SHARE YOUR WILDERNESS EXPERIENCES, TRADE INFORMATION AND FIND TRIP PARTNERS.

[Dan]

Does anybody know how to pack butter so it lasts, particularly in hot weather? I tried "canning" some in a nelgene container once but it still went rancid.

We would love to get everyones input on the subject.

[Skinner]

If you are packing ice, we found butter or margerine kept well in a ziploc bag pressed flat about 1 inch thick and airtight.. then pushed up against the ice block. Saves on packing space as well. The idea was not used on a canoe trip however, but in the deep summer heat remote camping with new ice being flown in every three days. keeping the ziploc submerged in cool lake water may work as well..

[Red Langford]

I tripped with a guy who used to wrap his in a wet cloth. He re-wet the cloth every day and lo and behold it worked. Has something to do with the evaporation process creating a cooling effect. Never tried it myself but saw it work for that guy.

[Jammy]

The guy with the wet cloth has it nailed

The latent heat effect is the saviour for all campers - more easily recognised as the cooling effect of evaporation. Each action has an opposite and equal reaction so the warming up of the wet cloths causes evaporation and a cooling effect.

Maker a simple camp fridge how ever small you need it. Polystyrene sides, top, base and door and soak in water. The inside will become cold. Just don't let it dry out. another way it to simply place a plate inside a muslin sack and hang it somewhere safe, wet of course and hey ho another camp fridge.

Play around with different things and you will soon get to protect your butter, bacon, cheese, etc,
Latent Heat Effect.....you can't beat it
Me I use olive oil instead of butter anyway!

[Dan]

So does the cloth go around the container that the butter is in? On a ten day trip I would normally take about two pounds of butter, for two people, in a number of leak proof lexan containers. I have found that lots of small containers are better than one or two larger ones, because it seems the process of going rancid speeds up when the container is opened. During hot weather the butter liquifies and separates in the heat of the day, and I am sure that that is when it goes rancid. The real crime is, it taints the flavor of the fresh fish we fry in it, not to mention all the other food that butter can enhance.

But if I understand this, if I wrap the lexan container in a damp cloth and keep the package ( perhaps in a cloth bag ) outside of my waterproof canoe bag, so that evaporation can take place, the butter has a better chance of staying cool. Sounds good! I've got to give it a try. Thanks.