Right Size Pot / Bowl for Mountain House 2.5 Rehydration

David, many here have recommended an appropriately sized plastic peanut butter jar. Pretty bullet proof and free after the PB is gone. FWIW we repackage and dump meals in our ti pot and eat from the pot eliminating another container, but if your going for cold meals you of course can go without a pot. 850ml will definitely hold the 2 serving meals and probably the 2.5's. jimmyb

Hi Jimmy, It sounds like the Propak (2 servings size) MH will fit in an 850ml bowl / pot. As I'm backpacking more I want to avoid eating out of plastic stuff as much as possible. I've been using ziplok bags but I just don't trust the chemicals in them with hot water – it's just my decision. And the MH bags are huge and heavy and plastic too. I'm hoping to trade the weight of the big heavy bags for a Ti bowl or pot to use for rehydration / eating. Plus, I can buy bulk MH, wont have as much trash to haul out, and I can use a normal size spork. If you or others have recommendations for a lightweight Ti pot / bowl or maybe a double wall vessel that would be great. Thanks a bunch!

David, I was just looking at pots today to possibly lighten my kit. The wife and I always BP together so we need a 2 person cook kit. I got a good deal on a MSR Ti Kettle at 850 mls so that's what I use. Total weight is 124 grams which is on the heavier side. Zpacks has 900 ml Evernew pots at 110 grams. You might be able to fit a 2 serving meal in something smaller than 850 ml but it may be pushing it for 2.5 depending on how bulky the meal is. You may have to do a little experimenting. We also have been dehydrating our own meals and they ARE a bit more bulk than most of the MH freeze dried meals but the weight is similar and the quality is superior. You can also leave the pot lid at home and pack something as light as a piece of aluminum foil for a top. Ideally I would like to find a beer can type set up for two people that is large enough to dump our meals in. While crunching the numbers on volume, make sure you leave a little room at the top so you don't boil over. I really like getting away from the bag cooking. By dumping in the pot I can simmer the meals when needed, reheat along the way or after the meal is fully hydrated. A swish of water in the kettle and drink and its clean. I still repurpose the empty meal bags for trash but they are not heavy foil and they are relatively clean as apposed to one a meal has been made in. Once you find the volume you need I'm sure someone will give you a link to the lightest pot available. jimmyb

So while we're on the subject could anyone enlighten me on the lightest options on cooking for two? Possibly we will both benefit. thanks jimmyb

I did a couple of tests with Mountain House 2.5 serving meals. For the first test I put the dry contents into a Snow Peak Trek Bowl 591ml (20oz) and although it fit it looked super full so I re-hydrated in a glass bowl. The re-hydrated lasagna fit back into the Snow Peak Trek Bowl almost to the brim. The second test was in the field with MH Beef Stroganoff. For this test I put the dry contents in the SP Trek Bowl and slowly poured 2 cups of hot water into the bowl. I drank a cup of tea while it re-hydrated in the MOG cozy and after 20min it was still pipping hot and fit without problem.

Well…no matter how you go at it, the meals need to be insulated to properly rehydrate. A pot cozy is an essential. If you do it in a metal bowl, it will get cold fast. If in a pot, bring the water to a boil, and dump in the dry goods, then cover and insulate immediately. Now then, if you are worried about crud in your meals using plastic, I might suggest first you quit eating Mt House…..it's low grade food at its best. Make your own meals! PS: freezer bags that are brand name such as Ziploc and Glad are made in the US of food grade plastic, polyethylene. The liners in freeze dried meals are similar. You use a lot of this and most likely don't know it – for example, if you go to Starbucks and similar, the disposable cups are lined (otherwise they'd get soggy). Doggie bag boxes have liners. And so on…. Think about how many nights out you really do and run the numbers. It's going to be tiny in comparison to all the meals you eat yearly. You don't have a lot to fear.

Hi Sarah, thanks for the comments. I would guess that you are right about the quality of the Mountain House foods and we plan on making our own meals but have yet to get the process going. p.s. We are active (but not obsessed) about keeping plastic to a minimum in our diet. Wither this makes any qualitative difference in our lives is not clear and I'm not really interested in debating it. But hopefully there are others backpackers who might be interested in this topic.

Just be wary of solutions for carrying the dry food – while "wax" bags exist, only a few are made without petroleum and are beeswax based. As well, freeze dried meals need to be sealed tightly to keep out humidity – which at home mason jars are excellent for, but on trail plastic bags work best. (Mostly due to being water tight, and can be rolled up tightly to prevent air getting in/compact storage)

Certain food grade plastics are fairly neutral and therefore safe provided nothing hot is placed in them. While you'd still want to try to avoid these for environmental purposes, at times there'll be no other solution available such as carrying dry foods in as you hike. Lightweight ziplocks are hard to beat here. For cooking, drinking tea/coffee or rehydrating in hot water I'm certainly with David, plastics would be preferably a no-no. Titanium is nice, and if SP trek bowl does indeed fit your meals, I don't think you'll find many containers that are lighter in weight. One tip that I learned is adding a bit of hot water mid-way through dinner, so you eat the first half as intended and second half in soupy consistency. Especially nice in cold weather, it warms up your meal again and makes you feel fuller and of course helps hydration. This way you can use the smallest pot only that which is necessary for initial rehydration.