A waste? - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

What do you think of those freeze dried meals i.e. backpacker pantry and mountain house? I was planning on buying 100 dinners worth for mail drops. Any suggestions? thanks

Anthony

#2

I have eaten them on many occasions, and while I find them both tasty and easy to prepare, I am not willing to spend the money it would take to eat them exclusively. Even if you get them at an extreme discount, they will be more expensive than less “high-tech” options. Also, unless you buy a phenomenal variety, i suspect you will become bored with them after a while.

Helium

#3

Im not to concerned about the cost. The varity can be an issue. More concerned with the taste and if they are filling after a long day.

Anthony

#4

Anthony,
Enertia meals are around half the price, not as upscale, but just as edible, IMHO. Considerable savings over the two brands you named. Very lightweight packaging, too.

They have a web page.

Tyger

#5

I just looked at there website. The choices look good. I can mix these in for more of a varity and save some $$ as well. Thanks!

Anthony

#6

Cool.
I’ve eaten a few of these meals that I bought at my local outfitter and they are OK. I’d say buy a batch and try them out to see what ones you might like best. They tend to cook up a bit moist, maybe a little runny, which is a help when adding tuna or other meats or whatever else you might have. They run a bit bland, too, easily fixable with simple condiments. I’m going to buy a bunch of them as a starting point to plan meals. The packaged meals are quite lightweight, too, so for longer stretches, like through the smokies, etc, they might be worthwhile–very packable. The cheesecake is weird but good.

Tyger

#7

On a recent trip, we took several different meals from Enertia as well as some richmoor and backpacker’s pantry meals. The freeze dried stuff was good, but the enertia was incredible. Several of the meals can be cooked by putting water in the bag and letting it sit for a while, so they’re just as easy as some of the freeze dried stuff. Also, they were packaged more efficiently so there was less trash.

Bill

#8

On my 2003 hike I ate freeze dried dinners almost every night. When received in mail drops or purchased at outfitters, I removed them from their packaging and put them into the quart sized freezer ziploc bags. In camp, I boiled my water and added it to the bag. If the weather was cold, the bag went into my jacket and kept me warm for the 10 minutes it took for the meal to “cook”. I never had the bag open while it was keeping me warm. The best part…no cleanup. There’s a lot of variety and if purchased in bulk, you can get a discount.

Journy

#9

I did the same as Journy, it worked out great for me, and they do fill you up after a long day hiking. For a five day supply you could get away with buying three of the meal packets and evenly distributing them among five ziplocs. Very tasty, low maintainance meals after a long day spent on your feet.

Cheers

Cheers

#10

I echo in here with the rest of responses. I like Mountain House. Their down side is cost. Clean up is nominal. Just clean your spoon. Preparation is easy. Just add boiling water and stir.

I consider Freeze dried to be a good change of variety. I included a couple in my mail drops (when I had a mail drop). When resupplying at supermarkets, I bought the typical thru-hiker fare such as Mac & cheese and Liptons.

I certainly didn’t buy a 100 freeze dried meals. I probably bought 20 or so.

Peaks

#11

I echo in here with the rest of responses. I like Mountain House. Their down side is cost. Clean up is nominal. Just clean your spoon. Preparation is easy. Just add boiling water and stir.

I consider Freeze dried to be a good change of variety. I included a couple in my mail drops (when I had a mail drop). When resupplying at supermarkets, I bought the typical thru-hiker fare such as Mac & cheese and Liptons.

I certainly didn’t buy a 100 freeze dried meals. I probably bought 20 or so.

Peaks

#12

FWIW, Jardine hates these things for long-term hiking because he says the processing takes out the nutrition. Still has calories and fills you up, though. You might read this section of his book just to see. But if you can stomach his corn pasta suggestion I think you’ll be in the minority.

