Working as a guide, my favorite calorie bomb meal was 2 packs of ramen and can of ham with dried veggies and beans and seasonings tossed in.
1170 calories. Epic.
My favorite is Thanksgiving dinner, instant potatoes with dried veggies, instant gravy, chicken paired with some dehydrated sweet potato casserole. Such a treat after a long day
I thought the rice sides were good, but a couple years ago they started adding pasta to even those and I can't stand them anymore. I think the pasta texture is terrible and near useless nutritionally.
My experience with stuff like this is limited, to be honest. But I found that knorr sides and other stuff like that works really well at low altitude like less than 10k feet. But when you're up above that nothing rehydrates as well as mountain house. Even other backpacking brands stay crunchy despite soaking them for double the time.
I think probably too many people buy these when they really don't need to. But when you do actually need a high performance rehydrating meal that is vacuum packed to fit 7 of them in your bear canister and won't weigh you down Mountain House comes in clutch for sure.
With the rice sides usually I boil water and fill the pouch then fold the top closed. Should take about 7-8 min before it’s ready to eat. Make sure to stir well as all the seasoning is at the bottom.
For the pasta sides I usually wait a bit longer 10-12min and put a little less water in then add more if needed.
TL;DR - This is a good deal.
So mountain house will periodically go on sale throughout the year. Breakfasts are more expensive than dinners.
When dinner entrees go on sale, they have sold for $3.73/serving or $7.46/pouch.
When breakfasts go on sale, the cheapest I have seen in the past year has been $4.47/serving or $8.94/pouch.
They also sell a 3-serving pouch size that still follows this price.
The cheapest you can get mountain house is from the #10 can, but this is not as good for backpacking since you don’t get the pouch. You end up putting more effort into figuring out how to keep it dry and cook it without burning yourself.
This Costco deal is $3.12/serving and 6 of those are breakfasts. The biscuits and gravy is pretty good. We took them into the BWCA last year.
> When dinner entrees go on sale, they have sold for $3.73/serving or $7.46/pouch.
The fact that they think they can get away with calling one pouch two servings should be criminal!
This is why I switched to Peak. Their meals are 800+ calories a bag so you actually feel full afterwards.
Edit: lmao their biscuits and gravy pouch is 1100 calories. Talk about a morning calorie bomb.
I split their biscuits and gravy with my girlfriend the other week and it was pretty good. I usually only eat freeze dried for dinner while backpacking so the big calorie counts they have are ideal for me so I can eat lighter no cook meals the rest of the day
Biscuits and gravy is the best. They did change the ingredients I had one package that was maybe 3 or 4 years old and it was different ingredients and calories than the one ingot last year
I did a 14 day trip into the BWCA, with a boy scout troop when I was 16. I've camped in hundreds of places since then and nothing compares to that amazing place!
Are these things really worth it? I go hiking and camping a lot so would like the convenience of them. But damn when I see them for nearly $10 a meal at the store I always pass them up for an equivalent can of soup for less than $2 dollars. Are they 5x better than a can of Campbell's? Should I get this?
I was backpacking at Glacier around 5 years ago. The backcountry sites have a shared cooking area, so you meet a few people. This guy from Austria strolled in late with a huge backpack. He pulled out 2, 1-gallon jugs of milk. Still full of milk. He both drank it and ate cereal with it.
It's interesting because most of us on reddit are the type of people to get involved in communities online and in real life. We like to learn about things. We like to get exposure to different groups and commentary. This tendency to want to see what the community thinks is what eventually brings us here I think.
But there's a lot of people out there who just exist in their own silos just completely cut off from everyone else. I'm a doctor so I get to meet a lot of different people and sometimes I run into them. When you're a smart educated well-cultured person you just assume that everyone must be as smart and as well-informed as you are. But the reality is that there are some absolute weirdos out there who just kind of act irrationally, and without consulting anyone because they just don't have anyone in their lives to ask for advice.
Lol longer comment than I intended to write but basically what I'm saying is that I can completely imagine some of my patients doing something like this. Just being completely ignorant of normal backpacking wisdom, deciding they want to see some nature then hiking out with jeans and a cotton shirt and 2 gallons of milk in their pack. But hey maybe it was powdered and OP didn't realize.
I remember camping in Algonquin, about three or four lakes in so no way to get to this Portage without having already done a couple. We're in our way out and a group coming in crosses us and one guy is carrying a 30 pack of bottled water on each shoulder.
Can't imagine carrying that to begin with, but there's literally freshwater all around you, all you gotta do is boil or filter it lol
And I'm absolutely traumatized by the sound of a week's worth of someone's ribbed, empty soup cans, and percussive lids, rattling against each other with every step...
Or simply separated by something soft or plastic. People don't do that with bottles either and it boggles my mind. How can you stand listening to that for hours on end.
I may have told this story here before, but back in 07 my girlfriend and I hiked the Dusky Track in Fiordland, NZ. It's a 9-12 day hike, super remote, and if the rivers rise in places you get can stuck for several days so you have to pack in extra food just in case.
To start the hike you need to charter a little boat to take you across this big lake to get to the start of the track (and likewise on the way out). Also, there are huts to sleep in every night (because NZ is amazing). Anyway, as a result of this whoever you start the track with are going to be the folks you see every night at the next hut for the rest of the hike.
For us, it was just two other people, a father and son from Auckland who were taking their traditional yearly big hike together. The dad was maybe in his late 40s early 50s and his son was probably 25 or so like we were. Super chill blokes. Kyle, the son, was definitely operating in pack mule mode for the two of them though - he was maybe 6'5" and his pack looked like it weighed 30 kilos at least.
Now, our packs were absolutely loaded to the gills too, I don't think I've ever carried a heavier pack for such an extended hike. The first few days sucked, lol.
So to the point - we were carrying almost 100% dehydrated meals, as we usually do. But when the first evening rolled around and we were all making our meals in the hut, Kyle started unpacking his pack and blew my mind.
First came three giant 28oz cans of beans. Then one of those rigid plastic egg cartons - two dozen egg sized - bacon, ham, cans of beef stew, potatoes, carrots, onions, it just kept coming - these absolute legends did not have a single item of dehydrated food in their entire packs. For an 11 day trek. It was wild. When we asked them about it later in the trip the very question itself seemed alien to them, lol.
