Mountain House – backpacking food

Freeze dried backpacking meals are getting pretty expensive in the US too. A few of the MH dinners are OK, but the salt content is off the charts. A new competitor in that space is Peak Refuel. So far I have liked all of there offerings – they seem to re-hydrate much better than the MH meals (although I will warn you that the volume of water called for on their instructions is way off the amount actually required to re-hydrate them properly so you have to experiment a bit) . Some of the Peak meals that have chicken in them are pretty amazing for freeze dried meals. Not sure about their availability in Europe though.

A great choice in the US is Packet Gourmet – not sure if they ship to Europe though. You can also buy the basic freeze dried meat and vegetable ingredients from them and make up your own meals. Spend enough time on internet backpacking sites and you can find various recipes to try.

Hi,

yeah I have read about Packet Gourmet. I definitely gonna try that one and look into Peak Refuel to. So MH is to salty, yeah that is not for me then.

Thanks for the info!

Have you considered dehydrating your own meals?  I’m a pretty decent cook, nothing special,  but I’d rather eat my own dehydrated cooking than any FD meal I’ve ever tried.

I used to eat Mountain House meals but I had one that had alot of cheese, and it turned into an unappetizing glob which turned me off to them

Right now I just happen to be cooking some beans – 2 cups.  I’ll dry them, also use food processor to turn them into a powder.  Several tablespoons of olive oil.  Then 1.6 ounces dried beans, 0.25 ounces each of dried carrot, tomato, bell pepper, and onion from packitgourmet.  Put into 8 ounces of boiling water.  Let sit a few minutes.

No not yet. Friend of mine does. I really have no inspiration for this to become a success. I know some Dutch recipes but they don’t have enough KCAL to support me on a hike ;)

Last hike I did make beef jerky from a Moose which tasted pretty good. Maybe I should by a dehydrator for the next season. I would love some Dutch meal in the evening. maybe add something to increase calories?

I just dry my beans in the oven.  It’s lowest temperature is 170 F.

I think it would be cheaper to buy dehydrated food from someone like packitgourmet than buy a dehydrator

I’ve dried my own carrots, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes but it just seemed like too much work, cutting them all up.  I have a portable oven that goes down to 140 F that worked.

I would not write off Mountain House… as with any of these meals from any of the companies,  you need to read the nutritional label on the back. Some of MH meals have a ton of salt… others, not so much. The other thing I try to minimize is saturated fats… which will clog your arteries. Peak Fuel meals tend to be very high in saturated fats…. but may have some meals that are not… again, read the labels on the back. Packit Meals are good. Harmony House is another source for individual dried ingredients. Wild Zora makes so good meals, but pretty low in calories so I might have to mix something else into one of their meals. Alpine Air and Backpacker’s Pantry are two other large producers that you could check out… again, read the labels. REI carries some of the larger company foods, maybe they would ship to you. Good luck… we live in exciting times for having a large selection of backpacking food options.

Two week ago, I had some MH FD meals for the first time in decades.  I usually bring supermarket mashed potatoes or rice/pasta sides, tabouli, or my own mixtures of dehydrated beans with seasonings (dry powdered coconut milk makes a nice sauce with a pinch of curry powder).

The MH meals were much better than I remember from the 1970s and 80s.  Less salt, more flavor, and bigger chunks that still, mostly, reconstituted.  Heck the zip-lock pouches were news to me.  I could see using them in the future and they’re available for $10 at Walmart or $11 at REI for a “2-person” dinner entree which I consider one person’s dinner (or for two IF you’ve got a side dish and separate desert).

To get them to Sweden?  Private postage rates have gotten quite high on packages.  The cheapest way I’ve found to move things around are as excess baggage while flying someplace anyway.

Are they available in Sweden through Amazon?  I see them there for $10/2 serving of an entree or a $120 bucket with 24 servings with free shipping.

“I would not write off Mountain House… ”

I’m clumsy and lazy, so I don’t rehydrate my own meals. I like Mountain House better than others I’ve tried. As to salt: if you’re hiking in summer, or anyway sweating for hours at a time, salt may be your friend. Yes, I know that in real life we want to cut down on salts, that are omnipresent in foods. but over hours and days of exertion and sweat, we need to replenish electrolytes. More: it’s important to stay hydrated. But that can further diminish salts in our system.

will the salts in Mountain HOuse meals adversely affect your health?  Maybe over months. Maybe they’ll act to replenish salts lost due to sweat on any given day.

Good-to-Go meals are tasty. Available from REI and Good-to-Go’s website. Don’t know what shipping costs to Sweden would be.

MH meals seem to be just about the most common and easily found for me, and not particularly expensive relative to other prepared meals, so I often grab them for a trip. In fact, I have stocked up on a few of my favorite flavors from Amazon. I don’t find that the portion sizes make much sense so I often repackage to suit my preferences. Like I will mix two two-meal pouches together, and divide it in thirds, or something like that.

