You may have noticed that several of our meal kits recommend using a heat diffuser to offset an unpredictable level of heat when cooking over a camp stove or open fire to cool: primarily those meals that are most likely to burn quickly on thin-bottomed camp pots. We've had a lot of questions about what that is . . . and how we developed the technique. To give 
credit where credit is due, the idea was inspired by my own grandmother who often used a heat diffuser (or flame-tamer) on top of the kitchen stove to keep the bottom of the pan from scorching when she was baking skillet-cornbread or simmering a big pot of stew.
We've carried a heat diffuser as a regular cook-set companion for years . . . and its been the saving grace to many a camp meal! The one we carry is the same one that we sell in the Packit Gourmet gear store - an old-fashioned looking lightweight aluminum model with a fold-up removable handle that we stumbled upon in a feed store here in Austin. We also use it as an occasional cookpot lid when duty calls. It's perforated with tiny holes which allows steam to pass through, so it easily doubles as "steamer tray" when we need to keep a plate of something warm while a side dish finishes cooking; or as a "tortilla rejuvenator" when we need to warm or re-moisturize tortillas on the trail. It also works great to help stabilize a pan when the pan bottom is larger than than the stove surface.
Commercially made heat diffusers come in a variety of shapes, sizes and weights - some with perforations / some without. You can fashion a simple make-shift model on your own by folding a piece of heavy weight aluminum foil into a square large enough to cover the bottom of your cookpot - - and punching a few holes in it to allow air to flow through. It may not guarantee a burn-free zone . . . but it will certainly help the intensity of the heat reaching the bottom of your pan.
It might be an old-fashioned technique, but it's been a fabulous addition to our camp kitchen and one of our all-time favorite tip and tricks. Pass it along!
We've been getting quite a few requests lately for meals that don't require cooking in a pot. Many of our meals are designed to be cooked in order to allow the sauce to thicken, the flavors to bloom and generally give you the taste and texture that you would expect from a meal that you made in your home kitchen.
However, we do have several meals that are just-add-water. Some rehydrate beautifully with cool water, making them great for lunch when you don't want to unpack your cookpot, while others require hot water but can then be cooked in the bag, eliminating the need for washing dishes.
In order to make it easy to find our 'no-cook' meals, we've added a special category listing all of the meals that just need water to rehydrate. We've divided these meals into"Just Add HOT Water" meals and "Just Add COOL Water" meals.
Just Add HOT Water
These meals are pretty straightforward. You do need to use your cookpot to boil water but you can 'cook' your meal right in the bag. Simply place the food into the exterior bag, pour boiling water over the meal, wrap it in an extra jacket or cozie to keep it warm and allow it to steep-cook for 5-15 minutes. We've included instructions on the package for both cooking in the pot and cooking in the bag so that you can choose the method that works best for you.
Just Add COOL Water
We've further divided these meals into three categories - instant, short wait and long wait.
The instant meals are just that, instant. A good example is our Jump-Start Fruit Smoothie. You can make the smoothie in the bag (cut the top off to make a great mug/bowl) or in your own camp cup. Add the needed amount of water, give it a quick stir and sit back to enjoy a delicious, filling and nutritious breakfast.
The meals requiring a short wait will need to sit for 10-15 minutes
after you've added the cool water in order to fully rehydrate. The Chicken Salad is one of my favorite meals and also falls into this 'short wait' category. In order to make the chicken salad, you add cool water, stir and let it rest for about 5 minutes. This gives the chicken a chance to soften and the result is a chicken salad that I would be happy to be served in any restaurant!
The cool water meals listed under 'long wait' are designed to be prepped in the morning for an easy afternoon lunch. Our Many Beans Salad is one of these types of meals. In order to avoid cooking your meal, or even heating your water, you can pour cool water over your beans and stash them away in your pack for a couple of hours. When you're ready to eat lunch, simply open your pre-prepped beans and enjoy an easy and delicious lunch.
We have a batch of yummy Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese that's set to expire in a month (does this cheese ever really expire?), so we're giving it away!If you'd like a free cheese triangle, add it to your cart and enter the coupon code FREECHEESE at checkout. No purchase necessary.
Giveaway ends March 31, 2009.
We've had the honor of receiving an Editors' Choice award in this month's issue of the magazine! Our Moonshine Margarita and Jamaican Peanut Porridge were also listed as "essentials". Keep on reading to check out the excerpts from the magazine...
Austintacious Tortilla Soup
Put this meal on the menu for any trip: It’s easy-prep trail food that will wow every palate.
Sure, everything tastes better in camp. So we tried this dehydrated meal at home too, just to confirm our field findings. It is delicious. The soup is the perfect appetizer for hungry troops, a satisfying belly warmer in cold weather and substantial enough to pass for dinner when only a light meal is needed. Plus, it takes only 10 minutes to prepare. Ingredients are simple: chicken breast, red peppers, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, spices and rice. But the result is gourmet. “It tastes like it’s been simmering in the kitchen all day,” summed up one satisfied tester. Serving size is legit for two hungry guys, and it com
es with toppings that make it easy to customize according to taste: freeze-dried Monterrey Jack, tortilla chips, Tabasco sauce and lime juice. Demerit: The packaging seems excessive, though you can reuse the tough plastic bags and decline the optional (free) Tool Kit, which includes salt and pepper packets, wet wipes and other single use products.
More Essentials from Backpacker Magazine...
Can't stomach another packet of instant oatmeal? Tuck into a yummy bowl of Packit Gourmet's Jamaican Peanut Porridge. It's a creamy breakfast of oats, coconut, ground peanuts and spices.
Nothing beats an amazing day spent in the wild - but a cold margarita sure ends it in style. Packit Gourmet's Moonshine Margarita is our pick: Add tequila (chilled in a snowbank or creek), salt the rim of your GSI Outdoors Lexan Margarita Glass and say salud!