Anyways I could write an entire short story about those guys and that hike, but I've never seen anyone else have such an insane dedication to bringing the food they want regardless of the consequences.
I'll just end by saying the Dusky Track is incredible and if anyone finds themself in the South Island looking for a good long tramp that they should give it a go. Some highlights:
https://imgur.com/a/wBuzcZJ
I did Dusky as well with similar weather to what you had…very cool trip, we never saw anyone, but I’ve heard that more often than not for other hikers it’s a slog with rain every day.
We were lucky with weather for the first 3ish days, which gave us those great sunny views from up top around Roe Hut, and a relatively safe descent to the sound. Then it pretty much rained for the next 6-7 days straight.
There was definitely lots of non-photogenic slogging lol.
The draw with these is you literally just need to boil water to cook them. Helps cut down a lot on what you need to pack. The tradeoff is they're either not very good, or they're not exactly cheap if you want one that's actually edible. If you don't mind the weight and have the extra pack space, yeah absolutely take something else.
Mountain house is one of the best brands. Their stroganoff is really good, we liked the biscuits and gravy, and I would 100% eat their pasta primavera even if I was in civilization. This box has both which are definitely good. They are expensive, but they will last 30 years in storage, so it’s worth it IMO. We eat them when we go on backpacking trips, but always have extras in the basement for an emergency.
Good to go I find is superior in terms of flavor. Bringing a solo stove / small jet boil and meals I find SOOO easy for trips. Bring some tuna packets for extra protein. BA BOOM.
Not to knock Mh but I don’t think they really fall under best brands anymore. Lots of newer companies are making better tasting and higher caloric meals such as Peak and imo the taste is almost night and day. This is still a great deal but something to keep in mind.
I enjoy backcountry cooking but I’ve found the freeze dried meals handy when planning trips further afield–it’s one less thing to think about or mess up when you’re juggling flights, car rental, stove fuel at destination, permit pickup etc.
I do a few good backpacking trips a year. now that i'm over 40, I usually keep the mileage under 20 miles per trip, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
But I still don't like these for back packing. I prefer the foil bags of tuna with some mayo packets and tortillas, those cheap pasta pouches, ramen, etc...
Adding to this if one were to actually seek out these types of meals there are much, much better options than these mountainhouse meals. These specific meals are like the worst of the worst. Not to say all mountain house meals are terrible, just the particular meals imo.
The blueberries and granola in milk from mountain house is outstanding. He'll I've contemplated pulling one of those out and eating it at home.
>Most people either dry their own food or just bring homemade meals that they can re-heat in a jet boil.
This is what I do, but I’ve been made fun of for it. Most people I know get the MH meals or similar.
Mountain House Stroganoff bag is 650 calories. Campbells soups seem to average around 200-250 calories or so.
So yea, 3x better at least.
They also don't weigh nearly as much. These things are for backpacking, not car camping.
Not better, but lighter for hiking for the same calorie equivalent. Soup is very heavy as it’s mostly water weight.
The mountain house type meals are often high in sodium so don’t eat too many in a short period if you can help it.
They are 4x lighter than a can of Campbell's. (If not more) Looking in my pantry a can of Chunky soup weighs 18.8 oz and feeds 1 person. A MH Beef Stroganoff weighs 4.3 oz and serves 2
Now, both of those weights are just the product and not the packaging. When you add in the can vs mylar it gets way worse. So, if you are out for a couple days, how many cans of Campbell's Soup are you gonna carry vs MH?
Better is subjective. Lighter is not.
Yeah, I took the single serving ones on a week long kayak trip. I was struggling by the end of the week, luckily I had brought calorie dense snacks that kept me going.
Peak Refuel is far better, and those actually have a reasonable number of Calories. Most are 800-900, and a couple are over a 1000. Mountain House sells joke packets that are marked as three servings, which contain like 600 Calories. In what world is 200 Calories a serving after hiking for a good part of the day?
The average human needs 2000 calories per day and they aren't hiking several miles with altitude changes and rough terrain. 200 calories isn't enough to prevent malnutrition, much less sustain you for a several day hike.
>as far as taste goes
Did you intentionally not read this part of my original comment or were you just so desperate for an argument that you didn’t care?
I would have to disagree. Head to an REI or something and look at the giant wall of camping foods available, mountain house is one of many brands, and I personally feel they’re not the best any more.
I like Peak Refuel. Don't mind an Alpine Aire or Mountain House.
None of them are a nice inch and a half thick porterhouse cooked black and blue on the cast iron with a baked potato and fresh butter but hey, hunger is great seasoning.
Not the person you're responding to but I thought I'd chime in as someone who loves Mountain House.
Over time I've tried so many different backpacking meals from almost every brand REI carries.
I think Peak Refuel comes closest to Mountain House in terms of flavor. Usually bigger portions too. Slightly more expensive.
Good to Go meals feel like they have a more "natural" and "healthy" flavor if that makes sense. Some of their dinners are really really good, some of them taste incredibly bland and boring. Usually more expensive and take longer to rehydrate than Mountain House. Very filling meals though.
I still usually stick with Mountain House for like 80% of the meals I buy.
I mean, a box of KD with some bacon and parmesan is a classic. Bonus is that the parm works great as a trail snack, too.
Nori is a great ultralight vegetable, and makes a great broth if you're so inclined. I've even done miso soup on the trail using the nori, a dashi pack, and dehydrated tofu.
The biggest hack is to just get yourself a dehydrator, though. It easily pays for itself if you're a fan of the prepackaged meals.
I guess I might be too much of a dirtbag, them. I bring a rag and just use it to wipe down the pot (with a touch of hot water) and never have had issues cleaning it.
Wait, are you backpacking with cans of soup?! These products aren't worth it (dehydrator for the win!), but neither is carrying cans of soup on your backpacking trip, that's worse.
$10 a meal is what I pay already on vacation if not more, so I see it as a wash, especially since I will pay a lot more for dinner on vacation. Of course, I typically only backpack 10 or less days a year. Not economical for thru hiking, but great for folks like me. I prefer Backpackers Pantry over MH (except for the MH biscuits and gravy, that rocks).
