, either do not consume the previously frozen food unless ice crystals are present when you open up the packaging, or package a thermometer in with the meat. Throw the meat away if the temperature climbs above refrigerator level