Backpacking meals update – taste tests

Our recent trip into the Sierra had us trying three new dinners and some soups.

The Peak ReFuel Beef Stroganoff was actually really delicious. Excellent sour cream flavor, nice beef chunks.  Yummy.  Our new favorite of all the commercial freeze dried dinners.

Also good, but not great.  Alpine Aire: Chilaquiles with Pork Carnitas–good, but the pork tasting like chicken– and Backpackers Pantry Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken–which tasted fine, but was too soupy, despite following the directions to the letter.

On the other hand, we were traveling in Hungary this spring and stopped into a grocery store to find that they had an excellent selection of Knorr instant soups.  We bought a bunch, and tried their Mushroom soup with croutons, and A Chanterelle with noodle soup.  Both were delicious, and a great first course for our dinners.

Of course, you can’t find those in the USA–in fact, their website doesn’t even list them. And the instructions were in Hungarian!  But my wife is a retired professional chef.  She worked it out.

Thanks for the review and info Paul.  Will try a Peak Fuel one (cant be Stroganoff because no-likey muchrooms  ;^)  But its been a while since I tried a Peak Fuel.  Give Pinnacle Foods a try.  Two brothers startup (one a trained chef).  Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Penne Pasta and Herb Roasted Chicken and White Cheddar Biscuit Dumplings have stolen my heart on trial.

We ate a lot of those Knorr soups while we were in Europe on a number of 2-month long walks. Very good stuff. Can’t buy anything like that here in Oz. Sad.

Cheers

Of course, you can’t find those in the USA–in fact, their website doesn’t even list them. And the instructions were in Hungarian! But my wife is a retired professional chef. She worked it out.

For those of us without a personal chef at home (lucky!) it might be worth becoming familiar with the local emigrant-community grocery stores, if you have any in the area.  These stores often bulk-import items exactly like that for their customers.  Example: we have a German-focused deli/grocery about thirty minutes from us, and they carry a ton of the soup mixes, sausages, muesli and beer that we thought we couldn’t get outside of Germany.  I stop in once a month or so to stock up.

Also, yes: Pinnacle is pretty good stuff, for a prepackaged meal.  Probably the best flavors I’ve had, across the board; also not a complete sodium-bomb like so many others.

I had the Pinnacle Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Penne twice now. I made it with extra water to make it a bit soupy and added a takeout packet of Tapatios hot sauce. This was simply excellent, 9/10. Rich + creamy sauce, chicken and pasta rehydrated perfectly with a nice chicken flavor, and even the basil came through. Could do with a bit less sodium, but this did not put me off.

I also tried the Herb Roasted Chicken and White Cheddar Biscuit Dumplings. This was fine, but a bit flat compared to the Tuscan stuff even with the addition of the Tapatios. 7/10.

These meals are more like a restaurant entree that was freeze dried rather than a bag going down a conveyor belt and getting filled by individual F/D components shot out nozzles.

Like a “restaurant entree”.  Thats a good way to put it.  I also add more water, and let them hydrate longer.  Like the addition of the hot sauce!  Will be getting some.

I recently finished a two week trip and had trouble again with appetite during the first week. By the second week I was acclimitized and hungry. One winner meal was Packit Gourmet’s Trailside bean and cheese burrito. More than just beans and cheese, it was tasty and filling. As usual I found that a single packet gave me two meals. I really like rehydrated beans on trail, but when my appetite is off, they are a no-go. I have to remember that they go into my diet later on in a trip!

The other thing I need to keep reminding myself is that the “healthy” nut mixes I often eat at home are not optimal for trail. On trail I like the really salty ones. All the “healthy” food I had premade at home was not as appetizing as the over processed stuff like slim jim meat and cheese sticks, Fritos, or cocktail nuts. Then at home, the garden produce beckons; I would never want pod peas or kale on trail!

One other food failure I won’t repeat is using freeze dried shredded cheese. You save a little weight without the water, but it just doesn’t rehydrate well at all, and it doesn’t melt. Now I have to figure out what to do with the remainder of the bag. Suggestions welcome!

I like the Packit Gourmet as well.  Always bring some dehydrated onions and extra cheese.  Their All American Works Burger (goes in a wrap) also similarly satifying ground beef meal,  I think they changed name to “Dab’s Smash Burger with Secret Sauce” (like a smash Burger sauce).  Used to just have ketchup, mayo and mustard – good ole burger.

One other food failure I won’t repeat is using freeze dried shredded cheese. You save a little weight without the water, but it just doesn’t rehydrate well at all, and it doesn’t melt. Now I have to figure out what to do with the remainder of the bag. Suggestions welcome!