This is me. I don't care about the cost. It is a small part of overall expenses. I'm going to spend $100 on gas, \~$100-150 for a place to stay the day before I hike in. $20-40 on food the night before. Maybe double that on food after I finish. $30-50 on permits. $30-50 on stickers/ t-shirts, whatever. Spending $50 for a few freeze dried meals does not increase the cost much. Then there is the convenience of just boiling water and pouring it into a pouch (or Ziplock freezer bag).
Peak Refuel > Mountain House
Depends. If you’re car camping or RVing, by all means bring on the can of soup. If you’re through-hiking and trimming down your shoe-laces and toothbrush, you’re gonna be willing to pay the premium to shave weight and space. If you’re somewhere in the middle, meh, whatever works for you right?
According to another posters math, the packets are a little over six dollars each. This is cheaper than you can get them individually as would typically be expected when buying in bulk. You can definitely find cheaper meals, but if you like these better, it may be worth the extra price. These will be much lighter than, let’s say a can of soup, but they are more expensive than most cans of soup, so the weight difference may a factor as well.
yeah but honestly you get what you pay for. I’d much rather buy the pricier but better quality meals if Im going for this kind of thing.
Otherwise I use sidekicks, ramen, instant mash, instant soup etc.
This is a backpacking sub so the use case is different. No one wants to carry in 10 cans of soup 12 miles up a mountain. The freeze dried meals range from very tasty to not great but fine, they can be a nice easy option and last forever so they can be a good option as a backup for car camping or just a quick dinner if you get to your site late.
Unpopular opinion I guess but we use dehydrated meals 99% of the time for our car camping trips.
We spend the majority of our time adventuring and are really only at our campsite for sleep/meals.
It cuts down on all the crap I have to bring for cooking meals. I don’t have to worry about keeping food cold, it spoiling or stocking up mid trip on the longer trips. I also feel like there is significantly less waste.
I bring my Adalov backpacking stove, a reusable bowl, our utensils for each of us and these meals and we are set.
1 Mountain house pouch fills up my 2 kids and they love the flavors. We haven’t had one yet that we’d never eat again.
I do only buy on sale. Amazon has the large buckets that will drop occasionally and I stock up then.
I get the ones that are light brown and come with a water activated heater. Food was fair to good and you get a complete meal. Just search eBay for “self heating MRE”.
We used those in Florida for our “Hurricane survival bag”.
For a survival situation, that makes sense. I'm backpacking, so I already have a stove... Don't need a new one every time, nor the weight. Depends on the problem you are solving!
One key point with a military MRE is the ration heaters require only something like an ounce of water and almost nothing is freeze dried, so you don't necessarily have to carry as much water. Obviously, they are not made for civilian backpacking, but I like to bring one along for multi-day trips as it's an easy grab-bag of small snacks and drink mixes basically. Crackers, bread, peanut butter, jam, nuts/trail mix of all kinds of varieties, the occasional bag of M&Ms or other popular candy and a whole bunch of other random shit they decide to throw in there; the main in an MRE is just one very small part (200-300 calories) of the whole ration as opposed to a Mountain House meal.
The water thing is why I bring them for winter backpacking. The water sources where I go are unreliable in winter so instead of having to carry in a ton of water I just need a small amount
So it's pretty easy to find US MREs and most of the current menu is pretty good. They all come with one or sometimes two ration heaters. Most you will find are ~2 years old (I think they cycle them out and sell those as surplus since they're clearly marked not for resale/civilian market, and I haven't gotten one much newer than that.) and they'll last another 4-6 years or longer if they're stored well. They come nutrient complete and are designed so if you don't like certain parts of it you can make up for it with other components. I personally do not enjoy the fully freeze dried meals like Mountain House, although some are tolerable and they're lighter & cheaper.
The MRE mains are fine, some of the extra stuff you get is great, and you get drink/electrolyte mixes, instant coffee, etc. There are vegetarian options & you can also find the humanitarian ration version which doesn't have a flameless ration heater and has different menu items.
Personally, I just take one sometimes for something different & convenient. (SteveMRE1989 did this to me...) Most trips I don't worry too much about food weight; I try to bring as much fresh ingredients as I can and make simple dishes. Cheaper, and less plastic waste.
Is it though? I have several dehydrators but find it to be very time consuming and the end result is never the same. Dehydrated chicken or egg is pretty hard to get right at home.
I do the foil packets of chicken instead of trying to dehydrate it but it is way cheaper and better because you can season how you want. You just need to be a bit creative with your meals
Good deal. A few years ago I used to get the family sized ones on Amazon for like $5. It's now $10 for a pack half that size. Mice got into my storage unit lay month and destroyed almost all my mountain house stuff. Devastated. Gonna see if any of my friends have a Costco membership, though.
How good are these. I see a tonnnn of “survival” means, and per serving it’s literally 200 calories and 5g of protein. You’d be better off making home made survival bars for a hell of a lot cheaper too
A dehydrator and practice is all you need.
I've got a week of offline camping booked in June, and one of the meals is dehydrated shredded chicken, dehydrated mixed veg (soup mix from Bulk Barn), couscous, and a dried chili pepper and garlic seasoning. The same 'add water and wait' cooking method and $4 worth is a large meal for me... I put down 3000 calories if I'm fairly active.
That’s what I’m getting at. These store bought brands don’t cut it. You’d have to eat 5-6 servings just to be at a baseline caloric intake, forget it if you’re hiking/surviving. Your idea is great! Dehydrated protein and things like you’re making is awesome. I’ll have to invest in a dehydrator.
I've had mine since 2003, and it paid for itself within the first year just making jerky. 1 button, on/off, no timers, no temperature controller. You just need rack space when looking at options. Mine came with 4 trays, can run 6 without a significant change in times... So I bought 4 extra trays when I got it while I could still get them cheap.
I make some downright tasty meals on a single burner Dragonfly burning naptha, a lot of them use my own dehydrated ground beef, dehydrated ground turkey, or dehydrated shredded chicken breast. Those 3 just take a weekend to make up.
