by AlmostThere » Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:10 pm
No prob, I figured you were talking to the OP...
The only problem I have had with prefab meals is the sodium content and portion size. Repackaging fixes the latter, but there's no way to remove salt from an oversalted dinner. Mountain House was like licking a block of salt to my low sodium lovin' taste buds. There are other brands I have yet to try, Alpenaire and Enertia for example. Packit Gourmet has great quality meals and excellent packaging - they would be getting all my business if not for the availability of instant potatoes, freeze dried veggies, TVP, dried/shelf stable meats and other goodies from the grocery stores. A few hours at trailcooking.com, a few hours at the grocery, an hour or so remixing and repackaging, and I'm set for the season for a fraction of the cost. I have recipe books like Fork in the Trail and Lipsmackin' Backpackin'. No more MREs or Mountain House and no difficulties with space in the bear can. Pretty much everyone else in my hiking group brings Mountain House and stares at me while I bake cornbread to go with my homemade chili, rehydrated by cooking for five minutes in the pot.
Which is not to say that I even do well at making my own food, but none of this is going to be the same as fresh... I'd be packing the real stuff but fresh is bulky, and heavy, and impractical on longer trips. Dry hamburger gravel in a vac sealed bag is going to be less likely to draw that hungry bear over to your canister than a partially frozen slab of meat. I frequently take fresh foods on a day hike or overnighter, or as a first night indulgence - a ripe avocado, tub of cream cheese, and handful of Craisins is my favorite flatbread sandwich - but something longer than three days and I'm packing in the dehydrated stuff because it fits in the bear can with room for my toothbrush and lip balm.
But not everyone goes out as often as I do, and not everyone has the same tolerance for occasional crunchy bits in the chili mac... just mentioning the pros and cons for consideration.