Playing around with my camp pantry, I found a pancake that works pretty well:
1. mix instant pancake mix and water (with a little brown sugar if it suits you) in a snack size zip-lock bag.
2. Place in boiling water for aprx 5 min. *make sure you put a small pinhole in a part of the bag that sticks out above the surface of the water to vent.
3. Um, pull it out and eat it!

You sacrifice the mild crust you get when you actually make them in a pan, but they are extremely moist and a quick, hot treat that leaves you with boiled water for coffee/tea/oatmeal without the cleanup!

Cooking time may vary, depends on how thick or thin you like your batter. Can probably be done in 3 minutes, maybe less. Anyhow, find the formula that fits you and personalize it with dried fruit or nuts - whatever, make it your own. Enjoy (I hope)!

Thank you, Lance!

Can't wait to eat mine on the trail soon.

Todd

Sonuds great-can't wait to try that one. Seems simple and easy.

Great idea - "Bake in Bag"

or, make pancakes at home and pack them in.

Thanks for the kudos! Make sure you share successes, failures, potential problems, etc. after your trials.

Also, I believe this can be done with powdered eggs to make an omelette, but don't know the cook time. I have done it with real eggs, beaten, and mixed with fixins (onion, cheese, etc.) and it takes 12-13 minutes. No problem in your own kitchen, but it's unrealistic to expend that much fuel on the trail for one meal. I imagine cook times for powdered-egg omelette would be shorter, though. Your thoughts?

Be careful with that…. I’ve read in several places about how the chemicals in the plastic break down in boiling water and leach into the food. There is some talk of these chemicals contributing to cancer. Here’s one of the articles:

http://camping.about.com/od/campingrecipes/a/ziplocbaggies.htm

The article says:
"Might I add that eggs and cheese have fat which gets much hotter than water thus the likelihood of melting the plastic increases."

Can anyone explain how the fats inthe cheese and eggs are going to get hotter than the water they are immersed in?

It's true that I wouldn't like to eat melted plastic, but the article says nothing about how exactly chemicals are going to "leech out of the plastic". It seems like a precautionary approach, with some scaremongering thrown in to put people off.

Perhaps you could quote the links to these 'several places' so we can see if there is anything more definite?

SC Johnson does not use BPA in its plastic products, Ziploc® Brand bags and containers, and Saran™ brand wraps.


Saran™ and Ziploc® products are 100% dioxin free. You also should be aware that dioxins can be formed only when chlorine is combined with extremely high temperatures, such as 1,500°F, which even the most powerful consumer microwave ovens are unable to produce.

youre going to benefit more by watching what candy products your kids (and you) eat that contain melamine coming from Chinese made milk solids. But I think the pancake mix is safe

Edited by mikeinfhaz on 10/30/2008 08:52:19 MDT.

BPA is unlikely to show up in the baggies...the chemical is used to harden plastics for uses such as bottles, dishware, CDs, etc.

Virtually all the cautionary comments about boiling water and baggies is to protect the user from 'melting' bags and subsequent burns.

The good thing is, if your're reconstituing dehydrated food, i.e., FBC'ing, you don't need boiling water. In fact, my water never achieves a roiling boil and only occasionally hits the temps that some companies have promulgated as 'safe' for their baggies. But if one is concerned about high-temp chemical leaching I've read there are higher-grade, high-temp ready baggies out there...