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What brand of freeze-dried foods

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Anyone have a preference on the brand of freeze-dried foods to store in case the shtf? I see Mountain House does a lot of advertising; as does Coleman. I have a couple cases of MREs, and some power bars, but want to supplement with some freeze dried foods.

If you have a preference for brand, or particular food (spaghetti, beef stew, lasagna, etc.) please comment.

Thanks, Bob
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I've heard nothing but very positive things on the Mountain House. That's what I've been buying.

As for which, I heard the spaghetti, beef stroganoff and many of the soups are good.

EDIT to add. Do a search to find best pricing as some put on sales that are pretty decent. Amazon has the best daily price that I've found.
 

Treefriend

Banned
A couple of stores have bulk sections with a half a dozen freeze dried

or dehydrated soups that you can buy in whatever quantity you want for

a couple bucks or less a pound.

In my landscaping days I used to heat up some water over a propane stove,

toss in some soup mix and a handful of oats and I'd have a hearty nutrient

rich meal in minutes.

One thing about freeze dried food...the...uh..."Walmart" effects* can be amplified.







*http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=33178
 

California

Charter Member
Site Supporter
I'm hardly a cook so FWIW -

Much of the world subsists on rice plus whatever you toss in. Seems to me a large store of rice might be a good foundation for disaster planning. Maybe Ramen too, it's a third world staple and stores well.

My cousin who is an expert cook prepares for backpacking trips by buying almonds and bulk (dried) parmesian cheese. Both are very light per calorie and the cheese improves nearly any simple dish.

All of these are suitable to rotate with ordinary cooking, so your emergency stock would never be very old.
 

bill w

Member
i agree with california on this one....rice is king when it comes to dried goods.we have about 100 lbs of dried potatoes on hand,and probably 400 lbs of reg potatoes in the root cellar.with our plentiful moose and caribou you can survive until the crops are ready to dry in our three dehydrators.all kinds of berries to preserve in the summer.nuts are also a great food to have around..they last a very long time. bill w
 

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm hardly a cook so FWIW -

Much of the world subsists on rice plus whatever you toss in. Seems to me a large store of rice might be a good foundation for disaster planning. Maybe Ramen too, it's a third world staple and stores well.

My cousin who is an expert cook prepares for backpacking trips by buying almonds and bulk (dried) parmesian cheese. Both are very light per calorie and the cheese improves nearly any simple dish.

All of these are suitable to rotate with ordinary cooking, so your emergency stock would never be very old.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Good ideas on the rice and nuts.

Today I ordered a 72 hour food supply box from thereadystore.com Figured I would give them a try then order more. The pouches are from Mountain House.

This package gives you 3 different breakfast pouches, and 6 different lunch pouches, along with vegetable pouches. Since they are all different, it will be good to try them before deciding on what to order in a large quantity.

I have a bunch of MREs along with heaters. Been telling the wife we need to try one so we know what we are in store for should we ever need them.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

Bob
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
You'll probably like the Mountain House better than the MRE's.

Personally, I try to avoid buying anything I wouldn't eat on a regular basis.

Rice, pasta... are great things to have handy (in bulk). Sauces are cheap and have a great shelf life so they're worth having around. If you like tuna, it has an incredibly long shelf life as well.

If you do buy bulk foods, pay attention to open-container storage requirements. E.g. if you open a 5# can of peas, how will you keep the other 4# after the first meal?
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Corn meal done up in a vacuum seal is also good to have. Keep tuna,spam and corned beef on hand. we always have dried apple and and other things around. If it come to it we could eat the cats and their canned food.
 

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
If you do buy bulk foods, pay attention to open-container storage requirements. E.g. if you open a 5# can of peas, how will you keep the other 4# after the first meal?

This is why I wanted to buy pouches rather than in bulk.

As a side note, while in Wally World this morning, I noticed they had some freeze dried foods by Mountain House. I bought an ice cream bar to try. Believe it or not, it was good, even though it is hard to imagine eating an ice cream bar at room temperature. The wife even liked it.

Also picked up a couple of pouches of scrambled eggs & bacon; and one pouch of lasagna (contains 2 servings). I'll let you know how they taste.

Bob
 

rlk

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
This is why I wanted to buy pouches rather than in bulk.

As a side note, while in Wally World this morning, I noticed they had some freeze dried foods by Mountain House. I bought an ice cream bar to try. Believe it or not, it was good, even though it is hard to imagine eating an ice cream bar at room temperature. The wife even liked it.

Also picked up a couple of pouches of scrambled eggs & bacon; and one pouch of lasagna (contains 2 servings). I'll let you know how they taste.
Bob

It's a crappy day in NC, overcast, 36 degrees, and very windy. So, since we are softies and are stuck in the house, I decided to try the Mountain House scrambled eggs & bacon.

The pouch is designed to pour in a cup of boiling water, stir thoroughly, than seal the package for 5 - 6 minutes. Then you can eat right out of the package.

The bacon bits were o.k., but had strong flavor. The eggs were runny. I may not have had the water hot enough, and next time I'll use a little less water. What I ended up with was more like scrambled egg & bacon soup.

It is edible, and I ate all of it. SWMBO tried it and said it was o.k. and that she could eat (if nothing else was available).

They taste better if you take them out of the foil package after you have prepared them. That way, there is not so much of a metallic or foil taste.

All in all, not too bad but not something I would serve company. They remind me of some of the stuff we were served in the Army during the 1960s.

I have some MREs, and I'll try one of them sometime in the future.

Bob
 
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