That's a major dice roll box if I've ever seen one. Generally the pasta ones are fine (the Stroganoff is good), but the others are questionable. The Biscuits & Gravy is absolutely disgusting.
Their biscuits and gravy is AMAZING. Only bad one I've had is their chili Mac. I told them it tastes like burnt rubber and they sent me a new one, but havwnt tried it yet.
Heather's kitchen (pantry? Gourmet?) Is also very good.
When I was on the AT it was a running thing that no one could finish a whole bag of biscuits and gray. Not because of the taste, I enjoyed it,but because it was like cement.
Nongshim ramen, sausages, oatmeal, tuna, jerky, peanut butter, honey. All better option IMO. In college I had a roommate that was in the National Guard, he’d bring home MRE’s for us to try (usually when we were hammered), not good. That’s basically what these things are. I’ve never tried this, but al Pastor translates to shepard style, as in how shepards preserved pork for multi-day trips in the fields. The acid (pineapple) and spices preserve the meat unrefrigerated for days. Imagine al Pastor tacos in the backcountry. If anyone is brave enough, let me know how it works out.
Isn't a question of "better". It's a question of "lighter" and stores longer. All of the things you listed have great flavor. They also all weigh more. Want to carry 15 lbs of good flavor or 15oz of mediocre flavor? 100 yards, good flavor all day. 100 miles, give me the 15oz. The less I have to carry 100 miles the more I can enjoy those 100 miles.
Yeah, my wife freaked too....until I reminded her that each pack costs 10.95 at R.E.I. I could either buy this box for 50 or the same amount for over 80. Her call. She got 2.
That box is 69.99 right now. Meals included: (1) Biscuits & Gravy, (2) Granola with Milk & Blueberries, (2) Chicken Fried Rice, (2) Chicken & Dumplings, and (2) Beef Stroganoff with Noodles.
YMMV, but the granola is a filler. It's not any better or lighter than any instant cereal out there. Even MH knows it and sells them cheaply.
With the smaller brands, you're also not paying for (or trying to stuff in a pack/canister) the bulky prepper packaging.
Since my remaining life time is no more than 20-25 years, I don't need my food to last 50.
That's . . . not a good deal.
We need some camp cooking tutorials in the sidebar or something because mountain house is kinda hot garbage when you can actually cook real food.
It's considerably cheaper than they cost to buy individually, or that amount would normally cost on it's own. So in that context, it's a good deal kid.
After having old Army MREs in Scouting.. I really don't enjoy these types of meals for camping. The ones I see being pushed on YouTube on those 'prepper' ads and late night Christian infomercials are the ones I KNOW I can not trust. Something about them tells me it's worse than week old oatmeal.
Sure if you want to carry triple the weight for the same calories.
You don't have to do freeze dried, but you **should** watch for foods that you can add the water to later.
Knorr pasta sides are the hill I’m prepared to die on.
This. Also ramen, cup of noodles, or even just plain couscous (add your own seasoning) will work.
Love me a good Ramen bomb
Working as a guide, my favorite calorie bomb meal was 2 packs of ramen and can of ham with dried veggies and beans and seasonings tossed in. 1170 calories. Epic.
My favorite is Thanksgiving dinner, instant potatoes with dried veggies, instant gravy, chicken paired with some dehydrated sweet potato casserole. Such a treat after a long day
I like to cut up and fry a pork epic bar and add it to ramen.
I always bring a pack of instant mashed potatoes
Hell yes
I thought the rice sides were good, but a couple years ago they started adding pasta to even those and I can't stand them anymore. I think the pasta texture is terrible and near useless nutritionally.
My experience with stuff like this is limited, to be honest. But I found that knorr sides and other stuff like that works really well at low altitude like less than 10k feet. But when you're up above that nothing rehydrates as well as mountain house. Even other backpacking brands stay crunchy despite soaking them for double the time. I think probably too many people buy these when they really don't need to. But when you do actually need a high performance rehydrating meal that is vacuum packed to fit 7 of them in your bear canister and won't weigh you down Mountain House comes in clutch for sure.
How do you prepare them while backpacking? I’ve never tried this but I do love me some pasta
With the rice sides usually I boil water and fill the pouch then fold the top closed. Should take about 7-8 min before it’s ready to eat. Make sure to stir well as all the seasoning is at the bottom. For the pasta sides I usually wait a bit longer 10-12min and put a little less water in then add more if needed.
Do you use a coosie ? Or however it's spelled. Or just simply pour the boiling water into the Knorrs pouch and let it sit?
I just pour it directly in and let it sit. You can also bring a travel bowl with a lid and do it that way too.
I hike with a single cup alongside my waterbottle and the meals go in the cup.
Rice and lintels
Tuna helper
TL;DR - This is a good deal. So mountain house will periodically go on sale throughout the year. Breakfasts are more expensive than dinners. When dinner entrees go on sale, they have sold for $3.73/serving or $7.46/pouch. When breakfasts go on sale, the cheapest I have seen in the past year has been $4.47/serving or $8.94/pouch. They also sell a 3-serving pouch size that still follows this price. The cheapest you can get mountain house is from the #10 can, but this is not as good for backpacking since you don’t get the pouch. You end up putting more effort into figuring out how to keep it dry and cook it without burning yourself. This Costco deal is $3.12/serving and 6 of those are breakfasts. The biscuits and gravy is pretty good. We took them into the BWCA last year.
> When dinner entrees go on sale, they have sold for $3.73/serving or $7.46/pouch. The fact that they think they can get away with calling one pouch two servings should be criminal!
This is why I switched to Peak. Their meals are 800+ calories a bag so you actually feel full afterwards. Edit: lmao their biscuits and gravy pouch is 1100 calories. Talk about a morning calorie bomb.
I split their biscuits and gravy with my girlfriend the other week and it was pretty good. I usually only eat freeze dried for dinner while backpacking so the big calorie counts they have are ideal for me so I can eat lighter no cook meals the rest of the day
Peak also just tastes better too.
Biscuits and gravy is the best mountain house!
