coupla questions for anyone who’s tried this…
was thinking about mixing the scrambled eggs and putting them in a nalgene for a few days without refrigeration…is that an invitaion to salmonella poisoning or what? i think i saw someone do this and it worked out fine.
also, butter…any suggestions? was thinking the same thing…a few days sans refrigeration…going to put it in another nalgene and then use the melted butter…inviting a bad stomach or what?
anyone have experience?
thanks
Eggs & butter
You are much better off taking whole eggs with you. They will easily keep for several days especially if you get farm fresh brown shelled eggs. Take them in the standard pressed paper egg container not plastic. Wrap the container in small bubble size bubble wrap and put it near the top of your food pack. You can purchase real powdered butter from americanspice.com. This place has great stuff. Their powdered tomato is really good for spaghetti sauce.
ate eggs for 6 days
On a recent 9 day paddling trip at Isle Royale, my wife and I brought eggs and had scrambled eggs and potatos every morning for breakfast.
We did use farm fresh eggs and kept them in a small softsided cooler we kept in my boat, inside the cockpit against the front bulkhead.
Take it from a former
food & water QC lab worker: You do not want to crack eggs and then store them w/o refrigeration. Even if you can handle them aseptically. Heed the advice already posted, and avoid food poisoning.
Jim
egg beaters
may want to check into “eggbeaters”–a pasteurized liquid egg product you buy in a carton–it makes an ok scrambled egg or omelette. I’ve used on spring trips when the weather is cool. I pack stick margarine (100% vegatable oil) and leave in packaging and pack in disposable plastic container w/resealable lid. Except one time when I baked my food pack in 100 degree weather, have been able to keep margarine for 10 days. I also pack lard for frying fish, and have had good success keeping lard.
Keeping all food and food packs out of direct sunlight seems to really help.
Nalgene Bottles
Nalgene bottles aren’t all that easy to clean and they can hold the taste for awhile. Known people to carry eggs already broken without a problem. Seen it done many times, but they used plastic bottles that were to be thrown away. There’s never been a problem but never saw them carried in warm weather or more than a couple of days. Dehydrated eggs aren’t all that bad if you can find a source.
Did a 4 day trip
and had eggs 3 of those mornings, tasted great. We cracked them -right- before leaving and placed them, unbeaten, into a small, hard, plastic container. Stored them inside the boat, resting on the bottom so the water temp kept them cool. Then again, this is in Alaska, so they stay cool a lot better. Guides do that all the time here.
Bauly makes dehydrated eggs
but I have taken fresh eggs for a few days. Never break them beforehand into a Nalgene container. Even a cracked egg can lead to salmonella. The plastic eggg cartons made for camping work pretty well, just occasionally does an egg have an injury.
Margarine can keep for up to two weeks. Putting that into a small Nalgene and wrapping a wet towel helps keep it cool. Dont forget to redampen the towel each day.
I often use olive oil as a subsitute. Also you can buy clarified butter (ghee) that keeps forever without refrigeration but its similar in liquidity to olive oil.
You can dehydrate your own eggs
I tried the method in this book on our last long trip. Had eggs plenty on that trip. They are superior to commercial dried eggs, but not quite as good as fresh. Once they are dry, you don’t have to worry about bacterial growth. No possibility of breakage.
Here is the link
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0070344361/qid=1126125756/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5918130-2584868?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Butter
Clarified butter will keep better than whole butter. You can’t spread it on toast, but you can fry fish up in it.
Melt a pound of butter and let it settle.
Skim the crud off the top.
Take only the clear yellow liquid, leave the white stuff that sinks behind.
This method has been used for centuries in hot climates. Some cultures call this ghee.
I’ve heard about doing eggs that way. You can freeze the eggs (out of the shell) and get a day or so extra out of them. I think you’re likely safe from salmonella.
WIKIPEDIA
…frequent causes of foodborne illness, and can especially be caught from poultry and raw eggs and more generally from food that has been cooked or frozen, and not eaten straight away. In the mid to late 20th century, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis was a common contaminant of eggs. This is much less common now with the advent of hygiene measures in egg production and the vaccination of laying hens to prevent samonella colonisation.
why would
there is so much better foods to eat out camping than to ever need to take eggs and butter. I did a solo 6 month trip and never ate an egg. Too much of a hassle, so few caloies, better foods with more nutrition, and too hard to keep refigerated.
nm
We bring powered eggs that aren’t
bad - lot better than my Viet Nam days. My question is who has time to cook breakfast on a long trip if you want to get on the water before noon. I find the freeze dried foods the fastest since you only have to boil water and no dishes to clean which become a pain in bear country. Sure they’re not an approved breakfast but who cares after paddling for a few days when any food tastes great. I just finished a Canadian big lake trip which we were getting up at 4:30 to be on the lake while the wind was calm. We didn’t eat anything that had to be cooked in the morning and only boiled water for hot drinks. We ate some of the breakfast food after stopping for the wind and waves. Maybe if the weather gods would have cooperated we good have had a more relaxed day and could have enjoyed a normal morning.
Source
For what it’s worth. I have use the powdered eggs from Adventure Foods in North Carolina for the past 3 years. They taste good but you need a whip to mix them well. I usually fry maple smoked bacon before hand, pat dry and vacuum seal and fry eggs with the bacon or canadian bacon. Good breakfast. The eggs were about $9/pound 3 years ago. Jean Spannenburg of Bakepacker fame has Adventure Foods. Nice People.
Salmonella !!
I have had Salmonella poisoning (not Kayaking) but if you get this whilst Kayaking then you paddle is over.
I also do extended paddles and yes food can get bland over the last week or so of paddling. So I suggest you take your eggs as they are (natures sterile capsule) and put them at the bottom of the Kayak where they will be somewhat cooler and eat these within the first week (try to get eggs that come straight from the farm and have not been put into a refrigerator or cooler).
While we are on the food subject……
Meat I find is something I enjoy so I take a smoked polish Salami and this when handled carefully (no fingers) has lasted to 4 weeks unrefrigerated, great to mix with rice and other vegies. (I always cut of the first bit and discard as this would be the first point of access for the bacteria from your knife or fingers)
Cheese I love but found that Chedder (yuk) is better than no cheese at all and lasts for weeks when kept in foil and a zip bag. I do hear some blue vein cheese also lasts some time ( but I have not tested this)
As a matter of fact all potentially perishable food I keep in its own container and also in a plastic zip bag.
In Australia we can also purchase freeze dried food (this comes from New Zealand) its not to bad and does supplement the rest of the food I carry and is often left to the end of the paddle)
Vegies say no more…. Most will last weeks if wrapped in portions in plastic wrap and zipped to exclude as much air as possible.
Enough said…
Cheers
Kayak Solitude
Powered eggs now are sure a lot better
than the ones I had in Viet Nam. We bring them on trips and aren’t very expensive. No sense asking for trouble by precooking eggs. When in doubt don’t. Unless it’s hot, I wouldn’t worry about carrying a whole egg either.
another idea…
I heard to do with eggs is rub the whole outside of the shell with candle wax which totally seals them? Anyone else heard of that? Then refrig as noted above …
Shortening
Just rub a little shortening over the eggs and that will help them keep. If you get fresh eggs from the farm they are supposed to keep 2 weeks anyway, with no refrigeration. Just don’t break the shells.
candle Wax?
candle Wax?
Or would that be food grade parafin?
Farm eggs
get eggs from a famr that have not had their antibacterial (natural) coating on them washed off so they look clean and sparkly for your grocery shelf…
also the best scrambling method: crak the eggs into a nalgene and then paddle for awhile with them-self scramble…
r