I’m pretty sure there is no good use for it.  Nasty stuff.  Even the dogs left it.  Ended up in the trash :(

freeze dried shredded cheese
Fertiliser for the vegy patch. An end-point for a lot of ultra-processed foods, but watch out for the toxic additives.

Cheers

Yikes, good tip.  I assume they are biodegradable.  The only rehydrated thing I tend to bring are onions since Im over hydrating my meal in hot water anyway.

OK, let’s break down a couple of things:

First, you can buy the Knorr mixes online in the US. You can get them on Amazon. I’ve reviewed them.

As for freeze-dried cheese, it is NOT full of chemicals. Sigh. It is literally nothing but cheese. Shredded cheese. You spread it on trays and freeze-dry it. It is nothing magical. I myself have FD a ton of it, and I do it use even at home, when I don’t want to go to the store.

Now then, how you use it matters. It must be cool water soaked if you want it pliable, then you use it – like on pizza. In meals, if added and it sits for at least 15 minutes rehydrating, it will melt.

Look, if you add it on top dry, no, it won’t soften or melt. It is after all void of moisture.

But don’t hate on something you have no idea how to use.

I have a lot of the FD cheese. I bought it thinking to top up some of my other meals, but it just didn’t work. I’ll try your method Sarah. So I soak it first in cool, then rehydrate in warm/hot water for 15 minutes? I’ll experiment at home; at least I can use it up in dishes at home and not waste it. I think I won’t bring it backpacking again though.

It works best if cool soaked (so it softens up), like in a bowl or snack sized bag. Then add it in to the meal.

Fo example: Let’s say you were making a rice dish with hamburger. Once you add the items to the water, and let it sit, then add the softened cheese on top. And cover. The steam/heat helps further soften and melt it.

I’ve made pizza with FD cheese at home, and you’d not have known. When we lived on the island,d it was a long drive to “town” so I experimented a lot.

But don’t hate on something you have no idea how to use.

For me, it had nothing to do with not knowing how to rehydrate it.  It rehydrated perfectly.  However it had near zero taste, an unpleasant texture, and absolutely none of the joy of cheese.  Perhaps I happened to buy a bad brand, but I suspect it was cheap lousy cheese prior to it being freeze dried.  If FDing your own then obviously YOU control quality.

Now I just pack cheese…problem solved, much better and MUCH cheaper.

Just tried a newer Stowaway Gournet:  Irish Pub Stew.  It was delivious, and will be ordering again.  Pros: liked the flavor, big meat chunks, hit the spot.  Cons: I could have eaten 2, and only 560 calories.  Worth a try.

Luxefly Basecamp up to 21 dollars. Is this a trend or do they surpass ” restaurant quality”?

I have had some Pinnale Foods ones that were restaurnt quality.  But that sentiment might be slightly affected by being hungry and tired.  Some are better than an “average” restaurant meal.  But $18+ is pushing my limits on price for sure.  If I am doing a long strenuous hike (say Rae LAkes loop in Kings Canyon) I would spend more if I knew it was going to be yummy.  I dont think I have tried Luxefly yet.  I can imagine a meal with real quality barbacoa could command higher price.  I try to remember that these people are trying to balance running a business, feeding thier families and delivering a quality product people will buy.  $28 for Stroganoff seems up there!  =^)  Calorie count is also a factor for me.  I would prefer 800+ calories at those prices.  Luxe does has a wide variety.  Will try a few.  I sent them a message – I wont buy one without seeing a picture of the final food though.

The dollar sign trap. That’s why I wrote out dollars. 18, 21, it’s a slippery slope.

Not a lot of calories. Lots of sodium. I feel like I’m missing something.

These days, I make our one-pot meals from raw ingredients. Sometimes I use a single small packet of Instant Soup mix, but those packets are full of salt, Neither of us like the extreme-salt stuff. So I use them very sparingly.
Curiously, Sue prefers my meals.

Fettucini al Fungi, my recipe. Yes, there are chopped up fresh mushrooms in there. And Spelt flour noodles.

Cheers

I cook my own beans with onions, spice,…  Dehydrate.  Then make packets with 1.5 ounces beans, 0.25 ounces each dehydrated onion, tomato, bell pepper, and carrot.  Along with some other stuff – cheese, beef jerky, chocolate, nuts.

Ahhh – tell me you don’t put chocolate in with onion and tomato?

Cheers

Mole?

Looks yummy Rodger, les the mushrooms (yuck)   =^)   I can barley get all my crap together and out the door sometimes.  Thus my preference to buy not prepare.  You should freeze dry it, and I will buy it.

Hey JErry.  Which dehydrater dxo you have.  If I had one, that might be interesting.