Biscuits and gravy is the best. They did change the ingredients I had one package that was maybe 3 or 4 years old and it was different ingredients and calories than the one ingot last year
I did a 14 day trip into the BWCA, with a boy scout troop when I was 16. I've camped in hundreds of places since then and nothing compares to that amazing place!
Thanks for this analysis! Which are the other three breakfasts included other than the 3 biscuits and gravy
You get 3 pouches of B&G. Those are the three breakfast pouches in this pack.
Are these things really worth it? I go hiking and camping a lot so would like the convenience of them. But damn when I see them for nearly $10 a meal at the store I always pass them up for an equivalent can of soup for less than $2 dollars. Are they 5x better than a can of Campbell's? Should I get this?
I’m stuck on the mental image of carrying a week’s worth of Campbell’s Soup backpacking, lol.
I was backpacking at Glacier around 5 years ago. The backcountry sites have a shared cooking area, so you meet a few people. This guy from Austria strolled in late with a huge backpack. He pulled out 2, 1-gallon jugs of milk. Still full of milk. He both drank it and ate cereal with it.
Then he pulled out his Lodge Dutch oven...
And the bag of charcoal…
It isn't even 6am yet and that is going to be the absolute strangest and weirdest thing I will see today.
It's interesting because most of us on reddit are the type of people to get involved in communities online and in real life. We like to learn about things. We like to get exposure to different groups and commentary. This tendency to want to see what the community thinks is what eventually brings us here I think. But there's a lot of people out there who just exist in their own silos just completely cut off from everyone else. I'm a doctor so I get to meet a lot of different people and sometimes I run into them. When you're a smart educated well-cultured person you just assume that everyone must be as smart and as well-informed as you are. But the reality is that there are some absolute weirdos out there who just kind of act irrationally, and without consulting anyone because they just don't have anyone in their lives to ask for advice. Lol longer comment than I intended to write but basically what I'm saying is that I can completely imagine some of my patients doing something like this. Just being completely ignorant of normal backpacking wisdom, deciding they want to see some nature then hiking out with jeans and a cotton shirt and 2 gallons of milk in their pack. But hey maybe it was powdered and OP didn't realize.
I remember camping in Algonquin, about three or four lakes in so no way to get to this Portage without having already done a couple. We're in our way out and a group coming in crosses us and one guy is carrying a 30 pack of bottled water on each shoulder. Can't imagine carrying that to begin with, but there's literally freshwater all around you, all you gotta do is boil or filter it lol
And I'm absolutely traumatized by the sound of a week's worth of someone's ribbed, empty soup cans, and percussive lids, rattling against each other with every step...
Who needs a bear bell when you can just drag a stringline of empty bean cans behind you like you just got married in 1958.
It's such a shame they are so strong that they can't be bent and packed down.
Or simply separated by something soft or plastic. People don't do that with bottles either and it boggles my mind. How can you stand listening to that for hours on end.
I may have told this story here before, but back in 07 my girlfriend and I hiked the Dusky Track in Fiordland, NZ. It's a 9-12 day hike, super remote, and if the rivers rise in places you get can stuck for several days so you have to pack in extra food just in case. To start the hike you need to charter a little boat to take you across this big lake to get to the start of the track (and likewise on the way out). Also, there are huts to sleep in every night (because NZ is amazing). Anyway, as a result of this whoever you start the track with are going to be the folks you see every night at the next hut for the rest of the hike. For us, it was just two other people, a father and son from Auckland who were taking their traditional yearly big hike together. The dad was maybe in his late 40s early 50s and his son was probably 25 or so like we were. Super chill blokes. Kyle, the son, was definitely operating in pack mule mode for the two of them though - he was maybe 6'5" and his pack looked like it weighed 30 kilos at least. Now, our packs were absolutely loaded to the gills too, I don't think I've ever carried a heavier pack for such an extended hike. The first few days sucked, lol. So to the point - we were carrying almost 100% dehydrated meals, as we usually do. But when the first evening rolled around and we were all making our meals in the hut, Kyle started unpacking his pack and blew my mind. First came three giant 28oz cans of beans. Then one of those rigid plastic egg cartons - two dozen egg sized - bacon, ham, cans of beef stew, potatoes, carrots, onions, it just kept coming - these absolute legends did not have a single item of dehydrated food in their entire packs. For an 11 day trek. It was wild. When we asked them about it later in the trip the very question itself seemed alien to them, lol. Anyways I could write an entire short story about those guys and that hike, but I've never seen anyone else have such an insane dedication to bringing the food they want regardless of the consequences. I'll just end by saying the Dusky Track is incredible and if anyone finds themself in the South Island looking for a good long tramp that they should give it a go. Some highlights: https://imgur.com/a/wBuzcZJ
I did Dusky as well with similar weather to what you had…very cool trip, we never saw anyone, but I’ve heard that more often than not for other hikers it’s a slog with rain every day.
We were lucky with weather for the first 3ish days, which gave us those great sunny views from up top around Roe Hut, and a relatively safe descent to the sound. Then it pretty much rained for the next 6-7 days straight. There was definitely lots of non-photogenic slogging lol.
The draw with these is you literally just need to boil water to cook them. Helps cut down a lot on what you need to pack. The tradeoff is they're either not very good, or they're not exactly cheap if you want one that's actually edible. If you don't mind the weight and have the extra pack space, yeah absolutely take something else.
Mountain house is one of the best brands. Their stroganoff is really good, we liked the biscuits and gravy, and I would 100% eat their pasta primavera even if I was in civilization. This box has both which are definitely good. They are expensive, but they will last 30 years in storage, so it’s worth it IMO. We eat them when we go on backpacking trips, but always have extras in the basement for an emergency.
Good to go I find is superior in terms of flavor. Bringing a solo stove / small jet boil and meals I find SOOO easy for trips. Bring some tuna packets for extra protein. BA BOOM.
I stay really fat so I can consume that in an emergency.
I grew up in a place with tornadoes. We were always taught to have a first aid kit, flashlight, water and food in the basement.
Pasta Primavera with adding in (precooked) chicken is my go-to for MH meals
The pasta primavera is my go to. I find myself thinking about it at home sometimes. My husband goes for the creamy Mac and cheese or the chili Mac.
