davesenesac
Trail Wise!
Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
Posts: 1,710 
|
Post by davesenesac on May 18, 2018 10:25:00 GMT -8
Each summer I usually go online in order to purchase most of my summer freeze dried meals because it is always significantly less expensive than any local or mountain stores. And will often sell some to late comers on group trips versus paying usual at local stores.
After checking amazon prices for its many Mountain House commercial site offerings, I then went to the www dot mountainhouse dot com site and and noted I could order through them and save quite a bit including no tax or shipping fees. Of course any freeze dried meals have always been expensive due to the considerable food processing and packaging required. I tend to only use the meals on longer trips in order to be able to fit more into bear canisters, reduce weight, and enjoy better meals. Thus on trips up to 4 days for hot meals am likely to only bring cheap supermarket products like soup cans or those Knorr rice or Kraft mac n cheese packages etc.
So today ordered a variety of 14 Mountain House ProPaks and Pouches for $109 or about $7.80 each all of which were the 2 or 2.5 serving sizes as hungry me eat the whole meals. Of course a decade or two ago that could have been less than $6 each thus costs continue to rise. Although there are always new freeze dried meal vendors selling such meals, my experience has not been that positive experimenting so thus tend to stick with what I know works keeping this hungry little guy happy. If others do use the MH site note their tedious site software for locating meals tends to leave out product. Best to just use their search field with say "spaghetti".
|
|
zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,895
|
Post by zeke on May 18, 2018 10:36:19 GMT -8
I typically buy #10 cans from them. They claim 10 servings for about $35, but I can eat more than a single serving. This way, I can adjust my meals to fit my needs as they change. I vacuum seal the meals once I open the can. That allows me to use them over any 2 year time frame. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 18, 2018 12:32:25 GMT -8
I buy #10 cans of MH meals just after the end of hunting season when prices drop. 1 #10 can makes 3 dinners for my wife and I. Our favorite is Chicken Ala King. Over the last few years we have branched out to MH Chile Mac, Chicken and Dumplinga (we buy those in packs of 6), and Chicken and Rice. I supplement the Chile Mac with a serving freeze dried bacon and eggs to up the calories.
I, also, buy a #10 can of MH chicken and will drop into each 2 serving freezer bag of Chicken Ala King or Chicken and Rice a single serving of chicken.
It is quite common to be in 85ish degree temps during the day and have em drop to freezing or near freezing at night in Idaho, in late July, Aug. and Sept. My wife gets cold, I don't get a good sleep, till I've warmed her back up. Cooking something warm in the middle of the night burns fuel, which means we carry more fuel. At one time it was romantic to get up and cook her a warm thing in the middle of the night but then came the clean up and she'd be well asleep by the time I was back into the sleeping bag. Better to fill her up with a heavy calorie long to digest meal that lasts all night long.
This year we are going to try Mexican Style rice and chicken, #10 can, to see if we like it. I figure we will test out the Mexican Rice and chicken on one of the weekend warrior trips we will be taking.
|
|
davesenesac
Trail Wise!
Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
Posts: 1,710
|
Post by davesenesac on May 18, 2018 13:32:31 GMT -8
Zeke, like how you are able to divide up the servings sizes though with oxygen getting inside that does reduce shelf life.
Ohm, thanks for the fall price reduction heads up. Will need to check pricing then.
Note I had done the math between those "emergency preparedness" 10 serving cans and the 2.5 serving pouches or 2 serving ProPaks. Cost ratio per ounce is exactly the same as though MH is not calculating packaging overhead in their pricing. Will note cost per ounce is a bit less for the Sweet and Sour pork with Rice 6.10oz 2.5 serving pouches at $9.99 ($1.64/oz) versus the #10 cans at 24.61oz for $43.99 ($1.79/oz). On amazon some sites do sell 6 packs of pouches for $48. Thus 6x6.1= 36.6oz. $48/36.6= $1.31/oz. However a site on amazon sells same #10 can for $35.53 ($1.44/oz)
Thus it pays to do some math if buying in bulk and buying directly from MH is not always a bargain however one ought note that with a 22 year shelf life, some product by vendors is not going to be new especially when discounted versus the manufacturers current pricing.
|
|
zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,895
|
Post by zeke on May 18, 2018 14:24:47 GMT -8
I vacuum seal the meals in my proportions. I could add a oxygen absorbing packet, if I ever encountered the vacuum bag not holding up. So far, not needed. One could also freeze the meals after divvying them up and vacuuming them.
Thing is, I will be adjusting the amount of food anyway, since I no longer eat 2 servings. I find that makes it worthwhile for me to buy the #10 can, getting 6-7 meals from it. Typically, I'll go through 2 cans a year, minimum. Can of stroganoff and a can of spaghetti. After that, I like the chili mac.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,711 
|
Post by rebeccad on May 20, 2018 15:07:10 GMT -8
though with oxygen getting inside that does reduce shelf life. There may be some decay because you unseal the original, but the vacuum sealer removes air, and I've had good luck with even home-dehydrated meals keeping fine from one season to the next when vacuum-sealed. |
|
crawford
Trail Wise!
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.--Edison
Posts: 1,775
|
Post by crawford on May 30, 2018 7:10:16 GMT -8
I've had good luck with even home-dehydrated meals keeping fine from one season to the next when vacuum-sealed. Particularly when it is stored in the freezer. |
|
ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 10,029
|
Post by ErnieW on May 30, 2018 19:56:45 GMT -8
I just bought a #10 chicken stew on Amazon for $29. I have the wide mouth ball jar attachment for my vacuum sealer. I broke the can up into 5 pint jars and vacuum sealed them. I think you can get a little higher vacuum on the jars then the bags. I choose 5 2 cup portions because then the water to add is 1.5 cups. Also basically $6 a jar.
It was interesting trying to get them broken up fairly evenly. There are the pieces and a lot of sauce dust. I dumped the can into a large mixing bowl ans stirred it up. The dust had settled to the bottom of the can.
So far I ate one portion and shared it with my wife. I am going to eat the others at work and see about the portion size and whether I got the can fairly evenly divided. Also it is common for people to say that FD gives them gastric issues. I think that is hard to really know because there are lots of others factors when backpacking, like the big one water, that could be causing/contributing to the issues. Eating them at work all other factors will be the same except the FD food.
|
|