I think that I am probably not as sensitive to dietary considerations as many BPL members, e.g. I don’t actually check sodium levels, etc. I respect people who are more careful with their diet, but like many things, I try not to overthink it. If I like the taste and texture, and they don’t bother my stomach, then I’ll generally keep eating them.

Yeah saw them yesterday on Amazon. I will try them too. Wanna have some more variety in my backpack next summer.

Wow thanks man. Many new names I never heard of! Definitely going to order them and check them out, if I can find them. Yeah I do read the labels for fat and salt and of course J/Kcal. Especially important on multi-day hikes.

Did anyone tried this before? Backpackers-Pantry-Lasagna-Servings-Vegetarian ? I am not a vegetarian but lasagna on trail could be nice to have :)

The only pre-packaged backpacking meals I’ve found which come close to fitting my dietary desires are from Next Mile Meals. Most are quite tasty, but they’ve gotten pretty expensive lately.

and they offer ‘sample’ package? wow, that is great. Looks very good, not really my thing but for more variety its perfect.

Mountain House is the standard that I compare other brands to. I think Peak Refuel gets the nod for needing less water and packing more calories and protein than most of the MH meals, although they cost a couple dollars more. I really liked the backpackers pantry lasagna. Pack-it gourmet is probably the best tasting, but some of their meals have a few extra flavor packets or separate rehydrate bags, which may not be wanted if you just want food NOW. Their queso rico dip is absolutely amazing, and I wouldn’t complain if I was served it at a restaurant. I tried good-to-go, but it wasn’t for me. Most are vegetarian or vegan, which means the volume of food is much larger for the same amount of calories as other options. I had to really struggle to finish the entire 2 serving pouch, but when it’s getting dark in bear country, its gotta go down the hatch!

“I have been testing all these outdoor meals like you all have . . .”

Nah, I don’t test. I started eating Mountain House almost 50 years ago since it was the easiest and lightest option at the time. Taste has improved over the decades.

Forget the “nutritional” data and concerns — we’re backpacking and “conventional wisdom” doesn’t mean much.

Several years ago I wrote an article about Mountain House Meals on my website, including some nutritional analysis.

http://popupbackpacker.com/mountain-house-meals/

Disclaimer: I can fix cars and trucks. I have zero expertise in nutrition. On the other hand, I have been backpacking for nearly 60 years and am still at it.

I like some MH meals (Fajita bowl, spaghetti with meat sauce, are two of my favs), Peak Refuel is ok (Sweet pork and rice), and Backpacker’s Pantry (Cuban coconut and black beans) makes some good ones too. But Packit Gourmet is far above any other brand. I have liked every Packit meal I’ve tried thus far. None of these companies have sales that help much with the cost. At least a 2 person meal really is 2 person servings for me! Food for the Sole is sadly out of business; their kale, quinoa and squash thing was the best meal ever. It looked awful, and didn’t smell that wonderful, but omg! It was so filling and so delicious. Dang.

I’ve tried my own dehydrating and it really sucked. I guess I never got the hang of it. Meals I would just bag up and haul out from the trail, yuk. And they all smelled exactly the same, those icky dried veggies like little pebbles. I do like to combine freeze-dried ingredients to make my own recipes though. My fav cookbook for the trail is “Hungry Spork” (Inga Aksamit) – great combinations and ideas for trail meals, available on Amazon.

I keep a running list of the prepared meals I’ve tried and liked, and the ones I haven’t liked so I don’t make the same expensive mistake twice. There’s also always ramen for a quick, cheap meal, which is good enough for me. I don’t care about salt or sugar or preservatives or anything since I’m not eating this stuff every day anyway, and my overall health is good.

I’d love to try some of the European or New Zealand brands.

One of my favorite FD meals when I ate like most of the rest of you was Heather’s Choice, made in Alaska. Expensive, but oh so tasty (or at least they were when I ate them years ago). Not only their meals, but their packaroons are pretty darn tasty too.

I’ve often seen complaints about the cost of the packaged meals… freeze dried, dried, etc. I find it interesting that people will complain about a 10 to 15.00 packaged meal, but think nothing of spending 20, 40, 50 or more in a restaurant. Sure, restaurant meals can be great… but the packaged meals allow you to be camped in a spot with a million dollar view… an not have to wait in a line… :)))

Good point about restaurants. I tend to compare the cost of backpacking meals with home cooked ones, and that makes them expensive. If I did a really long trail, months, I’d have to find ways to cut those costs. For short trips though, they’re well worth it.

It’s bland, salty and far too wet food for me. I really do not like Mountain House. I have never liked it. There are so many better brands you can buy! I review quite a few on my site at TrailCooking.com if there are any brands you’d like to know about.

And yes, Peak Refuel is far better.

Peak Refuel has a ton of meat in their meals. Hence why the saturated fat is higher. Just pointing that out. MH you have too look hard for the meat, but high in carbs.