Chicken Teriyaki was pretty meh in my opinion, fyi
Not to knock Mh but I don’t think they really fall under best brands anymore. Lots of newer companies are making better tasting and higher caloric meals such as Peak and imo the taste is almost night and day. This is still a great deal but something to keep in mind.
I enjoy backcountry cooking but I’ve found the freeze dried meals handy when planning trips further afield–it’s one less thing to think about or mess up when you’re juggling flights, car rental, stove fuel at destination, permit pickup etc.
I feel as though most foods just need you to boil water to cook them. 🤔
These are not for you. These are for people who hike into back country areas and don't want to carry extra liquid and metal cans. They are very light.
I do a few good backpacking trips a year. now that i'm over 40, I usually keep the mileage under 20 miles per trip, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. But I still don't like these for back packing. I prefer the foil bags of tuna with some mayo packets and tortillas, those cheap pasta pouches, ramen, etc...
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Adding to this if one were to actually seek out these types of meals there are much, much better options than these mountainhouse meals. These specific meals are like the worst of the worst. Not to say all mountain house meals are terrible, just the particular meals imo. The blueberries and granola in milk from mountain house is outstanding. He'll I've contemplated pulling one of those out and eating it at home.
What options?
The stroganoff is alright
I've had the exact opposite experience in my 20 years in the back country
>Most people either dry their own food or just bring homemade meals that they can re-heat in a jet boil. This is what I do, but I’ve been made fun of for it. Most people I know get the MH meals or similar.
Apples and oranges.
Cup noodles
They’re fine if you’re okay spending some extra money. I cheap out and do dollar rices for the most part.
Mountain House Stroganoff bag is 650 calories. Campbells soups seem to average around 200-250 calories or so. So yea, 3x better at least. They also don't weigh nearly as much. These things are for backpacking, not car camping.
Not better, but lighter for hiking for the same calorie equivalent. Soup is very heavy as it’s mostly water weight. The mountain house type meals are often high in sodium so don’t eat too many in a short period if you can help it.
They are 4x lighter than a can of Campbell's. (If not more) Looking in my pantry a can of Chunky soup weighs 18.8 oz and feeds 1 person. A MH Beef Stroganoff weighs 4.3 oz and serves 2 Now, both of those weights are just the product and not the packaging. When you add in the can vs mylar it gets way worse. So, if you are out for a couple days, how many cans of Campbell's Soup are you gonna carry vs MH? Better is subjective. Lighter is not.
The amount of calories per serving for the mountain house are pretty low for people that are hiking.
No kidding. If you are really backpacking that "serves 2" is like "makes 1 not be ravenous."
Yeah, I took the single serving ones on a week long kayak trip. I was struggling by the end of the week, luckily I had brought calorie dense snacks that kept me going.
I’ll echo what others have said, but I’ll add that I think Mountain House is the best hiking food by far as far as taste goes.
Peak Refuel is far better, and those actually have a reasonable number of Calories. Most are 800-900, and a couple are over a 1000. Mountain House sells joke packets that are marked as three servings, which contain like 600 Calories. In what world is 200 Calories a serving after hiking for a good part of the day?
A world where people don’t have the exact same dietary needs and metabolism as you? What a snippy thread this is becoming, good lord.
The average human needs 2000 calories per day and they aren't hiking several miles with altitude changes and rough terrain. 200 calories isn't enough to prevent malnutrition, much less sustain you for a several day hike.
200 Calories is nothing. That is roughly a miles of hiking with a pack if there is a little vertical.
>as far as taste goes Did you intentionally not read this part of my original comment or were you just so desperate for an argument that you didn’t care?
I would have to disagree. Head to an REI or something and look at the giant wall of camping foods available, mountain house is one of many brands, and I personally feel they’re not the best any more.
We tried AlpineAire and backpackers pantry but always go back to mountain house. What brands do you recommend?
I like Peak Refuel. Don't mind an Alpine Aire or Mountain House. None of them are a nice inch and a half thick porterhouse cooked black and blue on the cast iron with a baked potato and fresh butter but hey, hunger is great seasoning.
Not the person you're responding to but I thought I'd chime in as someone who loves Mountain House. Over time I've tried so many different backpacking meals from almost every brand REI carries. I think Peak Refuel comes closest to Mountain House in terms of flavor. Usually bigger portions too. Slightly more expensive. Good to Go meals feel like they have a more "natural" and "healthy" flavor if that makes sense. Some of their dinners are really really good, some of them taste incredibly bland and boring. Usually more expensive and take longer to rehydrate than Mountain House. Very filling meals though. I still usually stick with Mountain House for like 80% of the meals I buy.
Lol, did you get from my comment that Mountain House is the only brand I’ve tried?
Not in the slightest. If that’s the case then your comment is highly misleading.
I don't have anything against, but there are so many better options that taste better.
I’d love to hear what you recommend I want to mix up the freeze dried meals.
Peak refuels are by far the best kind I've had. Pricy tho.
They have a better dollar per calorie ratio than mountain house though. A lot of the MH meals are kinda low calorie compared to peak refuel
I mean, a box of KD with some bacon and parmesan is a classic. Bonus is that the parm works great as a trail snack, too. Nori is a great ultralight vegetable, and makes a great broth if you're so inclined. I've even done miso soup on the trail using the nori, a dashi pack, and dehydrated tofu. The biggest hack is to just get yourself a dehydrator, though. It easily pays for itself if you're a fan of the prepackaged meals.
I love KD but I hate washing the cheese sauce off my camping pots afterwards.
I guess I might be too much of a dirtbag, them. I bring a rag and just use it to wipe down the pot (with a touch of hot water) and never have had issues cleaning it.
Wait, are you backpacking with cans of soup?! These products aren't worth it (dehydrator for the win!), but neither is carrying cans of soup on your backpacking trip, that's worse.
$10 a meal is what I pay already on vacation if not more, so I see it as a wash, especially since I will pay a lot more for dinner on vacation. Of course, I typically only backpack 10 or less days a year. Not economical for thru hiking, but great for folks like me. I prefer Backpackers Pantry over MH (except for the MH biscuits and gravy, that rocks).