Also FWIW, you can get whole grain oatmeal that’s just as easy to cook as the instant stuff and it’s not as processed (presumably that means more nutrition?). Just stick it in a baggie or bowl with boiling water and brown sugar and let it sit. Add some raisins and you’re set.

Jeff

#13

The Enertia meals are REALLY good. Someone mentioned putting the Enertia bag into your sleeping bag while the food “cooks”. My friend did this on the PCT in 2003 during a snow storm when we were freezing cold and soaking wet. The bag of food opened up, and she had a wet sleeping bag for the next few nights. Be careful!

One food that is good for warming your sleeping bag is mashed potatoes. The Idahoan brand are the tastiest. After you make the potatoes, stick your pot full of potatoes inside your sleeping bag. You’ll be warm very quickly. And since there is no liquid in your pot, there’s no chance of spilling it inside your sleeping bag. Be sure to keep the lid on the pot, though!

yogi
www.pcthandbook.com

yogi

#14

100 freeze-dried dinners comes to about 500 bucks. To me 500 dollars seems very reasonable for 3-plus months worth of dinners, considering the amount of time and packaging material one would spend on pre-packing that many dinners. Also with Mountain House you can purchase in #10 cans and if you own a Foodsaver pack to amounts that are suitable for you. I find that the individual portions of Mountain House meals are too small and the double portion ones are too much. packing my own in the in-between ends up at about $3.50 a meal.
Also in my experience the Mountain House brand is consistently good in flavor. The Richmoor and Natural High brands are not so consistent, the BackPacker’s Pantry has some excellent stuff although it seems that the more-exotic sounding the food sounds, the more disappointing it is. The Enertia stuff, some of it was okay, some of it I ttotally hated, as in I threw it out and went hungry instead! If you are considering them, buy one of each before hand and try them all first, I wish I had.
Also as far as variety, for this year I’ve got 7 Mountain House dinners I’m rotating so I each something only once a week. This is about as varietal as I get at home anyway.
There is not so much a nutritional issue with freeze-dried as there is a calorie-count issue. You can make up most by taking a multivitamin which you should be taking anyway. Most of the meals top out at 500 calories which isnt a heck of a lot for a thru-hiker. I seal a one ounce packet of olive oil with each meal which is a 400 calorie kick-up, a darn good weight-to-calorie deal. Not only does the olive oil make the food taste better, but it supplies you with healthy fatty acids that you need and freeze-dried food lacks. Also, it takes a lot of energy for your body to process oils… a nice benefit on really cold nights that you are generating a little extra heat.
-swift-

swift

#15

Swift
How do you seal a one ounce packet of olive oil? I would like to take olive oil, but have not found a easy way to carry it. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Turtle Walking

#16

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a 25-cent 8-ounce bottle of kid’s grape pop. Drink the pop, rinse out the bottle. It’s a perfect container for olive oil or denatured alcohol/HEET.

yogi

www.pcthandbook.com

yogi

#17

I found that freeze dried food all started to taste the same after a while. A lightweight option with more calories, is buying Hamburger/Chicken/Tuna Helper. Add some water and boil for 10 minutes and you have a tasty high calorie meal. Adding packaged meat is optional. I did this on my trip and never got tired of the stuff.

Rowboat

#18

Well, they are pricey, but you dont seem to concerned with that.

One thing is this, there is a lot of garbage per Mountain House, and they will not fill you up after 3 months on the trail…the pack says feeds two…HA!!!

Two Midgets that just ate a buffet maybe…but for me, it all goes back the emmense pile of garbage you have to ahul around with them.

Lion King

#19

even the two serving meals dont fill ya up? I thought about how to deal with they messy pouches when i was done. They only think i can think of is having a few big zip locks to throw them in til town. Any other suggestions? would be kinda gross to have a zip lock full of rancid scraps and maggets.

Anthony

#20

It’s worth noting that the Enertia meals are dehydrated, not freeze dried. Makes a difference in terms of nutritional value and packability.:cheers

Tyger