Backpacking food taste-off

Michiel

#1 – 12:02 PM July 28, 2009

The results of a home taste test don't really matter much if everything will taste great when you finally unpack your tent after a long day of hiking.

But I never buy expensive "backpacker's meals" from the outdoor equipment stores. Instead, I just prepare day-sized bags of fast-cooking rice and macaroni, and take well-packages salamis, and packets of those dried sauce/spice mixes.

It takes up more room and is heavier, but saves money, and tastes just as good after a very long day.

NativeSon

#2 – 1:54 PM July 28, 2009

I was always partial to Mountain House, as that was what I was fed at summer camp as a kid.

I like the Chicken and Rice, but the Beef Stroganoff in the picture was always everybodys' favorite.

JT Montreal

#3 – 2:38 PM July 28, 2009

I'm with Michiel. Store-bought freezedried stuff is lame. Pick up a book about camp cooking, it'll be much cheaper, and better. Usually not much more work on the trail either (a bit more work at home though).

It comes down to "don't pack water". And to save fuel, pre-cook things. In a way, that's exactly what the premade packages do, but it's not hard to do it yourself.

But it's also true that if you've been chewing trail dust all day long, boiled tree bark will taste delicious.

Hints: Dry cured sausage is always a handy protein and fat boost! Instant Miso + boiling hot water from thermos is awesome on long cross-country ski trips.

earbox

#4 – 10:06 PM July 28, 2009

actually cooked by a person in a wok

Must've been a big wok, for a person to fit in. ;)

dargaud

#5 – 2:25 AM July 29, 2009

One word of warning about freeze dried food in the US: I was really surprised to find that many packets had basically no calories in them (sometimes they have a 'light' label on top). Since when backpacking you want as many calories in as little weight as possible, I so couldn't believe it that I called one maker. They told me that since their products were more often eaten by lazy people than by climbers and that the first category is often obese and wants 'light stuff', that's what they were now selling. Fair enough, but why keep on selling them in climbing stores then ?!?

HeatherB

#6 – 5:35 AM July 29, 2009

Invest in a foodsaver machine. Make your own food boil a bag meals. You can have fillet mignon if you want.

frijole

#7 – 7:13 AM July 29, 2009

Do not, ever, under any circumstances, eat, or allow anyone you know to eat, Mountain High brand Chili-Mac.

This lesson brought to you by 5 dudes throwing up all night long in the middle of a fly fishing trip.

Mat Honan

#8 – 10:12 AM July 29, 2009

I was wondering when I'd see your taste test results. I'm in the process of getting my food together for the John Muir Trail. (See this and this). I went with all Mountain House for my dinners. It's not that I love Mountain House, it's just that it's the least worst and the only one I've never had an unedible experience with. Of the ready-made freeze-dried or DeHy meals they're my pick for a few reasons:

*Everything dissolves.
There's nothing I hate more than clumps of undissolved flavoring packets in your food. Gross! I guess this is where the chemicals come in.

* The food rehydrates well
I want to like the natural/organic alternatives, but after years of giving them a chance, I'm all done. There's nothing worse than a long day on the trail lugging a 35 lb pack than coming into camp and having your dinner be too chewy. This may have more to do with free drying vs. dehydration.

*The bag
The Mountain House flat-bottomed, wide lipped bags are great for eating stuff right out of the bag. Given that you often will be cooking away from your campsite (bears) the last thing you want to do is dirty dishes. Or at least, it's the last thing I want to do. Not only are those bags from Mountain House good for cooking in, they're great for eating out of too.

* Flavor
That's the ultimate test, right? I hate that I'm eating some of the stuff they put in there, but it's the price I'll pay for a good tasting meal at the end of the day. Again, thanks chemicals!

Having said all that, were I going on a weekend trip or something low-key I agree with some of your other commenters who say make your own. You know what's going in it, and it just feels better to do it yourself. But if you're on a long trip, where stovegas is a real consideration, you just want something that cooks as fast as possible by adding hot water. Boiling meals forces you to have to carry too much fuel.

kiergsmith

#9 – 12:38 PM July 29, 2009

Interesting to see this, as I'm packing for a week in a provincial park in the Near North Ontario.

A couple of points from my own experience, which includes a few years in the combat arms in the Canadian Army.

Dehydrated vs Wet Pack
Dehydrated requires potable water for rehydration. As long as you have enough, or can generate more (filter packs, etc) you're OK. Flavour and texture can be iffy, usually letting them soak a little longer than the package says helps.
Wet-Pack (aka Boil-In-The-Bag) is harder to find, and heavier to carry, but can be heated up in non-potable water, or even on a hot surface. I find the taste is similar to canned goods. Mind you, your milage may vary.

Compressed Gas vs Liquid Fuel
Compressed gas (propane/butane) is easy to carry, generates good heat and easy to light. But it requires pressurized containers that have travel restrictions, and can't be refilled in the field. They also don't work as well at low temperatures.
Liquid Fuel (White Gas/Naptha) burns hot, is easy to light and works in all conditions. I once lit a Coleman stove in the middle of a massive rainfall. Mind you, it does smell while burning, and it can be heavier to carry.