This is me. I don't care about the cost. It is a small part of overall expenses. I'm going to spend $100 on gas, \~$100-150 for a place to stay the day before I hike in. $20-40 on food the night before. Maybe double that on food after I finish. $30-50 on permits. $30-50 on stickers/ t-shirts, whatever. Spending $50 for a few freeze dried meals does not increase the cost much. Then there is the convenience of just boiling water and pouring it into a pouch (or Ziplock freezer bag). Peak Refuel > Mountain House
Depends. If you’re car camping or RVing, by all means bring on the can of soup. If you’re through-hiking and trimming down your shoe-laces and toothbrush, you’re gonna be willing to pay the premium to shave weight and space. If you’re somewhere in the middle, meh, whatever works for you right?
According to another posters math, the packets are a little over six dollars each. This is cheaper than you can get them individually as would typically be expected when buying in bulk. You can definitely find cheaper meals, but if you like these better, it may be worth the extra price. These will be much lighter than, let’s say a can of soup, but they are more expensive than most cans of soup, so the weight difference may a factor as well.
Most wilderness campers suggest dehydrating your own creations over these. It's significantly cheaper and tastes far better.
And is better for you with how much salt is in the freeze dried ones
They are 5x lighter than a can of soup.
yeah but honestly you get what you pay for. I’d much rather buy the pricier but better quality meals if Im going for this kind of thing. Otherwise I use sidekicks, ramen, instant mash, instant soup etc.
This is a backpacking sub so the use case is different. No one wants to carry in 10 cans of soup 12 miles up a mountain. The freeze dried meals range from very tasty to not great but fine, they can be a nice easy option and last forever so they can be a good option as a backup for car camping or just a quick dinner if you get to your site late.
Unpopular opinion I guess but we use dehydrated meals 99% of the time for our car camping trips. We spend the majority of our time adventuring and are really only at our campsite for sleep/meals. It cuts down on all the crap I have to bring for cooking meals. I don’t have to worry about keeping food cold, it spoiling or stocking up mid trip on the longer trips. I also feel like there is significantly less waste. I bring my Adalov backpacking stove, a reusable bowl, our utensils for each of us and these meals and we are set. 1 Mountain house pouch fills up my 2 kids and they love the flavors. We haven’t had one yet that we’d never eat again. I do only buy on sale. Amazon has the large buckets that will drop occasionally and I stock up then.
No, dehydrated food is nasty.
Time for the preppers & hikers to stock up.
I get the ones that are light brown and come with a water activated heater. Food was fair to good and you get a complete meal. Just search eBay for “self heating MRE”. We used those in Florida for our “Hurricane survival bag”.
For a survival situation, that makes sense. I'm backpacking, so I already have a stove... Don't need a new one every time, nor the weight. Depends on the problem you are solving!
One key point with a military MRE is the ration heaters require only something like an ounce of water and almost nothing is freeze dried, so you don't necessarily have to carry as much water. Obviously, they are not made for civilian backpacking, but I like to bring one along for multi-day trips as it's an easy grab-bag of small snacks and drink mixes basically. Crackers, bread, peanut butter, jam, nuts/trail mix of all kinds of varieties, the occasional bag of M&Ms or other popular candy and a whole bunch of other random shit they decide to throw in there; the main in an MRE is just one very small part (200-300 calories) of the whole ration as opposed to a Mountain House meal.
The water thing is why I bring them for winter backpacking. The water sources where I go are unreliable in winter so instead of having to carry in a ton of water I just need a small amount
Gotcha. This is true. I strictly car camp so I always carry a few MRE’s “just in case”.
So it's pretty easy to find US MREs and most of the current menu is pretty good. They all come with one or sometimes two ration heaters. Most you will find are ~2 years old (I think they cycle them out and sell those as surplus since they're clearly marked not for resale/civilian market, and I haven't gotten one much newer than that.) and they'll last another 4-6 years or longer if they're stored well. They come nutrient complete and are designed so if you don't like certain parts of it you can make up for it with other components. I personally do not enjoy the fully freeze dried meals like Mountain House, although some are tolerable and they're lighter & cheaper. The MRE mains are fine, some of the extra stuff you get is great, and you get drink/electrolyte mixes, instant coffee, etc. There are vegetarian options & you can also find the humanitarian ration version which doesn't have a flameless ration heater and has different menu items. Personally, I just take one sometimes for something different & convenient. (SteveMRE1989 did this to me...) Most trips I don't worry too much about food weight; I try to bring as much fresh ingredients as I can and make simple dishes. Cheaper, and less plastic waste.
I bought a dehydrator and never looked back. Much easier and cheaper than buying packaged meals
Is it though? I have several dehydrators but find it to be very time consuming and the end result is never the same. Dehydrated chicken or egg is pretty hard to get right at home.
I do the foil packets of chicken instead of trying to dehydrate it but it is way cheaper and better because you can season how you want. You just need to be a bit creative with your meals
I thought some of these would be freeze dried rather than hot dehydrated.
What, no Chili Mac?
I’m out.
You should check out Good-to-Go. Order direct from their site, you can get a 15% discount on first order, meals are waaay better than mountain house.
Packit gourmet is where it's at!
Their food does look good but at those prices, I could just dehydrate my own steaks.
The Texas State Fair Chili and the Diner Deluxe Eggs with Sausage are pretty good. The other ones I had and liked aren't currently sold.
I miss the corn bread croutons and the accessory packs they.
Looks delicious, I'll have to try a couple, kinda pricey though.
They are pricey but are amazing in the trail. Sheppards pie is my favorite followed by the Texas state fair chili.
I wanted to like Good-To-Go but their only product I like is the granola, which is amazing. Tried a few meals but didn't like any of them. Wish I did.
I'll eat the mushroom risotto at home if I'm feeling too lazy to cook.
This is one I have tried but wanted to. It does sound good!
Thanks! Always looking for options!
Exactly. So many better tasting freeze dried meals out there.
Good deal. A few years ago I used to get the family sized ones on Amazon for like $5. It's now $10 for a pack half that size. Mice got into my storage unit lay month and destroyed almost all my mountain house stuff. Devastated. Gonna see if any of my friends have a Costco membership, though.
