Dehydrated food at Wal-Mart

[ptwohig]

Had not been home in a while so I thought I would take dinner to the wife at work. On the way home I swung by wally world and notice in the camping section they had dehydrated food, such bacon and eggs, lasagna, chilli mac, etc. Each bag contained two servings and ran about 5.00 dollars a bag. always looking for a way tp eat cheaper and better on the road this appealed to me. Has anyone tried this stuff yet? Oh well I grabbed a bag of lasagna to try out, Let you know how it goes later.

[green hell]

well, it's been 45 minutes.

how was it?

[Xcuvator]

If it is made by Mountan House it's the same stuff the Army supplied some years ago and it's good stuff.

[Omega Man]

I use it alot when camping, I like most of the flavors offered but some are pretty blah. The convience is nice, add about 16 oz boiling wter, stir it up and a few minutes later your eating. Right out of the bag if you want. They even have vegetarian meals, wife likes those. I keep a few days worth on hand for impromptu trips.

If you really want to use the stuff, try a couple of different flavors and see what is good and what in't. Better to blow $5 ahead of time than have it on a trip and realize it taste like crap.

[Tempo]

You lost me with WalMart, cheaper and better...

[KL5A]

Find youself some MREs. When I was doing a lot of travel/work in the Alaska bush, I always carried MREs with me. Well, not always. The first trip was where I discovered that a lot of little villages do not have any kind of dining establishment-and freeze dried is fine if you are not in a place where the water from the tap is the same color as tang.

[fixer]

Mountain House has a decent rep for quality... neither the best, nor the worst.

but it's a personal preference thing.. pick up a few at a time, and try 'em.

[el tortuga]

You'll find that some freeze dried entrees taste better than others. I try to stay away from the exotic entrees because they don't seem to taste as well but the basic stuff like chili mac, stew, spaghetti, beef stroganoff and the like, are as good as a can of Dinty Moore. I like the fact that you can put the water in the pouch and eat it out of the bag - easy clean up.
MRE's are good if you dont want to boil water. But they are heavy compared with freeze dried. They also are high calorie fat/carb with one MRE being all you need for a day.

If you can find it, try the freeze dried ice cream - good stuff.

Years ago they sold choc, van & strawberry individually, and you could mix it with some cold water and have a shake. Lately, all I've been able to find is a neopolitan one.

The breakfast entrees are pretty bad though. I eat oatmeal instead.

[Bigger Al]

Mountain House's stuff is some of the better tasting of the freeze-dried food, IMHO.
REI is having their Anniversary sale this week, and all Mountain House food is 25% off.

[Tall Man]

Originally Posted by ptwohig

On the way home I swung by wally world and notice in the camping section they had dehydrated food, such bacon and eggs, lasagna, chilli mac, etc. Each bag contained two servings and ran about 5.00 dollars a bag. Has anyone tried this stuff yet?

I maintain freeze-dried foods as a material food component in my preparedness inventory. I used some of the FD menus during my time in the Scouts. They were also used to supplement MREs, albeit rarely, when I was on active duty. I presently use the FD menus on occasion when I go hiking. So, I do have some practical experience with this particular commodity.

Positives
+Lightweight packaging.
+Portion selection: Single serving for hikers, 2-4 servings for camping, and #10 cans for families and/or long-term storage.
+Extended shelf-life.
+Small footprint on shelf.
+The simpler menus, esp. spaghetti and the like, actually taste quite good.
+Each serving gives good measure.
+Add boiling water, wait 15 mins, stir and eat -- simple!
+Carbohydrate-intensive menus, in keeping with the physical activities that this food is manufactured to support.

Negatives
-Price (to be fair, this is due to the quality of ingredients and the esoteric packaging necessary to safely store, transport and cook the food).
-Above-average sodium content...in some cases, sky high! Those of you on sodium restricted diets may need to look elsewhere. Seriously.
-Individual packages rarely go on sale, in my experience. Bulk purchases are the best and perhaps only way to catch a good price break.
-Menu availability. Some stores tend to stock just 25% to 50% of the available menu selection. Online shopping usually gives you greater access to the full scope of inventory.
-Taste. As alluded to above, some of the more ambitious menu selections lose something in (freeze-drying) translation.

The two best-known brands of FD food are Mountain House (my preference) and Provident Pantry.

Here are some recommended websites. I have no financial interest to disclose here; rather, I just want to make your research a bit easier:

www.nitro-pak.com
www.emergencyessentials.com

I hope this helps.

TM