I am gear and wilderness food manager for a camp in the San Juans in Colorado and am trying to lighten up our backpacking program. I was wondering how boil in bag meals work for larger groups (10-25)? Backpacking staff training starts monday and I have some of the menu as boil in bag to expose them to that style (we'll still be using 4L aluminum pots on whisperlites, but you've got to start somewhere!) the first night is chicken fajitas with minute rice (4 cups) and dehydrated refried beans (4 cups) each in their own OP sacks (9x10) then the third day breakfast is dehydrated hash browns with salsa and cheese, and dinner is ramen with basil, chili powder, and parmesan cheese, in a 12x20 OP sack. Does boil in bag for big groups work well or does it cook better in smaller bags? budget and food packing time are issues, so I'm not going to get tons of the little OP sacks and individually pack each person's meal if possible. Can they be easily cleaned on the trail and reused later for more boil in bag?
thanks!

Good question.
(Disclaimer: I cook for the two of us and don't use this method myself.)

It's OK for YOU, because you know how much you want. But what about a bunch of novices? Which of them will be very hungry, and which won't be as hungry? Boil-in-bag could be less than optimal, and i don't think the actual meal matters too much.

Me, I would demo the BiB idea, but in catering for that many people I would use large cooking pots. That way you can adjust quantities and servings as needed. I reckon the people might be happier that way. They can help with the cooking of course.

Memory of a refuge called Les Motets in France. About 8 of us around the table. A large pot or rice and a large pot of beef stew. We served ourselves. The staff came around later to see if we wanted more. We were full to bursting!

Cheers

I have used boil in the bag for large groups (biggest group 12).
I use high temperature bag liners. I use the 12 x 15 in size bag. I use a cozy with the bag, because you will need to let the big bag of food soak longer, to rehydrate everything.

Edited by tkknc on 06/05/2008 17:37:08 MDT.