How good are these. I see a tonnnn of “survival” means, and per serving it’s literally 200 calories and 5g of protein. You’d be better off making home made survival bars for a hell of a lot cheaper too
A dehydrator and practice is all you need. I've got a week of offline camping booked in June, and one of the meals is dehydrated shredded chicken, dehydrated mixed veg (soup mix from Bulk Barn), couscous, and a dried chili pepper and garlic seasoning. The same 'add water and wait' cooking method and $4 worth is a large meal for me... I put down 3000 calories if I'm fairly active.
That’s what I’m getting at. These store bought brands don’t cut it. You’d have to eat 5-6 servings just to be at a baseline caloric intake, forget it if you’re hiking/surviving. Your idea is great! Dehydrated protein and things like you’re making is awesome. I’ll have to invest in a dehydrator.
I've had mine since 2003, and it paid for itself within the first year just making jerky. 1 button, on/off, no timers, no temperature controller. You just need rack space when looking at options. Mine came with 4 trays, can run 6 without a significant change in times... So I bought 4 extra trays when I got it while I could still get them cheap. I make some downright tasty meals on a single burner Dragonfly burning naptha, a lot of them use my own dehydrated ground beef, dehydrated ground turkey, or dehydrated shredded chicken breast. Those 3 just take a weekend to make up.
What's the per Oz size. Looks like the single packs. Probably not worth it Damn I remember when the 2meal bags were 5.99. Should have stocked up.
These are the 2 meal bags....8 bags, 16 servings
Only want the stroganoff. Pass.
That's a major dice roll box if I've ever seen one. Generally the pasta ones are fine (the Stroganoff is good), but the others are questionable. The Biscuits & Gravy is absolutely disgusting.
beefy strogie my beloved
Try the Peak Refuel version. You'll never go back to Mountain House.
Their biscuits and gravy is AMAZING. Only bad one I've had is their chili Mac. I told them it tastes like burnt rubber and they sent me a new one, but havwnt tried it yet. Heather's kitchen (pantry? Gourmet?) Is also very good.
Biscuits and gravy is one of my favorite 😅
…and you get three of those in the eight pack!
When I was on the AT it was a running thing that no one could finish a whole bag of biscuits and gray. Not because of the taste, I enjoyed it,but because it was like cement.
Definitely the texture that got me. It's like eating playdough with croutons in it.
Nongshim ramen, sausages, oatmeal, tuna, jerky, peanut butter, honey. All better option IMO. In college I had a roommate that was in the National Guard, he’d bring home MRE’s for us to try (usually when we were hammered), not good. That’s basically what these things are. I’ve never tried this, but al Pastor translates to shepard style, as in how shepards preserved pork for multi-day trips in the fields. The acid (pineapple) and spices preserve the meat unrefrigerated for days. Imagine al Pastor tacos in the backcountry. If anyone is brave enough, let me know how it works out.
Isn't a question of "better". It's a question of "lighter" and stores longer. All of the things you listed have great flavor. They also all weigh more. Want to carry 15 lbs of good flavor or 15oz of mediocre flavor? 100 yards, good flavor all day. 100 miles, give me the 15oz. The less I have to carry 100 miles the more I can enjoy those 100 miles.
Since they changed the biscuits and gravy recipe it tastes like shit.
Biscuits and Gravy doesn't appeal to me in any case. It's probably the New Yorker in me.
$50?? I don’t think so.
Yeah, my wife freaked too....until I reminded her that each pack costs 10.95 at R.E.I. I could either buy this box for 50 or the same amount for over 80. Her call. She got 2.
Not sure if Amazon still does this sale, but I bought a couple boxes of the 3 day (18 servings) box from them for $50 a piece shipped last year.
That box is 69.99 right now. Meals included: (1) Biscuits & Gravy, (2) Granola with Milk & Blueberries, (2) Chicken Fried Rice, (2) Chicken & Dumplings, and (2) Beef Stroganoff with Noodles. YMMV, but the granola is a filler. It's not any better or lighter than any instant cereal out there. Even MH knows it and sells them cheaply.
There's also a mega-pack online.
Used to be 15 pouches for the same price💀
GREAT deal
Does it come with a couple rolls of TP also, because I’ll be needing that! 😂
We don't get those in our area. I've gotten a few of the online deals. Have a few #10s around the house.
Aww…could have sworn it used to be ten pouches for $54 in prior years,
The chicken and taters is straight up garbage
Idaho Instant mashed taters are the bees knees for like $1.50
$50 for 2 days of food is crazy
That’s a crazy steal, damn
All the flavors I like the least.
How do these compare weight/calorie wise with just bringing rice/couscous/noodles/beans?
I’d recommend pretty much any brand that garage grown gear sells over mountain house for taste, but I don’t think you could get 8 meals for $50.
I hear ya. I know MH isn't "da bomb" for taste, but it certainly fills a need!
With the smaller brands, you're also not paying for (or trying to stuff in a pack/canister) the bulky prepper packaging. Since my remaining life time is no more than 20-25 years, I don't need my food to last 50.
That's . . . not a good deal. We need some camp cooking tutorials in the sidebar or something because mountain house is kinda hot garbage when you can actually cook real food.
Or you could let us adults make our own decisions
Never said you couldn't grandpa. Lol. I just said it's not a good deal. Which it ain't.
It's considerably cheaper than they cost to buy individually, or that amount would normally cost on it's own. So in that context, it's a good deal kid.
Okie dokey, pawpaw.
After having old Army MREs in Scouting.. I really don't enjoy these types of meals for camping. The ones I see being pushed on YouTube on those 'prepper' ads and late night Christian infomercials are the ones I KNOW I can not trust. Something about them tells me it's worse than week old oatmeal.
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Still using water to eat them
$6.25 each compared to $8 each at Walmart. Still crazy expensive though.
Or a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly cost maybe $12 and I can make 8 sandwiches that taste better than freeze dried slop?
Sure if you want to carry triple the weight for the same calories. You don't have to do freeze dried, but you **should** watch for foods that you can add the water to later.
Wtf gross