Cheese and eggs on backpacking trips

Personal anecdotal experience:

hard cheese:
lasts about a week in cool climate

boiled eggs:
lasts 3 (maybe up to 5 days) before they start to get weird

unboiled eggs:
I have never even thought of taking them backpacking, but I know they are safe for two weeks unrefrigerated. (This might be a joke to try to carry with you though?)

hummus:
about a week, unrefrigerated

posted almost 12 years ago

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theJollySin‭

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I've gone 3 days with eggs in the backcountry but I live in the Rockies where it stays cool in the shade and night. I've been told if you keep a few eggs in a tin of flour that they'll keep for a week.

posted almost 12 years ago

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furtive‭

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Fresh Un-Refrigerated Egg Storage: On many wilderness excursions I've backpacked with store bought eggs (in crush-resistant container) for 7-10 days (or longer when coated with mineral oil) with no problem as long as the shell is intact. You can water-test the eggs - Sink’s is Good / floats it’s Bad.

More info can be found here: Safely Preserving Eggs.

posted over 10 years ago

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bikeamtn‭

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I've never tried it myself, but I met people trekking (sorry, tramping) in New Zealand who had pre-scrambled eggs with them, on the 5 day Heaphy track. They were cooked quite hard, and so could be easily carried in a freezer bag without worrying about breaking them, and then warmed up, or eaten as is.

It was only day 2, so perhaps they didn't expect to keep them for long, but I remember them looking a lot nicer than all dried nonsense I was eating at the time! I guess their shelf life would be down to the weather at the time.

posted almost 12 years ago

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Ted‭

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To carry raw eggs, leave 'em in their shells, put them in an old peanut-butter jar (plastic, watertight, wide mouthed). FILL the rest of the jar with water and close the lid. The water keeps the eggs from breaking, as long as there isn't any air space, and they will last at least a week in good weather. That's less than 90° greater than freezin'.

This method is For Sure worth the weight and the size - specially if the choice is powdered....Fine for baking, BUT...,'sides the jar is great for water or collecting when the eggs are gone!

posted about 9 years ago

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Scritter‭

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The problem with raw eggs seems to be mainly that they dry out. As long as the shell is not cracked, no bacteria can get in

Some recipes from old books:

1. Cover the shell with vaseline.
2. Put them in a glass with a 10% solution of sodium silicate.
3. Keep in a container with slaked lime solution.

The last two are said to preserve the eggs for many months. Luckily I was in no need to try. The slaked lime solution sounds best to me. The solution keeps the eggs moist and kills any bacteria

posted over 10 years ago

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taf‭

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Cheese:

Long time. Especially hard cheeses. You can just cut any mold off the edge that might creep up. Cheeses sealed in cheese wax (gouda) are a good bet.

I've had extra-sharp cheddar un-refrigerated in the AZ desert for 8+ days, in the rocky mountains for 15+ days with no issues (aside from sweat.)

Blocks last longer than a pile of shredded cheese.

Be smart. Keep an eye on it. If it smells foul, don't eat it.

Eggs:

With shells intact, raw eggs last surprisingly long.

In the Borneo rain forest (just below the equator = hot) we would get pallets of 300+ raw eggs shipped up to camp that we would store, un-refrigerated in the shade, for 30 days at a time. (This was after however long un-refrigerated in the truck, the shop, and the supply boat...)

Sure, there was some spoilage - but a very small percentage. Just crack them into a separate container first before tossing them in your dish.

Or use an old farmers test: put your raw eggs in a bucket of water, "If they sink, they're safe. If they float, they fail."

Other people suggest cracking the eggs into a sterilized lexan bottle (rinse with bleach first) and then freezing (or not). These reportedly last for several days. (<-I have not tried this).

As a distant last option -- they are doing some pretty decent things with powdered eggs these days...

Caveat: These are my personal experiences. I am sure there are some official FDA guidelines and other related official paranoia. Possibly even tails of death and disease from eating day old cheese. Fine. Follow those if you choose. Or step outside of commercial convention and open a world of gourmet back-country dining.

Related: How long does mayonnaise last unrefrigerated in the back-country?

posted almost 12 years ago

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Lost‭

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