A secondary thread raising the question of how many people bring in frozen food (more than for just the first night). Packed in a cooler or other means.

I will use a small hard sided cooler that slips into the bottom of my Granite Gear pack and use dry ice with it. Early spring/late summer - I get 4-5 days. This summer (early Aug) I got only 3 days.

Please feel free to chime in or vote.

By the way - Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters is now also carrying dry ice. One of only two places in Ely I know of.

Frozen food for only the first day or two. Other semi fresh food that doesn't require constant refrigeration and is vacuum sealed, like smoked sausage, and fully cooked ham, goes in frozen in insulated "cooler" bags, but doesn't need to stay frozen the whole time.

We have frozen food for several days but are constantly working at keeping things cold, sawdust/water mix frozen at -15 stays frozen better than plain water, Shredded newspaper stays frozen longer than water. Nothing to pack out in warm sunny weather both dry out fast and burn up in fire pit.

I decided not to bother with any frozen or fresh food. Our outfitter gave us a couple of steaks for night one and shell eggs and bacon for breakfast on morning 2 and it did hit the spot, but I was pretty happy with all of the dried meals/add water. Next time I go I probably wont even do the steaks and eggs. The water weight in any of that food adds up and I am not that picky.

It looks like you may be a chef judging by your name? If you are anything like me (or most chefs I know) we are not picky about our own food that we consume :) Hell, I have been known to raid the fridge and make ridiculous combinations of stuff just because its easy and I dont wanna go through the hassel. On our first trip I started to obsess about spices and seasonings and cooking oils and honestly, I didnt use any of it. Maybe if I base camped I would bring more of a "gourmet" selection, but my trips from now on will be light on the food stuff and only include dried variety and light snacks. I prefer not to have a bunch of stuff to unpack and lug around for a week.

Your right, I can eat anything. But I like to feed others. That tends to mean bringing extra food and stuff. I also tend to carry the most packs, so I try to limit my self ( hard to do )

We've gotten 4-5 days out of ice with fresh and frozen foods in it. We use a couple of gallon milk jugs of frozen water in soft sided coolers. It lasts for quite awhile.

Not food that has to stay frozen, but sometimes refrigerated which means some might be frozen to start. Less and less generally, and would depend who I'm going with. Solo - probably none or at most eggs and bacon for first breakfast if not portaging far.

I do dream of a long no portage trip - like circumnavigate Basswood - and a big cooler loaded with dry ice and beer and a little fresh meat.

All dried/dehydrated, still can make some great meals.
Does make me enjoy getting out to a prepared and served for me meal!

butthead

Very little fresh food
Almost all dry

On solo trips it's very simple. If I am out for just a few days it's a stick of summer sausage, a block of cheddar, a couple freeze dried meals, and a loaf of sourdough.
granola bars, a few treats, and oatmeal for breakfast

Fresh/frozen food for the first two days, dehydrated after that. There's no room in my pack for a cooler and ice.

I do frozen food for 1st 5 days with dry ice & a collapsible cooler that fits in the bottom of my food barrel.

Nope, no frozen food, no frozen water.

Fresh food can be mighty tasty, but also takes more time and effort to prepare and cleanup.
I will take some small clementine oranges and usually a foil pack with meat and veggies like I learned in scouting for the first night and a few small onions and carrots. I have taken prepackaged salad mix that was in good shape for three days in early October; that soggy mess did not last two days late June this year. Alone I eat less and find with the box meals and foil pack meats available I can eat well and it is easy to fix and clean up.
The pattern has been less fresh and less cold, especially when I go solo.

Always fresh and or frozen. Use the BWJ insulated food pack. Properly packed and kept out of the sun with polar ice packs-- 4-5 days of frozen and longer with just refrig conditions in May. The key is getting to your entry pt with food/freezer packs still frozen solid (150 QT cooler with a smaller 48 QT cooler that fits inside it. Car camping I have kept ice is some form for over a week.

We always bring a couple nights worth of frozen entree items. We will use the remaining ice broken up for drinks.

As a person who likes to cook. The challenge is to make a great meal out of dried food. It seems like everyone in our group tries to outdo the others with something easy to carry that is interesting and taste great.
That being said it is hard to beat a grilled ribeye with corn on the cob to celebrate your first night out.

We do a combination of frozen and dehydrated. I bought a dehydrator and it has opened up new vistas for me. High quality, flavor, texture and minimal weight. I have fun doing it too.

I’ve had fresh and frozen foods only on base-camp type trips shorter than four days. No fresh foods after first day on trips where we move almost every day.

Last trip we had frozen food for the first three nights. First night...steaks, sautéed onions & peppers-both frozen & then vacuum sealed separately. Seasoned chicken breasts fully cooked then frozen & vacuum sealed. Ham steaks frozen in original packaging.

We don't take dry ice or ice packs, we pack the frozen stuff together in a small soft cooler packed within a blue barrel. The ham steaks on the third night were unfrozen, but still very cold. I'd do all of it again. I just found pre cooked, seasoned & frozen onions & peppers at Trader Joes for our next trip, I just have to vac seal them & we are good to go.

quote dprochef: "Your right, I can eat anything. But I like to feed others. That tends to mean bringing extra food and stuff. I also tend to carry the most packs, so I try to limit my self ( hard to do ) "

You are definately a chef! :D
I am exactly the same. I'll eat just about anything, but I do love to cook for others and give them something special! Since my gf and I are both chefs of many years we don't care so much about what we bring. If we ever did do a group trip though, I am sure I would have to bring a variety of culinary selections to tantilize my trip mates and reap that proud feeling of whipping up some serious gourmet stuff in the wild :)
My initial thought is my signature demi glace frozen in cubes to richen up any meaty dish. I may do this anyways from now on since I always have the stuff around and its light. Ill just reduce it to glace for weight and space :)

Thing is, great meals do not have to equal difficult.

And if you are a chef (or good cook) {heck even not so good cook} you can make great food without all the danger and extra effort of frozen or even "fresh" food.

Ingredients or even whole dishes can be dehydrated at home and still deliver incredible flavor on the trail. Broccoli is now a favorite of mine.

What goes the farthest on the trail is a fresh bread/bannock. Fresh meat is only practical the first night or two. Although I wonder if you could pay a Canadian fly in to do an air drop of steaks for you? :)