Personally, I follow one of the earlier posters, and cook from standard dry ingredients in the bush. However, we do take a couple of days worth of prepack boil-in-the-bags in case we run into time constraints, or I'm feeling really lazy at the end of a day. Just by shopping at my local grocer, I have prepack brand name currys, chili, soups and even Moroccan Lamb in bags. Kinda neat, that.

Being old school on my equipment, I'm using naptha fueled two burner stove (I save my mountain stove for backpack trips) and a single mantle lantern that kicks out about as much light as a 250W light bulb when it's on high.

Oh yeah, don't forget water purification tablets, and dry fuel tabs for when it all goes to pot, your canoe sinks, and all you have is your day pack. Dry cheeses and pressed smoked sausage rocks too. :)

khanti

#10 – 2:23 PM July 29, 2009

As a vegan, most of these pre-made meals are off the menu for me. There are a handful out there, but they get old pretty quick. Knorr (formerly Lipton) makes about 5 side-dishes I can eat including their wonderful teriyaki noodles, but these get old too...

So I broke down and invested in a high-quality dehydrator. I can now make my own vegan backpacking meals. A favorite it to dehydrate cooked brown rice, beans (garbanzos and black beans are a favorite) a mix of veggies (peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc) and some dehydrated spicy curry sauce I can buy by the pint from a local Thai restaurant. I dehydrate the sauce by making little pools of it on kitchen parchment on a tray in the dehydrator and in a few hours it's like a fruit roll-up that I fold into blocks and wrap in plastic wrap.

In the field, I dump it into my jetboil (best camping gadget ever!!), boil for a couple of minutes then simmer for 6-8 minutes and let set for another 6-8 and bingo, cheap, light-weight, nutritious, tasty, chemical-free dinner on the trail.

I've been experimenting with variations on this and on a recent Tahoe Rim Trail hike, used self-made meals for just over half the dinners with the only dud being one that involved instant refried beans. Tasted great, but not so great for those hiking behind me the next day...

For more make-it-yourself dehydrated meals, look for the book "Freezer Bag Cooking" by Sarah Kirkconnell

Dave

#11 – 2:58 PM July 29, 2009

The various freeze dried/reconstitute with hot water backpacking foods have never come out particularly well (there are always dried, poorly/uncooked bits floating around at the bottom) and are really much too salty with low calorie densities for true back country use.

I've discovered these things called "Tasty Bites": http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ExecMacro/tastybite/home.d2w/report?gclid=CKHfjuLx-5sCFRxNagodhFnD_A

They are not dehydrated but fully cooked Vegetarian Thai and Indian dishes. They come in easy to warm up in retort bags (throw the bags into the boiling water for a few minutes or cover it with something dark and leave it out in the sun for a bit. The Indian dishes are delicious and go well with some Uncle Ben's Boil in Bag instant rice (you can boil the rice in the same water you're heating up the retort bags in). Shelf life I think is like 5+ years.

Sure they're a bit heavier than the dehydrated foods, but you'll need to haul or filter/pump water to make the dehydrated foods anyways. The prep time is next to nothing (5 minutes for reheating the retort bag while making instant rice all in one pot), with no real labor involved. You can even use the left over hot water for clean up purposes afterwards.

The calorie density of the Tasty Bites is quite high (not good if you're on a diet, you'll not lose weight eating these vegetarian dishes). They are vegetarian, so if you want, you can supplement with meat (Salami, Turkey/Chicken/Beef Jerkey, etc) for a heartier meal.

This of course assumes that you like Indian or Thai food versus reconstituted dehydrated unrecognizable mushy bags of dehydrated dishes.

Dave

esworp

#12 – 6:23 PM July 29, 2009

I used to work as a shallow water saturation diver in key largo at an out fit called aquarius, which is run by noaa.

cooking with anything than a hot water maker and a microwave was a no-go, what with the hyperbaric environment.

We ate a lot of mountain house. We had special names for some 'menu' items, such as "Tracer Corn". I was a fan of the spaghetti.

NASA would guinea pig new 'space food' menu item on us, too. The mountain house was invariably better. Some of the NASA stuff... even the fish wouldnt eat it!

Tandem

#13 – 8:03 PM July 30, 2009

For the best results, buy a dehydrator and do it yourself. I just got in from a 2 Week trip on the AT eating solely pre-cooked and dehydrated meals of my own creation. Fourteen nights of pad thai, curry beef, chili, and the best tasting dried fruit you'd ever care to eat. I was skeptical at first - being of the old school "bring enough dry ingrediants to cook whatever you want" mindset, like they do on NOLS courses - but this trip convinced me. All I had to do was boil water to rehydrate, and barely went through a liter of alcohol for my stove. Don't buy it, make it! WAY tastier (and lighter) than anything I've packed in.

paddysat

#14 – 3:03 PM August 20, 2009

I highly recommend Mary Jane Farms. All of the food is organic mostly being grown on her large organic farm in Idaho. Mary Jane was a back country ranger and developed her own line after being disappointed in the other brands. I used her food for a through hike of the John Muir Trail and they were delicious. What is also great is that you can order the foods in bulk (3 lbs bags). Highly recommended.