Retort cooking
Retort Cooking is a method in which food is cooked inside a plastic ziploc bag which is then placed into boiling water. The bag can be filled with any type of food. Some examples include eggs, chili, spaghetti, a slice of breakfast casserole, meatloaf, or stew. Other than the food which will be prepared, the required cooking utensils are very few.
What you need:
- one quart sized Ziploc freezer bag
- one paint stir stick or other flat piece of wood
- one to two binder clips
- a large pot.
What to do:
- Boil water in the large pot. The water level should be at least as high or higher than the bag filled with food when placed into the pot.
- While the water heats fill your quart bag with the food you will be retorting.
- Once the bag is filled make sure you evacuate all the air from the bag. Zip the bag sealed.
- Fold the top of the bag over the paint stir stick and hold it in place with the binder clip(s).
- Place the bag into the boiling water, resting the stir stick across the top of the pot. This will allow the bagged food to hang in the boiling water.
- Cooking time is based on the food being prepared. You can remove the cooked food by lifting the stir stick. This provides an easy way to remove the bag from the boiling water.
This is very similar to the Banquet Cook in a Bag Meals (sliced turkey and gravy, salisbury steak and gravy, etc.) sold in grocery stores. In the attached video you will see how to make an omelet in a ziploc bag. Also note, you do not need the stir stick if you choose not to use it.
Here's a video of how to make an omelet in a bag:
